European Union

Plenary sessions : Workers' rights are increasingly coming under pressure due to developments such as global competition and the digital revolution. The European Commission is working on plans to improve the situation. On 19 January MEPs adopted a report stating that workers in new type of jobs should be covered by labour laws. We talked to report author Maria João Rodrigues, a Portuguese member of the S&D group, on how to create fair and functioning labour markets and welfare systems.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Workers' rights are increasingly coming under pressure due to developments such as global competition and the digital revolution. The European Commission is working on plans to improve the situation. On 19 January MEPs adopted a report stating that workers in new type of jobs should be covered by labour laws. We talked to report author Maria João Rodrigues, a Portuguese member of the S&D group, on how to create fair and functioning labour markets and welfare systems.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : The newly elected President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani expressed Parliament's solidarity with the victims and their families of a number of recent earthquakes in Italy and the avalanche which engulfed a hotel on Wednesday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : The newly elected President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani expressed Parliament's solidarity with the victims and their families of a number of recent earthquakes in Italy and the avalanche which engulfed a hotel on Wednesday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Written by Angelos Delivorias,

© blende11.photo / Fotolia

Crowdfunding is a relatively ‘young’ form of financing – especially for SMEs and start-ups, but also for not-for-profit projects – that is developing fast in Europe. While researchers point out its benefits, among them the fact that project owners have greater control, and financial risk is spread among a larger number of people, they also note its drawbacks. The latter include a high cost of capital, occasional displays of a ‘herd mentality’, capable of depriving potentially worthier projects of adequate funding, and risks for investors from incompetence or fraud on the part of the project owners, and unclear regulations.

The European Commission (through a communication and two reports) and the European Parliament (through three resolutions) have taken an active interest in this form of financing. As a result, the Commission recently conducted a study on the state of the European crowdfunding market. It found that, while crowdfunding is developing fast, it is still concentrated in a few countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands), which have introduced tailored domestic regimes, and that it remains, for the time being, a national phenomenon with limited cross-border activity. The study therefore concluded that for the moment there is no strong case for EU-level policy intervention. Nonetheless, given the encouraging trends and the potential of crowdfunding to become a key source of financing for SMEs over the long term, the Commission noted that it will maintain regular dialogue with European supervisory authorities, Member States and the crowdfunding sector to monitor and review its development.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Crowdfunding in Europe: Introduction and state of play‘.

Filed under: Economic and Social Policies, PUBLICATIONS Tagged: Angelos Delivorias, briefings, credit, crowdfunding, EPRS briefings, financing, investment, small and medium-sized enterprises

Plenary sessions : All workers should have their basic rights guaranteed, whatever their form of employment and contract, said MEPs approving their recommendations on Thursday for the forthcoming proposal on the “European Pillar of Social Rights”.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : All workers should have their basic rights guaranteed, whatever their form of employment and contract, said MEPs approving their recommendations on Thursday for the forthcoming proposal on the “European Pillar of Social Rights”.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs have voted to return to the EU Commission its blacklist of countries deemed to be at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. The list is too limited, and should be expanded, e.g. to include territories that facilitate tax crimes, they said before voting the resolution on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs have voted to return to the EU Commission its blacklist of countries deemed to be at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. The list is too limited, and should be expanded, e.g. to include territories that facilitate tax crimes, they said before voting the resolution on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Following the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors, the plenary approved the appointment of members to Parliament’s 22 standing committees on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Following the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors, the plenary approved the appointment of members to Parliament’s 22 standing committees on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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

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.