European Union

The Eurogroup is fully committed to supporting economic growth and jobs and holds regular thematic discussions to explore and define common policy ambitions to this end. 

Investment in the euro area still shows signs of weakness, especially in Member States heavily hit by the crisis. At its meeting on 11 July 2016, the Eurogroup highlighted that addressing barriers to investment is a clear priority for euro area Member States. Investment is explicitly addressed in the 2017 Council recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area as well as in the 2016 Country-Specific Recommendations for several euro area Member States. 

The Eurogroup considers that addressing investment weaknesses can increase the convergence of Member States' economies and foster the rebalancing process, thereby improving the resilience of the economic and monetary union. In this regard, the Eurogroup acknowledges the importance of EU-level initiatives, which are of specific relevance for the euro area, inter alia the Investment Plan, further deepening the Single Market and building a fully-fledged Capital Markets Union. At national level, further efforts should be made to improve the conditions for investment, not least to reap the full benefits of these initiatives. 

The Eurogroup thus endorses the following common principles, which should guide initiatives at Member State level when implementing reforms in this field: 

Reforms should aim at promoting private investment and facilitating resource reallocation. Improving the business environment and the quality of public administration and addressing sector-specific bottlenecks will contribute to making product markets more reactive and flexible. These efforts should be complemented by labour market policies aiming at facilitating geographical, sectoral and occupational mobility. 

Productivity enhancing public investment can play a crucial role and should be prioritised to boost growth in the short run as well as potential growth in the medium to long run, while ensuring full compliance with the SGP. In particular, investment in network infrastructure can have an important impact on growth and productivity. Public investment can also be mobilised to leverage private investment. In addition, fostering knowledge-intensive and sustainable growth, including via subsidies and incentives for investment in R&D and improvements in the quality of education can help increase the returns on investment. 

Market-based sources of business financing should be developed to widen the range of available forms of financing. The availability of non-bank sources of financing - including venture capital, crowdfunding and market-based finance - can improve the resilience of euro area firms, and in particular SMEs, when confronted with an adverse shock and provide new opportunities for cross-border activities. 

Reforms to support investment should be complemented by flanking policies aiming at improving the quality and governance of public institutions. This includes measures for an effective judicial system and insolvency framework, fighting corruption and promoting more transparent, open and efficient public procurement.

The Eurogroup also approves these common principles as a reference point for reviewing national reform efforts. These will help Member States identify examples of policy successes and also help address investment weaknesses for euro area Member States, whilst taking due account of country-specific situations. The Eurogroup thus invites the Commission to assess developments in this field within its usual surveillance processes, with a view to allowing periodic monitoring by the Eurogroup, including in the context of the discussions on the Council recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area. The Eurogroup also invites its preparatory committees and the Commission to develop an exchange of best practices across a selected number of relevant areas. The Eurogroup expects to revisit this workstream and examine the feasibility of developing appropriate benchmarking in this area on the basis of progress achieved at technical level.

Plenary sessions : MEPs overwhelmingly approved a resolution setting out Parliament's priorities for the negotiations concerning the UK's withdrawal from the EU during this week's plenary session in Strasbourg. In addition MEPs urged European authorities to establish new checks to prevent car emissions fraud and also approved stricter rules to ensure the safety of medical devices as well as plans to enable more flexibility regarding the EU's long-term budget.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs overwhelmingly approved a resolution setting out Parliament's priorities for the negotiations concerning the UK's withdrawal from the EU during this week's plenary session in Strasbourg. In addition MEPs urged European authorities to establish new checks to prevent car emissions fraud and also approved stricter rules to ensure the safety of medical devices as well as plans to enable more flexibility regarding the EU's long-term budget.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk received the letters of credentials of the following Ambassadors:

H.E. Mr Od Och Head of the Mission of Mongolia to the European Union
H.E. Mr Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Khulaifi, Head of the Mission of the State of Qatar to the European Union
H.E. Mrs Jacqueline Marie Zaba /Nikiema,  Head of the Mission of Burkina Faso to the European Union 
H.E. Mr Raúl Fernandez Daza, Head of Mission of Chile to the European Union
H.E. Mrs Julia Emma Villatoro Tario, Head of Mission of the Republic of El Salvador to the European Union

DRAFT REPORT on EU political relations with India
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Cristian Dan Preda

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The EU condemns in the strongest terms the air strike that hit the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province on 4 April 2017, which has had horrific consequences, causing the deaths and injuries of scores of civilians including children and relief workers, with many victims displaying symptoms of gas poisoning.

The EU urges the United Nations Security Council to come together, strongly condemn the attack on Khan Sheikhoun and ensure a swift, independent and impartial investigation of the attack.

The OPCW's Fact Finding Mission (FFM) is in the process of gathering and analysing information from all available sources. While the investigation into this attack is ongoing, the EU is deeply worried to note that the Syrian regime has previously used chemical weapons in 2015, as identified in the August and October reports of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism, and which the EU strongly condemned at the time. In this context, the EU reiterates that as a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Syrian regime has explicitly obligated itself to refrain from the use of chemical weapons and that the Syrian regime has the primary responsibility for the protection of the Syrian population. The EU therefore calls on the regime's allies, notably Russia, to exercise appropriate pressure on the Syrian regime to this end.

The use of chemical weapons or chemical substances as weapons amounts to a war crime. Their use in Syria, including by the regime and Da'esh, must stop and identified perpetrators must be held accountable for this violation of international law.

Those guilty of violations of international law and the use of chemical weapons have to be sanctioned accordingly. In March, the EU added 4 high-ranking Syrian military officials to the sanctions list for their role in the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population, in line with the EU's policy to fight the proliferation and use of chemical weapons.

The EU will continue to support the efforts of the OPCW in Syria with regard to the investigation of the use of chemical weapons and considers that such efforts have to be continued in the future by the international community.

This attack constitutes a flagrant violation of the ceasefire. It underlines the urgent need for a real and verified ceasefire. The EU calls on Russia, Turkey and Iran to live up to their commitments as guarantors in this regard.

Attacks of this kind only reinforce the urgent need for a genuine political transition in Syria and the EU's will to support UN efforts to broker a political solution to the Syrian conflict through the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, as reaffirmed at the International Conference "Supporting the future of Syria and the region" that the EU hosted in Brussels on 5 April 2017.

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Senegal and the EU have developped a close partnership which includes a structured political dialogue, strong trade relations, a fisheries agreement, and technical and financial cooperation in support of the country’s populations. It involves a sustained partnership as much with government authorities and public institutions as with civil society and the private sector.

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Plenary sessions : The European Commission and most EU countries failed to prevent car manufacturers from cheating emissions test, according to the final report by Parliament's inquiry committee investigating the car emissions scandal. It was set up in December 2015, a few months after Volkswagen admitted to falsifying test results in their diesel cars. In the report adopted on 4 April, MEPs propose a set of measures to prevent dishonest practices by car manufacturers in the future.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : The European Commission and most EU countries failed to prevent car manufacturers from cheating emissions test, according to the final report by Parliament's inquiry committee investigating the car emissions scandal. It was set up in December 2015, a few months after Volkswagen admitted to falsifying test results in their diesel cars. In the report adopted on 4 April, MEPs propose a set of measures to prevent dishonest practices by car manufacturers in the future.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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EU Finance Ministers of the eurozone are meeting on 7 April 2017 in Valletta to be briefed on progress achieved in the second review of Greece's economic adjustment programme and on the second post-programme review in Cyprus. It is discussing how to boost investment in the euro area and hearing annual reports by the banking union's supervisory and resolution authorities.

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Plenary sessions : New rules allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA) to share private data with other US agencies without court oversight, recent revelations about surveillance activities by a US electronic communications service provider and vacancies on US oversight bodies are among the concerns raised by MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : New rules allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA) to share private data with other US agencies without court oversight, recent revelations about surveillance activities by a US electronic communications service provider and vacancies on US oversight bodies are among the concerns raised by MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

DRAFT REPORT containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Cuba, of the other part
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Elena Valenciano

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

DRAFT RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Cuba, of the other part
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Elena Valenciano

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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Few expected the professors of Budapest’s Central European University to push back so strongly when their turn came in the form of a bill rushed through parliament on Tuesday, which may force its closure.

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Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Ukrainian citizens will be exempted from EU short-stay visa requirements, after Parliament endorsed an informal deal with the Council on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Ukrainian citizens will be exempted from EU short-stay visa requirements, after Parliament endorsed an informal deal with the Council on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : The new EU Solidarity Corps (ECS) initiative, which aims to create 100,000 volunteering and job placement opportunities for young people, needs proper legislation and funding, say MEPS in a resolution passed on Thursday. Its funding should under no circumstances be at the expense of the Erasmus+ or other EU programmes, they add.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP