European Union

The Council adopted conclusions on Bosnia and Herzegovina / Operation EUFOR Althea.

The Council adopted a new regime of restrictive measures to address the use and proliferation of chemical weapons.

On 15 October, the Council adopted decisions on the signing and conclusion of the free trade agreement and the investment protection agreement between the EU and Singapore.

The rise of the Greens is not to be confused with a shifting majority within the left-wing political spectrum. Instead, it shows that the traditional left-right political divide is getting outdated, European Greens co-chair Reinhard Bütikofer told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview.

Written by Costica Dumbrava, Katrien Luyten and Sofija Voronovna (1st edition),

© Nmedia / Fotolia

To strengthen EU external border management and enhance internal security, the European Commission has made several proposals to upgrade and expand European border and security information systems. As part of a broader process to maximise their use, the Commission presented legislative proposals for two regulations in December 2017 (amended in June 2018), establishing an interoperability framework between EU information systems on borders and visas, and on police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration. The proposals seek effective and efficient information exchange and data sharing between EU information systems, by providing fast, seamless, efficient, systematic and controlled access to all the data authorities need to accomplish their tasks.

Versions

• October 2018: ‘Interoperability between EU border and security information systems‘ (1st edition)

A: Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems (borders and visa) and amending Council Decision 2004/512/EC, Regulation (EC) No 767/2008, Council Decision 2008/633/JHA, Regulation (EU) 2016/399 and Regulation (EU) 2017/2226, Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, Regulation (EU) 2018/XX [the Regulation on SIS in the field of border checks] and Regulation (EU) 2018/XX [the eu-LISA Regulation]
B: Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems (police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration) and amending [Regulation (EU) 2018/XX [the Eurodac Regulation], Regulation (EU) 2018/XX [the Regulation on SIS in the field of law enforcement], Regulation (EU) 2018/XX [the ECRIS-TCN Regulation] and Regulation (EU) 2018/XX [the eu-LISA Regulation] Committee responsible: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) A: COM(2017) 793, 12.12.2017 amended by
COM(2018) 478, 13.6.2018 Rapporteur: A: Jeroen Lenaers (EPP, the Netherlands)
B: Nuno Melo (EPP, Portugal) B: COM(2017) 794, 12.12.2017 amended by COM(2018) 480, 13.6.2018
2017/0352 (COD) Next steps expected: Committee votes Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)

In Riace, a Calabrian village which is a model for integration, Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is attacking the mayor and wants to remove the migrants. EURACTIV France’s media partner Ouest-France reports.

The European Defence Agency (EDA) is actively participating in the 13th Air Navigation Conference of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), under the umbrella of the European Commission Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE). The agenda of the conference themed 'From Development to Implementation' includes a topic on civil-military cooperation. The EDA plays a key role in this domain and at EU level, to facilitate the coordination of military views and act as interface between the Military community and the EU institutions. As a result, EDA coordinated the development of the working paper proposed by the EU on this topic.

ICAO Member States and aviation stakeholders attend the conference to exchange on global strategies for safety and air navigation planning, development and implementation. As part of the European Union delegation mandated by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport, Mr Christophe Vivier, Head of Unit SES/SEAR, and Mr Denis Bouvier, Project Officer SES Policy, will participate on behalf of the EDA.

This year’s conference focuses on the implementation of operational improvements from the conceptual phase until deployment. It emphasizes the importance of concepts for global use, the development of regional implementation plans and the local implementation of performance improvements, based on specific operational requirements in a cost-effective approach. Participants will establish priorities for safety and air navigation planning for the coming years and develop a set of high-level recommendations in different key performance areas of the air navigation system, to be submitted to the ICAO Council for subsequent endorsement by the 40th Session of the ICAO Assembly in 2019.

In close collaboration with the European Commission Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) the Agency contributes to technical discussions on civil-military cooperation and coordinates the European Union’s military inputs towards it. Civil-military cooperation is necessary to enhance Air Traffic Management (ATM) as well as communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS), and to create a safe and more interoperable airspace. Its goal is to move from coordination to collaboration and from ATM research and development to implementation.

This contribution from the EDA reflects the strong collaboration links forged with DG MOVE regarding the military side of the SES/SESAR operations. The overall objective is to ensure that a modernised aviation system will accommodate the needs of all stakeholders, including the military, for operations and training, all types of platforms (manned and unmanned) and all types of missions, roles and applications, in a balanced and proportioned way, in peace time and in crisis situations.

In preparation for this important event, the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) set up an ad-hoc ECAC/EU coordination group for safety and ATM in which the EDA was represented. This group, co-chaired by the European Commission and by ECAC, has been tasked to steer the preparation of draft ‘European Working and Information Papers’ to be presented at AN-Conf/13.

Regarding Civil-Military cooperation, the AN-Conf/13 will be invited to agree on four recommendations:

1. Urge States to agree with the strategic approach moving from civil-military coordination to collaboration.
2. Request ICAO to provide appropriate guidelines on the strategic approach.
3. Encourage ICAO to develop together with States mechanisms to collaborate with the military community at global and regional levels.
4. Request ICAO to reinforce the development of civil-military synergies thanks to an effective collaboration starting from research and development to deployment of interoperable systems.

The final report will be available in two weeks.
 

More information:

• ICAO website
• Committee A - Agenda Item 3: Enhancing the global air navigation system (video)

 

 

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

According to a British report, 18 of the 20 leading European banks, including four French ones, have already been sanctioned for money-laundering offences over the past decade. EURACTIV France’s media partner La Tribune reports.

Written by Gregor Erbach (1st edition),

© malp / Fotolia

In May 2018, the Commission proposed a regulation setting the first-ever CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles in the EU, as part of the third mobility package. It would require the average CO2 emissions from new trucks in 2025 to be 15 % lower than in 2019. For 2030, the proposal sets an indicative reduction target of at least 30 % compared to 2019. Special incentives are provided for zero- and low-emission vehicles. The proposed regulation applies to four categories of large trucks, which together account for 65 %-70 % of CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. The Commission proposes to review the legislation in 2022 in order to set a binding target for 2030, and to extend its application to smaller trucks, buses, coaches and trailers.

Heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for around a quarter of CO2 emissions from road transport in the EU. Without further action, their emissions are expected to grow due to increasing road transport volumes.

In the European Parliament, the proposal was referred to the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, where the rapporteur presented his draft report in July 2018.

Versions

• October 2018: ‘CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting CO2 emission performance standards for new heavy-duty vehicles Committee responsible: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) COM(2018) 284
17.5.2018 Rapporteur: Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, the Netherlands) 2018/0143(COD) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

  Christofer Fjellner (EPP, Sweden)
Damiano Zoffoli (S&D, Italy)
Nils Torvalds (ALDE, Finland)
Stefan Eck (GUE/NGL, Germany)
Joëlle Mélin (ENF, France) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Vote in ENVI committee

Businesses in Europe did not stand up to defend the system against the attacks of extreme parties and populist forces, says the president of Spain's Chamber of Commerce, José Luis Bonet.

The CSU and SPD have suffered major losses in Bavaria's state elections. The CSU won just 37.2 percent of the vote - losing more than ten percentage points. The SPD suffered similar losses, coming in fifth with just 9.7 percent. The Green Party came second of all the parties, seeing its share of the vote increase dramatically to 17.5 percent. Europe's commentators take stock of the results.

The hoped-for breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations failed to materialise in Brussels on the weekend. In particular a solution to the question of how to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland continued to elude the EU and UK negotiators ahead of the EU summit on Wednesday. How likely is a compromise?