European Union

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for people in an emergency situation.

Hopefully it will never happen to you, but many people find themselves in emergency situations while travelling abroad, because they have a car accident, need medical assistance or fall victim to a crime, for instance. The EU has set up an emergency phone number to enable you to get help quickly: 112. You can dial it anywhere in Europe for free to summon the local police, ambulance or fire brigade to your immediate assistance.

Meanwhile, since March 2018, all new cars have to comply with EU legislation and be equipped with the eCall on-board emergency call system. The system will be activated by sensors if you have a serious car accident and will automatically call the 112 number, communicating your car’s location, the time and the direction of travel, even if you are unconscious or unable to call. You can also trigger it manually by pushing a button in the car, for instance if you witness a serious accident. It is estimated that the system could save up to 2 500 lives a year.

© vchalup / Fotolia

If you fall sick while travelling in Europe, EU legislation gives you the same right to state-provided healthcare as people insured in the country concerned, and if you carry the European Health Insurance Card, you can avoid paying upfront in most EU countries.

Another example of EU provision for people in emergency situations is the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which supplies coordinated assistance to victims of natural and man-made disasters. This can include health assistance from the European Medical Corps, who send doctors and medical equipment in response to emergencies in and outside the EU.

Further information

• European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications, networks, content and technology https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/policies/emergency-and-support-lines
• European Commission’s Directorate General for mobility and transport, https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan/ecall_en
• European Commission’s European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, http://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection/mechanism_en

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for small farmers.

Most of the farms in the EU are small, although the term includes a wide diversity of operations. Although small farms produce only a portion of the total EU agricultural output, their contribution in creating rural employment, supporting rural societies and landscapes, and ensuring that traditional and local production continues, makes them a cornerstone of European agriculture.

© ronedya / Fotolia

Because small farms are generally run by the family, who often consume what is produced themselves, they have few assets and few opportunities to innovate. They generally have very little bargaining power in the food supply chain. However, many small farmers are flexible enough to diversify their farm activities, or take on another job to increase their income.

As a small farmer, the EU recognises your important role and grants smallholdings a simplified scheme that cuts the administrative burden for accessing EU direct payments. This scheme is implemented in more than half of the EU countries, including those where small farms outnumber large ones. EU rural development policy also benefits small farmers by financing rural investments that improve the quality of life in the countryside, diversify rural economies, and offer services in remote areas that are important to the many elderly and female farmers among smallholders.

Further information

• EPRS publication on ‘Small farms’, europarl.europa.eu/RegData/bibliotheque/stspotlight/2014/140794/LDM_STS(2014)140794_REV1_EN.pdf
• European Commission fiche on ‘The Small Farmers Scheme’, ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/direct-support/direct-payments/docs/small-farmers-scheme_en.pdf
• European Commission brief on ‘What is a small farm?’, www.ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/rural-area-economics/briefs/pdf/02_en.pdf

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for film makers.

If you go to the cinema more than twice a year, you are already doing better than the average European. If so, you must have noticed that American productions make up three quarters of the films on offer. This situation is disconcerting, not least because US-based companies produced ‘just’ 789 feature films in 2016, for instance – compared to 1 740 European productions in the same period…

© Sunny studio / Fotolia

The strong US presence in the EU film market explains why public support is provided to assist European cinema in gaining a competitive edge. Since 2013, state aid rules allow the level of support to film production, distribution and promotion to reach 50 %, and up to 60 %in the case of co-productions funded by more than one EU country. By contrast, there are no limits on aid for script writing or film-project development, or for difficult audiovisual works, as defined by each EU country.

Creative Europe – the EU programme supporting the cultural and creative sectors until 2020 – will dedicate more than €800 million to cinema. In addition, €210 million has been made available since 2016 for a new financial guarantee facility, which should make it easier for small companies to access bank loans.

Helping overcome distribution barriers for European films is one of the goals of the European Parliament’s LUX Prize, awarded annually since 2007. The winner does not receive a direct grant. Instead, the three films in the final stage of the competition are subtitled in the 24 official EU languages and are screened in more than 40 cities and at 18 festivals, allowing many Europeans to see them.

Further information

• EPRS publication on ‘2015 – A record year for European cinema’, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2016/593514/EPRS_ATA%282016%29593514_EN.pdf
• Official website of Cineuropa – the best of European cinema, http://www.cineuropa.org/
• Official website of the International network of cinemas for the circulation of European films, https://www.europa-cinemas.org/en/
• EPRS publication on ‘LUX Prize: Ten years of support for EU cinema’, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2016/593521/EPRS_ATA%282016%29593521_EN.pdf

The Facebook CEO will brief MEPs on data protection - but only behind closed doors. Meanwhile EU leaders are scratching their heads on how to deal with US president Trump's erratic decisions on trade and the Iran deal.

Most refugee-related services are outsourced to the private sector and NGOs, which are not adequately monitored and evaluated. When governments and EU institutions provide funding for refugee projects, they should scrutinise the NGOs and private players they work with.

An EU-Azerbaijan trade and political agreement will be ready for ratification next year, says Javanshir Feyziyev, co-chair of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC).

The EU should embrace the new plant breeding techniques as the best chance to supply enough food for the EU's population, according to mainstream EU farmers. But organic farmers oppose this and a lot may depend on a European court ruling due before the summer.

Greece and Italy have a duty to better control migration into Europe, said Boyko Borisov, whose country holds the EU presidency.

The Commission couldn’t have picked a more smoggy week in Brussels to unveil new emissions cuts and hit national capitals with air quality legal cases.

EU justice chief Vera Jourova will push for a new data access agreement with the United States when she meets with her American counterpart next week, amid growing transatlantic tensions over issues including the Iran nuclear agreement and trade.

Agriculture is one of the sectors most affected by climate change. However, it also contributes to the release of gases like ammonia and greenhouse gases (GHGs), affecting the quality of air and biodiversity.

The UK's departure will have an major impact on the EU's regions and cities, the Committee of the Regions has warned. The Committee has urged the European Commission to consider setting up a regional stabilisation fund before 29 March 2019.

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© Stockninja / Fotolia

President Donald Trump announced on 8 May that the United States was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement, ignoring calls from other signatories to preserve the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions on Teheran in return for measures scaling back its nuclear ambitions. The decision paves the way for reinstating US sanctions against Iran, which will also affect non-US companies doing business with that country. President Trump justified the move by saying that the deal did not go far enough in removing the threat posed by Iran to the United States and its allies in the Middle East.

This note offers links to reports and commentaries from some major international think-tanks and research institutes on the Iran nuclear deal and the US decision.

After Trump’s Iran decision: Time for Europe to step up
European Council on Foreign Relations, May 2018

Point of view: What Germany, France and Britain should do after Trump nixes the Iran deal
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, May 2018

Removing the stabilizing block of the Iran deal: Trump toys with global equilibrium
German Marshall Fund, May 2018

The Iran deal: Withdrawal symptoms
Atlantic Council, May 2018

Debating the Iran deal
Brookings Institution, May 2018

Trump decision on Iran will squeeze US allies in East and Central Europe
Atlantic Council, May 2018

Trump pulled out of the Iran deal: What now?
Council on Foreign Relations, May 2018

The President’s speech and the prospects of an Iranian-Israeli war
Atlantic Council, May 2018

The impact of the Iran nuclear agreement
Council on Foreign Relations, May 2018

Will Trump’s decision on Iran end Europe’s servility?
Egmont, May 2018

EU has little choice but to try to keep the Iran deal alive
Centre for European Reform, May 2018

The strategic fallout of U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal
Rand Corporation, May 2018

Saving the Iran Nuclear Deal Without the U.S.
Crisis Group, Ma 2018

The view from the capitals: Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal
European Council on Foreign Relations, May 2018

Post Iran-deal: Israel in the post-American era
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, May 2018

US-Europe unity needed on Iran
Transatlantic Institute, May 2018

A new Israeli-Arab axis against Iran
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, May 2018

By pulling out of nuclear deal, Trump hands gift to Iranian hardliners
Chatham House, May 2018

Iran-Abkommen ohne die USA
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, May 2018

Europe should stand its ground after U.S. Iran deal pullout
Carnegie Europe, May 2018

The world faces dangerous reality with Iran nuclear deal left for dead
Carnegie Europe, May 2018

What to do the day after killing the Iran deal
German Marshall Fund, May 2018

L’Organisation Badr en Irak: L’ancrage étatique d’une milice pro-iranienne
Groupe de Recherche et d’Information sur la Paix et la Sécurité, May 2018

Netanyahu and the Iran nuclear deal: Using half-truths to support a lie
Instituto Affari Internazionali, May 2018

Accord nucléaire iranien: Les sanctions américaines et la désillusion des entreprises étrangères
Institut des relations internationales et stratégiques, May 20189

Between a rock and a hard place: Europe’s uncertain role in Middle Eastern geopolitics
Istituto Affari Internazionali, May 2018

EU policy options in case of U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal
Carnegie Europe, April 2018

Europe should strike a tough pose with Trump on the Iran nuclear deal
European Council on Foreign Relations, March 2018

The art of sticking with the nuclear deal: Why Europe should defy Trump on Iran
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2018

Germany should mediate between Iran and Israel
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, February 2018

What to know about the protests in Iran
Chatham House, January 2018

Read this briefing on ‘U.S. withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

While the European Parliament has decided to ban palm oil imports by 2021, France recently gave the go-ahead for a biorefinery owned by Total, a move that prompted many critics. EURACTIV.fr reports.

As Europe’s domestic production of natural gas is steadily declining and demand is projected to remain stable, import requirements will rise in the coming decades. There are only two options to meet the increasing demand for gas imports – pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Pristina ‘understands’ the decision of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy not to attend the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, but “Kosovo is not Catalonia”, Kosovo's President Hashim Thaçi told EURACTIV.com.

As Italy gets closer to having a cabinet dominated by the 5-Star Movement, the rejection of this force by the liberal ALDE group in January 2017 increasingly looks like a strategic mistake.

On May 22, the Investment Facilitation Forum (IFF) holds an event that seeks to clarify the role of investment hubs and explore how their activities are linked to the EU tax agenda, financial regulation and the assistance to developing countries. Ahead of the event, the IFF president shares his view on the importance of distinguishing between investment hubs and tax havens.

The EU starts enforcing its general data protection regulation on 25 May - but Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia won't be ready. The delay will cause legal uncertainty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a rally in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to drum up support among the Turkish diaspora. Three days after the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Balkans confirm their strategic position.