European Union

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

The Council agreed its position on the draft EU budget for 2019.

After the signing of the second EU-NATO joint declaration, President Tusk delivered a statement to the press.

DRAFT REPORT on EU Guidelines and the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Andrzej Grzyb

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The European Parliament is in recess over the summer holidays from 23 July 2018 to 26 August 2018

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The European Parliament is in recess over the summer holidays from 23 July 2018 to 26 August 2018

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The European Parliament is in recess over the summer holidays from 23 July 2018 to 26 August 2018

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The European Parliament is in recess over the summer holidays from 23 July 2018 to 26 August 2018

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

In view of the upcoming review of the EU Common Position 944/2008/CFSP on arms exports, the aim of the workshop was to provide an overview of the context in which this process will take place together with a set of possible outcomes the review could produce. The speakers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), first defined the context by describing how, since the EU Common Position was adopted in 2008, EU member states performed in terms of military expenditure, arms production and arms transfers. Recent measures adopted at the EU level to boost defence industrial cooperation were also indicated as part of this framework. The speakers also highlighted the divergences in member states’ export policies which emerged in the last decade, most recently during the conflict in Yemen. They then provided a number of options that could be taken into consideration during the 2018 review, covering both adjustments to the language of the criteria and the user’s guide and measures to improve the implementation of the EU Common Position, the quality of reporting and to increase coherence and coordination of the EU export control regime.
Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Pauline Ravinet ad Meng-Hsuan Chou

On 9 and 10 July 2018, Meng-Hsuan Chou (NTU Singapore) hosted three seminars on higher education issues at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Speaking on ‘What does comparative regionalism offer to higher education research?’, Pauline Ravinet (University of Lille) and Meng-Hsuan Chou introduced the concept of ‘higher education regionalism’, a heuristic framework to examine regional cooperation in the higher education policy domain, and empirically compared and analysed two instances of higher education regionalisms (Europe and Southeast Asia). In so doing, this talk engaged with and challenged the diffusion argument common in both European higher education studies and new comparative regionalism. The empirical case comparisons used publicly accessible documents from regional bodies active in higher education policy coordination, and more than 50 semi-structured interviews with key policy actors involved in these developments. Specifically, the empirical application identified and traced the policy ideas of European and Southeast Asia higher education regionalisms, and considered whether the extant models of regional cooperation and knowledge discourse affected their evolution. Their findings revealed that the so-called ‘Bologna Process export thesis’ and the diffusion assumptions of comparative regionalism were too simplistic and somewhat misleading. Indeed, they concluded that an interdependent perspective offered more traction to understanding the emergence and evolution of higher education intra- and inter-regionalisms.

 

Andrea Gideon and Meng-Hsuan Chou

In ‘What is the role of the EU in the global market for higher education and research?’, Andrea Gideon (University of Liverpool) and Meng-Hsuan Chou discussed the influences that the European Union (EU) exerts globally in the areas of research and higher education from political science and legal perspectives. At first glance, it is not obvious that a regional organisation would have any role beyond coordinative support in sensitive policy domains such as higher education and scientific research. However, they described how the EU has been playing a role since the very early years of integration; this role has been expanding since the 1990s with new initiatives being increasingly developed and centralised at the supranational level. They then discussed the emergence of a potential EU model with regards to higher education and research, and considered whether and how this model could be promoted and defended within and beyond the European territorial borders.

 

Jens Jungblut

Presenting on ‘What determines membership in meta-organisations? The case of higher education and the international association of universities’, Jens Jungblut (Stanford University / University of Oslo) identified what determined membership in the International Association of Universities (IAU) – the only global meta-organisation in higher education. Barriers to IAU membership are low and yet, at the same time, not all universities are members. Using multi-level regression analysis on data from the World Higher Education Database, he tested multiple predictors. The findings suggested that younger private institutions from peripheral areas and those with high status ranks were more likely to be IAU members. International offices, membership in regional university associations and international curricula were also strong predictors, which suggest that members are of a particular type—the internationally-oriented university. He concluded that meta-organisational membership is a complex process involving multiple factors, while being conditioned by the degree of fragmentation and stratification in an organisational field.

 

The post Higher education: regional, global and international appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

The argument should not be about whether there should be a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit, because Brexit is a fraud and the loss of EU membership for the United Kingdom will mean not only that the country is disconnected from Europe, but also the rest of the world. Likewise it will mean loss of environmental, consumer, and worker protections in the UK, and also loss of the freedom for British citizens to easily travel, live and work in an EU member state. Australia will probably have a far better trade deal with the EU than the UK after Brexit, so why should the UK as a former EU member state on its own get preferential treatment? Brexit is a coup against civilization and the British citizens themselves will lose most of their rights as a result of it.

With regard to the Brexit fraud and the lies peddled to the British public during the EU referendum of 2016 – eg: £350 million would go to the NHS per week once the UK leaves the EU – it is worth making a comparision with a dodgy sales company making cold calls to an elderly relative. Your elderly relative or relatives – perhaps your parents or grandparents – are being told by a charismatic salesman, or perhaps grandad has been targeted by a charismatic saleswoman, that they have just won £350,000. The charming sales person says that they are unable to pay your elderly relative the prize money immediately, but will get back to them in the near future. When they get back to your elderly relative they say that the prize money cannot be paid by cheque, but requires not just the grandparent’s sort code and account number, but also the debit card number and the security number on the back of the card.

You have tried to persuade your elderly relative that they have been approached by fraudsters, but granny or grandad just won’t believe you, because they have been blinded to reason by a spiv or dodgy sales person. You realize that once your relative gives their bank card number and security code to the individual at the other end of the phone, instead of receiving a prize payment of £350, 000, they will have their life savings taken out of their bank account. In these circumstances it is your duty to tell your relatives that they have been the victims of of confidence trick.

For Brexiteers the result of the 2016 EU referendum is written in stone: 52 percent of those who voted in the referendum, voted for the UK to leave the EU, therefore according to the Brexiteers the “will of the people must be followed”. But if the people have not made an informed choice, then the result of the referendum cannot be “the will of the people”. When people voted for the UK to leave the European Union it was similar to the elderly relative who gives their bank card details to the fraudster at the other end of the phone line. They believed they would get a prize, but in reality all they would get is loss and misery.

©Jolyon Gumbrell 2018

The post Deconstructing the Brexit fraud appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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On 14 July 2018, Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, visits Libya.

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Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

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President Donald Tusk and President Jean-Claude Juncker represent the EU at the 20th EU-China summit. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang hosts the summit. EU leaders also have talks with President Xi Jinping. EU and Chinese leaders discuss bilateral trade, investment relations and foreign and security issues. They are expected to express their joint support for rules-based trade. They are also expected to confirm their mutual engagement for the modernisation of the World Trade Organisation.

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Chrysostomides, K. & Co. and Others v Council and Others
Law governing the institutions
The Court rejects the claims for compensation brought by several individuals and companies in relation to the restructuring of the Cypriot banking sector

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EU Finance Ministers meet on 13 July 2018, in Brussels, to follow up on the June European Council, exchange views on the Austrian presidency work programme and approve the terms of reference for the G20 meeting of 21-22 July.

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The Informal Meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers is held on 12 and 13 July 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. The meeting starts on 12 July with the home affairs working sessions. On 13 July there is a working breakfast, attended by the justice and home affairs ministers of the current EU Trio Presidency, namely of Estonia, Bulgaria and Austria, and those of the Eastern Partnership, namely of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The informal meeting of EU justice ministers, dedicated to the topics of e-evidence, enhancing judicial cooperation in civil matters and mutual recognition in criminal matters, follows this working breakfast.

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Speaking at the Nato summit US President Donald Trump threatened to "do his own thing" if the partner countries didn't increase their defence budgets. At the end of the summit, however, he reiterated his commitment to the defence alliance after having accused Germany of being controlled by and hostage to Russia. What will be the consequences of the US president's erratic behaviour in Brussels?