European Union

General : In the case of a deal on a reform of the UK’s EU membership, Parliament will do its utmost to support it, but the result is not guaranteed, warned EP President Martin Schulz. He spoke out after UK Prime Minister David Cameron discussed Parliament’s position with leading MEPs on Tuesday. The visit came ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit when heads of state will try to come to an agreement. Schulz will attend to present Parliament’s position.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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In 2007, the European Commission decided that people should be protected from spyware and other tracking software being planted in their devices without their knowledge. This led to the ‘cookie law’, designed to give people ‘clear and comprehensive’ information about what was being tracked and why, so that they could choose to allow it or not. The Commission’s logic is as follows: give people information, and they will make informed choices.

In a world where we exchange our data willingly for free services like email and search, most of us would like to be able to make informed choices about what data we share, based on how it will be used and what we get out of it. We are all vaguely aware that when we get something for free online,  our data is being used in some way to bring profit to the companies providing the services we use, for example for advertising.

Helping people make informed choices about how their data is used is a lot harder than it sounds.

Unfortunately, the cookie pop-ups we see on every website we visit don’t actually lead to us making informed choices about how our data is tracked and used. In many cases, the pop-up simply disappears after a few seconds – or, if needed, we just click the ‘close’ button and get on with what we came to the website to do. The Commission’s logic is wrong – if you give people information, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will use it to make informed choices. Helping people use information to make informed choices about how their data is used is actually a lot harder than it sounds.  When the cookie law came into force in the UK, I was in London working for tech business JustGiving. Like most companies, we understood there was a legal obligation to add this pop-up and we put aside valuable time and resources to do it. But the guidance from the Commission was unclear and contradictory. We looked at the Commission’s own website hoping for a best-in-class example of implementation, and were dismayed to see reams of text obscuring half of the homepage, written in legalistic language that most people wouldn’t understand. What is the point of this, we wondered?

Data protection law in the EU is also based on this logic. Companies have a wide remit to use our personal data for almost any purpose, as long as we consent to it. If we tick the box, EU law considers that we have made an informed choice. But again, in reality, how many of us tick the box without reading the privacy policy which comes before it?

We need a shift from the decades-old offline system of adding labels and warning.

The problem is that the Commission hasn’t invested enough in thinking about the best way to help people make informed choices. They simply transferred a decades-old system from the offline world to online – essentially, adding labels and warnings. This may be the only solution when it comes to adding product safety information to electronic appliances, for example. But online there are many more possible ways of displaying information – which could be more effective in helping people understand, learn more and make informed choices. Giving people information is important, but it needs to be done in the right way, at the right time.

In the e-commerce world, every word and picture on a website is chosen and positioned in exactly the right way to help people find the information they need. Every variable is tested thoroughly to improve the browsing experience. Should that link be in the top-left or top-right of the page? What size should the font be? What colour makes people click on it the most? How will it look on a smartphone, or a tablet? It would make sense to apply the same approach to the way information about privacy and cookies is presented to users. How should it be written and presented in order to make sure people actually read and engage with it, rather than simply clicking it away?

The geo-blocking debate risks following the same flawed logic as the cookie law.

Unfortunately, policymakers still seem to be pushing the same old logic of ‘give people information and they will make informed choices’, without further thought as to how this information should be presented. The logic is threatening to creep into new pieces of legislation that are currently being developed as part of the Digital Single Market. In recent documents published by the Commission about the upcoming geo-blocking legislative proposal, there are ominous references to ‘imposing transparency obligations’ to explain when and why geo-blocking is being used. This rings cookie law alarm bells in my head. The logic is there again – give people information about geo-blocking practices, and they will make informed choices. I can imagine pop-ups appearing every time I click on a different product as I do my online shopping:  “This product is only available in our UK, German, French and Dutch stores. It is not available in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Spain or Greece. It may be available in Estonia, Ireland and Luxembourg subject to our geo-blocking policy. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of geo-blocking. For more details about geo-blocking and how to manage it, click here to read our geo-blocking policy”.

The challenges of the DSM are not purely regulatory. The implementation is also crucial.

Maybe it’s time for policymakers to step back and consider alternative ways to help people make informed choices online. Simply throwing information at us does not seem to be working. And the more information we have to wade through in order to do basic things online, the less we will care about what it actually says. As the Commission moves forward with the Digital Single Market (DSM), it has the opportunity to bring together expert stakeholders from across the tech sector to try and find a better way to achieve this. They could bring in UX experts, web designers, e-commerce and online marketing analysts, experts in online behaviour and monitoring and many, many others. The challenges of the DSM are not purely regulatory. The implementation is also crucial and, when it comes to digital policy, regulation needs to be designed with the implementation in mind. This can be done hand-in-hand with industry experts, who would welcome the opportunity to avoid another cookie law coming into force in several years’ time. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past with the geo-blocking proposal.

Catherine Armitage 

Good morning. Before anything else, let me thank you, Prime Minister Tsipras, for your hospitality here in Athens.

The European Council is meeting this week with the biggest challenges to the future of the European Union on the agenda: The United Kingdom's future membership of the European Union and the migration crisis.

On Britain. My trip to Paris, Bucharest, Athens, Prague and Berlin is part of the hopefully last but still fragile negotiations on a new settlement for the United Kingdom. The proposal I have put on the table is a fair and balanced one. It helps the UK to address all the concerns raised by Prime Minister Cameron, without compromising on our common freedoms and values. There are still many difficult issues to solve. Prime Minister Tsipras and I shared our views on these issues and I am happy that there is convergence between us. Thank you for your constructive approach. I will need your help in Brussels as well.

Now let me turn to the migration and refugee crisis. The migratory crisis we are currently witnessing is testing our Union to its limits. And Greece is among the most affected countries. It is no coincidence that the Greek citizens on the islands have been nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize for their generosity in helping people in need.

Greece did not cause this crisis, nor did Europe. To all those talking of excluding Greece from Schengen, thinking this is a solution to the migration crisis. I say: No, it is not. Let me be clear, excluding Greece from Schengen solves none of our problems. It does not end the war in Syria. It does not end Europe's attraction of migrants. And it is not a common European solution. What we must do is to improve the protection of our external borders, not least here in Greece. This requires more Greek efforts and it also requires more support from EU partners.

This week, I want leaders to engage in an honest discussion on where we stand on all the dimensions of our common response to the crisis. We are not meeting to alter course but to ensure that the decisions we have already taken are also carried out. Importantly, we need to take a close look at how our joint arrangements with Turkey are working.

Talking about migration, we cannot avoid referring to the situation in Syria. The whole world is hoping for peace and is ready for talks. Even though, the Russian bombing in Syria leaves us with little hope. The Assad regime is strengthened, the moderate Syrian opposition is weakened, and Europe is flooded with new waves of refugees.

I also want to underline that the EU appreciates and recognises all the efforts undertaken by Greece in the economic area. After our talks today, I feel more optimistic, also when it comes to the ongoing review process.

Let me conclude by once again thanking you, Prime Minister, dear Alexis, for your constructive approach that will allow us to move forward, together, on all the challenges ahead. Thank you.

Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of our new Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

David Cameron, left, is greeted this morning by EU Parliament president Martin Schulz

It has become something of a newfangled tradition for European prime ministers facing a spot of trouble on the EU stage to make a ritual appearance before the European Parliament to explain themselves – though some seemed to be holding their noses even as they did so.

The precedent was set by Viktor Orban, the Hungarian premier, who in 2012 travelled to the parliament’s second home in Strasbourg to counter criticisms his government was becoming increasingly authoritarian following a new media law and judicial reforms that critics charged improperly consolidated power in his own hands. Just last year, Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, made the Strasbourg pilgrimage at the height of fears his bailout brinkmanship would lead to Grexit. And Poland’s new leader, Beata Szydlo, agreed to appear last month following criticism her new media and judicial laws were following an Orbanesque trajectory.

Which is why many in the European Parliament expected David Cameron would turn up to make his “new settlement” case to them ahead of this week’s high-profile summit, where he hopes to emerge with a “reform” deal he can sell to the British public ahead of an expected June referendum on EU membership. Mr Cameron’s reasons for courting the parliament are not just symbolic, as they were for Mr Orban, Mr Tsipras and Ms Szydlo. He needs MEPs to approve many of the migrant benefit restrictions he has won in negotiations with EU leaders, since they will have to be finalised through the EU’s normal legislative process.

But when Mr Cameron arrives in Brussels today, it won’t be to appear before the entire parliament meeting in plenary session. Indeed, it won’t even be a meeting with the parliament’s conference of presidents – which was the original plan, until someone in Downing Street realised the conference includes leaders of all the parliament’s’ political groups, including those headed by archenemy (and UK Independence party leader) Nigel Farage and French ultranationalist (and National Front leader) Marine Le Pen.

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General : How much money should a country devote to its health and pension systems? Although this is of course for national parliaments to decide every year, their decisions have to be in line with the country's budgetary commitments taken at the EU level. On 16 February, MEPs and their national counterparts will debate ways to increase the democratic accountability of how the EU coordinates the economic policies of member states.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : How much money should a country devote to its health and pension systems? Although this is of course for national parliaments to decide every year, their decisions have to be in line with the country's budgetary commitments taken at the EU level. On 16 February, MEPs and their national counterparts will debate ways to increase the democratic accountability of how the EU coordinates the economic policies of member states.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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EU Ministers of Foreign and European Affairs meet in Brussels on 16 February 2016 to transmit a recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area to EU leaders. They are also to discuss draft conclusions on a set of arrangements to address the UK reform calls and an assessment of the implementation of European Council decisions in the field of migration.

Download this video here.

DRAFT REPORT on human rights and migration in third countries
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Marie-Christine Vergiat

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Whilst practical cooperation between the EU and Iran already exists, the scope is currently well below potential. The limits of our cooperation reflect ongoing concerns in the EU and international community, chiefly connected to Iran’s nuclear programme. The EU is also following the situation of human rights closely.

Download this video here.

Brussels, 17 February 2016 - Justus Lipsius building

Provisional media programme

Welcome by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker
(VIP entrance, level 02 - photo/TV opportunity) :

• 20:25               Prime Minister of Croatia Tihomir Orešković
• 20:26               Prime Minister of Slovenia Miro Cerar
• 20:27               President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić
• 20:28               President of former Yougoslav Republic of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov

Access to VIP entrance

6-month badge for high level events in the Council (January-June 2016) or European Council badge for 18-19 February 2016 only.

• Full information on media accreditation

The accreditation centre in Lex building - rue de la Loi 145, will close at 20.00. 

N.B.

Due to the European Council taking place the following day, media will not be able to enter the Justus Lipsius as from 20.45 onwards. The press centre will close at 21.30.

Photos and video coverage of the event will be available for preview and download on http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu