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2016-ban ismét visszatér a fekete kontinensre a Budapest – Bamako humanitárius kaland rally, amelyen a verseny és a túra kategóriában is izgalmas útvonalat és kemény etapokat ígér a közel 9000 km-es út. A Magyar Afrika Társaság csapata 2008 óta a futam humanitárius partnere.

The sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia dropped by 35.7 percent last year, the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said in a statement Thursday.

Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos joined the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday to debate the implementation of measures to tackle the migration and refugee crisis, including relocation and work in the reception “hotspots”. MEPs also raised the issue of the future of Schengen as well as the need for a review of the Dublin system.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Du 1er janvier au 31 décembre 2015, sous le commandement opératif du JFC (Joint Force Command) de Naples, la France a assuré le commandement de la composante aérienne (ou JFAC, Joint Force Air Component) de la NRF (Nato Response Force - Force de réaction de l'Otan). Il s’agissait de la quatrième prise d’alerte de ce type par l’armée de l’air française, après 2005, 2009, et 2011.

C’est une première à l’École militaire de haute montagne. Le lieutenant-colonel Laurent, grièvement blessé en Afghanistan en 2011, rejoint désormais les rangs en tant que… réserviste citoyen ! Un bel exemple d’abnégation, que la réserve permet de perdurer en favorisant la réinsertion post-blessure. 

Are treaty changes needed to meet UK demands, will the four freedoms be safeguarded and could current talks release an avalanche of reform requests from other countries? These questions were put by members of Parliament's constitutional affairs committee to Jonathan Faull, head of the Commission's task force for strategic issues related to the UK referendum, in a debate on Thursday morning.
Committee on Constitutional Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

More than 80 experts from national administrations participate in the first plenary session of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector. Opened today by EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete, EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq and European Commission's Director-General for Energy Dominique Ristori, the Consultation Forum will examine how energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources could be better used and implemented within the European defence sector. The consultation will take place through a series of meetings between experts from national administrations, armed forces, industry and academia. 

"Some of the world’s most efficient militaries are progressively replacing expensive fossil fuels with power generated by solar panels, wind turbines and rechargeable batteries. This is not only about more reliable on-site energy generation. It's also about making it safer and cheaper for troops to complete their missions", said Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete.

“Sustainable energy use starts at home. This is true for individuals as well as for the armed forces. The energy bill for Europe’s armed forces amounts to billions of euros. The EU legislation in place for energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy performance in buildings can certainly improve the armed forces’ energy output. Ultimately this will not only benefit their environmental footprint but will also result in considerable savings”, said Jorge Domecq during the opening of the first plenary session. 

 

Consultation Forum

The Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector is a European Commission initiative managed by the EDA. It brings together experts from the defence and energy sectors to share information and best practice on improving energy management, efficiency and the use of renewable energy in the civil uses of the military. The focus will be on facilitating the sharing of good practice and expertise by assessing the existing EU energy legislation, in particular the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive in order to see how different measures could be implemented in the defence sector thus contributing to on-going decarbonisation efforts.The Forum will also be a place to stimulate projects in key areas as well as identifying possible funding streams. Depending on the findings, the Forum might also develop recommendations on how to further develop directives or amending policy in relation to European funding mechanisms for defence.

The Consultation Forum will take place in a series of five plenary meetings over two years. The work will be carried out in three parallel working groups each with a particular focus: (1) Energy management, (2) Energy efficiency & 3) Renewable energy.

Energy and the military

Defence is one of the largest energy consumers in Europe. One of the key challenges is to quantify the extent of this energy usage and to assess how projects stimulated through this Consultation Forum can impact on overall EU energy usage.

More information:

• Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sectorwebsite 
• Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector factsheet
• European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy
• EDA Energy & Environment Programme

Background: EDA Energy & Environment Programme

The Agency pursues a comprehensive approach to energy management which is part of its wider Energy and Environment Programme. The programme also aims to identify fully integrated solutions where both energy reduction and environmental impact are assessed together. The EDA Energy and Environment Working Group was established in June 2014 and has so far worked on a number of projects including the Strategic Research Agenda, a Demand Management (Smart Camp) Technical Demonstrator which has recently been deployed to Mali and Power Purchase Agreements (Go Green). A new project addressing water and energy use in military barracks, called “Smart Blue Water Camps” is due to start in 2016.

 

 

Depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir du gouvernement conservateur en Pologne, une vague de réformes fait grincer des dents à Bruxelles. Les dernières en date, touchant à la liberté de la presse ainsi qu'au fonctionnement de la justice polonaise, inquiètent. Craignant de réagir trop tardivement, comme cela a été le cas avec la Hongrie, la Commission a décidé mercredi de lancer une enquête préliminaire. Cette procédure vise à sauvegarder l'Etat de droit dans les Etats membres de l'Union, et peut aboutir à une suspension des droits de vote.

Firms supplying essential services, e.g. for energy, transport, banking and health, or digital ones, such as search engines and cloud computing, will have to take action to improve their ability to withstand cyber-attacks under new rules approved by Internal Market MEPs on Thursday. These rules, informally agreed by MEPs and Council negotiators on 7 December, were approved by 34 votes to 2. They now need to be endorsed by the Council and the full Parliament.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama conducted a telephone conversation on Wednesday for the first time since June 2015, according to a statement by the Kremlin's official website.

Russia has replaced Israel as the country that "poses the biggest threat to Turkey," according to an opinion poll conducted by a Turkish University.

Fifty-three textbooks published with the support of the Soros Foundation - an NGO deemed "undesirable" in Russia last year - were burnt at a college in Russia's northern republic of Komi, the 7x7 local news website reported Wednesday, citing an official letter from the regional Education Ministry.

Qui d’Angela Merkel, Vladimir Poutine, Jean-Claude Juncker et Barack Obama a la meilleure image auprès des Hongrois ? C’est ce qu’a cherché à savoir l’Institut Nezöpont en sondant mille personnes aussi représentatives que possible des dix millions de Hongrois, au début du mois de janvier.

La réponse est dans le titre, c’est le président américain qui jouit de l’image la plus positive auprès des Hongrois. 59% ont de lui une bonne image contre seulement 18% une image négative.

Jean-Claude qui ? Un tiers des personnes interrogées n’ont aucune idée de qui est le président de la Commission européenne Jean-Claude Juncker. Seul la moitié d’entre eux a une opinion sur le personnage. Sans l’épisode du « salut dictateur » suivit d’une petite claque sur la joue du Premier ministre Orban qui avait fait grand bruit, M. Juncker serait sans doute encore moins identifié en Hongrie.

Source : nezopontintezet.hu

Poutine plutôt que Merkel

Les deux autres politiciens testés par Nezöpont sont beaucoup plus « clivants ». Au jeu de la popularité, c’est le Président russe qui s’impose en Hongrie devant la Chancelière allemande : 46% d’opinion positive pour Poutine contre 39% pour Merkel.

Faut-il extrapoler et y voir un choix géopolitique ? Sans doute pas. En janvier 2015, un sondage de l’institut Medián pour le site 444.hu indiquait que la population hongroise désapprouvait majoritairement le rapprochement avec la Russie opéré par son gouvernement et restait bien plus atlantiste que lui.

L’accueil massif et unilatéral des réfugiés n’est sans doute pas étranger à l’impopularité grandissante de la dirigeante allemande qui recueille plus d’opinion négative que positive : 42% contre 39%.

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