European Union

The US will not impose tariffs on EU cars and might take back ones on steel and aluminium, according to a magical Trump-Juncker deal.

Israel's NGO Monitor replies to accusations by an NGO network that it pressured a Brussels media to "silence Palestine in EU circles".

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 local and regional civil servants.

Local and regional authorities play an important role in implementing EU policy as they work close to the public. Efficient service and a high level of expertise are crucial for the quality of public administration.

Twitter Hashtag #EUandME

© bnenin / Fotolia

EU-funded programmes under the e-Government initiative have helped expand online public services and improve administrative efficiency for businesses and citizens. Local and regional authorities can use the funding to simplify procedures, improve the processing of information and statistics, implement IT systems, exchange data and establish cooperation with public administrations in other EU countries.

The European Territorial Observatory Network (ESPON) helps local and regional practitioners by conducting research and analysis on various aspects of regional development. In addition, funding from the EU’s structural funds can be used to fund specialised training for civil servants, modernise equipment and infrastructure in their working environment, organise information campaigns and events, and conduct evaluations and studies.

The European Committee of the Regions, the EU body representing local and regional authorities, cooperates with civil servants across the whole of the EU via consultations and organises numerous events throughout the year. Best known is perhaps the European Week of Regions and Cities held in Brussels, where civil servants as well as experts and academics from all over EU can attend thematic workshops free of charge on topics such as territorial development, cohesion policy, social inclusion, environment, transport, research and innovation.

Further information

• EPRS Publication on ‘eGovernment: Using technology to improve public services and democratic participation’, 2015, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_IDA%282015%29565890
• European Committee of the Regions, http://cor.europa.eu
• EPRS Publication on ‘Partnership within cohesion policy’, 2017, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/603978/EPRS_BRI(2017)603978_EN.pdf
• EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service: www.epthinktank.eu

German opposition parties have criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for not providing more detail of her discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the head of Russia’s military general staff Valery Gerasimov.

At least 81 people have died in huge wildfires around Athens, Greek authorities said on Wednesday (25 July), as rescuers scoured scorched homes and burned-out cars for survivors of one of the world's deadliest fire outbreaks.

London and Brussels should be “pragmatic” and prepare to either extend Article 50 or the transition period so that Brexit talks can progress "in the right way", Mars Wrigley Confectionery's regional president for Europe, Russia, CIS and Turkey told EURACTIV.com.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) yesterday (25 July) authorised EU members to refuse arrest warrants issued by Poland if they doubt defendants will get a fair trial there.

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.