European Union

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy (UK) v Commission
Competition
The General Court of the European Union confirms the fines of almost €150 million imposed on several undertakings in the context of an infringement intended to delay the marketing of generic versions of the antidepressant citalopram

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The EU and Australia are like-minded partners who see increasingly eye-to-eye on key international issues.  Relations are founded on strong historical and cultural links.  The EU-Australia Partnership Framework, adopted at the annual Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in Paris on 29 October 2008, provides a solid and up-to-date basis for the bilateral relationship in the years to come. 

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Albania is a candidate country following the Brussels European Council of June 2014. The country became a potential candidate country for EU accession following the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003. On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted a new European partnership with Albania. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)  with the country entered into force on 1 April 2009.

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Good afternoon. I am very happy to be back in Riga. In fact, it is my third visit here since becoming President of the European Council. I wish to thank Prime Minister Kučinskis for his warm welcome.

Today we will discuss the prospects for our summit next week in Bratislava. I am convinced that the summit must be about bringing back political control of our common future. And that it must be about bringing back a strong sense of political community.

It is a clear lesson from the outcome of the referendum in the UK - but one which is equally valid across Europe: people are worried about the phenomena which seem to be out of control - migration, terrorism, external threats, or the negative consequences of globalisation. We have to confront those issues and demonstrate our determination, and our capacity, to ensure on the one hand the openness of Europe, while on the other the protection of our citizens. Much of this is under the responsibility of Member States, but the EU can assist them. The European Union must help provide a renewed sense of security and stability to Europeans.

Earlier today I was in London, where I met Prime Minister May. I informed her of our meeting in Bratislava, and she informed me of the current thinking in the British government regarding Brexit.

I know that Brexit is a particular concern for Latvia, because so many of your citizens reside in the UK. Our goal is clear: to establish the closest possible relations between the EU and the UK. It is obvious that, once the negotiations begin, securing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK will also be a key objective for us. And it is equally clear that our future relationship with the UK requires a balance of rights and obligations - any access to the Single Market must be based on the four freedoms, including the freedom of movement.

But the negotiations cannot begin until the UK activates the process for withdrawal. Article 50 of the Treaty is very clear. In fact, it is there to protect the interests of the countries remaining in the EU. I told Prime Minister May that I am convinced that it is in everyone's best interest that we start negotiations soon, to reduce and eventually end the uncertainty. Thank you. 

Thank you Prime Minister for having me here today in London, at such a crucial time, both for the UK and for the European Union.

My intention is to tell you about the agenda of the Bratislava meeting of 27 leaders next week. We decided to organise this informal meeting to discuss and to assess the political consequences of Brexit for the EU community. This doesn't mean that we are going to discuss our future relations with the UK in Bratislava. For this, and especially for the start of the negotiations, we need your formal notification, I mean Article 50. And this is the position shared by all 27 Member States.

To put it simply, the ball is now in your court. I am aware that it is not easy, but I still hope you will be ready to start the process as soon as possible. But I am convinced that at the end of the day our common strategy goal will be to establish the best possible relations between the UK and the European Union.

According to Advocate General Mengozzi, the agreement on the transfer of passenger name record data, planned between the European Union and Canada, cannot be entered into in its current form

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European Councl President Donald Tusk visits the leaders of 27 EU countries in preparation for the 16 September Bratislava informal summit. 

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RPO
Taxation
In the view of Advocate General Kokott, the exclusion of electronically supplied digital books, newspapers and periodicals from the reduced rate of value added tax is compatible with the principle of equal treatment

General : For the best ideas for Europe's future, why not ask the next generation? In May 7,000 young Europeans gathered in Strasbourg for the second European Youth Event (EYE) during which they discussed how to best tackle the many challenges facing Europe. Fifty of the best ideas have been collected in a report, which was presented to Parliament on 6 September. Some of the ideas will be forwarded to parliamentary committees, which starting 11 October will discuss them with the young people involved.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : For the best ideas for Europe's future, why not ask the next generation? In May 7,000 young Europeans gathered in Strasbourg for the second European Youth Event (EYE) during which they discussed how to best tackle the many challenges facing Europe. Fifty of the best ideas have been collected in a report, which was presented to Parliament on 6 September. Some of the ideas will be forwarded to parliamentary committees, which starting 11 October will discuss them with the young people involved.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

GS Media
Approximation of laws
The posting of a hyperlink on a website to works protected by copyright and published without the author’s consent on another website does not constitute a ‘communication to the public’ when the person who posts that link does not seek financial gain and acts without knowledge that those works have been published illegally

The Stabilisation and Association Council (SA Council) between Albania and the European Union held its eighth meeting on 8 September 2016. 

The SA Council noted that the Commission report 2015 on Albania concluded that the country made further progress towards meeting the political criteria for membership and, overall, steady progress continued in the five key priorities for the opening of accession negotiations. 

The SA Council noted the conclusions of the General Affairs Council of 15 December 2015, which recognised Albania's continued commitment on the reform agenda. On that occasion, the Council underlined that judicial reform remained key to further forward movement on Albania's EU accession process and could also be transformative for other reforms. 

The SA Council confirmed that Albania maintained an overall sustained pace in the implementation of public administration reform measures. The EU welcomed the unanimous adoption in July of a set of constitutional amendments for a thorough and comprehensive reform of the justice system. The SA Council took note of the recent adoption of the law on the vetting of judges and prosecutors, which represents an important step forward for the implementation of the justice reform. It is essential to proceed with a swift implementation of the reform. The EU also welcomed that Albania took further steps in the fight against corruption and organised crime, as well as on human rights matters. 

The SA Council welcomed the continued active participation of Albania in regional initiatives and structures in South Eastern Europe and its good neighbourly relations and constructive regional stance. The EU acknowledged Albania's role in the region as a pro-active and constructive partner, and underlined the importance of Albania's commitment to a positive engagement in the region, including through the conclusion of bilateral conventions, and to further promoting regional cooperation. The EU reiterated that good neighbourly relations and regional stability are essential elements of the Stabilisation and Association process. 

The SA Council welcomed the full alignment of Albania to Council decisions and in the field of Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. The EU delegation was led by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission, Federica Mogherini. The Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn, represented the European Commission. The Albanian delegation included the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ditmir Bushati, the Minister for European Integration, Klajda Gjosha, and the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Albanian Parliament, Majlinda Bregu, as representative of the opposition.

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G20 leaders meet in Hangzhou, China, on 4-5 September 2016. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, represent the EU at the summit.

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

As Europe gets back to serious work, there is much to discuss, and much to do. Problems abound. Europe faces a host of challenges – many internal, some external – and next year won’t be any easier. Brace yourselves for an autumn and winter of discontent.

The world kept turning as the EU took a summer break. The war in Syria continued to wreak havoc – children were killed or wounded, and refugees fled devastation. The earthquake in Italy killed and injured hundreds. There were more suicide bombs, in Yemen, Turkey and Afghanistan. Strongmen in Ankara and Moscow tightened their grips. And the American election thundered poison and venom.

There were points of light: the Olympics brought some relief and excitement in an increasingly angry, intolerant and difficult world. There was also a landmark peace deal in Colombia between the government and the main left-wing rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), putting an end to one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies.

Europe reacted to the events of course – but internal difficulties took centre stage. Europe’s focus is on itself, its challenges and dilemmas. And rightly so. Global events matter, and the EU’s voice needs to be heard. But in these difficult times, Europe’s focus must be internal.

Even when it comes to taking a holiday. It is certainly good politics for European leaders to take their vacations in Europe. Brisk trekking in the Alps (rather than, say, in the Himalayas) shows that a European leader – like Britain’s new Prime Minister Theresa May – is careful with money and committed to Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also played it safe in South Tyrol.

But staying close to home has its disadvantages. Staying inside the European cocoon may be cheap, comfortable and familiar. But it leads to complacency. If EU leaders had travelled a bit further – to Asia, for instance – they would know they need to take urgent action to restore the EU’s lustre.

Europe has certainly been in the global headlines over the summer. But the reports have been less than flattering. Media across the world has focused on three key questions which unfortunately appear to define Europe in 2016: burkinis, borders and Brexit.

Gone for now are the compliments and the glowing words, the soft focus on European cities, museums and food, abiding admiration for European integration efforts, the noble pledge to steer clear of war and turmoil.

It’s difficult to talk about “European values” when, for much of the summer, France grabbed the headlines with the bizarre decision of some local authorities to ban so-called “burkinis”. Images of Muslim women being ordered to undress on French beaches caught the global imagination, triggering animated debates on what had happened to a country known and admired for its commitment to “liberté, égalité et fraternité”.

The burkini debate is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg. As the country heads for presidential elections in 2017, the French debate on Islam is expected to become even fiercer – and coarser. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the xenophobic and anti-Muslim National Front, will call the shots – and other politicians will struggle frantically to keep up.

The game in France over the coming months will be simple: who can sound tougher on Islam and Muslims. Le Pen is unlikely to become French President. But she will set the political agenda for the country and dominate the political discourse for months to come.

Which brings us to borders, refugees and Europe’s struggle to deal with the large number of migrants and asylum seekers already here – as well as with those who keep knocking on its doors.

The EU once captured the headlines for its bold moves to eliminate borders and create a frontier-free single market. The image now is of an EU determined to protect itself with barbed wire fences, armed policemen and more. This is especially the case in many eastern European states, where restrictive new laws are in place for asylum seekers and refugees who are accused of being “intruders” and “potential terrorists”, bent on destroying Western civilisation and Christianity.

And then of course there is Brexit. The world can’t really believe that a country would willingly leave a much-coveted rich men’s club. And no-one seems as confused as Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and her disunited band of Brexiteers – Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox.

May’s mantra of “Brexit means Brexit” is beginning to ring hollow, not least because the government has yet to decide just when to invoke Article 50, which will kick-start negotiations on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

Europeans once stood out for their post-modern values and aspirations, their ability to make friends with former enemies, their commitment to inclusion, and their diversity. That’s no longer the case. Europe in the autumn of 2016 appears fragile, fraught and fearful – and very few EU watchers are celebrating.

Related Content:

• Friends of Europe: ‘State of Europe’ high-level roundtable “Disruption, Disorder and Division: Brexit’s impact on Europe” – 13 October 2016
• Europe’s World: Brexit special section 
• Debating Europe: Is Europe’s migrant crisis finally under control?

IMAGE CREDIT: JRBJR/Bigstock.com

The post Burkinis, borders and Brexit – unfortunate new symbols of a fragile and fearful Europe appeared first on Europe’s World.

So it turns out that Usherwood’s Law is simply that things can always get worse. It’s not quite my childhood dream, but (appositely) it could be worse.

Since publishing The Brexit Clusterf**k earlier on, I’ve had lots of feedback on Twitter, essentially boiling down to “you forgot some other things”. Since I’m apparently on a roll here, I thought I’d add in those things right away.

My original post was focused on the difficulties attached to the process and content of Brexit negotiations, but there’s another element which I neglected, namely outcomes. This comes into play not only at the end, but also much, much earlier.

The party

While I suggested one cause for less-than-complete pessimism was that the Tories had rebounded after the vote, that is a highly conditional situation. Theresa May might be the firm and reassuring hand that many in the party were looking for, but she was a Remainer (however half-heartedly). She heads up a government with a small majority and enough visceral eurosceptics to make life difficult-to-impossible for her legislative agenda. That we hear repeated calls from the backbenches to get on with Art.50 is not just frustration, but also a warning to May.

Of course, she could try to improve her immediate situation by calling an early election, to capitalise on the turmoil in Labour and the seeming deflation of UKIP. Almost certainly, she would pick up seats, reinforcing her mandate and her room to keep the sceptics in their box. However, after everything that has happened this year, “almost certainly” isn’t certain enough: better to slum it now than risk it all, especially if it means an even greater chance of keeping Corbyn in office for longer.

The sceptic core will matter throughout the coming years. Firstly, they will be the big internal source of pressure to notify the EU on Art.50, with the clear sanction that they will turf out May and seek to find a more compliant replacement. Secondly, they’ll be constantly pushing for the most UK-friendly deal possible within Art.50 (the “they’re lucky to have us” gambit), which will make any of the pretty inevitable compromises needed to bridge differences very hard indeed to achieve. Here the sanction is the ‘hard Brexit’ option: refusing any deal and leaving after the two-year period is up.

This sounds possible: it preserves British integrity and will make others see that its very much their loss. However, this option has its own problems, not least of which is that WTO membership is linked to EU membership for the UK, so there would have to be renegotiation of tariff-schedules and the rest, under WTO unanimity rules (i.e. including the EU27). LostLeonardo reasonably asks why third-party agreements would have to fall: certainly, there could be agreement by all parties to grandfather the UK’s position post-Brexit, but given the size and structure of the British economy, some parties might see opportunity to improve their positions, asking for concessions to ‘help’ the UK avoid a more painful renegotiation. In short, the WTO option isn’t as simple or quick as it seems.

Finally the sceptic core might seek to secure parliamentary approval for any final deal, again seeking more concessions from a government that will struggle to gain them in an Art.50 process that gives it scant locus. It’s not too much of a push to imagine some sceptics playing the ‘give the people a voice’ card again, this time to kill an agreement and head to ‘hard Brexit’.

The people

If the party is a millstone to the government, then the people are going to be ones who ultimately suffer.

The Leave campaign succeeded in part because it built a very broad church: the ‘take control’ slogan was open to many interpretations and agendas, especially because no fixed plan for Brexit was presented or defended. For the purpose of winning a vote that made sense, but now the cost becomes clear.

As the last two months have shown, there are many, many models of Brexit theoretically possible: and recall the May wants a British model, not a Norwegian or Swiss or anyone else’s one. However, as I noted in my original piece, May talks about limiting free movement of people and changing market access.

Almost by definition, whatever the deal might be reached (or indeed not reached), it will not be what those who voted Leave wanted. While that might be marginally offset by some Remainers feeling that (on reflection) it’s an improvement on the status quo ante, there is a clear risk that the wider forces of disaffection will see the outcome of Brexit as further betrayal by the ‘system’. That plays out in elections, especially if Labour and UKIP can reassert their “defence of the common man” position, but it also breeds further disaffection and disengagement, which can never be good in a democratic system.

To pull all of this together, someone’s nose is going to be put out of joint by Brexit, and probably quite soon. What will matter is whose nose it is and what they decide to do about it. Maybe it drives them back to a Remain stance – although you’d need a lot of people to decide that to have any chance of reversing the fundamental position – but much more likely it means that when decisions come to be made – in government, parliament, elections or elsewhere – they’ll be even more wildcards in play.

Like I say, things can always get worse.

The post More Brexit clusterf**king appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Good afternoon. It is great to be here in Dublin. I would like to thank the Taoiseach, not only for his warm Irish welcome, but also for our excellent co-operation over the past years. Ireland is, and always has been, a respected voice around the European table. After the dark days of the banking crisis, your return from the edge to be the fastest growing economy in Europe is really remarkable. Enda, you are a symbol in Europe of effective crisis management. Without Ireland's sacrifice and example, the European Union would be in a worse situation now. And we know it.

No one in Europe should question that the reasons for the success of your country are wise political leadership, and the hard work, creativity, and the determination of the Irish people.

I am in Dublin today to consult with the Taoiseach ahead of our summit of 27 leaders in Bratislava next week. We will be meeting to discuss what Brexit means politically for the future of the European Union. I know that Brexit is a very disorientating prospect for Ireland. You are a committed EU member. Sooner or later, your biggest trading partner - and the country with which you share a long history- will not be. The consequences of this are serious, also for the situation in Northern Ireland. The Taoiseach and I are working together closely to ensure that your country does not suffer from a decision that it did not make. Enda, I know you are in constant touch with Prime Minister May. You will also be the first leader that I brief after my own meeting in London tomorrow.

The Bratislava summit is not about Brexit per se. It is about bringing back political control of our common future. People are turning against what they perceive as an irrational openness. They see the world around them getting more chaotic: uncontrolled migration, terrorism, injustices linked to globalisation. We have to confront such issues with real and uniform political leadership. And by saying leadership I don't mean the institutions but first of all the community of member states and their leaders. What must be delivered is a sense of security and order. We in Europe cannot build a political community only on the concept of mandatory and total openness for everyone. The Union also has to be about protection - protection of our freedoms, our security, our quality and way of life. Our goal is to regain the sense that globalisation is an opportunity and not a threat. There is a balance to be restored. I think the Union is one of the best tools we have to do it.

Bratislava needs to show that the political elites in Europe are not detached from reality. That we will be open to the outside world, but always bearing in mind the best interests of our own citizens. That is why I want our leaders to have a political discussion without any taboos about the future.

To conclude, I know there has been a tremendous debate already here over the European Commission's decision in the Apple case. The Taoiseach has explained to me the reasons why the Irish government wants to take the issue to court. I will not comment on this case because this will now be up to the Court. But let me add that I don't expect taxation to be a major issue in Bratislava. Thank you.

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The “cultural counter-revolution” has started, at least according to Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Poland’s Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The two conservative ideologues from Europe’s east made a long-anticipated joint appearance on Tuesday night and showed political love can still blossom on this crisis-ridden continent. Our correspondents on the scene in Krynica-Zdroj in southern Poland saw the duo “exchange gushing compliments”, before denouncing the workings of Brussels, uncontrolled migration and the “smell” of “international capital”. Here are some extracts from Henry Foy and Neil Buckley’s report.

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