European Union

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : From Brexit and the economy, to the migration crisis and the terrorism threat, Europe is facing many challenges. The annual State of the EU debate on 14 September is an opportunity for MEPs to discuss the direction for the EU to take with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Read on to find out what political group leaders expect and how you can follow it yourself.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : From Brexit and the economy, to the migration crisis and the terrorism threat, Europe is facing many challenges. The annual State of the EU debate on 14 September is an opportunity for MEPs to discuss the direction for the EU to take with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Read on to find out what political group leaders expect and how you can follow it yourself.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Francois Hollande’s rentrée speech yesterday was first and foremost a feel-good exercise. For an hour, the French socialist president, whom nearly 90 per cent of the French do not want to see running for a second term next year, was surrounded by true friends – zero risk of betrayal à la Emmanuel Macron.

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Media coverage of the European Union is key to understand the mainstreaming of Euroscepticism in Europe and its impact on democracy in old and new member states.

The UK referendum made the headlines of newspapers throughout the world. Croatia, the EU’s newest member state, was not an exception. “Should I stay or should I go?” asked the daily Slobodna Dalmacija on June 23, while the tabloid 24sata quoted a YouGov poll that predicted a victory of the “remain” camp with 52% against 48%.

The increased coverage of the final week before the UK referendum contrasted with the typically rather modest coverage of British politics by the Croatian media. In fact, even after the meeting between David Cameron and former Prime-Minister Zoran Milanovic in October 2015, Brexit was still only sporadically mentioned. The focus of national local media remained largely on domestic matters, economic relations and the support to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership bid.

Picture 1: “Could Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urge non-Eurozone states to adopt the common currency? Croatia is not ready yet.”

A press release from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs published in February 2016 summarised Croatia’s position regarding Brexit: concessions made to Westminster would require “concrete solutions” from the EU, as put by Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic. The institutional crisis triggered by Brexit could slow down the accession of Balkan countries, which would go against Croatia’s economic interests. Zagreb could also face a severe political crisis if the Commission pushes for a fast enlargement of the Eurozone and for the adoption of austerity measures (Picture 1).

Croatia’s road to membership to the EU has its roots in 2000, when a reformist coalition rose to power following the death of President Franjo Tudjman, from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). A year later the Parliament launched a communication strategy aimed at informing the public about the integration process and how it could strengthen Croatia’s sovereignty.

Graph 1: Visibility of the EU in Croatian media since 2004

Public attitudes towards accession have varied depending on the status of the negotiations and coverage of EU affairs by the Croatian press (Graph 1). The overwhelming support for membership in the early 2000s gave way to rising Euroscepticism once negotiations began, and reached its lowest point in 2005, when talks were delayed because of failure to cooperate with the UN war Crimes Tribunal (ICTY). At that time, only 42% of the population believed that membership would be beneficial to Croatia. In order to respond to this trend, the government launched a second communication strategy to convey “realistic optimism” concerning Croatia’s future. The strategy highlighted the economic, social and political benefits of the EU in various policy areas – agriculture, rural development, public administration and judiciary system – and targeted specific groups such as civil society organisations, local governments, farmers and recipients of social benefits.

The accession process, which involved not only economic and trade matters, but also cooperation with other former Yugoslavian republics and the ICTY, was concluded in 2011 after seven years of negotiations. EU membership was approved by referendum on 22 January 2012 (66.27% against 33.13%), despite the low turnout (43.51%), and on 1st July 2013 Croatia became the 28th EU member state.

British and Croatian Euroscepticism
Limited knowledge about the EU, distrust in politicians, and worsening of economic and social indicators are key issues that contribute to the spread of Euroscepticism across Europe. However, this phenomenon affects member states in different ways. Media coverage is an important factor in understanding how public opinion about the EU is formed. EU communication strategy still tends to be perceived as excessively technical and inaccessible to citizens, thus contributing to the perception that the EU does not work in favour of its citizens.

Table 1: Awareness of EU institutions

The 2004 enlargement presented an opportunity for the EU to come closer to citizens. In the new member states, considerable effort has been placed on informing audiences about the opportunities brought up by EU membership. Poor knowledge of the EU remains a problem, but awareness of EU institutions has significantly increased since negotiations started (Table 1).

The same trend is not observed in the UK. In 2004, 75% of British citizens knew about the European Commission, while the EU average was 80%. Ten years later, the British public are the least aware of the Commission (75% against 84% EU average), despite the fact that 8 out of 10 adults use the internet on a daily basis.

Graph 2: Positive image of the EU over time: Croatia and UK compared

To large part of the British public, the EU is associated with the financial crisis, which explains the growing awareness of the European Central Bank (ECB), and also a rather negative attitude towards the EU. Contrary to Croatia, EU enlargement has been reported in the UK as a source of instability, and a threat to national identity. As a result, progress in the negotiations with candidate countries have reinforced the image of the EU in the former, but led to higher levels of mistrust in the latter (Graph2).

National media in Croatia also reacts differently to the outcome of negotiations with the EU. Whenever Zagreb and Brussels reached a deadlock, EU affairs became less prominent in the media, as in the impasse regarding cooperation with the ICTY in 2005-2006. When disputes were resolved – such as the 2009 arbitration concerning the border with Slovenia and the agreement on Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zones (ZERP) with Italy and Slovenia – EU integration became more salient in the media. In the UK, by contrast, media coverage increases whenever there is a conflict between the interests of the UK and those of other member states or those of the EU. These relations are generally framed in the media as a zero-sum game; the EU is presented as an obstacle to national interests, and the main one to blame for deterioration of the “British Way of Life”. The side-lining of experts’ advice and the extensive discourse around the idea of taking back control over policy-making led to the victory of the “leave” camp in the UK referendum. “Remainers” seem to have learned very little from the French “non” in 2005 and from the Dutch opposition to the association agreement with Ukraine last April. Pro-EU forces from various British parties have been unable to coordinate themselves and use mass media portray the overall benefits from EU membership that go beyond financial advantages.

It is unlikely that relations between Croatia and the UK will suffer major changes following the Brexit vote, as the economic and cultural ties between the countries have not developed significantly over the last ten years. Brexit, however, represents a challenge for the EU to act as cohesive actor. Populism and anti-immigrant sentiment are rising throughout Europe, which could be a destabilizing force in the coming years. Communication strategies remain of vital importance in informing citizens – most notably young cohorts, who show lower levels of political participation worldwide – about the potential benefits of the EU (as well as of its problems), and about how they can have an active role in the European project.

The post Euroscepticism in Old and New Member States: The Role of the Media in the United Kingdom and Croatia appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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EU Finance Ministers of the eurozone meet in Bratislava on 9 September 2016.

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The European Parliament should give its consent to the ratification of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, recommended Environment Committee MEPs on Thursday. They also urged all EU member states to conclude the ratification process, to ensure its rapid entry into force. In a separate resolution, they also called on the EU to upgrade its emission reduction pledges, so as to close the gap between the individual targets agreed by the Parties and the Paris goals.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The European Parliament should give its consent to the ratification of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, recommended Environment Committee MEPs on Thursday. They also urged all EU member states to conclude the ratification process, to ensure its rapid entry into force. In a separate resolution, they also called on the EU to upgrade its emission reduction pledges, so as to close the gap between the individual targets agreed by the Parties and the Paris goals.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The EU’s budget has been criticised for years for relying too much on member states’ contributions and for being too inflexible when unexpected crises occur. MEPs discussed the issue with their national counterparts during a conference on how to finance the EU's budget on 7-8 September. Most panellists agreed that a reform was necessary to ensure more transparency and efficiency.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The EU’s budget has been criticised for years for relying too much on member states’ contributions and for being too inflexible when unexpected crises occur. MEPs discussed the issue with their national counterparts during a conference on how to finance the EU's budget on 7-8 September. Most panellists agreed that a reform was necessary to ensure more transparency and efficiency.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Brussels is pressing on with a plan to bulk up the EU’s military capability. The FT’s European diplomatic correspondent Arthur Beesley broke the story.

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General : The Conference of Presidents today appointed Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, BE) as European Parliament point man for Brexit negotiations.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The Conference of Presidents today appointed Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, BE) as European Parliament point man for Brexit negotiations.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy (UK) v Commission
Competition
The General Court of the European Union confirms the fines of almost €150 million imposed on several undertakings in the context of an infringement intended to delay the marketing of generic versions of the antidepressant citalopram

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The EU and Australia are like-minded partners who see increasingly eye-to-eye on key international issues.  Relations are founded on strong historical and cultural links.  The EU-Australia Partnership Framework, adopted at the annual Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in Paris on 29 October 2008, provides a solid and up-to-date basis for the bilateral relationship in the years to come. 

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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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Albania is a candidate country following the Brussels European Council of June 2014. The country became a potential candidate country for EU accession following the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003. On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted a new European partnership with Albania. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)  with the country entered into force on 1 April 2009.

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Good afternoon. I am very happy to be back in Riga. In fact, it is my third visit here since becoming President of the European Council. I wish to thank Prime Minister Kučinskis for his warm welcome.

Today we will discuss the prospects for our summit next week in Bratislava. I am convinced that the summit must be about bringing back political control of our common future. And that it must be about bringing back a strong sense of political community.

It is a clear lesson from the outcome of the referendum in the UK - but one which is equally valid across Europe: people are worried about the phenomena which seem to be out of control - migration, terrorism, external threats, or the negative consequences of globalisation. We have to confront those issues and demonstrate our determination, and our capacity, to ensure on the one hand the openness of Europe, while on the other the protection of our citizens. Much of this is under the responsibility of Member States, but the EU can assist them. The European Union must help provide a renewed sense of security and stability to Europeans.

Earlier today I was in London, where I met Prime Minister May. I informed her of our meeting in Bratislava, and she informed me of the current thinking in the British government regarding Brexit.

I know that Brexit is a particular concern for Latvia, because so many of your citizens reside in the UK. Our goal is clear: to establish the closest possible relations between the EU and the UK. It is obvious that, once the negotiations begin, securing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK will also be a key objective for us. And it is equally clear that our future relationship with the UK requires a balance of rights and obligations - any access to the Single Market must be based on the four freedoms, including the freedom of movement.

But the negotiations cannot begin until the UK activates the process for withdrawal. Article 50 of the Treaty is very clear. In fact, it is there to protect the interests of the countries remaining in the EU. I told Prime Minister May that I am convinced that it is in everyone's best interest that we start negotiations soon, to reduce and eventually end the uncertainty. Thank you. 

Thank you Prime Minister for having me here today in London, at such a crucial time, both for the UK and for the European Union.

My intention is to tell you about the agenda of the Bratislava meeting of 27 leaders next week. We decided to organise this informal meeting to discuss and to assess the political consequences of Brexit for the EU community. This doesn't mean that we are going to discuss our future relations with the UK in Bratislava. For this, and especially for the start of the negotiations, we need your formal notification, I mean Article 50. And this is the position shared by all 27 Member States.

To put it simply, the ball is now in your court. I am aware that it is not easy, but I still hope you will be ready to start the process as soon as possible. But I am convinced that at the end of the day our common strategy goal will be to establish the best possible relations between the UK and the European Union.