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European Union

Debate: What can stop Erdoğan now?

Eurotopics.net - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 11:43
With a wave of arrests against leading politicians of the pro-Kurdish HDP on Thursday night, President Erdoğan continued his crackdown against his critics. Kurdish communities demonstrated in Turkey and across Europe on the weekend. The opposition can't stop President Erdoğan, some commentators write. Others hope that economic developments will put a spoke in his wheel.
Categories: European Union

Debate: Presidential election in Bulgaria

Eurotopics.net - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 11:43
In Bulgaria the Socialist candidate Rumen Radev has won the first round of the presidential election, securing 25 percent of the vote. Tsetska Tsacheva, the candidate of ruling party Gerb lagged behind with roughly 22 percent. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov had said prior to the vote that he and his cabinet would resign if the opposition candidate won, but he has now announced that he will wait for the result of the runoff vote. The press comments on Borisov's back-pedalling.
Categories: European Union

Debate: What will parliament say on Brexit?

Eurotopics.net - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 11:43
British Prime Minister Theresa May has warned the parliamentarians not to oppose the British people's vote for Brexit. Last week the High Court in London ruled that Britain's exit from the EU could not be triggered without parliament's approval. Some commentators believe parliament shouldn't have a say on Brexit. Others are delighted that the MPs will now have to adopt a clear stance.
Categories: European Union

Debate: Latvia fears for its oldest cosmetics company

Eurotopics.net - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 11:43
The largest and oldest Latvian perfume and biocosmetics producer Dzintars is on the verge of bankruptcy. The company's staff have launched a campaign on Facebook calling on Latvians to buy their products - with success. But can such short-term consumer commitment save the more than a century-old company?
Categories: European Union

Media accreditation for the European Council on 15 and 16 December 2016

European Council - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 11:26

European Council meeting will take place on 15-16 December 2016 in Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. 

 Application deadline: 25 November, 17.00
Procedure
  • If this is your first registration, please make sure you have a recent ID-size photograph in JPEG format (.jpg) and the number of your passport or identity card ready before starting the online process.
  • You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt by email. Please read it carefully as it includes the list of original documents you will be asked to provide when collecting your badge. Depending on your profile, the requested document will include: Passport or ID card, press card and/or a letter from your editor-in chief as well as the signed original of your authorisation for security screening (only for media representatives of Belgian nationality or resident in Belgium). The press centre may contact you to request additional information if necessary. No accreditation badge will be issued if you cannot provide all required documents.
  • Under certain conditions it is possible to organise a group registration/collection of badges for journalists working for the same media. Select group registration at the beginning of the accreditation process and follow the instructions.
  • Trainees with media organisations who do not possess a press card are not entitled to request accreditation

Journalists holding a 6-month badge (30.06.2016 - 31.12.2016) do not need to register

6-month badges can be collected at the accreditation centre of the LEX building during summits. Please ensure that you have all the required documents when collecting your badge.

Collection of badges

Accreditation badges must be collected in person from the LEX building (145 rue de la Loi, Brussels)  

  • Wednesday 14 December - 9.30 - 13.00 and 14.00 - 18.00
  • Thursday 15 December - 8.30 - 20.00 
  • Friday 16 December , from 08.00 to the end of the final press conference (latest 22.00) 

Practical information on the press centre and the media programme will follow.

For more details on the European Council meeting, see the meeting page.

Categories: European Union

Article - In Parliament this week: Ceta, data protection, drones

European Parliament (News) - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 10:24
General : The free trade agreement between the EU and Canada and the future of the EU's trade policy will be debated by MEPs this week as committees are meeting. On the agenda are issues such as a data protection agreement between the EU and the US, aviation safety rules to meet new challenges such as drones and the ongoing investigation into the Panama papers.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP
Categories: European Union

Article - In Parliament this week: Ceta, data protection, drones

European Parliament - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 10:24
General : The free trade agreement between the EU and Canada and the future of the EU's trade policy will be debated by MEPs this week as committees are meeting. On the agenda are issues such as a data protection agreement between the EU and the US, aviation safety rules to meet new challenges such as drones and the ongoing investigation into the Panama papers.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP
Categories: European Union

Desperate measures

FT / Brussels Blog - Mon, 07/11/2016 - 08:15

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The North Africa to Italy migration route remains highly dangerous to those who attempt it, even busier than last year and seemingly impervious to EU action.

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Categories: European Union

Why It Matters if the European Commission Ends up Leading the Brexit Negotiations

Ideas on Europe Blog - Sun, 06/11/2016 - 11:32

The EU is no stranger to inter-institutional repetition. As was made famous in the referendum debate, it has many presidents (for instance, leading the European Commission, European Council, European Parliament, European Central Bank and the Eurogroup). So it has also been in the EU’s preparation for the Brexit talks. Over the summer, Michel Barnier (Commission), Didier Seeuws (Council) and Guy Verhofstadt (Parliament) were all appointed as the EU’s Brexit negotiators.

Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk – Apr 2015, EEAS, CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0

The question arises then of who will actually lead the negotiations for the EU. In the initial period following the referendum, it seemed possible that the Council might in fact take a more active role. Historically, the main actor would be the Commission. Consequently, this would mark a major shift in institutional balance (and confirm the revived intergovernmental nature of the EU today).

However, some Member States have indicated in recent weeks that the Commission will indeed take the lead in the negotiations. In the media, as well, Michel Barnier has been elevated as the EU’s principal Brexit negotiator. In the politics of the EU, the institutional situation matters. If the European Commission does in fact end up leading Brexit, that will have implications for the negotiations. It’s worth reflecting on why things are moving in this direction and what it means for the outcome.

Direction of travel

The Commission usually negotiates most of the EU’s external agreements, based on a mandate from the Council. In the main sections of the treaties on international agreements (Articles 207 and 218 TFEU), the Commission is only partly named in writing as the negotiator, but the precedent has developed over the EU’s history. The minimalist Article 50 TEU does not specify who should conduct withdrawal negotiations (‘the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement’), though it does make a reference back to Article 218 TFEU.

There are clear advantages for the European Union in having the Commission lead the Brexit talks. It has a great deal of experience in negotiating deals, including complex substantive matters – many of these are certain to come up in the UK’s withdrawal. The sensible suggestion of taking Brexit as a ‘reverse enlargement’ – structuring the talks based on the chapters of an accession treaty – would demonstrably point to the Commission, which conducts such negotiations. The Commission also has the resources, in terms of the number of personnel required, by comparison with the smaller Council secretariat, at least.

More broadly, the EU27 likely won’t want the ‘Council’ (the European Council, the Council of the EU and the informal gatherings at 27) to be taken over by Brexit at every meeting for the next few years. Many other important issues are at hand and there are sound reasons to continue the normal work of the EU while Brexit is being negotiated. Delegating the detailed negotiations to the Commission would regulate how Brexit is dealt with in the Council/EU27, limiting the discussions to reports from the Commission and exchanges on key points of the negotiating mandate.

Implications for Brexit

Provided this direction of travel continues (the EU27 could change their minds or intervene more directly at some point), it compartmentalises the Brexit negotiations and minimises the (already substantial) impact on day-to-day EU business. It also brings together the EU27 behind the Commission, and serves to keep up the united front they have tried to maintain – such as the mantras on the indivisibility of the Single Market and on ‘no negotiations without notification’. If the UK was hoping to capitalise on relationships with individual EU members in the negotiations (which was already a tenuous proposition), that will be even more difficult.

As an organisation, the European Commission is quite fond of integration. Unless specifically obliged to do so, it is probably the last entity that would ever agree to picking apart the Single Market (either separating the four freedoms or negotiating differentiation for individual sectors), as the UK government seemingly wishes to do at present. Perhaps more than any other actor, it knows the details of the Single Market and all of the EU’s policies and programmes. It is extraordinarily unlikely that it will not be aware of all the facts and all the briefs going into the talks. The UK won’t be able to get by on fudging substantive points. The Commission’s collective knowledge, expertise and resources afford it an advantage in the negotiations.

The Council will still have an important role, of course, particularly on the major issues decided at the key summit meetings. The European Parliament will also have influence, with its approval needed on the withdrawal agreement. In that sense, the Brexit negotiations will be a hybrid of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ negotiations. We will see both the UK-EU negotiation process (external/third country mode) and landmark moments at the European Council, at which the UK will be present until its departure (internal/intra-EU mode). As a negotiation configuration, this will be a novel experience for the EU.

In shaping Brexit, the Council will take many of the big decisions for the EU. However, the Commission could be negotiating the details. And in the EU, the details matter. The European Commission is the ‘guardian of the treaties’, a role which it has always taken seriously. It will undoubtedly continue to do so throughout the Brexit negotiations and afterwards in future UK-EU relations.

This article was originally published on the LSE EUROPP Blog.

Please read the comments policy before commenting.

Shortened linkbritainseurope.uk/25

How to cite this article:

Salamone, A (2016) ‘Why it Matters if the European Commission Ends up Leading the Brexit Negotiations’, Britain’s Europe (Ideas on Europe), 6 November 2016, britainseurope.uk/25

The post Why It Matters if the European Commission Ends up Leading the Brexit Negotiations appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Categories: European Union

Weekly schedule of President Donald Tusk

European Council - Fri, 04/11/2016 - 15:23

Monday 7 November 2016
14.00 Meeting with President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem

Tuesday 8 November 2016
15.00 Meeting with the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegović (photo opportunity)
16.30 Presentation of letters of credentials of ambassadors

Thursday 10 November 2016
10.30 Presentation of letters of credentials of ambassadors
13.45 Meeting with the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö (photo opportunity)

Categories: European Union

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