European Union

France's Emmanuel Macron makes his first visit as president to Spain and Portugal, starting Thursday, in his push to overhaul the EU, with the two southern allies seeking French help to connect their energy grids to Europe.

European Commission experts have unearthed evidence that carmakers are using "tricks" to reduce the impact of emission rules set to come into force in 2020, by manipulating tests to make current emission levels look worse than they actually are.

The EU's pledge to import more soybeans from US farmers was the ‘dealmaker’ in the agreement between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and US President Donald Trump to stop the dispute and open trade talks, EU sources told EURACTIV.

The representatives of the governments of the member states appointed a judge to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In this report, President Donald Tusk looks back at the work of the European Council, where the leaders of the European Union meet, from May 2016 to June 2018.

EU ambassadors endorsed, on behalf of the Council, a mandate for negotiations on the proposal amending the EU civil protection mechanism.

President Tusk received the letters of credentials from two new ambassadors to the European Union.

European Commission warnings on rule of law, such as those on Poland, can be a factor in halting extraditions, the EU's top court has said.

Written by Christiaan van Lierop (1st edition),

© Nikolai Sorokin / Fotolia

Often isolated, and with generally poorer access to public services, the EU’s border regions face a unique set of challenges. This has been recognised under Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which provides that particular attention should be paid to cross-border regions when developing action to strengthen the EU’s economic, social and territorial cohesion. Yet while the EU has provided significant support over the years, particularly within the framework of European territorial cooperation, helping to strengthen connectivity and create new growth and jobs, numerous obstacles continue to hamper cross-border cooperation.

Organised to identify these remaining bottlenecks, the Commission’s 2015 cross-border review revealed legal and administrative barriers to be the main obstacle to cross-border cooperation while, in parallel, the 2015 Luxembourg Presidency put forward plans for an EU cross-border mechanism, with an informal working group set up to develop the idea. Both processes have fed into discussions in recent years to create a mechanism for cross-border areas, leading to the current proposal, introduced as part of the multiannual financial framework’s cohesion policy package.

Versions

• July 2018: Mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation on mechanism to resolve legal and administrative obstacles in a cross-border context Committee responsible:

 

Rapporteur:

Shadow rapporteurs:

 

  Regional Development (REGI)

Matthijs van Miltenburg (ALDE, the Netherlands)

Joachim Zeller (EPP, Germany)

Bronis Ropė (Greens/EFA, Lithuania)

Rosa D’Amato (EFDD, Italy) COM(2018) 373 from 29.5.2018

2018/198 (COD)

Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Publication of draft report

 

The lack of a European ‘demos’ is seen as one of the obstacles for the EU project’s road to progress. But a pan-European discourse has finally taken hold on the continent, paradoxically not to take the European dream forward but to dismantle it once and for all.

The European Court of Justice ruled on 25 July that organisms obtained by mutagenesis plant breeding technique are GMOs and should, in principle, fall under the GMO Directive, in a surprising move that went contrary to the Advocate-General's non-binding opinion.

EU state ambassadors met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the European Commission concept papers on setting up controlled centres in EU states and disembarkation platforms in north Africa. Without fully endorsing the plans, they said it was still a basis for further work. None volunteered to host them. It will now be discussed at a UNHCR and IOM meeting on 30 July, along with some EU states.

The opinion that German arms exports are to blame that the world is unstable is widespread. Expert now have cross-checked numbers and causalities. EURACTIV Germany's media partner "Der Tagesspiegel" reports.

The European Commission is drawing up a list of $20 billion of US goods to hit with duties if Washington imposes tariffs on imported cars, trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Wednesday (25 July), on the eve of her boss's meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Commission v Spain
Environment and consumers
On account of its delay in implementing the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, Spain is ordered to pay a lump sum of €12 million and a penalty payment of almost €11 million per six-month period of delay

Commission v United Parcel Service
Competition
Advocate General Kokott suggests that the Court of Justice should confirm that the Commission’s decision prohibiting the acquisition of TNT Express by UPS should be annulled due to a procedural error

European Union v Gascogne Sack Deutschland and Gascogne
Law governing the institutions
Advocate General Wahl: the Court of Justice should set aside the judgments of the General Court by which it ordered the EU to pay compensation for material damage to a number of companies as a result of the excessive length of proceedings before that court

The EU Court of Justice said Wednesday Ireland could freeze a Polish extradition demand under the European Arrest Warrant if Irish authorities assessed the suspect risked "inhuman or degrading treatment", and that the Polish judicial system had "systemic deficiencies". It declined to say if Poland met those criteria, but said a recent European Commission complaint on Polish judicial independence was "particularly relevant for the purposes of that assessment".

The European Commission on Wednesday approved an education programme for Syrian refugees in Turkey worth some €400m. The money is earmarked from the second €3bn tranche as part of an agreement between the EU and Turkey in 2015 to stem refugee flows towards the Greek islands. The Commission says the first €3bn tranche has been spent.

The European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that organisms obtained by new mutagenesis techniques should be considered as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and fall under EU laws on GMOs. Judges said that although the GMO directive does not apply to some techniques, "those which have conventionally been used in a number of applications and have a long safety record," can be covered by the directive.