The Council adopted a decision establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece.
This decision establishes a temporary and exceptional relocation mechanism over two years from the frontline member states Italy and Greece to other member states. It will apply to persons in clear need of international protection who have arrived or are arriving on the territory of those member states as from 15 August 2015 until 16 September 2017.
Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister for Immigration and Asylum and President of the Council said: "I am delighted that the Council has now been able to adopt this Decision. This is an important political message. Indeed, the first relocations of people in need of international protection can start quickly. At the same time, the "hotspots" in Italy and Greece now have the necessary legal basis to start working. Now that the Council is discussing an additional emergency relocation proposal, it is very important to see that the first mechanism is set up and begins to produce its effects".
The representatives of the governments of the member states meeting within the Council agreed by consensus on 20 July on the distribution of 32 256 persons. They also agreed to update the figures by December 2015 with a view to reaching the overall number of 40 000 in accordance with the commitment taken at the European Council on 25-26 June 2015.
The member states participating in the mechanism will receive a lump sum of 6 000 EUR for each relocated person.
The special procedure for the adoption of the decision establishes that the Council will consult the European Parliament. On 9 September the European Parliament adopted its opinion.
Denmark and the United Kingdom are not participating in this decision.
A Tanács értékelése szerint teljesülnek a feltételei annak, hogy az EUNAVFOR Med műveletei a második, nyílt tengeri szakasz első alszakaszába lépjenek. A haditengerészeti művelet az első szakaszban kitűzött összes katonai célt teljesítette, amelyek különösen az információk és bűnüldözési operatív információk gyűjtésére és elemzésére vonatkoztak.
Az értékelés hivatalos része annak az eljárásnak, amellyel tovább lehet lépni a műveletek második, nyílt tengeri szakaszába. Ezt követően hamarosan sor kerül egy haderő-generálási konferenciára és a második szakasz művelet-végrehajtási szabályainak jóváhagyására. Miután elfogadták a szabályokat és a műveleti parancsnok jelezte, hogy a szükséges eszközök rendelkezésre állnak, a Politikai és Biztonsági Bizottság keretében ülésező uniós nagykövetek meghatározzák a második szakasz első alszakaszának indítási időpontját.
Az új szakaszba lépéssel lehetővé válik, hogy a földközi-tengeri embercsempészek és emberkereskedők elleni uniós haditengerészeti művelet keretében a nyílt tengeren a gyaníthatóan embercsempészet vagy emberkereskedelem céljára használt hajók fedélzetére lépjenek, a hajót átkutassák, lefoglalják és átirányítsák, a nemzetközi jognak megfelelően.
A Tanács hat hónappal meghosszabbította az Ukrajna területi integritása, szuverenitása és függetlensége ellen irányuló lépések miatt bevezetett uniós korlátozó intézkedések alkalmazását.
Emellett 2016. március 15-ig meghosszabbította a pénzügyi eszközök befagyasztását és az utazási tilalmat, amely 149 személyt és 37 szervezetet érint.
A helyzet értékelését követően a Tanács nem tartotta indokoltnak sem a szankciórendszernek, sem a korlátozó intézkedések hatálya alá tartozó személyek és szervezetek listájának módosítását. A listáról egy elhunyt személyt töröltek.
A jogi aktusok az EU Hivatalos Lapjának 2015. szeptember 15-i számában olvashatók.
Place: Justus Lipsius building, Brussels
Chair: Jean Asselborn, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg
All times are approximate and subject to change
+/- 08.00 Arrivals
+/- 09.10 Doorstep by Minister Asselborn
+/- 09.30 Beginning of Council meeting
+/- 09.30 Presentation of the working programme - Luxembourg Presidency (in public session)
+/- 09.50 Approval of legislative A items (in public session)
from 10.00 Preparation of the European Council (15-16 October 2015)
Commission working programme 2016
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The Eurogroup welcomes the successful conclusion of the seventh review mission in the context of Cyprus' macroeconomic adjustment programme, which took place in July. The fiscal developments continue to exceed expectations, the financial situation of the banks is showing signs of gradual improvement and some progress has been noted on important growth-enhancing reforms. The Eurogroup is encouraged that the economic recovery in Cyprus is gaining strength, the labour market showing signs of stabilization, although unemployment remains at a high level, and that the economy showed overall resilience in the past months.
The Eurogroup recalls that addressing the excessive level of non-performing loans remains a top priority for Cyprus in order to reignite credit growth and ensure that banks continue to improve their resilience. In this regard, we stress the importance of an effective implementation of the recently enacted insolvency legislation and of the enhanced foreclosure framework, together with other measures adopted recently to speed up the reduction of arrears. The determined pursuit of financial sector reforms, including legislation to facilitate the sale of loans, remains necessary to secure a decisive reversal of the non-performing loan trend.
The Eurogroup commends the Cypriot authorities for the progress that has been made to date, and calls on them to keep up the reform momentum. The timely implementation of the growth-enhancing reform agenda, including privatisation and public administration reform, is essential in order to restore Cyprus' growth potential, while safeguarding the protection of the most vulnerable groups.
The Eurogroup agrees to endorse in principle the updated Memorandum of Understanding as well as the disbursement of the next tranche of financial assistance to Cyprus. We consider that the necessary elements are now in place to launch the relevant national procedures, paving the way to the formal approval by the ESM governing bodies of a disbursement of EUR 500 million in October. Concurrently, the IMF Executive Board is expected to decide on the disbursement of about EUR 125 million.
Following our agreement in September 2014 on common principles guiding euro area Member States' reforms to reduce the tax wedge on labour, the Eurogroup has discussed benchmarking as a tool to further inform and support reforms in this area.
The Eurogroup recalls that lowering the tax burden on labour has the potential to boost growth and support employment, as well as contributing to the smooth functioning of the EMU. The reforms undertaken recently in this area are steps in the right direction, and additional efforts should be pursued. Against this background, the Eurogroup considers benchmarking to be a useful tool for highlighting the possible need and scope for reform in this field in individual Member States and in the euro area as a whole.
The Eurogroup has agreed to benchmark euro area Member States' tax burden on labour against the GDP-weighted EU average, relying in the first instance on indicators measuring the tax wedge on labour for a single worker at average wage and a single worker at low wage. We will also relate this to the OECD average for purposes of broader comparability. This benchmark fulfils a number of criteria which should be met for a benchmark to be effective. It is simple, measurable and under the control of policy makers.
This benchmarking exercise, together with a continued exchange of best practices within the Eurogroup, can provide valuable support for further labour tax reform initiatives at the national level where applicable, thus giving fresh impetus for carrying reforms forward in euro area Member States. The benchmarking exercise will take place within the context of existing processes and surveillance mechanisms, in particular the European semester monitoring. The Eurogroup will also take stock of the state of play in the reduction of the tax burden on labour when discussing the draft budgetary plans of euro area Member States.
As the tax burden on labour interacts with other labour market features, monitoring needs to be part of a more comprehensive approach, examining the level of labour taxation in its full country-specific policy context, in line with the common principles adopted in September 2014. A full assessment of the urgency - and the potential benefit - for any given Member State to reduce the labour tax wedge should also make use of, indicators and country-specific information on, inter alia, the actual economic situation, in particular employment levels in specific demographic groups and overall, the level and design of social protection (including its impact on the level of social security contributions), total labour costs dynamics over the medium run and other labour market features. Moreover, in line with the common principles adopted in September 2014, given limited fiscal space, reducing the tax burden on labour should be accompanied by either a compensatory reduction in (non-productive) expenditure, or by shifting labour taxes towards taxes less detrimental to growth, in full respect of the existing EU economic surveillance framework, in particular the Stability and Growth Pact.
"We would like to sincerely congratulate Prime Minister Lee on his reappointment in this historic year for the people of Singapore. We wish him every success in his renewed mandate and look forward to continuing the excellent cooperation we enjoy.
Our Free Trade and Partnership and Cooperation Agreements will deepen our bilateral ties and enable us to better address emerging global challenges. These Agreements will also serve as stepping stones for greater engagement between the EU and Southeast Asia.
As Singapore prepares for the future, we look forward to meeting Prime Minister Lee to discuss the next chapter of our relationship."