European Union

EP secretary general Klaus Welle decided to keep documents secret, ignoring the democratic will of MEPs and court precedents.

UN talks continue this week to try and turn the screw on lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) or what has been termed "killer robots".

Stone-throwing, insults and dangerous manoeuvres on the high seas: French and British fishermen clashed in the English Channel over a hoard of scallops Tuesday (28 August), the latest flare-up in a years-long war over the prized shellfish.

It is in no one's interest to hold up budget negotiations at the European Union, the bloc's budget chief warned Tuesday (28 August) after Italy threatened a blockade over the migrant issue.

Hungary’s illiberal Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini launched Tuesday (28 August) an anti-migration manifesto aiming at next year's European parliament elections, targeting a common enemy.

The planned phase-out of state aid to fossil fuel power generation across the European Union could make the Ostrołęka C coal station project unprofitable within years, according to a new report by Carbon Tracker, a think tank.

Written by Vasileios Margaras (1st edition),

© nelsonaishikawa / Fotolia

For the next EU budget, covering the 2021-2027 period, the European Commission proposed to update EU cohesion policy with a new set of rules, on 29 May 2018. The proposal for a Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) sets out common provisions for seven shared management funds: the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the Asylum and Migration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument. Additional specific regulations add certain provisions needed to cater for the particularities of individual funds, in order to take into account their different rationales, target groups and implementation methods.

The CPR proposal is of utmost importance as it will set the main rules that govern the above-mentioned funds for the forthcoming period. While the proposal builds upon the previous sets of rules covering the 2014-2020 period, it nevertheless introduces a number of innovations, and aims, amongst other things, at providing simplification and better synergies between the different EU policy tools.

Versions

• August 2018: ‘Common Provisions Regulation: New rules for cohesion policy for 2021-2027‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum and Migration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument Committee responsible: Regional Development (REGI) COM(2018) 375
29.5.2018 Co-rapporteurs: Constanze Krehl (S&D, Germany)
Andrey Novakov (EPP, Bulgaria) 2018/0196 (COD) Shadow rapporteurs:

  Ruža Tomašić (ECR, Croatia)
Iskra Mihaylova (ALDE, Bulgaria)
Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL, France)
Monica Vana (Greens/EFA, Austria)
Rosa d’Amato (EFDD, Italy) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Publication of draft report

Nicolas Hulot, an environment activist, quit by surprise on Tuesday, saying the French government was not up to the challenges.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, the "enfant terrible" of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), said that Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini was "a companion of destiny". "He's my hero," he said before meeting him in Milan on Tuesday to discuss migration policies. Orban has been refusing to take asylum seekers from Italy, while Salvini has insisted that migrants go to other EU countries than Italy.

It’s amazing that the European Commission envisages land swaps to settle Kosovo-Serbia relations. Neighbourhood Commissioner Johannes Hahn said it’s a bilateral solution which should not serve as a blueprint for other issues. But not everyone is convinced.  

Digitisation and the use of big data are paving the way for agriculture, livestock and the agri-food sector to sow the seeds for a new future, as is already happening in other aspects of daily life.

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) is investigating if the recently adopted legislation on the retirement age of Polish Supreme Court judges complies with EU law, but a top Polish official has hinted that the country might ignore future ECJ rulings in this matter.

The French Guiana spaceport has been the site of European launches for decades. One of the unchallenged advantages is its proximity to the equator.

British Prime Minister Theresa May today (28 August) pledged to prioritise investment in Africa as she started a three-nation visit to the continent to drum up new trade deals ahead of leaving the European Union.

Written by Marie Lecerf (1st edition),

© Doreen Salcher / Fotolia

In preparation for the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) on 30 May 2018. In the same spirit as the current European Social Fund 2014-2020, the ESF+ will provide the main EU financial instrument for improving workers’ mobility and employment opportunities and strengthening social cohesion, improving social fairness and increasing competitiveness across Europe for the 2021-2027 period. With a provisional budget of €101.2 billion (current prices), the ESF+ should merge the existing European Social Fund (ESF), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), and the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD), the Employment and Social Innovation Programme (EaSI) and the EU Health Programme. The new fund will concentrate its investment in three main areas: education, employment and social inclusion. At the European Parliament, the file has been allocated to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), with Verónica Lope Fontagné (EPP, Spain) as rapporteur. A presentation of the draft report in the EMPL Committee is scheduled for 29 August 2018.

Versions

• August 2018: ‘European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) 2021-2027‘ (1st edition)

European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) 2021–2027 Committee responsible: Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) COM(2018) 0382
30.5.2018 Rapporteur: Verónica Lope Fontagné (EPP, Spain) 2018/0206 (COD) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

  Brando Benifei (S&D, Italy)
Ulrike Trebesius (ECR, Germany)
Jasenko Selimovic, (ALDE, Sweden)
Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany)
Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Laura Agea (EFDD, Italy)
Mara Bizzotto (ENF, Italy) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Presentation of draft report

Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The leader of the xenophobic party Lega is accused of abuse of office and the illegal detention after refugees were forced to spend ten days on a ship. Does the investigation really pose a threat for Salvini?