European Union

On 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, the European Parliament officially launched the call for submissions for entries to the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism.

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

REPORT on the 2022 Commission Report on Serbia
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Vladimír Bilčík

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

'Sheltered workshops' for the disabled apply lower salaries, show lower career development and promotion opportunities and lack of job stability, and the latest EU strategy does not identify best and worst practices.

The European Central Bank has raised rates repeatedly since July last year to rein in inflation, and analysts expect the bank to raise it once again — although experts are divided on how big the rise should be.

REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the European defence industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Michael Gahler

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Lithuania border guards must be properly trained, the European Commission has said — after Lithuania amended its state border law to allow volunteers to patrol alongside its national guards.

For our weekly ‘Ideas on Europe’ editorial by UACES, the University Association for European Studies, we have the pleasure to welcome Prof Başak Alpan, from the Middle East Technical University, in Ankara.

 

Listen to the podcast on eu!radio.

 

 

Only two weeks left before the election. What is the mood in the country like?

The mood is perhaps best captured in the recent advertisement by Yeni Rakı (one of the biggest Rakı brands in Turkey). The clip seemingly asks people how they will celebrate the centennial of the Turkish Republic (which is six months away), but is actually implicitly depicting the sheer joy people would feel if the opposition wins in the 14 May elections.

The advert illustrates well how emotionally laden and tense this election campaign is. For the first time in two decades, the incumbent party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that has been in power since 2002, and its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are facing the risk of losing the presidential elections. Most of the pre-election polls predict that the opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will win the majority of votes in the first round, with Erdoğan coming in second.

 

How has AKP managed to remain so long in power?

AKP came to power in 2002 with the claim that they were not political Islamists but “conservative democrats” who would be the voice of those who had hitherto been oppressed and under-represented by the staunchly secular, Western-minded, and elitist Republic. But AKP radicalised and adopted an authoritarian and religious-oriented positioning, especially after 2010.

The Gezi protests of 2013 and the coup attempt of 15 July 2016 all contributed to the narrative of “fear” cultivated by Erdoğan, which seemed to have attracted voters in all previous elections. This time around, AKP runs under the slogan “once again”.

 

And what opposition is AKP facing?

The main opposition bloc, known as the Nation Alliance, is led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP). It includes five other parties, which explains its popular name “the Table of Six”.

It is campaigning for strengthening the parliamentary system, reversing the democratic backsliding of the country, easing the extremely high inflation, and accomplishing a reset of Turkey’s foreign policy. And of course, it is heavily criticising the government’s response to the devastating earthquake of February. Candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is also supported by the leftist Labour and Freedom Alliance, which is only running for the parliamentary elections (with the highest number of women candidates, by the way).

 

These elections look definitely different…

It is an election of many firsts.

For the first time, the opposition is competing with both Ankara and Istanbul already governed by CHP-aligned mayors. While this might sound irrelevant to a Western European ear, you should bear in mind how politicised Turkish local elections are. The popular Istanbul and Ankara mayors could help the opposition garner the support of especially young voters, who are still undecided.

Also for the first time, strategic voting will be a tool in the parliamentary elections: it’s about ensuring as many opposition MPs winning seats in the Parliament as possible.

Last but not least, democratic consolidation is an important agenda item with very concrete promises like upholding the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgments and releasing prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas and Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala from prison.

 

And how are you personally experiencing the election?

These elections are crucial for the educated, secular, urban, middle-class voters like myself, who spent the best part of their younger years under the AKP rule.

The erosion of our democracy, the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, the charges put against the Academics for Peace movement in the past years, and the hyper-inflation that very severely hit the lifestyle of the middle class, are pressing concerns that need to be addressed not only by the new president, but also by a hopefully diverse parliament giving voice to groups like women, Kurds, Alevis, LGBTQs, etc.

I would love to take politics solely as an academic job for some time, rather than the existential struggle directly determining the flow of my life that it has been for the past years.

Perhaps this day will come, just like spring comes. And when that day comes, we will, with Kılıçdaroğlu’s words, perhaps live in “a Turkey that does not hurt each other, that loves and respects those who are different as they are. A Turkey that embraces, not distances. A Turkey with a full stomach and an abundant heart; a Turkey that loves to live.”

 

Thank you very much, for sharing your personal views on the forthcoming election in Turkey. I recall that you are associate professor at the Middle East Technical University. Interview by Sophie Girstmair

 

 

The post “When that Day Comes” appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Members of the AFET Committee will meet on Wednesday 24 May 2003 - 9.00-12.30 and 14.00-18.00 and Thursday 25 May 2003 - 9.00-12.30 (ANTALL 4Q2)

Debates:

Votes:

The meeting will be webstreamed.

AFET-SEDE-DROI meetings 2023
Meeting documents
Webstreaming
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

The EU Commission has outsourced its merger policy to a consultancy which counts Google as its best friend. And it's not the first time the Commission has hired consultants with a vested interest for policy advice.

The next ordinary meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is scheduled to take place on Monday, 22 May 2023 from 15.00 - 18.30hrs and on Tuesday, 23 May 2023 from 9.00 - 12.30 and 14.30 - 18.30 in Brussels (room SPINELLI 1G3).

The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.

SEDE missions 2023:

• Romania and Moldova - 15-18 May 2023
  
• Djibouti and Somalia - 1-4 April 2023
  
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - 20-23 February 2023
  

SEDE missions 2022:

• SEDE mission to South Korea and Japan - 18-22 December 2022
  
• SEDE mission to Niger from 31 October - 3 November 2022
  
• SEDE mission to Mozambique from 18-22 September 2022
  
• SEDE mission to France from 19-21 July 2022
  
• SEDE mission to Iraq from 24-28 May 2022
• SEDE mission to Georgia from 10-14 April 2022

SEDE meetings' calendar 2023
EP calendar 2023
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn is set to travel to Budapest on Tuesday (2 May) as negotiations to unlock billions of EU funds, held up because of concerns over judicial independence, made some progress last week.

Rules requiring the EU's border agency Frontex to suspend operations in member states where rights are being violated "are not fit for purpose", said a European Commission official.

Where now for Germany? A hybrid of the best parts of the Dutch and Spanish systems seems a likely forward, since both have been proven to work without incurring the wrath of other Europe member states

Around 35 million buildings will need renovation or demolition in the next decade. A task that will expose millions of workers to asbestos.

Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections on 14 May will show whether Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's decade of relentless state interference with the media has paid off. Or whether a new generation of journalists finally taste freedom?

Nearly half of active disabled people of working age are not in paid employment. And yet they face extra costs each year, earn less, and if they work, they risk losing their disability benefits.

Russia is gaining power in the Central African Republic as the EU pulls out, amid similar developments in neighbouring Sudan.

In the Czech Republic, the extravagant promises of Chinese investment never materialised and the former president Miloš Zeman's sycophancy toward Xi Jinping provoked a wide revulsion. In contrast, Slovakia has avoided a real debate about its relationship with China.

The ability to use different foreign policy discourses is the EU's biggest asset. It keeps a systemic rival like China on its toes, while signalling to the US that Europe has its own interests.

EU finance ministers meet in Stockholm to negotiate new spending rules, with frugal Germany expected to clash with France and Italy. Meanwhile the proposal has been criticised by economists for not leaving enough room for climate investment.