European Union

Plenary sessions : Parliament condemns growing intolerance towards ethnic, religious and sexual minorities in Indonesia, attacks against peacekeepers in Central African Republic and breaches of human rights in Burundi, in three resolutions voted on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Theresa May’s speech confirms that Brexit means being all out of the EU rather than half-way out. However, the British government is less than half way down the road to that destination, because it has not yet started to specify how it will apply the Prime Minister’s principles. Once the government gives formal notice of withdrawal the agenda shifts from stating principles in the abstract to applying them. This is the purpose of the negotiations with Brussels that are scheduled to start in April. But what these principles mean in practice is already the object of internal debate within the Cabinet.

Two major examples of unsettled business are:

First, whether Brexit will happen by transition or in one go. The referendum question left the timetable for exit open. The default position under EU law is that by 1 April 2019 the UK should be a non-member state in all respects. To have everything ready will place an almost impossible burden on the UK. A transition agreement of two years would more than double the time available to prepare for implementing non-member status. To make it palatable to Conservatives who want Brexit in one go, Downing Street would have to make clear that transition was part of an irreversible process, rather than a back door way of keeping a few toes or even a foot still inside the EU.

Second, what taking back control of immigration means in practice. Since most immigrants come from non-EU countries, to implement this goal would require having policies in place that covered new Commonwealth citizens who now have special claims on moving to the UK. It would also require having special policies in place to deal with old Commonwealth citizens from Australia, Canada and the United States. Any control of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would be soft and porous because difficult to enforce.

Avoiding placing any numerical target on immigration saves the government from the fate of its predecessors, which fell hundreds of thousands short of hitting their target. However, it also falls far short of the expectations of Brexiteers who believe that the whole point of taking back control is to achieve a large and visible reduction in the annual rate of immigration from all parts of the world and not just from the EU.

The post Applying principles can be harder than stating them appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Plenary sessions : MEPs elected Antonio Tajani as Parliament president on 17 January and on 18 January voted for who they wanted as vice-presidents and quaestors for the second half of the parliamentary term. Check out our infographic to find out who was chosen for Parliament's key posts.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs elected Antonio Tajani as Parliament president on 17 January and on 18 January voted for who they wanted as vice-presidents and quaestors for the second half of the parliamentary term. Check out our infographic to find out who was chosen for Parliament's key posts.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : EU and national authorities should provide emergency aid to help migrants and refugees to cope with freezing temperatures and snow in several parts of Europe, MEPs urged on Wednesday. They also called on EU governments to keep their promises to transfer thousands of asylum-seekers, particularly from Greece, to other countries.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : EU and national authorities should provide emergency aid to help migrants and refugees to cope with freezing temperatures and snow in several parts of Europe, MEPs urged on Wednesday. They also called on EU governments to keep their promises to transfer thousands of asylum-seekers, particularly from Greece, to other countries.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association Limited and The Queen
Freedom to provide services
Advocate General Szpunar considers that the UK and Gibraltar are a single Member State for the purposes of the freedom to provide services

On 1 January Malta, the smallest member of the European Union, took on the giant task of the presidency of the EU Council.

It is an onerous responsibility in times when the Union’s purpose is noisily questioned by populists, when the United Kingdom is preparing for departure, and when migrants in numbers not seen since the Second World War are arriving at Europe’s external borders.

It is also an onerous responsibility given that the Council presidency is seen by many as archaic, and that small states that lack resources have sometimes managed the presidency ineptly.

From the start, Malta’s presidency has been mired in controversy. The opposition used the opening ceremony to bring attention to the alleged involvement of a minister in the Panama Papers scandal and to their dislike of government’s investor programme schemes.

Malta’s programme for the presidency – which focuses on maritime affairs, migration and the Mediterranean – came under the microscope of pressure groups, who are critical of replicating the current EU-Turkey deal. The Maltese Prime Minister’s statement that Brexit must result in an inferior status for the UK brought ire from Brexiteers.

But much of this discourse is at best window dressing, at worst a distraction. The EU Council presidency is not about the sound and fury of the glamorous international stage. It is not about grand gestures and high politics.

Since the Lisbon Treaty, with its introduction of the role of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and its upgrade of the European Council, security, defence and foreign policy are generally excluded from the remit of the EU Council.

“The EU Council presidency is neither about the sound and fury of the glamorous international stage nor about grand gestures and high politics”

Nowadays the Council deals primarily with domestic policy – more prosaic, but still important. In the 19th century it was not the drum roll of revolution but the introduction of labour and social laws and rights that slowly empowered and transformed the life of the masses. Today the EU, which has long excelled as a world-leading regulatory regime,  attempts to improve the lot of its citizens and serve as a model of good governance globally, one law at a time. The presidency remains at the heart of the Union and characterises what is best about it: a relationship among equals.

Holding the presidency is a demanding task which requires additional resources, foresight, effective coordination and lengthy preparation. The presidency takes place in three stages.

In the first stage the state has to ensure that its institutions and infrastructure are up to the task.

Malta, which joined the EU in 2004, has been preparing for the presidency for the last four years. In 2013, within days of the formation of a new government, an EU affairs ministry and a planning and priorities coordination division were set up.

The civil service took on more experts in EU policy − over a hundred were allocated to Brussels alone. Additional staff were posted to offices in Vienna, the Hague, New York, Rome and London. A new operating system was introduced and policy planning, education, training, communication and logistical support fine-tuned. Malta prepared its own presidency handbook determining protocols, priorities and practices.

In the second stage, which began a year before the presidency, the state has to fine-tune its relations with the EU institutions and work with its partners in the ‘trio’ of presidencies to maximise the potential for positive results.

“What we Maltese want is for people to remember how we facilitated compromise so that solutions can be found”

Malta conducted hundreds of meetings to a rapport with the Council secretariat and with the Commission. The European Parliament was consulted widely on issues relating to the presidency. Malta worked with the Netherlands and Slovakia to formulate a common programme that focused on jobs, growth, competitiveness and environment. The trio shared working practices: Malta assisting Slovakia on fisheries; Slovakia assisting Malta on forestry policy. Malta prepared provisional agendas for every Council meeting, chairs for every committee were appointed and then trained, and position papers on different policy areas drawn up. Local meetings were held with civil society and projects developed to further the European agenda.

The final stage kicked off on New Year’s Day. Over the next six months many meetings and conferences will take place, tackling contentious issues such as migration. However, the detailed work will take place in the Council formations, where Malta will chair debates, steer discussions and build compromises on about 150 pieces of legislation.

This work includes laws relating to the digital single market – ending roaming fees, ensuring portable online content, removing geo-blocking and facilitating parcel delivery. Malta will lead discussions on updating crucial legislation on the posting of workers within the Union and on social security, including long-term care. Laws on competitiveness and copyright will be revised. New anti- discrimination legislation will be discussed, including introducing quotas for women on company boards and bolstering laws to protect women’s rights.

As Neil Kerr, Malta’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU, explained, what we Maltese want is for people to remember our presidency for sweating the small stuff; to remember how the government conducted its business, including everyone and not keeping anyone out in the cold; and to remember how we facilitated compromise so that solutions can be found.

Malta’s aim for its six months at the heart of Europe is to act in the interests of its citizens, make a better life for them, and bring a greater appreciation of the EU to its people. Through small acts by a small country, we can achieve these bigger goals for the whole of Europe.

IMAGE CREDIT: CC/Flickr – European Council President

The post Maltese presidency aims to make the ordinary extraordinary appeared first on Europe’s World.

Written by Nora Milotay and Giovanni Liva,

© laufer / Fotolia

Strengthening the social dimensions of European Union policies, in general, and of the economic and monetary union, in particular is an increasingly important discourse across the Member States, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis. Social innovation, which is gaining increasing importance in the public, private and third (i.e. voluntary, non-profit) sectors, can greatly contribute to addressing the growing challenges, such as migration, poverty and global warming. The European Union particularly promotes social innovation through employment and social policies as well as policies on the single market.

The main initiatives explicitly target the governance and funding mechanism of social innovation, including its regulatory environment, powering public-sector innovation, the social economy, as well as providing policy guidance and fostering new policy practices. Due to the complexity of the concept and ecosystem of social innovation and its very diverse contexts in the Member States, European Union policies have varied impact: regulations can have controversial effects in terms of visibility of initiatives, and many organisations still cannot access sufficient funding. To make these initiatives more effective it is important to know more about the impact of social innovation, including its social and environmental value and the importance of these for the economy.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Fostering social innovation in the European Union‘.

Filed under: Economic and Social Policies, PUBLICATIONS Tagged: briefings, EPRS briefings, Giovanni Liva, Nora Milotay, social innovation, social policy

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But they are still trying. EU ambassadors will today discuss a so-called “line of protection”, where Libyan authorities – with “strong and lasting” EU support – will intercept people before they leave territorial waters, according to notes circulated before the meeting.

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Plenary sessions : Brexit, EU relations with the US and Russia, migration, economic and social progress, and the defence union were the key political challenges for 2017 debated by MEPs, Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen and Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday. Mr Tusk briefed MEPs on the outcome of the December 2016 meeting of EU heads of state or government.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Brexit, EU relations with the US and Russia, migration, economic and social progress, and the defence union were the key political challenges for 2017 debated by MEPs, Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen and Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday. Mr Tusk briefed MEPs on the outcome of the December 2016 meeting of EU heads of state or government.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

EPRS – EP-EUI Policy Roundtable: Global Economic governance: what role for the EU ?

Economic decisions taken at inter- and supranational level have recently come under fire from populists and protectionists. However, with better coordination between Member States, the European Union could play a stronger role in representing the needs of its citizens in global economic governance. Concerted pressure from EU and euro area countries acting together in fora such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), or the G20, would help to make the world’s economic decision-making system more transparent and accountable, according to politicians and analysts speaking at a conference organised by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS). The event, entitled ‘Global economic governance: what role for the EU?’, took place in the European Parliament Library Reading Room on 12 January 2017.

The damaging financial crunch of 2008 and the ensuing recession have forced the IMF, the G20 informal group of the world’s biggest economies, the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Basel Committee of central banks, and other institutions, to act urgently to try to restore economic growth and ward off any repetition of such economic disaster. But the crisis, which has destroyed tens of millions of jobs and thrown millions into poverty, has undermined popular trust in traditional elites. The conference heard that public opinion has turned against globalisation and in favour of trade protectionism.

Sylvie Goulard, MEP (FR/ALDE), Member of the EP’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Sylvie Goulard, member of the EP’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, said citizen’s growing distrust in the economic governance system has been exacerbated by its confusing and complicated nature. ‘I was not in a position to tell my voters: who decides on the economy, who is really taking a decision. Is it parliament or is the financial industry itself that frames the activity? Many citizens in the EU and elsewhere feel that they do not choose the people who are making decisions.’ Sylvie Goulard added that the IMF, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Basel Committee, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) all have a different status, based on different governance powers – while the G20 is not very democratic. ‘When the system is complicated, it should at least be transparent.’

According to many analysts, some of these global institutions could be more effective if reformed, notably to reflect the growing role of emerging markets, such as China or India, in the world economy. However, Elena Flores, Director for International economic and financial relations and global governance at the European Commission, pointed out that some EU and euro zone countries are sceptical of such reforms. The Member States also often fail to act together, weakening Europe’s hand in international negotiations. ‘The EU could really play a much stronger role than the one it plays today if it were more unified,’ Flores said. The Commission has long advocated a single representation for the euro area on the IMF board, but without success to date. Flores remarked that the euro area’s global role could also be boosted if internal reform led to the completion of economic and monetary union. Flores added that, when the EU and euro zone countries act together, they are more successful in promoting their ideas, such as economic policy coordination, economic peer review or combatting macroeconomic imbalances at the international fora.

Difficulties in global decision-making may grow after the inauguration of Donald Trump, an advocate of economic protectionism, as US President in January, remarked Bernard Hoekman, Robert Schuman Chair at the European University Institute in Florence. Hoekman noted that ‘we are heading towards an administration in the US, which is much less inclined to pursue (…) multilateral cooperation’. Hoekman added that populism and protectionism are also fuelled by the pressure that technological change and innovation is putting on many traditional jobs.

Joachim Koops, Dean of Vesalius College Brussels and Director of the Global Governance Institute

Speaking on the EU’s track record in economic decision-making, Joachim Koops, Dean of Vesalius College Brussels and Director of the Global Governance Institute, said the Union, along with the IMF, should critically examine its role in imposing reforms on crisis-stricken Greece. ‘For the first time, the global and regional organisations worked together in an unprecedented way … They had divergent views on how to handle the economic crisis and rebuild the Greek economy,’ he said. ‘That has had an impact on populist movements and knock-on effects on elites in other countries. Many discussions in the previously pro-EU elites in Britain referred to Greece as one element in their shift in opinion in favour of Brexit’, he added.

 

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Filed under: BLOG, Events Tagged: EPRS Events, events, global governance, international relations, Marcin Grajewski

Plenary sessions : Following the election of the President, MEPs elected 14 Vice-Presidents in two ballots on Wednesday. To be elected, candidates needed to win an absolute majority of valid votes cast. The new Vice-Presidents come from six different political groups. Members also elected five Quaestors, by acclamation.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Following the election of the President, MEPs elected 14 Vice-Presidents in two ballots on Wednesday. To be elected, candidates needed to win an absolute majority of valid votes cast. The new Vice-Presidents come from six different political groups. Members also elected five Quaestors, by acclamation.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Place:        Europa building, Brussels
Chair:       Roderick Galdes, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture

All times are approximate and subject to change

+/- 09.00
Arrivals
VIP entrance, Europa building 

+/- 08.50
Doorstep by Roderick Galdes 

+/- 10.00
Beginning of the meeting (Roundtable TV/Photo opportunity)
Adoption of the agenda
Adoption of non-legislative A items 
Adoption of legislative A items (live streaming) 

+/- 10.15
Presidency work programme (live streaming) 

+/- 10.40
International trade issues
- Opening of trade negotiations with New Zealand 

+/- 12.25
Any other business
- Conference of directors of paying agencies
- Exceptions from rules on protected designation of origin for wine  

+/- 14.50
Market situation - milk package report
- Outbreak of avian flu 

+/- 17.00
Press conference in Justus Lipsius building (live streaming)

DRAFT RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union and its Member States, of the Protocol to the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Mongolia, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Helmut Scholz

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 288 - Draft report Report on the 2016 Commission Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 231 - Draft report Report on the 2016 Commission Report on Albania
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/d0726ade-9b33-11e4-8cdf-bc764e083742_8.83_thumb_169_1421161124_1421160923_129_97shar_c1.jpg

Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, at the European Parliament.

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