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VI. United Kingdom

20. The European Council had a political exchange of views on the UK plans for an (in/out) referendum. Following today's substantive and constructive debate, the members of the European Council agreed to work closely together to find mutually satisfactory solutions in all the four areas at the European Council meeting on 18-19 February 2016.

Full text of the European Council conclusions available here:

 

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On December 16, IPI Vienna hosted a meeting on peace polling with keynote speaker Colin Irwin of the University of Liverpool. Peace polls are public opinion polls designed to test a series of questions and seek to identify common ground on which a peace process can move forward. Unlike market surveys or binary polls designed to give a yes or no answer, peace polls present a range of choices from “essential” on one side to “unacceptable” on the other, with “desirable, “acceptable” and “tolerable” options in-between. In such a way, red lines become evident, but so too do possible second choices around which compromise can be sought.

The process of peace polling can be considered a confidence-building measure. All stakeholders, including adversaries, are invited to draft suitable questions, and also take part in analyzing the results. This encourages their buy-in to the process, and makes it harder for them to dismiss the results.

Irwin described peace polling as a way of “bringing the people to the negotiating table.” He also explained that it is a useful way of testing policy options that can prepare the ground for mediation. Peace polls can disprove a leader’s assertion that his or her people do not support a particular policy. Conversely, they can be used to prepare the public for proposals that have been agreed behind closed doors. In both respects, peace polls can play a vital role in “ripening” a peace process through public policy. It also makes peace processes more inclusive.

Peace polling was used extensively, and successfully, in the Northern Ireland peace process. The methodology was also applied in the Balkans, Kashmir, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Darfur, and the Middle East. Irwin sees great potential for the technique to be applied in Syria.

Irwin’s interest in peace polling stems in large part from a decade that he spent living with the Inuit in the Canadian Artic. He explained how Inuit councils deliberate until there is consensus. A mediator listens to the divergent views and then seeks a solution acceptable to all. All parties may not get what they want, but they will at least get what they need.

Participants discussed how peace polling could be applied to the so-called “frozen” conflicts in the OSCE area.

Colin Irwin’s book The People’s Peace is available here: http://www.peacepolls.org/peacepolls/documents/002539.pdf

General : A request by 283 members of the European Parliament for the creation of an inquiry committee to investigate breaches of EU rules on car emission measurements will be put to the vote by the full house on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : A request by 283 members of the European Parliament for the creation of an inquiry committee to investigate breaches of EU rules on car emission measurements will be put to the vote by the full house on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : A request by 283 members of the European Parliament for the creation of an inquiry committee to investigate breaches of EU rules on car emission measurements will be put to the vote by the full house on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

I. Migration

1. Over the past months, the European Council has developed a strategy aimed at stemming the unprecedented migratory flows Europe is facing. However, implementation is insufficient and has to be speeded up. For the integrity of Schengen to be safeguarded it is indispensable to regain control over the external borders. Deficiencies, notably as regards hotspots, relocation and returns, must be rapidly addressed. The EU institutions and the Member States must urgently: 

a) address the shortcomings at the Schengen external borders, notably by ensuring systematic security checks with relevant databases, and prevent document fraud;

b) address deficiencies in the functioning of hotspots, including by establishing the necessary reception capacity to achieve their objectives; rapidly agree a precise calendar for further hotspots to become operational; ensure that Frontex and EASO have the necessary expertise and equipment; 

c) ensure systematic and complete identification, registration and fingerprinting, and take measures to tackle refusal of registration and stem irregular secondary flows;

d) implement relocation decisions as well as consider including among the beneficiaries of existing decisions other Member States under high pressure who have requested this;

e) take concrete measures to ensure the actual return and readmission of people not authorised to stay and provide support to Member States as regards return operations;

f) enhance measures for fighting smuggling and trafficking of human beings;

g) ensure implementation and operational follow up to:

• the High Level Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean - Western Balkans route; in this context, it is important to help non EU Member States along the Western Balkans route to accomplish registration according to EU standards; 
• the Valletta Summit, particularly as regards returns and readmission, and
• the EU-Turkey Statement of 29 November 2015 and the EU-Turkey Action Plan; in this context COREPER is asked to rapidly conclude its work on how to mobilise the 3 billion euro for the Turkey Refugee Facility;

h) continue implementing the agreed resettlement scheme;

i) continue to closely monitor flows along migration routes so as to be able to rapidly react to developments.

2. The Council should continue work on the crisis relocation mechanism taking into account experience gained, and rapidly decide on its position on the list of safe countries of origin. The Council is invited to rapidly examine the situation concerning Afghanistan. The Council should rapidly examine the Commission proposals of 15 December on a "European Border and Coast Guard", the Schengen Borders Code, "A voluntary humanitarian admission scheme", and travel documents for returns. The Council should adopt its position on the "European Border and Coast Guard" under the Netherlands Presidency. The Commission will rapidly present the review of the Dublin system; in the meantime, existing rules must be implemented. It will also soon present a revised proposal on Smart Borders.

3. The Presidency, the Commission and the High Representative will report back on progress before the February meeting of the European Council.

La filiale malienne du groupe Bank of Africa émet 400 000 actions en vue d'une introduction à la Bourse régionale des valeurs mobilières (BRVM), basée à Abidjan. Cette opération devrait lui permettre de lever 8,79 milliards de F CFA (13,4 millions d'euros).

Cet article Bank of Africa-Mali prépare son introduction à la Bourse d’Abidjan est apparu en premier sur JeuneAfrique.com.

On 16 December 2015, under the Luxembourg Presidency and subject to the European Parliament and Council formal vote, the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) approved a final compromise on a proposal for regulation on school milk, fruit and vegetables scheme.

The Council and the European Parliament representatives identified the overall compromise during a trilogue meeting held on 10 December. On the same occasion the SCA approved a Council Regulation on the same subject, which completes the school scheme, notably as regards the fixing of the EU aid.

Promotion of certain foods for public health

School schemes were originally established in order to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetable and milk products, beneficial in the public health context and are suitable for the distribution to school children. In addition, those sectors are also important for the EU agriculture. Under these schemes EU aid is allocated to member states for the supply of those products in educational establishments. 

The school fruit and vegetables scheme and the school milk scheme are currently separate programmes. In January 2014, the Commission made a proposal merging the schemes and amending the new single Common Market Organisation (single CMO) regulation under the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (5958/14) and the regulation fixing certain aids and refunds (6054/14). The new scheme will have an overall yearly budget of €250 millions (milk products: €100 millions; fruit and vegetables: €150 millions).

The next steps

The European Parliament is expected to vote the compromise text at a meeting of its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in late January.

The Chairman of the SCA, for the Presidency, will send a letter to the Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. This letter indicates that if the Parliament votes at its plenary session the compromise texts as approved by the SCA, after legal-linguistic revision, the Council will be able to reach agreement with the European Parliament on school milk, fruit and vegetables schemes in first reading. This should enable the entry into force of the new scheme in Spring 2016 and its application from August 2017.

Hivatalosan is bemutatták az első LADA modelleket Magyarországon.

Dimanche 13 décembre, les élections régionales françaises ont rendu leur verdict : la droite remporte sept régions, tandis que la gauche en conserve cinq. En dépit d'une nouvelle progression, le Front national a en revanche échoué à remporter une seule région, notamment à cause du retrait des listes socialistes en Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie et en Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

(crédit : RTBF)

(B2) « Le vendredi on frappait à la porte des maisons, on ciblait les maisons, on connaissait les maisons. Et on a ciblé même les maisons des Tutsis. (…) On ne peut pas tuer nos enfants. Ces images sont un scandale ! (…) C’est très grave. En les tuant ils disaient ‘appelez l’Union européenne’, ‘appelez les Etats-Unis’, ‘appelez Kagamé’. (…) Comment un chef d’Etat peut assassiner au vu et au su de tout le monde. Quelle arrogance ! »

Celle qui parle est Maggy Barankitse, interrogée par nos collègues de la RTBF. Une personnalité charismatique ! La « maman » du Burundi. Elle a notamment recueilli des orphelins hutus comme tutsis durant la guerre civile qui a frappé le Burundi en 1993. On la croyait presque intouchable tant elle est réputée au Rwanda. Elle a fui aujourd’hui, réfugiée en Belgique. Et la maison Shalom qu’elle a créée a vu ses activités stoppées.

Le Cerveau : le président Nkurunziza

Maggy Barankitse n’hésite pas elle ne mâche pas ses mots. « Le Cerveau c’est Nkurunziza. Le président. C’est lui le commanditaire. La Cour pénale internationale devait réagir aujourd’hui avant qu’il ne soit trop tard. Il faut qu’on l’arrête. (…) On dit, nous ne savons pas où commencer. Car le pays est souverain. Donc vous acceptez qu’on tue nos enfants, qu’on nous tue qu’on nous exile. Nous venons ici mendier. Alors qu’on pouvait vivre dans la convivialité. »

Le Burundi est tout petit Un génocide politico-ethnique

« C’est un génocide politico-ethnique. Il va choisir tous ceux qui ont refusé un troisième mandat ». Et d’apostropher la communauté internationale en particulier l’Europe pour son inaction. « Est-ce que vous n’êtes pas allés en Syrie ? Est-ce que n’êtes pas allés en Libye ? Pourquoi n’iriez-vous pas au Burundi ? Il est tout petit le Burundi. Il n’y a pas de pétrole. Mais il y a vos frères et soeurs, vos enfants. Il y a la plus grande richesse que l’humanité a : c’est la personne humaine. Ce n’est pas le pétrole, ce ne sont pas les diamants. Il y a plus que le diamant, il y a plus que çà, il y a plus que çà… ».

L’Europe détourne les yeux

Ecoutez ici, réécoutez ! Car Maggy n’a pas tort. L’inaction semble la règle. L’Europe – qui a autre chose à faire – détourne les yeux et s’en remet à l’ONU qui s’en remet à l’Union africaine, qui attend qu’on lui donne des moyens ou un feu vert. Les ministres des Affaires étrangères de l’UE étaient réunis lundi. Ils n’ont même pas réussi à évoquer officiellement cette question à l’agenda, à condamner de façon vive ce qui se passe au Burundi. Ils se sont contentés d’appeler au dialogue politique (lire sur B2 pro : L’Europe encourage le Burundi au dialogue politique. Un peu court ?). Une incroyable lâcheté.

Le Burundi est trop petit

Maggy Barankitse a raison. Le « Burundi est tout petit ». Il ne menace personne. Que ses habitants meurent, ce n’est pas très grave d’une certaine façon. En tout cas beaucoup moins qu’une barcasse qui se noie au large des côtes européennes… Si l’Union européenne, réunie au plus haut niveau, ces jours-ci, ne trouve pas le moyen d’une part d’adresser une condamnation ferme, sans équivoque, d’autre part de réagir autrement qu’avec trois mots, c’est qu’il ne sert à rien de parler de droits de l’Homme, de rôle dans le monde, de stratégie de sécurité, d’avoir des capacités de maintien de la paix pour réagir en cas de crise (voir encadré) … Cela ne sert à rien si on n’est pas un tant soit peu capable d’agir sur le Burundi.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Le battlegroup européen : un joujou pour faire beau !

Ce sont actuellement les Français et les Belges qui assurent la permanence de la force européenne de réaction rapide jusqu’à fin décembre. On peut comprendre qu’il y ait des considérations technico-politiques qui empêchent le déploiement de ce battlegroup. Surdose d’engagement pour les Français, contraintes politico-historiques pour les Belges avec souvenir dramatique du Rwanda pour les deux. Mais le battlegroup suivant pourrait se déployer. Il est prêt, du moins théoriquement. C’est le battlegroup de Visegrad, les V4 (Pologne, Hongrie, Rép. Tchèque, Slovaquie). Vous savez ces pays qui parlent haut et fort dès qu’il s’agit de l’Ukraine, des réfugiés, de la Zone Euro, des autres qui ne respectent pas les règles. Puis qui viennent pleurnicher dans le giron de l’OTAN ou de celui de l’Europe pour avoir des chars, des hommes, des batteries anti-aériennes, des avions pour renforcer leurs défenses et jouer ainsi du muscle avec les Russes. Des pays qu’on ne voit plus en général dès qu’il s’agit d’agir ! Dès qu’il s’agit d’être solidaire ! Pour eux, le battlegroup est un joujou, destiné à faire beau !

NB : Certains lecteurs pourront être choqués. D’ordinaire, nous ne publions pas des images ‘violentes’. Là on ne peut pas faire autrement…

Am 15. Dezember 2015 beschloss der Rat die Aufhebung des Geheimschutzes der Richtlinien, die er der Kommission zur Aushandlung eines umfassenden Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommens mit Kanada erteilt hatte.

Die Verhandlungsrichtlinien von 2009 und die Änderung von 2011, mit der Gespräche über Investorenschutz ermöglicht wurden, wurden am selben Tag öffentlich gemacht.

Der Entwurf des Abkommens wurde auf dem Gipfeltreffen EU-Kanada im September 2014 fertiggestellt. Die rechtliche Überprüfung und die Übersetzung sind im Gange, damit das Abkommen unterzeichnet, ratifiziert und geschlossen werden kann.

Mit dem Abkommen werden mehr als 99 % der Einfuhrzölle beseitigt, und zwar sowohl in Kanada als auch in der EU. So entstehen in beträchtlichem Umfang neue Marktchancen für Dienstleistungen und Investitionen. Das Abkommen enthält unter anderem Bestimmungen zum öffentlichen Beschaffungswesen, zum Investorenschutz, zu Rechten des geistigen Eigentums, gesundheitspolizeilichen und pflanzenschutzrechtlichen Maßnahmen, geografischen Angaben und nachhaltiger Entwicklung, zur Zusammenarbeit in Regulierungsfragen und gegenseitigen Anerkennung, zu Handelserleichterungen, zur Zusammenarbeit bei Rohstoffen, zur Streitbeilegung und zu technischen Handelshemmnissen.

Der Beschluss wurde ohne Aussprache auf einer außerordentlichen Tagung des Rates am Rande der WTO-Ministerkonferenz in Nairobi gefasst. Dies geschah im gegenseitigen Einvernehmen.

Séance plénière : Les lois européennes doivent être aussi simples et claires que possible pour garantir que les citoyens puissent facilement comprendre leurs droits et obligations. La Conférence des présidents du Parlement européen a soutenu, ce mercredi, à une large majorité un accord avec le Conseil et la Commission visant à améliorer la qualité de la législation européenne, qui doit se concentrer sur des domaines dans lesquels l'UE tire la plus grande valeur ajoutée pour ses citoyens.

Source : © Union européenne, 2015 - PE

Companies and organisations hoping that the European Commission’s impact assessment on ED criteria will drive evidence-based policy with appropriate consideration of all costs and benefits should take warning of today’s ruling from the General Court of the European Union (Judgment in Case T-521/14 Sweden v Commission).

You may remember that in July 2014 Sweden decided to bring the European Commission before the Court for being late on delivering criteria to identify endocrine disrupting substances (ED) by December 13 2013 – as required by the biocides regulation. It turned out that Sweden was not the only one tired of waiting for the Commission to act as Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Finland, the European Parliament and the Council decided to join the case as well.

Following a markedly fast moving procedure, the Court has come to a decision on 16 December. The judges found  the Commission breached its clear, precise and unconditional obligation to adopt scientific criteria for the determination of endocrine-disrupting properties. Interestingly, the court notes that no provision forced the Commission to conduct an impact assessment before proposing ED criteria; an argument used by the Commission’s lawyers to justify the delay.

The ruling should not come as a surprise as the Commission clearly missed the deadline. A few important comments need to be made though.

From a legal perspective on the one hand, it is probably the first time that the binding nature of a deadline enshrined in legislation is so clearly recognised by the Court. According to the judges, the deadline is not a mere objective but a legally binding obligation. In other words, the Commission has no margin of maneuver. On the other hand, the case should also draw attention from a political perspective as it could affect the ongoing ED impact assessment process – most importantly how its outcome could be received.

The impact assessment will go on, of course, and eventually deliver the long-awaited ED criteria. However it remains to be seen how much the Commission’s credibility on this dossier could be (even more) weakened by the ruling. In bringing the Commission before the Court, Sweden had more than a legal objective in mind (otherwise Swedish authorities would challenge the Commission every time they miss a deadline). With the chemicals policy high on its political agenda – EDs in particular – it was particularly important for Sweden to have the Commission’s failure to adopt the criteria acknowledged by the European judge.

From that perspective, it is a success for Sweden and its supporters. A success that many more of their allies could use to challenge upcoming Commission’s decisions, when necessary.

by Pauline Tawil and Michael Stanton-Geddes

Plenary sessions : EU laws must be as simple and clear as possible to ensure that citizens can easily understand their rights and obligations. The European Parliament Conference of Presidents endorsed on Wednesday, with a large majority, an agreement with the Council and the Commission to improve the quality of EU legislation, which needs to focus on areas where the EU has the greatest added value for its citizens.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : EU laws must be as simple and clear as possible to ensure that citizens can easily understand their rights and obligations. The European Parliament Conference of Presidents endorsed on Wednesday, with a large majority, an agreement with the Council and the Commission to improve the quality of EU legislation, which needs to focus on areas where the EU has the greatest added value for its citizens.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : EU laws must be as simple and clear as possible to ensure that citizens can easily understand their rights and obligations. The European Parliament Conference of Presidents endorsed on Wednesday, with a large majority, an agreement with the Council and the Commission to improve the quality of EU legislation, which needs to focus on areas where the EU has the greatest added value for its citizens.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : EU laws must be as simple and clear as possible to ensure that citizens can easily understand their rights and obligations. The European Parliament Conference of Presidents endorsed on Wednesday, with a large majority, an agreement with the Council and the Commission to improve the quality of EU legislation, which needs to focus on areas where the EU has the greatest added value for its citizens.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Dimanche 20 décembre, les Espagnols vont choisir leur futur Premier ministre. Le conservateur Mariano Rajoy sera-t-il reconduit ? Quel sera le poids des jeunes partis Ciudadanos et Podemos ? Quel impact sur l'indépendance de la Catalogne ? Petit aperçu des enjeux de ces législatives espagnoles dans notre infographie.