European Union

Ognyanov
Justice and Home Affairs
The custodial sentence of a prisoner may not be reduced, when he is transferred from one Member State to another, by reason of time spent working in prison in the first Member State if that Member State has not, under its national law, granted such a reduction in sentence

To help farmers to cope with volatile prices, the EU must develop new risk and crisis management tools and strengthen their bargaining position in the food supply chain, says a non-legislative resolution voted in the Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. The supply chain should be made more transparent, and the EU budget more flexible, so that funds can be deployed faster to tackle crises, add MEPs.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

To help farmers to cope with volatile prices, the EU must develop new risk and crisis management tools and strengthen their bargaining position in the food supply chain, says a non-legislative resolution voted in the Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. The supply chain should be made more transparent, and the EU budget more flexible, so that funds can be deployed faster to tackle crises, add MEPs.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

1) The EU and its Member States are following the most recent developments in Turkey with grave concern.

2) Renewed considerations to introduce a bill to parliament to reinstate the death penalty; continued restrictions on the freedom of expression, including social media, with further closures of media outlets and arrest warrants against journalists, including the editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper and several members of its staff; and most recently the arrest of the co-chairs of the country's second largest opposition party, HDP, as well as the detention of several of its Members of Parliament are extremely worrying developments which weaken the rule of law, the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and compromise parliamentary democracy in Turkey, while exacerbating tensions in the Southeast and further polarising Turkish society in general.

3) The EU and its Member States strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Diyarbakir and express their solidarity with the victims and their families. The EU and its Member States firmly believe that all violence and terrorist attacks must stop and arms must be laid down. The EU and its Member States stand by Turkey in its fight against terrorism.

Actions against PKK, listed by the EU and its Member States as a terrorist organisation, are legitimate, but must be in full respect of the basic principles of democracy, proportionality and respect for human rights.

4) A return to a credible political process and to a genuine political dialogue is essential for the country's democracy and stability in the region.

5) The EU and its Member States recall that the decision by the Turkish Parliament in May 2016 to permit the lifting of parliamentary immunity of a large number of Members of Parliament is a matter of serious concern. Immunity must apply to all on a non-discriminatory basis and decisions on lifting immunity must be based on the merits of each specific case, according to transparent criteria and not subject to any political considerations.

6) The EU and its Member States recall their condemnation of the 15 July coup attempt and, while recognising the need for Turkey to take proportionate action, call on Turkey to safeguard its parliamentary democracy, including the respect for human rights, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms and the right of everyone to a fair trial, also in conformity with its commitments as a candidate country. In this regard, the EU and its Member States will continue to follow and assess the situation very closely and they stand ready to continue political dialogue with Turkey at all levels, within the established framework.

The EU added 6 members of the Russian Federation State Dumaelected from the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the list of persons subject to restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

The Russian Federation organised elections for the State Duma on 18 September 2016, including in the illegally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol. The EU has not recognised the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and therefore does not recognise the holding of elections in the Crimean peninsula.

In line with its non-recognition policy, the EU considers that the persons who became  members of the State Duma as a result of the elections in Crimea should be placed under sanctions. The Council therefore added the following six persons to the list of persons subject to sanctions: Ruslan Ismailovich Balbek, Konstantin Mikhailovich Bakharev, Dmitry Anatolievich Belik,  Andrei Dmitrievich Kozenko, Svetlana Borisovna Savchenko and Pavel Valentinovich Shperov.

These sanctions consist of an asset freeze and a travel ban which will now apply to a total of 152 persons and 37 entities. The measures were introduced in March 2014 and were last extended in September 2016 until 15 March 2017.

The legal acts, including the names of the persons and the statements of reasons for listing them, are available in the EU Official Journal of 9 November 2016.

Several EU measures are in place in response to the crisis in Ukraine including:

• economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the  Russian economy, currently in place until 31 January 2017;
• restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, limited to the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, currently in place until 23 June 2017.

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Length of video : 96'
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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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The rhetoric could hardly be nastier. With an update on Turkey’s bid to join the EU due later this week, politicians from Turkey and Europe took the opportunity to rip into each other.

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The French are still numerous to consider voting both a right and a duty (‘un devoir citoyen’, as they say). This is probably why turnout – despite a wide-spread feeling that nothing ever changes – has been remarkably stable over the decades, especially at the presidential elections. Even the lowest participation ever (71.6% in the 1st round of the 2002 election, the one that famously saw Jean-Marie-Le Pen qualify for the runoff, precisely because many Socialists didn’t bother) is higher than what has been registered in the UK since the turn of the century (between 59.4% and 66.1%). And the decisive 2nd round consistently mobilises around 80% of the electorate (between 79.7% in 1995 or 2002 and 83.9% in 2007), which is above the turnout for the last four German Bundestagswahlen (only 71.5% in for Angela Merkel’s third victory in 2013) or even Spain (66.5% in June 2016, down from 69.6% in December 2015).

It remains to be seen whether the voters’ motivation will be as high this time around. For various reasons people may be tempted to spend the four spring Sundays concerned doing other things than walking to one of the over 50,000 polling stations across the country. One of these reasons is the introduction of primaries.

Things used to be fairly simple: you went to the 1st round of the presidential elections in order to vote FOR a person of your ideological preference among a large choice of candidates. Then you went to the 2nd round in order to vote AGAINST the candidate you disliked most. A month later or so you obeyed the new president’s dearest honeymoon wish to bestow him (no ‘her’ so far) with a stable majority in the parliament. Ever since the alignment of the presidential and the legislative elections in 2002, this is how it has happened.

But now, the Americanisation of French politics has led the traditional parties to organise open presidential primaries, presumably with the objective to appear ‘closer to the citizens’ or ‘give people a say’ (any resemblance to referenda in other countries is purely coincidental). The Socialists introduced them at the end of 2011, with two women among the six candidates. It turned out to be a rather successful television event (which is what politics seems to be about nowadays), drawing a 5-million audience. And it fitted surprisingly well with the Socialists’ internal tradition of bringing different sensitivities to a formulation of a common denominator (most often the lowest, but that’s compromise), and compensated for the unexpected ‘dropout’ of frontrunner Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

For Les Républicains, whose first-ever primaries are scheduled end of November, it will be major upheaval. The very idea of having to choose between seven candidates (including only one woman) is in stark contradiction with the Gaullist tradition of the strong, inevitable, providential leader, who engages in a direct dialogue with the French people. During the first debate on 13 October, it was almost touching to watch just how physically difficult it was for Sarkozy to share speaking time with six opponents. It is also not sure to what extent the candidates will be capable of campaigning against each other without totally damaging the one among them they will have to defend and promote over the long months of the presidential campaign.

All primaries have been designed as ‘open’, which means that anyone can vote, provided he/she signs a declaration of sympathy for the ‘values’ of the party concerned (which does not commit you to anything) and a modest fee of couple of Euros. Needless to say that for Les Républicains this opens the door to distortion of the vote by citizens from the left or the extreme right eager to crown the candidate that suits their own agenda best. Under these conditions, it is unsure to what extent loser’s consent will at all prevail. The eternal candidate of the ‘Centre’, François Bayrou (18.6% in the first round of 2007, and still 9.1% in 2012), declined to take part himself and declared his support for Alain Juppé, while announcing he would run against Sarkozy if ever he emerged as winner, which was a serious topic at the second TV debate on 3 November.

The discrepancy between the intention of the primaries – choose a party’s best candidate for the highest office – and their real impact should be troubling for all French citizens. Given the very peculiar circumstances this time around – with the future winner of the Socialist primaries having next to no chance to make it beyond the first round and Marine Le Pen almost certain to be in the run-off without having to campaign particularly hard (and probably having a really good time watching the TV debates) – the winner of the ‘Right and Centre’ primary will most likely be the eighth President of the Fifth Republic.

All this means that the ‘primaries’ really deserve their name, as they turn all the following elections, presidential and legislative, into ‘secondaries’. Which does not mean the ensuing presidential campaign between January and May will be meaningless. Quite the contrary: it will highlight once more all the pitfalls of the system, offering one more diagnosis of everything that is unhealthy about the Fifth Republic and the current state of French politics. As for the therapy, it’s unfortunately not even sure the patient wants to be healed.

Albrecht Sonntag
@albrechtsonntag

This is post # 2 on the French 2017 election marathon.
Previous post here.

 

The post France 2017: The primaries and the secondaries appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Good evening and welcome to the press conference of the November Eurogroup. 

We had a number of different topics, I will just take you through the main issues. We have spent quite some time on the banking sector in Europe, in particular the banking union. We welcomed Danièle Nouy, who is the chair of the ECB Supervisory Board, as you know, and we welcomed Elke König, who is the chair of the Single Resolution Board. They both gave us an update on their work, recent developments in the banking union and the key challenges and priorities for both institutions in the coming months. It was good to hear also from them that the sector, across the board, is in better shape than years ago. Of course there are legacy issues in a number of sectors and institutions which have to be addressed, which are being addressed, but which should not undermine the confidence in the system as a whole as it improves the quality of its standards. We have built a solid banking union framework, we have our rules and we'll use them as agreed and when and where necessary. And of course clear communication on the work going forward is essential. Overall, we commended both institutions for the excellent work that they have been doing so far and the efficient functioning of the banking union. We look forward to talking to them in the Eurogroup again at the beginning of the spring next year. 

Secondly, we got a debrief from the post-programme surveillance in Cyprus and Spain. Regarding Cyprus, we welcomed the positive reports on strong economic recovery, 2.5%-3% economic growth. Good work done by the Cypriot authorities, including in the financial sector. We also took note of the still very high stock of NPLs and the possible risk to the fiscal outlook. We trust that the Cypriot authorities will continue their vigorous efforts to tackle these issues and to keep up the structural reform effort. Under this item, the Eurogroup was also informed by the Cypriot minister about the state of play regarding the possible reunification of Cyprus, with particular attention to economic and financial issues, some of which are of course also relevant for us members of the euro area. We learned about the positive economic effects this process may have, but also realised that adequate and effective preparation, in view of the ground that remains to be covered, is very important. There is a lot of work ahead of us, if and when that process becomes successful in the coming months. We will come back to that topic in a timely manner. 

On Spain, we were briefly informed by the institutions on the outcome of the review mission to Spain, which was limited in scope. Of course we were pleased to learn that Spain has now again a new and effective government. We congratulated Luis de Guindos on his new term. The debrief from the institutions showed on-going strong economic recovery in Spain and stabilisation of the financial sector. We had some discussion on whether the on-going economic recovery was due to the fact that Spain did not have a government. Now it once again has a government. Nonetheless it was good news and we congratulated Luis de Guindos on that. Of course some challenges still remain, not the least with regard to the consolidation of public finances, but we will come back to that later. 

We also returned to the subject of national insolvency frameworks. We have had that discussion a couple of times in the Eurogroup. We got more information from the Commission on where countries stand, on what good experiences there are, what the key factors are. Progress on the front of national insolvency frameworks is crucial for the economic recovery and financial integration within the euro area. We also heard from Danièle Nouy, from the banking supervision, on this topic. They of course have a lot of insight on the practice of legal frameworks related to NPLs. We will return to the topic in the first half of next year, as soon as we have findings from ongoing Commission initiatives to improve data availability in this area, and the Commission will, already in the short term I believe, come forward with a legislative proposal so we can make more progress on this important topic for the Eurozone. 

Then Greece. We briefly took stock of the current situation. The second review is ongoing as you know, cooperation between institutions and the Greek authorities is reported to be fruitful. Progress is being made. Obviously it's in everyone's interest to finalise the second review as soon as possible. At the next meeting of the Eurogroup we will spend more time on Greece. This will be on the 5 December, when we will know more about the work the ESM is doing on the possible debt relief measures for the short term. We will hear more from the ongoing 2nd review to get more sense of some of the important reforms that are part of that. Labour market reform, social system reform, the fiscal trajectory for the coming years, particularly the next years budget and the 2018 budget. All of those works strands will come together at the beginning of December and we will spend some time on that. Of course, with a view on the IMF going to the board before the end of the year which, Poul Thomsen reconfirmed today at the meeting, is still their strong intention. 

We were also debriefed on the state of play on technical assistance to Greece, but I will leave that up to Pierre if he wishes to say more. It was a positive report and we are very grateful to the Commission and the staff of the Commission for all the work done in collaboration with member states. 

Finally, Commissioner Moscovici debriefed us on the ongoing process with the draft budgetary plans. The Commission's opinion will come out on the 16th I believe and then we will have that also on our agenda on the 5 December. We will make an early start in the morning. First we will spend time on the DBPs, then have a short break and in the afternoon continue with our regular meeting on a number of topics, one of which will be Greece as I have mentioned. 

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The EU-Myanmar dialogue takes place in the framework of the ASEM process and of EU-ASEAN meetings.On 23 April 2012, the EU suspended a wide range of trade, economic and individual sanctions against Myanmar, with the exception of an arms embargo.

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The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) is the highest military body set up within the Council. It directs all EU military activities and provides the Political and Security Committee (PSC) with advice and recommendations on military matters.

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The Council presidency, the European Central Bank and the European Commission met with European social partners on 7 November 2016 to discuss the investment plan for Europe with a focus on the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and the third pillar of the plan, aimed at removing barriers that prevent investment.

In his opening statement, Peter Kažimír, minister for finance of Slovakia and president of the Council said: "The European economy continues its moderate but steady recovery. In order to strengthen growth, to create new jobs and safeguard sustainability in the long term, we need to boost both private and public investment. The Investment plan for Europe offers such an investment possibility. To fully utilize the potential of EFSI we have to improve additionality of projects, increase focus on equity financing and ensure greater geographical balance of projects. Our policy response should not stop here. Eliminating investment barriers is as important as anything else if we want to attract necessary private capital."

Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said: "Under the current circumstances, we need to deploy all policy tools - monetary, fiscal and structural - to improve Europe's economic prospects. A continuous dialogue and cooperation with the social partners are needed to get the balance right and maximise the impact of policies on the real economy, in order to boost growth and create new, particularly high-quality jobs."

Speaking on behalf of Europe's SMEs, the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME) secretary general Peter Faross said: "Our latest figures on SMEs show modest growth and some increase in employment. However, SMEs are still reluctant to invest, which is due to low profitability, uncertainty and difficulties to finance innovation and investments. Therefore, the extension of the European investment plan comes at the right moment and we are not surprised about the high up-take of the SME finance window. A prolongation of EFSI is crucial to strengthen the current recovery by providing long-term and risk-taking financial instruments allowing SMEs to innovate and to invest".

Speaking on behalf of the Confederation of European Business, BusinessEurope, director general Markus J. Beyrer commented: "European business expects the EU's economic recovery to continue despite an increasingly challenging international environment. While growing EU consumer demand is helping to drive growth, more needs to be done to address barriers to global trade and falling global trade growth. Although investment is growing, much remains to be done to improve the EU's investment attractiveness in order to close the still significant investment gap compared to pre-crisis levels. So far, the UK's vote to leave the EU appears not to have damaged business confidence, but remains a long-term risk given the profound interconnectedness of the EU and UK economies. We need to maintain economic relations between the EU and the UK as close as possible, but this must not happen at the expense of the integrity of the single market. Cherry picking between the four single market freedoms is not an option."

Speaking on behalf of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Veronica Nilsson, deputy general secretary underlined: "Over the last 40 years, workers have been expected to do more for less. In 26 out of 28 Member States, the share of wages as a proportion of GDP has been decreasing since the 1980s. Workers have had to become more competitive, more flexible and less protected. The result has been a financial, economic and social crisis because of over-financialised economies. Profits have recovered from the crisis but workers have not. Since 2009, Hungary, The Netherlands, Ireland, the UK, Italy, Romania, Denmark, Portugal, Finland and Austria are among the EU countries continuing to experience a gap between wage and productivity at the expense of wage earners. Now is the time for a wage increase for all workers in Europe."

Speaking on behalf of the CEEP, the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services, Valeria Ronzitti, general secretary said: "The European economy needs a strong impetus.  After years of crisis we finally see positive signs of stabilisation for our growth and on the employment front. However, this is not enough for us to face the challenges of changing societies, linked to globalisation, digitalisation, the modernisation of labour markets and demographic ageing. For CEEP, supporting a strong investment policy remains key: from the EU level with the strengthening of the EFSI and from the national level with new support measures for public and private investment to boost productivity and employment. To accomplish our common objectives, we must also address the paradox between fiscal consolidation processes and the relaunch of the economy. This implies undertaking an honest and non-ideological review of the stability and growth pact to leave space for new investments in our public infrastructures."

EFSI managing director Wilhelm Molterer said: “Continuing our work to support investments in the real economy remains essential if we aim at improving the economic outlook in the EU. The investment plan for Europe, and EFSI in particular, are delivering on their goal to boost investments for growth and jobs. EFSI is already expected to mobilize close to €140bn in new investments in all key sectors of the economy. The EIB independent evaluation confirmed that EFSI is well on track to meet its ambitious target and highlighted that in fact all three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe are critical. To be a success, EFSI needs progress to be achieved especially on the plan's third pillar, which aims to address the remaining barriers to investment both at EU and member states level.”

The views cited in this text are those of the individual or organisation concerned and do not collectively constitute the point of view of the Council or the European Council.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

A big question was asked in many EU capitals after the British referendum on 23 June: would Eurosceptic voters in other countries demand similar votes, risking the whole European project?

Denmark was one of the countries analysts expected would be most easily inspired by the Brexit vote – not only in terms of demand for a referendum, but also for wanting to leave the EU. The Danes entered the European Economic Community with the Brits in 1973, and has since been a close ally of the United Kingdom (certainly in terms of votes in the Council of Ministers). Denmark has voted against EU treaties several times in the past, leaving it with four opt-outs. Like Britain, it is one of the EU’s most reluctant players. Take into consideration the political climate in Denmark over the past five years or so, with its centre-right and centre-left parties increasingly affected by the popularity of the highly-Eurosceptic Danish People’s Party (DPP), and the idea that the Danes may leave too, or at least demand a referendum, isn’t so far-fetched.

The EU policies of Danish centrist parties over the past half decade have been characterised by a fear of losing votes to the Eurosceptic extremes, both on the Left and the Right. The DPP in particular has been able to set out an authoritative Eurosceptic agenda. It has forced the more moderate liberals, conservatives and Social Democrats to swing in that direction. The landslide
victory of Morten Messerschmidt, who won a record 465,000 personal votes as the DPP’s top candidate in the 2014 European Parliament elections, pushed the moderates even further towards
Eurosceptic rhetoric and positions.

So the idea that the Danes could push for their own referendum was not entirely unrealistic. In the months leading up to the British vote, several surveys showed a substantial part of the Danish
electorate wanted a similar remain-or-leave poll: 40% were in favour of a referendum, while 45% were against (although these surveys also suggested that a majority of Danes actually preferred
to stay in the EU). But what is even more telling is that after the British voted to leave the EU, the number in favour of a referendum dropped to only 32%.

EU-friendly sentiments have had proven strength in other polls too. In a post-Brexit referendum survey asking whether people fully support EU membership, 70% of Danish voters answered positively. The same tendency has been apparent in Sweden and the Netherlands. Contrary to what was predicted by many doomsayers, few European voters have been won over by the
Brexiteers’ victory. A Eurobarometer poll published in July suggests that the free movement of people, goods and services is viewed as the most positive result of the EU, and no country other than Britain registered less than 68% support for the principle of freedom of movement. In Denmark, this continued support for the EU has meant the Unity List – the country’s most left-wing party – is now alone in making a rather lacklustre request for a Danish referendum.

“Contrary to what was predicted by many doomsayers, few European voters have been won over by the Brexiteers’ victory”

Though Danish Eurosceptic sentiments have cooled in the aftermath of the UK vote, the British situation may still pose challenges for Denmark’s EU policy. The issue is delicate, as shown by the government’s first reaction to the result. It very quickly dismissed any prospect of a similar referendum in Denmark, but also rushed to emphasise the need for reform of the EU. So far, the government can count on the support of the Social Democrats, but the pro-EU social liberals – the Radical Left – are critical of the government’s recurrent signals of wanting to diminish EU powers in a bid to accommodate sceptics. There is little doubt that the DPP will be watching the Brexit negotiations intently, and in time may use them and their outcome to stir up fresh Euroscepticism or raise new demands with the pro-EU majority in the Danish Parliament.

Denmark’s Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has stressed that securing Danish interests when negotiating the UK’s exit will be a top priority, but keeping Britain as a close ally will also be a plus for Denmark. The balancing act for the Danish government will be to secure a favourable deal for Britain but not make it attractive enough for Danish Eurosceptics to gain a new impetus in their push for a referendum. It’s also important to stress that Denmark is greatly concerned about an EU without the British. The UK is one of Denmark’s principle trading partners and an important EU ally on issues such as trade and social policy.

Nevertheless, there are important differences between the two countries. Denmark has never felt quite as detached from the continent as the UK has. In fact, Germany is becoming increasingly
popular among Danes, who are buying real estate in Berlin like never before. These days, Danes probably feel more attached to northern Europe than to the British Isles.

It would be wrong to suggest that Europe’s leaders have nothing to fear from Denmark or elsewhere, or that there are no lessons to be learnt from the British decision to leave the EU. There is still
dissatisfaction to be found in many parts of the European public. But what the polls suggest, at least for now, is that European electorates aren’t tempted by the unpredictable impulsiveness of
Brexit and the post-referendum chaos playing out in Westminster and beyond. To put it differently, Europe’s voters may want to reform the EU, sometimes drastically, but they want to work with
what they already have.

IMAGE CREDIT: CC / FLICKR – Jacob Bøtter

The post “Dexit” off the table as Danish Euroscepticism abates appeared first on Europe’s World.

General : The three films competing for this year's Lux Film Prize are coming to a cinema near you: À peine j’ouvre les yeux (As I Open My Eyes), Ma vie de courgette (My Life As a Courgette) and Toni Erdmann. Don't miss the chance to watch them and let us know which one is your favourite. MEPs will determine the winner of this year's Lux Prize, which will be announced later this year. Read on to find how you can watch the short-listed films.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The three films competing for this year's Lux Film Prize are coming to a cinema near you: À peine j’ouvre les yeux (As I Open My Eyes), Ma vie de courgette (My Life As a Courgette) and Toni Erdmann. Don't miss the chance to watch them and let us know which one is your favourite. MEPs will determine the winner of this year's Lux Prize, which will be announced later this year. Read on to find how you can watch the short-listed films.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

EFTA economic and finance ministers and ECOFIN ministers held their annual meeting to discuss economic, financial and political items of common interest.  In the context of the moderate economic recovery in Europe, they focused their discussion on the appropriate policy strategy to strengthen economic growth and employment, with an emphasis on boosting subdued investments across the continent.

"We held a very useful exchange of views with our partners from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland about the current economic situation and investment environment in Europe. Well-functioning cooperation is vital for both sides in our quest to spur economic growth and boost investment activity, both private and public, in Europe."

Peter Kažimír, Slovakia's finance minister and the president of the Council

Whilst recognising the EFTA countries' investments are close to pre-crisis level, all parties acknowledged the importance of policies aimed at boosting investment levels in Europe. In this area, structural reforms to enhance productivity and remove investment barriers, sound financial regulation aimed at channelling savings into investment projects and completion of the single market were emphasised by ministers. The EU's investment plan for Europe was seen as an important driver of such policy efforts.

The ministers also recognised the significant level of interdependence between the EU and EFTA economies. An economic downturn in one group of countries can have an immediate knock-on effect on other parts of Europe. The EU and EFTA therefore don't see each other as "third" countries, but as neighbours with the same important economic challenges and priorities. Brexit only provides more impetus to that agenda.

Place:        Justus Lipsius building, Brussels
Chair:        Peter Kažimír, Minister for finance of Slovakia

All times are approximate and subject to change.

from 07.30
Arrivals (live streaming)

+/- 08.15
Doorstep by Minister Kažimír

+/- 08.30
Ministerial dialogue with the EFTA countries (Roundtable)

+/- 09.30
Ministerial breakfast (Roundtable)

+/- 10.30
Beginning of the Council meeting
Adoption of the agenda

Approval of legislative A items (public session)

Building a fair, competitive and stable corporate tax system for the EU (public session)

Anti-Money Laundering Directive (public session)

Any other business - Current financial service legislative proposals (public session)

Approval of non-legislative A items

Statistics

ECA's annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the financial year 2015

Implementation of the Banking Union

Packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs)

Criteria and process leading to the establishment of the EU list of non cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

Any other business

At the end of the meeting
Press conference (live streaming)

In the margins of the Council

Monday 7 November
15.00          Eurogroup

Tuesday 8 November 2016
08.30   Ministerial dialogue with the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries
09.30   Ministerial breakfast