European Union

AMENDMENTS 1 - 169 - Draft opinion The situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Draft rules to cut emissions of major air pollutants from non-road mobile machinery (NRMM), ranging from lawn mowers to bulldozers, tractors and inland waterway vessels, were backed by Environment Committee MEPs on Tuesday. NRMM engines account for about 15% of all NOx and 5% of particulate emissions in the EU.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Draft rules to cut emissions of major air pollutants from non-road mobile machinery (NRMM), ranging from lawn mowers to bulldozers, tractors and inland waterway vessels, were backed by Environment Committee MEPs on Tuesday. NRMM engines account for about 15% of all NOx and 5% of particulate emissions in the EU.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : EP President Martin Schulz praised Sweden's response to the refugee crisis during a visit to the country on Monday 14 September. Migration and the refugee crisis topped the agenda when he met his counterpart Urban Ahlin, the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament. Schulz also had meetings with King Carl XVI Gustaf and with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : EP President Martin Schulz praised Sweden's response to the refugee crisis during a visit to the country on Monday 14 September. Migration and the refugee crisis topped the agenda when he met his counterpart Urban Ahlin, the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament. Schulz also had meetings with King Carl XVI Gustaf and with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Length of video : 68'
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Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

 

The deadline for applications closed recently for a plumb new job in Brussels – the head of the new airline trade association representing Europe’s five largest airlines – AirFrance-KLM, easyJet, Lufthansa, IAG and Ryanair.

Following the tumultuous weeks before the summer that led to the fracturing of the airline association world in Brussels, the chosen candidate could be forgiven for wondering how she/he is going to bring the membership together to successfully advocate industry positions in Brussels. The timing for the sector is critical, especially with the European Commission currently preparing its Aviation Strategy for release in early 2016.

Reflecting upon the best practices we have seen with associations that FleishmanHillard supports, our transport team has identified five things that will be important for this new airline advocacy body to incorporate into its work.

1. Think beyond the traditional when it comes to airline positions

Traditional airline associations in Brussels have tended to focus on traditional airline issues, be it emissions trading, passenger rights, Single European Sky or state aid in the sector. Such industry specific issues will of course remain central priorities for the new association. However, policy-makers in Brussels, fixated on Europe’s future recovery and growth, are increasingly asking more of the major industry associations in Brussels than simply positions on core industry issues – a central role for the new association will be to convey its members’ vision for the future of the industry. Whether it be the digitalisation of services in the single market, the approach to multi-modal travel solutions or the future of carbon reductions for the industry, the new association will need to be able to convey forward-thinking and positive measures that mirror the agendas of the policy-makers themselves.

2. Leverage airlines’ national footprint in Brussels conversations on policy

The ability to collectively leverage the national influence that its membership provides will be a critical, especially as national interests more and more dominate the new Brussels environment. From the European Parliament, where MEPs and their offices are always alive to listening to their own national constituents, through to national ministry officials negotiating in Council working groups, the ability of the airlines to mobilise the national as well as European audience can serve well the advocacy goals.

3. Use channels that keep a drumbeat of conversation going with relevant policy-makers

At the same time as looking beyond traditional issues, the new association should also embrace the full span of channels with which to convey its messages. Meetings and events are important points in any ongoing advocacy activity, but increasingly, social media channels such as LinkedIn and Twitter allow the conversations with key policy makers to continue in-between those set-piece moments of engagement. A recent study by FH found that 61% of MEPs surveyed follow social media conversations daily in their legislative work. So to ignore such media would be to lose a huge opportunity in terms of conveying association positions.

4. Qualify contribution to jobs and growth beyond the sector

Growth and jobs are the centerpiece of the European Commission’s agenda. Under the new regime, Commissioners and Vice Presidents are litmus testing new initiatives against their contribution to jobs and growth. The aviation industry’s own contribution is well documented, most recently through ATAG’s Benefits Beyond Borders report. Such data will continue to be critical in underpinning the advocacy effort in Brussels, and demonstrating aviation’s “value add”. The sector’s positive impact of course spreads to nearly every corner of Europe’s economy – the ability of the new association to therefore harness the support of other industry sectors, that depend on aviation for their own economic well-being, will be key.

5. Deliver member value through bench-marking reputation and measuring improvement

A fresh start for an industry association provides a unique opportunity to put in place a robust system of performance bench-marking. Setting out and agreeing on a core set of measurable objectives will allow the association to clearly define its own success and calibrate its ongoing strategy. Doubtless a core aspect of the activities of the association will be to develop the reputation of the sector with policy-makers. Initially, and periodically henceforth, testing the policy-maker perceptions of the airline industry will allow a clear assessment of the ongoing effectiveness of the association in this regard.

Rob Anger

Four judges and one advocate-general to the Court of Justice were appointed by the representatives of the governments of the member states on 16 September 2015.

Ms Camelia Toader (Romania) and Mr Marko Ilešič (Slovenia) were reappointed as judges for a further six years. Mr Michail Vilaras (Greece) and Mr Eugene Regan (Ireland) were appointed as judges and Mr Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona (Spain) as advocate-general to the Court of Justice. All appointments apply to a term of office from 7 October 2015 to 6 October 2021.

The representatives of member states' governments appointed Mr Ian Stewart Forrester as judge to the General Court to replace Mr Nicholas Forwood (both United Kingdom) for the remainder of the latter's term of office from 1 October 2015 to 31 August 2019. They also reappointed Mr Juraj Schwarcz (Slovakia) and Mr Heikki Kanninen (Finland) as judges to the General Court from 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2022.

Background

The Court of Justice of the European Union is composed of three courts: the Court of Justice itself, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal.

The Court of Justice is currently composed of 28 judges and nine advocates-general. In line with a Council decision from 2013 the number of advocates-general will increase to eleven with effect from 7 October 2015. Every three years a partial replacement of judges and advocates-general takes place. The term of office of 14 judges and of four advocates-general expires on 6 October 2015. Ten judges (from Belgium, Spain, Poland, Luxembourg, Croatia, Finland, Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary, Denmark) and four advocates-general (from the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic) were already appointed on 24 September 2014, on 1 April and 12 June 2015 for the 2015 partial replacement exercise. This means that the 2015 partial replacement exercise has now been completed. However, the advocate-general from Bulgaria still needs to be appointed to take account of the increase by two in the number of advocates-general.

The General Court is currently composed of 28 judges. As in the Court of Justice a partial replacement of judges every three years takes place in the General Court. The terms of office of 14 judges expires on 31 August 2016.

The judges and advocates-general of the Court of Justice and the judges of the General Court are appointed for a term of office of six years, which is renewable. The judges of the Court of Justice elect from amongst themselves a president for a renewable term of three years. The same applies to the General Court.

 

The European Parliament should play a greater role in Eurozone governance, said Commissioner Pierre Moscovici in a debate with Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. Economic and monetary union calls for democratic deepening, he added, stressing that "This is not something that can wait. We need more regular exchanges with the Parliament. The European Parliament is the Parliament of the Eurozone and we want to give this political impetus."
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The European Parliament should play a greater role in Eurozone governance, said Commissioner Pierre Moscovici in a debate with Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. Economic and monetary union calls for democratic deepening, he added, stressing that "This is not something that can wait. We need more regular exchanges with the Parliament. The European Parliament is the Parliament of the Eurozone and we want to give this political impetus."
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Measures to deal with the migration and refugee crisis as well as the situation in transit countries in the Mediterranean region were debated at a joint hearing held by the Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Human Rights committees on Tuesday morning. MEPs expressed disappointment at the outcome of Monday’s Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting and urged EU to shoulder its responsibilities.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Measures to deal with the migration and refugee crisis as well as the situation in transit countries in the Mediterranean region were debated at a joint hearing held by the Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Human Rights committees on Tuesday morning. MEPs expressed disappointment at the outcome of Monday’s Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting and urged EU to shoulder its responsibilities.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Measures to deal with the migration and refugee crisis as well as the situation in transit countries in the Mediterranean region were debated at a joint hearing held by the Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Human Rights committees on Tuesday morning. MEPs expressed disappointment at the outcome of Monday’s Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting and urged EU to shoulder its responsibilities.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Length of video : 240'
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Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Last Wednesday, Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his first State of the European Union (SOTEU) address. This speech – the longest since Barroso started yearly SOTEU back in 2010 – is a key agenda-setting moment for the Commission President, providing the opportunity to set out a personal vision on the major issues facing the European Union today. While most media coverage focused on how Juncker grappled with the refugee and economic crises, this post sheds light on whether and how EU environmental and climate policies figured in the address.

Looking at the environmental side of the speech is key for two reasons: first, since the very start of his Commission, Juncker has been criticised as side-lining environmental issues[1] (in his Commission’s architecture, through his continuation of REFIT, etc.). Second, with the Paris Climate Summit (COP21) only three months away, the European Union (and the Commission in particular) will have to swiftly decide whether it wishes to remain a leader on climate change – or whether it is unwilling to bear the costs associated with leadership (e.g. maintaining credibility through well-functioning internal policies, well-funded external support for developing economies etc.).

A speech exists in two forms – the planned, written words, and the actual spoken words delivered on the day. Difference between the two is common, but the delivered version trumps the written one. The two versions are widely different when it comes to Juncker’s treatment of environmental issues. Hence, Jeremy Wates (EEB) drew attention to how the strong environmental rhetoric on how “the planet we share (…) cannot cope with the use mankind is making of it”, present in the written version of the speech was not delivered. Similarly, mentions of ‘sustainability’ were left out of the spoken version. This, Wates argued, shows that the environment is simply not high enough on the Commission’s agenda – when pressed for time, Juncker had no calms remaining silent on the topic – in 9929 words, he never mentioned ‘environment’.

Yet, looking in details at what Juncker said on the Paris negotiation reveals a more complex picture. Hence, while Juncker remained silent on general environmental issues (biodiversity, sustainability, pollution etc.) he chose to speak about climate change – highlighting a narrowing down of what environmental issues are considered relevant, or highly salient by the Commission. Furthermore, Juncker did again depart from his written speech when talking about Paris, but far from toning down his environmental rhetoric, he was more frank, and crucially, more critical of EU action.

The two versions show significant overlap – links between climate change and the on-going refugee crisis, need for a binding deal in Paris – but Juncker’s written speech is much more positive on the EU’s ability to lead on climate change. Instead, the actual, delivered speech, draws attention to remaining tensions within the EU, and the need to drum up support not only outside of the EU’s borders but within them. Recognising that the EU’s contribution is “probably not enough” is also a major departure from conventional EU rhetoric of climate leadership. But what does it mean? Should we read much into it? Does it indicate a split within the Commission, which would see Juncker as the (unlikely) proponent of greater ambition – or a simple slip of the tongue?

Timing is key – Juncker said he wanted “the European Union and the Member States to be as ambitious as possible on the way to Paris”: now is the time to put these words into action. Finance ministers were asked to consider their level of climate finance on Tuesday and Environment ministers are meeting this Friday to discuss the EU’s negotiation position – we will soon find out whether Juncker and his team are serious about further ambition and tackling internal divisions.

 

 

[1] Čavoški, A. (2015) A post-austerity European Commission: no role for environmental policy? Environmental Politics, 24(3), pp. 501-505

The post “On track” or “probably not enough”? EU climate policies in Juncker’s first State of the European Union address appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

I have learnt with great sorrow of the horrific accident provoked by the collapse of a crane at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. 

My thoughts are with the families of the victims. On behalf of the European Union, I would like to convey my sincere condolences to the bereaved families and wish a prompt recovery to the wounded.

1. The Eighth Summit between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the European Union (EU) took place in Seoul on September 15, 2015. The ROK was represented by President Park Geun-hye and the EU was represented by Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council and Commissioner Cecilia Malmström representing the President of the European Commission.