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Debate: Denmark: hardly anyone wants to study German

Eurotopics.net - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 12:31
The allocation of university places in Denmark for the new semester testifies to a dwindling interest in the language of the country's southern neighbour: only 46 young people want to study German as their main subject this autumn. Danish commentators find this disinterest hard to understand.
Categories: European Union

Agenda - The Week Ahead 12 – 18 August 2019

European Parliament - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 11:40
The European Parliament is in recess over the summer holidays from 29 July 2019 to 1 September 2019.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP
Categories: European Union

Climate crisis reducing land’s ability to sustain humanity, says IPCC

Euractiv.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 10:00
The climate crisis is damaging the ability of the land to sustain humanity, with cascading risks becoming increasingly severe as global temperatures rise, according to a landmark UN report compiled by some of the world's top scientists. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] EU's Iran trade chief forced to quit

Euobserver.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 09:14
EU plans to trade with Iran despite US sanctions have suffered a blow with the resignation of Bernd Erbel, a German diplomat who was to run the EU's so-called Instex Iran trade entity, in an anti-semitism fiasco. Erbel bowed out on Thursday when German newspaper Bild noted he had twice appeared on radio with a Holocaust-denier. The US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, and Israel, welcomed the resignation.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] EU parliament chief backs migrant rescuers

Euobserver.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 09:13
The EU ought to take care of 121 people, including 32 children, recently rescued at sea, European Parliament president David-Maria Sassoli has said to outgoing European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in a letter. If Europe did not help "it'll mean it has lost its soul", he said. Spanish charity Open Arms saved them one week ago but they are stuck on a ship because no EU state will take them.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Poland warns Europe on Russia

Euobserver.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 09:12
EU states would be wrong to "warm up" Russia relations because it was still waging war in Ukraine, Poland's deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz told Reuters on Thursday. "There is no reason to invite Russian leaders to different parties or dances together," he said, alluding to an episode last year, when the then Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl invited Russian president Vladimir Putin to her wedding.
Categories: European Union

It’s up to EU to avoid no-deal Brexit, says UK foreign minister

Euractiv.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 09:12
Britain's foreign minister on Thursday (8 August) pressed the European Union to amend the terms of Britain's EU withdrawal agreement, saying Brussels would have to take responsibility for a no-deal Brexit if it does not compromise.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Brexit could go 'badly wrong', Ireland fears

Euobserver.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 09:10
"Some people in the UK have convinced themselves that no-deal is a good thing" and Brexit could "go badly wrong" Ireland's financial services minister Michael D'Arcy told Reuters on Thursday. The British opposition Labour Party the same day accused prime minister Boris Johnson of an "unconstitutional and anti-democratic abuse of power" if he delayed potential elections until after the 31 October exit date, forcing the UK out.
Categories: European Union

Salvini calls for new elections in Italy

Euobserver.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 09:08
League leader and deputy prime minister says he is candidate to be prime minister and that his party is ready to call elections. The latest opinion polls puts the League on 36 percent.
Categories: European Union

Trump accuses France’s Macron of sending ‘mixed signals’ to Iran

Euractiv.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 08:53
US President Donald Trump on Thursday (8 August) said no one is authorized to speak to Iran on behalf of the United States, and he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Tehran over possible talks.
Categories: European Union

Poland’s parliament speaker resigns over private flights scandal

Euractiv.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 08:50
Poland's parliament speaker said on Thursday (8 August) he would resign after it was revealed that he used government aircraft for private trips, suggesting the ruling nationalists aimed to defuse a scandal that could affect their re-election campaign.
Categories: European Union

[Opinion] Lagarde's ECB must modernise

Euobserver.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 08:49
Christine Lagarde will succeed European Central Bank president Mario Draghi at a time of deepening polarisation among eurozone member states. It will take all of her skills as a leader and communicator to safeguard the institution's independence.
Categories: European Union

Telecoms reform: a new European Electronic Communications Code [European Parliament impact 2014-2019]

The power of the European Parliament

The only directly elected European Union (EU) institution; the European Parliament’s (EP) power and influence in pursuit of citizens’ interests have evolved significantly, transforming it into a full-fledged legislative body and forum of discussion and engagement at the heart of representative democracy, whose influence is felt in virtually all areas of EU activity.
What are then the European Parliament’s main powers?

What difference does the Parliament’s work make to how Europeans live their lives? This series highlights some practical examples of EP impact during the 2014-2019 legislative term.

The last overhaul of EU telecommunications rules took place in 2009, which is a very long time ago in a modern digital world that is increasingly reliant on rapid technological development. Given the urgent need to meaningfully adapt the framework so that European businesses can compete globally and citizens have stronger rights and are better protected in the virtual world, in September 2016 the European Commission proposed the directive establishing the new European Electronic Communications Code (EECC). The aim was to boost the infrastructure investment, increase connectivity and bring telecom rules up to date with technological developments and changing consumer demands and habits. This proposal represented a profound overhaul of the telecom framework. The negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council were complex, with the part on spectrum management agreed in March 2018 and the consensus on the rest reached in June 2018. The directive was formally adopted in December 2018.

The European Parliament was successful in achieving important modifications in key areas of the proposed legislation. The overview of the main ones starts with those regarding investment: Parliament has been a long-standing supporter of coordinated spectrum management at the EU level and its ideas were reflected in the EECC proposal. Before the Code, there was no EU harmonisation, but now the Member States must provide operators with regulatory predictability over a period of at least 20 years on spectrum licensing and will release spectrum bands in a timely and coordinated manner. Parliament strengthened the role of national competition authorities and reinforced competition safeguards in the new co-investment model, which encourages agreements between operators based on risk- and cost-sharing, as well as increased use of civil engineering infrastructure such as towers and wiring.

Important amendments to bring the 5G networks to Europe and improve connectivity include the obligation of the EU Member States to make spectrum available for the 5G by 2020. Small cell deployment will become easier by being subject to uniform national level legislation rather than as presently decided on different government levels. The cells will also be deployed on public infrastructure such as on street lamps and traffic lights.

The European Parliament also secured many advantages for European consumers. From May 2019, contacting another Member State will be much cheaper: intra-EU fees have been capped at 19 cents for phone calls and 6 cents for text messages. All consumers are to have guaranteed access to affordable broadband internet. Stronger protection and specific measures are provided for users with disabilities. Providers are obliged to ensure network security and deploy advanced methods, such as encryption, as well as inform users of significant threats. New measures increase transparency of tariffs and available offers, as well as facilitating their comparison. Switching operators and terminating contracts are made easier and, in the case of the former, there will be compensation if problems arise. The EU Member States are obliged to introduce by June 2022 a ‘reverse 112 system’, based on improved geo-localisation tools, which will alert citizens on their mobile phones in case of imminent or ongoing serious emergencies or disasters.

Law-making powers

a mapping of EP powers

Together with the Council, the Parliament participates in the shaping of European laws in what may be seen as a bicameral legislature at EU level. The nature of the Parliament’s involvement depends on the area in question and may mean Parliament being consulted (consultation procedure), giving its consent (consent procedure), or legislating on an equal footing with the Council (the ordinary legislative procedure, or co-decision).

The latter procedure consists of the joint adoption of an act by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of a proposal by the Commission. Here, both legislators need to agree on an identical text before it becomes law, which may take up to three readings in each of the two institutions. On average, it takes about 22 months for legislators to agree on a legislative file, starting from the Commission proposal until the signature of the final act.

The number of areas in which the Parliament co-legislates has expanded greatly over time and now includes the EU internal market, environment, consumer protection, food safety, regional development, agriculture, transport, energy and many others. Indeed, most legislative acts are now adopted following the ordinary legislative procedure.

Besides the power of consent with regard to legislative acts, the Parliament’s consent is required in many other instances not related to legislative acts in the strict sense. For example, it is needed before any new country joins the EU (Article 49, Treaty on European Union, TEU), but also before any withdrawal treaty can be concluded when a country decides to leave it (Article 50 TEU). The Parliament’s consent is also required before concluding agreements with third countries, for example association agreements, as well as before the Council determines that an EU Member State is breaching – or is about to breach – EU values (Article 7 TEU).

Read the complete study on ‘The power of the European Parliament: Examples of EP impact during the 2014-19 legislative term‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Categories: European Union

Italy’s Salvini says government is finished, calls for elections

Euractiv.com - Fri, 08/09/2019 - 08:30
Tension is mounting in Italy between its populist leaders over the financing of a multi-billion-euro high-speed train line, raising speculation the coalition government could collapse.
Categories: European Union

UN report: eat less meat to combat climate crisis

Euobserver.com - Thu, 08/08/2019 - 17:48
"We don't want to tell people what to eat," said UN climate panelist Hans-Otto Portner. But the impact of humans' carnivorous diet on the climate is substantial.
Categories: European Union

EU 'outdoing Bush' on sea and train passenger-data warning

Euobserver.com - Thu, 08/08/2019 - 16:49
The executive director of Privacy International has warned that plans to expand EU rules on passenger data collection to Europe's railway and sea passengers "does not end well."
Categories: European Union

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