European Union

Tecom Mican and Arias Domínguez
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The Court defines for the first time the concept of extrajudicial documents of which the formal transmission to addressees residing in another Member State is necessary

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Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

‘Mein Europa’ – ‘My Europe’ – the book published by Helmut Schmidt only two years ago, was not a new monograph, but a collection of different publications and speeches on European integration. It spans a lifetime – from his very first article about cooperation in a not yet existing community dating from June 1948 to his editorials about the crisis-ridden Union of the 21st century published in Die Zeit.

‘His Europe’ was not a love affair. With the pragmatic realism that the Germans automatically identify with his beloved city Hamburg and therefore refer to as ‘hanseatic’, he often pointed out that there was no need to be a ‘European idealist’. For him it was perfectly sufficient to see just how much it has always been and still is in the ‘strategic interest’ of the Federal Republic of Germany to remain a staunch defender of European integration. He had a deep intellectual and personal admiration for Jean Monnet, and he shared the Frenchman’s belief in the ‘essential rationality of people’. Asked for a wish at the occasion of his 95th anniversary last year, he said ‘My wish is that the Germans understand that the European Union must be completed – rather than putting ourselves above it’.

He also never forgot what the young Federal Republic owed to Europe’s founding fathers: ‘In 1950, the Schuman Plan appeared to me as an undeserved stroke of luck for Germany’, he wrote in his 2008 memoirs entitled ‘Off duty’. While he had, as an anglophile from Northern Germany, much greater cultural affinity with Britain and the English language than with his French neighbours, he never tired of reminding his successors to keep in mind that they should do ‘nothing without France!’ And he cultivated, over almost half a century, a somewhat surprising friendship with Valéry Giscard d’Estaing based on mutual esteem and trust, despite their obvious differences in temper and upbringing.

Like his friend, with whom he institutionalised the European Council and introduced the European Monetary System, he was always tempted to criticise the lack of leadership in today’s EU. But he recognised of course that an EEC of nine member states, which had already been sufficiently difficult to manage, was a piece of cake compared to today’s Union of 28. With the freedom of thought of the elder statesman he repeatedly called for a ‘Putsch’ of the European Parliament in order to shake up an institutional framework he considered no longer appropriate.

Helmut Schmidt was the first German chancellor I voted for in 1980. Some of the convictions he represented at that time have been a guidance ever since. The firm belief that the greatest accomplishment of post-war Europe is the welfare state, for instance. Or the will not to put his sharp intelligence in the service of an ideology or party line, but to find strong ethical foundations in a few non-negotiable, fundamental values: ‘freedom’, ‘justice’ and ‘solidarity’, as he summed them up in his own lexical update of the French revolution’s legacy.

It is a sad coincidence that Helmut Schmidt, a lifelong friend of Britain and promotor of the UK’s role in the European Union, passed away on the same day when the British prime minister defiantly throws his four-point letter on the table. At the same time there is also some ironical comfort in the fact that Cameron’s letter and speech were entirely eclipsed in the German news by the memories of a great statesman. It’s a good lesson: the ones you remember fondly are those who stand up and defend their beliefs in adversity, those who contribute to daring undertakings rather than sulk in their corner. One of my favourites quotes in class when I speak about the creation of the European Union is the one from Shakespeare’s Julius Cesar with which Helmut Schmidt concluded his elegant speech at the Labour conference of November 1974 in Brighton:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full tide are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

His Europe was one that took the current when it served, rather than losing its ventures.

Albrecht Sonntag, EU-Asia Institute,
ESSCA School of Management.
@Essca_Eu_Asia

The post His Europe appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

The EU referendum campaign is going to get ‘nasty’, promised those pushing for Britain to leave the EU.

In a taste of what’s to come, two Eurosceptic students interrupted a speech by Prime Minister, David Cameron, at a CBI conference yesterday, yelling, “CBI! Voice of Brussels”.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the ‘Vote Leave’ campaign is “now gearing up for 12 months of protest, including disrupting the meetings of pro-EU companies and organisations.”

Their campaign director, Dominic Cummings, was reported to say:

“You think it’s nasty – you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

He promised a “guerrilla-style war” against pro-EU bodies and companies and said, “These guys have failed the country, they are going to be under the magnifying glass. Tough s**t.”

The two students who disrupted the Prime Minister’s speech obtained passes to the conference by setting up a fake company and website, reported The Telegraph.

The CBI has repeatedly been a target of Eurosceptics because they undertake paid research for the European Union.

In a Parliamentary debate earlier this year, Eurosceptic Tory MP, Bernard Jenkin, claimed that the CBI received funds from the European Union, “presumably to promote the EU.”

Added Eurosceptic Tory MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg: “We know that the CBI is in part funded by Europe. It is therefore under an obligation either to return that money or to support the objectives of the European Union.”

But the CBI robustly rejected the allegations.

Their Director of Campaigns, Andy Bagnall, told me, “We strongly refute these misleading claims. The EU debate has a long way to go and both sides must base their arguments on the facts if they are to have any value at all.”

Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s Director of Economics, added that the organisation competitively tenders to provide the EU with economic data and that this represented just 0.6% of the CBI’s total annual income.

She told me, “The CBI is under no obligation to promote the EU. We speak on behalf of our 190,000 members who employ nearly 7 million people and while the majority wish to remain within a reformed EU, we do not shy away from criticising aspects of European legislation where necessary.

And Ken Clarke, former Justice Secretary and a co-President of British Influence, wrote to say:

“It is really absurd for hard-line Eurosceptics to argue that the CBI is being bribed by Brussels to support British membership of the EU. Anyone who knows any number of senior businessmen knows that the vast majority strongly believe in the benefits of membership.”

According to the latest opinion polls, Britain is split right down the middle on whether the country should remain a member of the European Union or leave. A poll by Survation for the Daily Mail this autumn revealed that the electorate was 51/49 against Britain’s continued membership of the EU.

The poll revealed a stark difference to a poll by Ipso Mori at the beginning of the summer, which claimed that 75% of British people were in favour of Britain’s continued membership of the EU, with only 25% wanting to leave.

That’s all now changed, according to some commentators, because of Europe’s mishandling of the refugee crisis.

The new poll revealed that if the “current migration crisis gets worse”, 22% of those wanting Britain to ‘Remain’ in the EU might switch to the ‘Leave’ campaign.

So there is everything to play for by both sides of the campaign. If the new poll is right, neither side currently has enough support for a decisive win, so both sides will have to work harder. No wonder things are getting desperate.

But is ‘getting nasty’ the way to win hearts and minds, and most importantly, votes? Wouldn’t a more calm, considered and edifying debate, where both sides listen carefully and politely to both sides of the argument, be in the best interests of the country?

After all, whether Britain remains in the EU or leaves, we’ll all still have to live with each other after the referendum result is announced.

So wouldn’t it be better for the referendum campaign to be civil, rather than to become a civil war?

*Join the discussion about this article on Facebook.

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Related stories by Jon Danzig:

• Many most affected by the EU referendum will have no vote
• The rich who want Britain out of Europe
• There must be 50 ways to leave your party

To receive regular updates on this and other ongoing stories, please click the ‘Like’ button on my new Facebook page: Jon Danzig Writes

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The post EU Referendum: ‘It’s going to get nasty’ appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

AMENDMENTS 1 - 255 - Draft report on the Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2014 and the European Union’s policy on the matter
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

It is a pleasure to be here in this newly built parliament, a fresh and solid expression of a proud democracy. In fact, it is the first national parliament that I have addressed as President of the European Council. Thank you again for the invitation.  

Malta has always been at the crossroads of European history. This was true in the Great Siege of 1565 and also during the pivotal defence of this nation in World War II. Today, it is again true - although in quite a different way - in this new age of great migrations. And that is why Valletta is a particularly fitting place for African and European leaders to meet this week to begin really managing the disruptive and dynamic migration phenomenon through a rekindled partnership.  

I want to first of all thank Prime Minister Muscat. Following the tragic mass drownings at sea last April, he immediately offered to host what I hope will be an historic conference of African and European leaders this week. The Maltese authorities have been tireless, professional and highly effective in working with us on the preparations. Thank you for your hospitality and selflessness. We are in your debt.  

I also want to thank Malta for its assistance in tackling the refugee crisis whether it is supporting the work of the European Asylum Support Office here in Valletta, contributing to the hotspots in Greece and Italy or participating in the rescue missions across the Mediterranean. As a direct result of our collective actions, thousands of people were saved at sea this year who would otherwise have been lost. EU governments are reviewing over a million asylum applications between them, an all-time record number that would test any developed democracy. European leaders have helped to end donor fatigue to the World Food Programme and UN agencies to ensure that the basic needs of refugees in and around Syria are met.   

Nevertheless, there is still much more to do and we are under incredible pressure of events. Implementation of the actions the European Union has agreed at five summits this year devoted to tackling migration issues needs to be speeded up. This is why European leaders will also meet separately on Thursday to review where we are with our internal European efforts and in our contacts with Turkey.

The single most significant global development in the last century is that humanity has increased four times over, including in Africa. According to UN projections, the African population is set to double over the next 35 years, and then keep growing at this rate. With the enlargement of the Schengen area in 2007, Europe has only recently regained a freedom to travel internally that has not existed since the outbreak of the First World War. We have seen recently how this newly regained freedom remains fragile in many respects. These realities - alongside the deteriorating security situation in many Middle Eastern and African countries - are testing Europe's internal solidarity today. Facing them will challenge and change the European Union as fundamentally as any treaty amendment, national election, or monetary crisis.

With our African partners, we have a shared challenge which is much more profound than a refugee crisis. It is long-term, structural, deeply rooted in the economic situation of Africa where even economic growth does not entail immediate job creation but rather triggers social inequalities and increased urbanisation. This is intimately connected to the growing instability that can be observed in the Sahel, or in the Horn of Africa. Such complexity calls for a genuine solidarity between the two sides and a recognition that security and sustainable prosperity are the birth-right of Africans and Europeans, alike and equally.

This week, Africa and Europe are not inventing a new political framework for migration and development. We have it already, most recently reaffirmed at our last EU-Africa Summit in Brussels. Rather, we are setting out a very concrete roadmap to put some meat on the principles both sides agree on. Whether it be on visa facilitation, making the most of remittances for development or fighting smugglers together, this summit is about action, concrete and operational action. Fresh political energy will be injected by over 60 African and European leaders in attendance.

While acting together in this field, Europe must be inspired by respect for Africa's sovereignty, as well as a great empathy and common concern for the continent's pressing concerns. Economy, stability and security as well as governance and the rule of law are the three key challenges. There are many ways in which we are going to be more active and smarter in how we tackle them in partnership. One is a new Emergency Fund for Africa with seed funding of €1.8 billion. On top of our existing development aid to Africa, this new fund will help us - working together - to offer the peoples of Africa a better future at a time when young Africans today often only have a choice between unemployment or radicalisation. This is also why Europe will double the places available to African students and researchers via our Erasmus+ and Marie Skłodowska-Curie programmes.

Our African partners can help at a time of intense migratory pressure by working with us to put in place by the end of 2016 at the latest an administrative infrastructure that can be a model for others on how to manage migration better. This includes making much more progress on poverty reduction and conflict prevention. It also includes the issue of taking back in an efficient manner those who do not yet qualify for a visa, or those who do not require international protection. African officers based in our countries could help us to identify and document their nationals in Europe who may have destroyed their passports to avoid returning home when asked. But the European involvement will not end there: we will help African governments to re-integrate their own nationals and offer them meaningful socio-economic opportunities, including by funding training and educational programmes and creating new revenue streams for struggling communities. We will provide administrative help and more resources to assist African countries to deal with the huge migrations happening within Africa itself.

For over a decade, Malta has warned of the need for a more coherent European approach on migration. In 2005, the appearance of just a few hundred boat people was considered a very serious phenomenon. This year, according to the latest statistics, 1.2 million people have entered the Union irregularly, mainly by sea. But, through breakthrough initiatives like this week's summit, we hope to be in a much better place one year from now. Leaders will hopefully be able to work out a range of priority actions this week for how we get there, and get there quickly.  We want to create a more stable environment for legal migration.

But as I have underlined for many weeks in all my public appearances, and will continue to do so, like Scipio about Carthage: The precondition for conducting our own European migration policy is restoring effective control over our external borders.  

Migration will continue to be a politically destructive issue until true partnership is found between ourselves and others outside Europe, where each country, including our African partners, takes responsibility for its own borders and citizens.  

Equally, European countries have to take co-responsibility for the needs and aspirations of sending and transit countries so that we have real operational partnership on the ground, not just in the language of carefully crafted diplomatic texts. This is our mission here in Valletta. We have not come to make strangers of each other, but to become much closer and better neighbours.   

I want to thank Malta, its prime minister and its people, for everything you have done so far to help. Thank you.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

On 10 November 2015, the Council adopted its position at first reading on the reform of the European trade mark system.

The reform of the current system will improve the conditions for businesses to innovate and to benefit from more effective trade mark protection against counterfeits, including fake goods in transit through the EU's territory.

The new legal framework is also aimed at making trade mark registration systems throughout the European Union more accessible and efficient for businesses in terms of lower costs and complexity, increased speed, greater predictability and legal certainty.

The Dutch delegation abstained from voting and the UK delegation voted against the adoption of the draft regulation. The Commission issued a statement.

Next steps

The European Parliament is expected to vote in second reading at a plenary session before the end of the year, thus approving the Council's position at first reading without amendments and ending the legislative process.

Afterwards, the legal texts will be published in the Official Journal of the EU.

The civil liberties committee on Tuesday approved a deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on new EU rules to ensure that the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in criminal proceedings is respected throughout the EU. The aim is to enhance the right to a fair trial and to strengthen member states' trust in each other's criminal justice systems.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The civil liberties committee on Tuesday approved a deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on new EU rules to ensure that the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in criminal proceedings is respected throughout the EU. The aim is to enhance the right to a fair trial and to strengthen member states' trust in each other's criminal justice systems.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The EU should better align its spending with its political priorities, carefully considering the intended objectives before allocating EU funds. And this new approach should be adopted as quickly as possible, so the EU can better react to current and future crises, said MEPs in a debate on the European Court of Auditors (ECA) report on the 2014 budget on Tuesday.
Committee on Budgetary Control

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The EU should better align its spending with its political priorities, carefully considering the intended objectives before allocating EU funds. And this new approach should be adopted as quickly as possible, so the EU can better react to current and future crises, said MEPs in a debate on the European Court of Auditors (ECA) report on the 2014 budget on Tuesday.
Committee on Budgetary Control

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) helps troubled euro zone countries get their finances in order using loans and other forms of assistance. On 10 November Managing Director Klaus Regling comes to the Parliament to discuss the new financial assistance programme for Greece with the economic committee and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Europgroup. Follow the discussion live online and read on for our interview with Regling.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) helps troubled euro zone countries get their finances in order using loans and other forms of assistance. On 10 November Managing Director Klaus Regling comes to the Parliament to discuss the new financial assistance programme for Greece with the economic committee and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Europgroup. Follow the discussion live online and read on for our interview with Regling.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Length of video : 221'
You may manually download this video in WMV (2.4Gb) format

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, 2015 - EP