European Union

More than 600 African migrants forced their way through the heavily fortified border fence separating the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, using circular saws, shears and mallets to cut through the wire.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on Thursday (26 July) that the question of holding a referendum in eastern Ukraine was touched upon at a meeting of representatives of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine in Berlin, the RIA news agency reported.

The EU commission chief agreed to trade talks even if the US president did not lift tariffs on steel and aluminium. But he avoided tariffs on cars and obtained a commitment to refrain from new unilateral moves.

EU and UK negotiators agreed to resume Brexit talks in mid-August in an attempt to agree the withdrawal deal by October, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said after he met Thursday with UK Brexit secretary Dominic Raab. Barnier said the UK would present new customs proposals to break the impasse on the Irish border. Barnier, however, rejected the UK plan to collect tariffs on behalf of the EU after Brexit.

Eurozone interest rates were likely to go up in autumn next year in line with market expectations, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said in Frankfurt on Thursday. The measure, designed to counter a recent slow down in growth, was not needed yet, he said, despite concern that an EU-US trade war could destabilise the situation. "Clearly a trade war ... would create an entirely different climate," Draghi said.

The anti-EU EFDD (from 45 MEPs to 59) and END (35 to 63) groups are set to grow after European Parliament elections next year, according to a new overview of recent polls by the Reuters news agency. The centre-right EPP group could shrink from 219 to 180 seats, Reuters said. The centre-left S&D could also shrink, from 189 to 154, but Liberals were polling to grow from 68 to 104.

The EU and US will stick with trade talks even if Donald Trump decides to maintain tariffs on steel and aluminium after promising European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker a reassessment.

Europe has been ravaged by flames this week. But there are other fires that continue to burn. Did we start them?

US President Donald Trump and European Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker might have cracked the united front of the 28 member states, as France has already questioned the terms of their agreement and asked the Commission for clarifications.

China significantly lowered import tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, liberalised the right to trade, boosted the services sector and reduced restrictions on foreign investment.

Written by Matthew Parry and Magdalena Sapała,

2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and new own resources

This in-depth analysis is a follow-up to the EPRS briefing ‘Post-2020 MFF and own resources – Ahead of the Commission’s proposal’, published in April 2018, shortly before the Commission published its proposals for a multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the 2021-2027 period and a new system of own resources. It provides an assessment of some of the proposals’ most important elements, as well as an overview of how they respond to a series of issues raised by the European Parliament.

For the expenditure side of the EU budget, the European Commission has proposed an MFF for 2021-2027 totalling €1 134 583 in commitments, and €1 104 805 in payments (2018 prices). Proposed commitments are equivalent to 1.11 %, and proposed payments to 1.08 %, of the EU-27’s GNI. Superficially, this amounts to an increase on the 2014-2020 MFF, which is an estimated 1.02 % of EU-28 GNI (commitments), but a number of factors make comparisons difficult. To begin with, the Commission’s proposed new MFF would incorporate the European Development Fund for the first time. Additionally, the United Kingdom’s expected withdrawal from the EU means that the next MFF will be for a Union of 27 countries. A smaller EU means a smaller GNI, affecting how the EU budget measures up in relative terms. Depending on one’s perspective, the proposal can be seen as either an increase or a decrease on the current MFF. What is clear, however, is that the proposal is significantly less than the 1.3 % of GNI called for by Parliament.

The proposal for the future MFF also differs structurally from the current version. The headings chosen by the Commission show a move away from the current nomenclature based on the Europe 2020 strategy, such as ‘smart and inclusive growth’, towards other EU priorities, such as the digital economy, migration, border management and defence. This shift in priorities can be seen in the choices made to increase or decrease funding: increases are most visible in the areas of research and innovation, support for investment, migration and border management, and security and defence. Cuts have mainly fallen on cohesion policy and the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. Instruments outside the MFF have generally been boosted and the rules adapted to afford the EU more flexibility within its seven-year financial plan.

MFF: Next steps

On the revenue side of the EU budget, the Commission has taken the political opportunity presented by Brexit to propose a gradual phasing-out of most of the correction mechanisms that discount certain Member States’ contributions to the EU budget. The proposal for a new own resources decision also takes up the recommendation of the High-Level Group on Own Resources to introduce new own resources explicitly linked to EU policies.

A comparison of the Commission’s proposals with the EP’s position shows, for example, that they broadly coincide when it comes to enhancing the flexibility of the MFF (particularly the proposals to create a Union Reserve and to increase the amounts budgeted for special instruments), to setting up a budgetary mechanism to uphold the rule of law, to budgetisation of the EDF, and to reforming the EU’s system of own resources. However, the proposal differs from Parliament’s position as far as the overall size of the next MFF is concerned, and the choices made in terms of cuts and increases. Unlike the EP, the Council has yet to express a common position on the future MFF and own resources. National governments have expressed a range of views.

The MFF will be adopted by Council after the Parliament has given its consent. The new own resources decision will also be adopted by Council, after consulting the EP. However, Parliament has made clear that it sees the two files as a package, and has insisted on linking consent to the MFF with progress on reform of own resources. To this end, the EP has already taken steps to organise itself internally, in order to coordinate its interaction with Council and the Commission.

Read the complete in-depth analysis on ‘2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and new own resources‘.

 

Single market, innovation and digital

Cohesion and values

Natural resources and environment

Migration and border management

Security and defence

Neighbourhood and the world

European public administration

The EU and the US have come closer to an agreement in the trade dispute: Juncker and Trump announced that no further tariffs would be imposed, and that instead trade between the two blocs would be expanded. Commentators examine the reasons for the US president's new willingness to compromise, and ask how long the truce will last.

At least 80 people have died in wildfires in the Athens area. Firefighters now have the blazes for the most part under control. Several EU countries have offered help, and Italy and Romania have sent in fire-fighting planes. Commentators list the causes for the fires and reflect on ways to prevent such disasters.