European Union

Figures compiled by the environmental pressure group Greenpeace highlight the lack of transparency about the amount of cash disbursed by national governments to support back-up power plants – mainly fossil fuels and nuclear.

Poland on Wednesday (12 September) said it was very worried by the European Parliament's rare decision to launch a procedure against Hungary for posing a "systemic threat" to the EU's founding values.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (12 September) Russia had found the two men accused by British prosecutors of trying to murder ex- Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain, but that there was nothing criminal about them.

The European Commission wants to limit state aid for power plants that EU countries remunerate as a means to remain on stand-by in case of demand peak. As negotiations on the EU’s new electricity market enter the home straight, EURACTIV lists the main issues to watch out for in the debate.

Product reformulation, rather than taxes, has brought tangible results for public health, according to Food Drink Ireland (FDI), the main trade association for the food and drink industry.

Brexit supporting rebels in Prime Minister Theresa May's party set out proposals on Wednesday (12 September) which they said would allow trade to flow over the Irish border while safeguarding the integrity of the European Union's Single Market.

Ryanair's chief executive stepped up his warning about the risk of flights between Britain and Europe being grounded for days in the wake of Britain's exit from the European Union next March, saying there had been no assurances on the issue.

The Austrian far-right has said it is not eager to collaborate politically with Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon over forming a pan-European right-wing movement.

As Brussels decision-makers begin their final discussions on the European directive on Unfair Trading Practices this autumn, they would do well to consider assessing some of the successful laws in place around Europe, which have had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the entire food supply chain, write Promarca and FIAB.

The European Union took a stance against "killer robots" on Wednesday when the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for an international ban on the development, production and use of weapons that kill without a human deciding to fire.

Netherlands positive, but Slovakia negative on proposal to do foreign policy by majority vote, as Jean-Claude Juncker outlines vision for "sovereign Europe".

The parliament launched a sanctions procedure against Hungary in an unprecedented vote that required a two-thirds majority from MEPs. Hungary is calling the vote a "fraud" and a "petty revenge" for its hardline migration policy.

At a time when a series of international meetings on the climate is beginning, the funding tool for climate projects between the North and the South is facing governance problems. EURACTIV France reports.

Some 200 experts, stakeholders, industry representatives and political/military decision-makers from the European, transatlantic and international Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) community gathered today in Brussels for the 1st AAR Conference in Europe organized by the European Defence Agency (EDA).

The event was opened with speeches and presentations by the Belgian Minister of Defence, Steven Vandeput,  the Assistant Secretary General for NATO Defence investments, Camille Grand, the chairman of the Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group (ARSAG), General John Sams, as well as the EDA Chief Executive, Jorge Domecq. Subsequent high-level speakers included the Commander of the European Tactical Airlift Centre (ETAC), Maj. Gen. Laurent Marboeuf, the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander US Air Forces in Europe, Maj. Gen. John B.Williams, the Director of the Dutch Military Aviation Authority, Cdre. Jean-Paul Apon, the Chairman of the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF), Cdr. Dick Kreiter, NATO Director Armament & Aerospace Capabilities (Defence Investment Division), Dr Giorgio Cioni, General Vincenzo Camporini from the Instituto Affari Internazionali as well as EDA Capability, Armament and Technology (CAT) Director, Martin Konertz.

The conference discussed the current state of play (notably Europe’s shortfall in this domain) as well as the future opportunities and challenges of Air-to-Air Refuelling from a European, transatlantic and international perspective. In successive sessions and panels, the political, operational and regulatory aspects and problems were analysed and possible solutions discussed.    

In his speech, EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq praised AAR as a domain in which Europe is catching up on its shortfall in full complementarity with NATO. Even though Europe is still heavily dependent on US AAR assets, “it is slowly but surely catching up thanks to national and multinational Air-to-Air Refuelling initiatives which aim to develop a future capability that meets our operational requirements”, Mr Domecq said. The aim is not to duplicate NATO efforts but for Europe to be able to act and to become credible partners, he stressed. “I very much welcome our NATO partners to this conference. The work we do together in AAR is exemplary for how we promote close EU-NATO cooperation. The joint political commitment complemented by the excellent staff-to-staff cooperation led to a synchronized and harmonized approach towards dealing with the AAR shortfall, both on the NATO and EU side”. The EDA’s AAR activities are fully synchronized with the NATO’s roadmap on AAR improvements. “This prevents unnecessary duplication but more important creates opportunities for more collaboration (…) By increasing the European AAR capability, the participating nations also strive to meet their NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) targets”, Mr Domecq stated. “The MMF is a perfect example on how to get from the shortfall to a capability”.
 

Way ahead

Conference participants widely agreed that considerable work still lies ahead as Europe’s remaining 30% AAR shortfall, especially during operations, cannot be fixed overnight. Discussions pointed at a variety of complementary steps that should be taken to fill the gap in the comping years, in particular:

• promote and further expand the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) beyond the five current participating countries (Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, Belgium). To date, the fleet has ordered eight A330 MRTT aircraft the delivery of which is expected between 2020 and 2022. There are currently three options for additional aircraft in place (potential increase to 11 aircraft in total);
• encourage European countries with national AAR programmes in place to procure more assets, especially Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft;
• increase the procurement of A-400M wing pods to be pooled and shared;
• improve the standardization and streamlining of the international tanker clearance process.
  
  

Background

In December 2013, EU Heads of State and Government acknowledged AAR as a key capability shortfall and tasked the EDA to work on it. AAR subsequently became one of the Agency’s Key Capability Programmes and the subject of an EDA Pooling and Sharing initiative which eventually led to the creation of a Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF). OCCAR, Europe’s organization for the management of cooperative armament programmes, manages the MMF acquisition phase whereas the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) will be responsible for the complete life-cycle management of the fleet (A330 MRTT). The fleet is funded by the participating nations who will also have the exclusive right to use these NATO–owned aircraft which will operate in a pooling arrangement. The aircraft will be configured for inflight refuelling, the transport of passengers and cargo, and medical evacuation flights.
 

More information:

• Jorge Domecq speech at AAR Conference
• Speech Belgian Defence Minister Steven Vandeput
• Speech NATO ASG DI Camille Grand
• EDA AAR project page  

 

Plenary session and Committee meetings, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

During his State of the Union speech in Strasbourg on Wednesday (12 September), Jean-Claude Juncker struck a largely emollient tone on the subject of Brexit talks which he said were being “masterfully handled by my friend Michel Barnier”.

As US presidents tend to do at the end of their mandates, Jean-Claude Juncker will look abroad in his final months as European Commission President. As is the case with the commanders-in-chief on the other side of the Atlantic, the reason lies in the problems he faces at home.

Human rights NGOs enthusiastically welcomed the European Parliament's approval to start punitive Article 7 proceedings against Hungary on Wednesday (12 September), after a vote that revealed deep divisions inside the biggest political family, the European People's Party.

Despite bold propositions for the EU's future, one could not help feeling the Commission chief's State of the Union address already sounded like a farewell speech.

This vote in the European Parliament could not mark a step change in the EU's global role in forests protection to prevent climate change.