European Parliamentary Research Service Blog

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© Daniel Berkmann / Fotolia

The European Union has been established as an area of security, stability and prosperity, in which economic competitiveness plays a key role. Although in terms of productivity some EU countries are doing well, compared to, for example, the United States, the EU is lagging behind some other world regions in reaping the fruits of the digital revolution. Analysts also point to the need to continue euro-area governance reforms, completing the Banking Union and pushing ahead with the creation of the Capital Markets Union. A debate continues about whether the EU should support the creation of EU industrial champions, which advocates claim could be well placed to compete internationally in some sectors.

This note brings together commentaries, analyses and studies by international think tanks and research institutes on EU competitiveness and related issues. Earlier papers on reforming the euro area are available in a previous issue from the series, published in December 2019.

Manufacturing employment, international trade, and China
Bruegel, November 2019

A primer on developing European public goods: A report to ministers Bruno Le Maire and Olaf Scholz
Bruegel, November 2019

The single market remains the decisive power of the EU
Centre for European Policy Studies, October 2019

A geographically fair EU industrial strategy
European Policy Centre, October 2019

Beyond industrial policy: Why Europe needs a new growth strategy
Jacques Delors Institute, October 2019

Comment combattre la prochaine récession?
Terra Nova, October 2019

The 2019 future of work index: How the world of work is changing – and how policy needs to change with it
Lisbon Council, October 2019

Labour market and social policy
Centre for European Policy Studies, October 2019

Structural change, institutions and the dynamics of labor productivity in Europe
German Marshall Fund, October 2019

Economic polarisation in Europe: Causes and options for action
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, September 2019

Holding together what belongs together: A strategy to counteract economic polarisation in Europe
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, September 2019

Tax law and the transfer of start-up losses: A European overview and categorization
ZEW, September 2019

Public investment a key prerequisite for private sector activity
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, August 2019

Machine politics: Europe and the AI revolution
European Council on Foreign Relations, July 2019

Making the Single Market work: Launching a 2022 masterplan for Europe
European Policy Centre, July 2019

Facing the crisis: Rethinking economics for the age of environmental breakdown
Institute for Public Policy Research, July 2019

Wirtschaftliche Polarisierung in Europa: Ursachen und Handlungsoptionen
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, July 2019

The European Union energy transition: Key priorities for the next five years
Bruegel, July 2019

Redefining Europe’s economic sovereignty
Bruegel, June 2019

Tech giants in banking: The implications of a new market power
Istituto Affari Internazionali, June 2019

Cross border services in the internal market: An important contribution to economic and social cohesion
Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, June 2019

Assessing Europe’s space dependency and its implications
Institut français des relations internationales, June 2019

European economic democracy: A new path out of the crisis
Foundation for European Progressive Studies, June 2019

Rebranding capital markets union: A market finance action plan
Centre for European Policy Studies, June 2019

The opportunities of the modernisation fund for the energy transition in Central and Eastern Europe
Centre for European Policy Studies, June 2019

The future of work? Work of the future! On how artificial intelligence, robotics and automation are transforming jobs and the economy in Europe
European Political Strategy Centre, May 2019

EU energy system transformation: The agenda for the next Commission
E3G, May 2019

How to improve European Union cohesion policy for the next decade
Bruegel, May 2019

Europe’s sustainability puzzle: Broadening the debate
European Political Strategy Centre, May 2019

Promoting sustainable and inclusive growth and convergence in the European Union
Bruegel, April 2019

Infrastructure for growth: How to finance, develop, and protect it
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, April 2019

Do data policy restrictions impact the productivity performance of firms and industries?
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, April 2019

The impact of labour market institutions and capital accumulation on unemployment: Evidence from the OECD, 1985-2013
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, April 2019

Posted workers regulations as a cohesion test in the enlarged EU
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Institute of Public Affairs, April 2019

EU mobile workers: A challenge to public finance?
Centre for European Policy Studies, April 2019

Strategic dimensions of the energy transition: Challenges and responses for France, Germany and the European Union
Institut français des relations internationales, April 2019

Mobilités propres: La voie européenne
Notre Europe, April 2019

Standing up for competition: Market concentration, regulation, and Europe’s quest for a new industrial policy
European Centre for International Political Economy, March 2019

EU industrial policy after Siemens-Alstom: Finding a new balance between openness and protection
European Political Strategy Centre, March 2019

Effect of public procurement regulation on competition and cost-effectiveness
Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, March 2019

Escaping the startup trap: Can policymakers help small companies grow to major employers?
Progressive Policy Institute, February 2019

Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, governance and policy challenges
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2019

How are you doing, Europe? Mapping social imbalances in the EU
Jacques Delors Institute, Bertelsmann Stiftung, February 2019

European innovation partnerships: How successful have they been in promoting innovation in the EU?
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, January 2019

Science, technology and innovation diplomacy: A way forward for Europe
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Institute for European Studies, January 2019

Innovate Europe: Competing for global innovation leadership
World Economic Forum, January 2019

Vertical restraints and e-commerce
Bruegel, January 2019

The challenge of moving to a common consolidated corporate tax base in the EU
Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, January 2019

Europe needs reforms for inclusive growth. Do Europeans agree?
LUISS School of European Political Economy, January 2019

Europe’s growth starlets: Wages and productivity in 4 export-oriented economies
Jacques Delors Institute, December 2018

Eco-innovation: Drivers, barriers and effects – A European perspective
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, December 2018

Which structural reforms does E(M)U need to function properly?
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, December 2018

Réforme de l’Union économique et monétaire: Quelle dimension sociale?
Notre Europe, February 2019

Read this briefing on ‘Enhancing EU competitiveness‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Clare Ferguson,

Parliament’s calendar has been a little unusual this year – with European elections and the delayed installation of the new European Commission. This month saw Members sitting in an extraordinary session on a subject of urgent importance: how the European Union (EU) will tackle the climate emergency, declared by Parliament on 29 November 2019. That session, on 11 December, saw the new Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and Vice-President Frans Timmermans present their freshly adopted plans for a new European Green Deal, proposing to invest record amounts of public funds in advanced research and innovation, complemented by a strategy for green financing and a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, all aimed at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent.

Moving on to the agenda for the main December plenary session … Parliament will award its 2019 Sakharov Prize to laureate Ilham Tohti on Wednesday lunchtime. The European Parliament is committed to defending human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the award highlights those who stand up for the right to freedom of expression, safeguard minority rights or champion international law, and democracy. Currently imprisoned by the Chinese government, Ilham Tohti is a moderate advocate of Uyghur minority rights who eschews radical separatist movements in favour of dialogue with the Han majority. Parliament’s President has urged the Chinese government to release Tohti, and called for China to respect minority population rights, particularly in the light of the ‘China-cables’ exposé of Chinese treatment of the Uyghur. The new Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the EU, former EP President Josep Borrell, will make a statement on the Uyghur situation on Wednesday afternoon. During this session, Parliament will also commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty and that of the Charter of Fundamental Rights becoming legally binding, on Wednesday morning, as well as hearing about the conclusions of the latest meeting of the European Council – an institution that has evolved considerably since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force.

Millions of European farmers stand to lose out when their EU income support ends in 2020, due to the lack of an agreement on the 2021-2027 EU budget and on the important reform of the common agricultural policy. Time is therefore pressing to ensure the stability of EU farmer income support post-2020. While there is broad agreement that interim measures are necessary, the EU still needs to put transitional provisions in place to bridge the gap. Parliament’s Budgets and Agriculture Committees agree that those who benefit from EU funding should not suffer harm because of the procedural delays, and have not proposed any amendments to the Commission’s proposal. Parliament will therefore vote on Wednesday lunchtime on its first-reading position on that proposal to agree a package of technical amendments to the regulations on EU financial discipline and flexibility between pillars and voluntary coupled support.

Parliament’s Committee on Petitions (PETI) recently held hearings of the five candidates for the position. The Ombudsman’s office represents citizens and others who wish to lodge complaints regarding the actions of EU administrative bodies, thereby ensuring that EU institutions respect citizens’ rights and the principles of good administration. Members will take part in the election of the European Ombudsman on Tuesday lunchtime, when the successful candidate needs to secure a majority of votes cast in a secret ballot (with subsequent rounds of voting planned for Wednesday if there is no clear winner).

If you’ve been doing some festive shopping lately, the chances are you have purchased gifts online, possibly in another country. E-commerce is booming, and while it offers opportunities to increase cross-border sales, the EU is keen to avoid that it also allows increased tax fraud. Tackling VAT fraud related to e-commerce therefore requires robust systems for the transmission and exchange of VAT-relevant payment data (such as who is supplying the goods). The European Parliament is consulted on two European Commission proposals (on maintaining and exchanging electronic payment records), and a joint debate on Monday afternoon will consider the corresponding Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) reports.

An important element of maintaining biodiversity is ensuring that fisheries worldwide are sustainable. Parliament’s Committees on Fisheries (PECH) and Budgets (BUDG) are in favour of concluding a new EU fisheries agreement with The Gambia aimed at doing just this, including a proposed annual EU contribution of €550 000. Half of this amount covers access rights for EU fishing vessels to Gambian waters and half should assist The Gambia to develop its fisheries sector in a sustainable manner, including preventing illegal fishing. The file is scheduled for vote on Wednesday lunchtime.

Written by Ralf Drachenberg and Fernando Hortal Foronda

© European Union – EP, 2019

The European Council Oversight (ECOS) team from the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) recently organised an event on ‘EU institutional dynamics: Ten years after the Lisbon Treaty’ in the House of European history, in cooperation with the association of former members of the European Parliament (FMA) and Parliament’s Communications Directorate-General. Opening the event on 10 December 2019, Parliament Vice-President Mairead McGuinness (EPP, Ireland) highlighted the importance of the Lisbon Treaty for national parliaments and inter-religious dialogue and stressed the need to overcome the ‘silo mentality’ that persists between European policy areas, as well as the need to further improve interinstitutional cooperation.

The event, moderated by Jacki Davis, Senior Adviser at the European Policy Centre, took the form of two roundtable debates. In the first session – opened by EP Vice-President Othmar Karas – former EP President Enrique Barón Crespo, Secretary General of the European University Institute Vincenzo Grassi, and Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), discussed the evolution of the European Parliament’s power and the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on Parliament’s role as an institution. Enrique Barón Crespo recalled the significance of the Lisbon Treaty regarding the now compulsory character of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, and Danuta Hübner underlined that many areas of the Lisbon Treaty have not yet been used to their full potential, such as the ‘passerelle’ clauses.

The second round table discussed the institutional dynamics and impact to date of the European Council. Following opening remarks from former EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering, the European Council’s first President Herman van Rompuy (2009-2014) gave a keynote speech on his experience as EUCO President in the midst of the eurozone crisis. Secretary-General of the Council, Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen then addressed recent and future European Council developments and notably mentioned the Bratislava Declaration, the Leaders’ Agenda and the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024. Together with the other panellists, Former Member Ana Gomes, and Desmond Dinan, Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, the panel discussed whether the activities of the European Council had effectively had an impact on policy outcomes. All participants agreed on the importance of the planned conference on the future of Europe, while advocating that the focus should lie on concrete policy achievements, rather than on treaty revision, as the current institutional framework provides the necessary instruments to deliver on Europeans’ demands. Closing the discussion, former Member Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl recalled the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty, namely to strengthen the community method, stressing that the last 10 years have witnessed a power shift towards the European Council.

To accompany the event, EPRS European Council Oversight Unit (ECOS) Policy Analysts Suzana Elena Anghel and Ralf Drachenberg published a study on ‘The European Council under the Lisbon Treaty: How has the institution evolved since 2009?‘.

To watch the discussion: https://www.facebook.com/EuroparlFMA/

Written by Angelos Delivorias and Christian Scheinert,

© Giulio Benzina / Shutterstock

In response to the financial and economic crisis, the European Union introduced a series of changes to its institutional architecture for economic and social governance, with the aim of achieving more integrated fiscal and economic coordination. At the heart of this new architecture is the ‘European Semester’, a process of socio-economic policy coordination that lasts from November until July each year, in which Member States discuss their economic reform and budget plans before adopting them, while the European institutions monitor progress and address recommendations at specific times throughout the year.

At the centre of the European Semester are three separate processes that work in parallel: fiscal surveillance based mainly on the stability and growth pact (SGP); surveillance of macroeconomic policies, under the macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP); and coordination of EU countries’ economic and employment policies, based on the integrated guidelines (in other words, the broad economic policy guidelines (BEPGs), together with the employment guidelines).

The Semester officially starts every November with the publication of the Annual Growth Survey and the Alert Mechanism Report (along with other documents) by the European Commission. Another ‘milestone’ is in February, when the country reports and (when required) in-depth reviews are published for Member States. In April, the Member States publish their stability or convergence programmes. In May comes another milestone, with the publication of the country-specific recommendations.

After July, the ‘European’ Semester, is followed by a ‘National’ Semester, where Member States incorporate what has been discussed and recommended at European level into their national draft budgets, which are then debated and adopted during the autumn.

During its limited existence, the Semester has been debated and examined by academics and institutions alike. The main points of discussion relate to parliamentary involvement in the Semester (notably linked to broader issues of legitimacy and accountability of the wider framework of economic governance), the country-specific recommendations and their declining level of implementation, as well as the role that the regions could play in the context of the Semester.

This overview touches on the latest factors that could have an impact on the process: the priorities that the new European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has addressed to Commissioners Paolo Gentiloni and Valdis Dombrovskis in her mission letters. While those priorities were articulated very succinctly, they could provide a useful idea of how the Semester might evolve over the new Commission’s term.

Read this ‘in-depth analysis’ on ‘Introduction to the European Semester: Coordinating and monitoring economic and fiscal policies in the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Tambiama Madiega with Anna Meriel Nichols,

Background

© ibreakstock / Fotolia

The ‘right to be forgotten’ (or ‘dereferencing‘) refers to the fact that residents in the European Union (EU) can request that information about them, which appears when searching for their name on the internet, be delisted and therefore made inaccessible.

In the EU, the ‘right to be forgotten’ was first articulated in the 2014 Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos case brought before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), applicable since 25 May 2018, enshrines a ‘right to erasure’ in EU law, which encompasses the ‘right to be forgotten’. On this basis, people living in the EU now routinely ask search engines like Google to take down links to their personal information.

Internet users in the EU have increasingly used the right to dereferencing. Since June 2014, Google has processed more than 850 000 dereferencing requests and Google has ultimately delisted more than 1.3 million website addresses. (See Google transparency report).

However, the implementation of the ‘right to be forgotten’ has proven difficult and the territorial scope of this right has been challenged before the CJEU.

In Case 507/17 Google v CNIL, decided in September 2019, the CJEU provided some guidance on the implementation of the ‘right to be forgotten’. The Court held that, as matter of principle, search engine operators are not required to carry out a worldwide dereferencing order (i.e. on all versions of its search engine), but should implement an EU-wide dereferencing order (i.e. on all EU versions of its search engine), to ensure a consistent and high level of data protection throughout the EU. The Court also recalls that a balance must be struck between data protection and privacy rights and the right to freedom of information when making a dereferencing order, in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. Search engine operators must also implement geo-blocking measures to prevent, or at least seriously discourage, internet users in Member States from gaining access to dereferenced links within the EU.

The Google v CNIL decision has provoked significant reaction from stakeholders, civil society advocacy groups and academics. As the CJEU did not completely rule out worldwide dereferencing orders, questions as to the extraterritorial application of the ‘right to be forgotten’ and the potential conflict of rules and jurisdictions have been raised, while an increasing number of countries outside the EU are embedding such a right in their national legislation. In addition, the CJEU decision has sparked debates about the use of geoblocking techniques, the need for international standards, and how to strike a balance between privacy and protection of personal data and the right to freedom of information.

This Keysource gathers key documents, analyses and stakeholders’ views to throw a light on the issues at stake. It is the bibliographic companion to the EPRS At a glance publication: European Court of Justice limits the territorial scope of the ‘right to be forgotten’ (October 2019), which outlines the legal framework and CJEU decisions on the right to be forgotten in detail.

1. General sources of information

• Court of Justice of the European Union, Press release: The operator of a search engine is not required to carry out a de-referencing on all versions of its search engine, 24 September 2019.
• European Commission, Eurobarometer Special Report: The General Data Protection Regulation, Eurobarometer, March 2019.

This survey intends to compile citizen awareness of the GDPR and more general opinions and behaviours relating to data sharing and data protection.

• European Commission, Factsheet on the Right to be Forgotten ruling, (undated).

This factsheet, which was published following the Google Spain ruling, provides some guidelines on the implementation of the right to be forgotten.

• Article 29 Working Party, guidelines on the implementation of the Court of Justice decision in the Google Spain judgment, 2014.

The Article 29 Working Party (now the European Data Protection Board), an EU advisory body on data protection, issued guidelines on the implementation of the Google Spain judgment.

2. Analysis Territorial scope and extraterritorial application of EU law

• Case C-507/17 Google v CNIL: The Territorial Scope of the Right to be Forgotten Under EU Law, European Law Blog, 29 October 2019.

This article examines the implications of the judgment for EU residents and comments on the significance of the decision as a means for testing how far the EU can expand its data protection standards beyond its territory. It also discusses how setting a ‘floor, not a ceiling’ for dereferencing obligations preserves Member State abilities to impose global dereferencing orders and the EU’s ability to position itself as the standard-bearer for data protection regulations.

• Facebook’s liability for defamatory posts: the CJEU interprets the E-Commerce Directive, Lorna Woods, EU Law Analysis, 9 October 2019.

This article compares the ‘diverging’ approaches to territorial scope in the CNIL case and Case C-18/18 Glawischnig-Piesczek v Facebook Ireland. In particular, it asks ‘to what extent is there a coherent approach to issues arising from the internet across the various legal measures that intersect with it?’

• Court of Justice in Google v CNIL sees no objection in principle to EU ‘Right to be forgotten’ leading to worldwide delisting orders, Geert Van Calster, GAVC Law, October 2019.

In this post, the author compares the outcome of the final decision with the non-binding Opinion of Advocate General Szpunar, and outlines how he sees the CJEU’s approach aligning with that of the United States Supreme Court on similar cases.

• The Global Implications of the CJEU’s Ruling in Google’s ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Case, Costanza Manavello and Laura Di Tecco, IPWatchdog 16 October 2019.

This article provides a commentary on the ‘general implications’ of the case, in particular the jurisdiction of delisting orders, and compares to the CJEU approach to the legal framework for the territorial scope of a right to be forgotten to the approach in the USA.

• Three Things to Remember from Europe’s ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Decisions, Andrew Keane Woods, LawFare Blog, 1 October 2019.

This article outlines why the outcome of the CNIL case was a ‘win’ for Google, simultaneously leaving ‘the door wide open … for future extraterritorial regulations of the internet’.

• The Judgment That Will be Forgotten, Oskar Gstrein, Verfassungsblog, 25 September 2019.

This piece argues that the CNIL judgment de facto approves geoblocking and gives rise to potential fragmentation of data protection enforcement.

• The Right Tools: Europe’s Intermediary Liability Laws and the EU 2016 General Data Protection Regulation, Daphne Keller, Berkeley Tech. L.J. 287 (2018), 4 September 2018.

This article examines ‘whether and how the right to be forgotten may apply to user-generated content hosts like Twitter or Facebook’.

• Google v CNIL: Defining the Territorial Scope of European Data Protection Law, Michele Finck, Oxford Business Law Blog, November 2018.

While this article was published before the CNIL judgment was issued, it explains the arguments on both sides regarding territoriality and the enforcement of the right to be forgotten in the case, and provides a background summary of the key points from the Google Spain decision.

• Right to Erasure (right to be forgotten) under the GDPR, EU Law Analysis, 25 May 2018.

This link provides the reader with an overview of the relevant GDPR provisions and CJEU case law pertaining to a right to be forgotten in the EU.

Balancing rights

• Do Europeans have a right to be globally delisted? Allison Davenport, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 September 2019.

This article outlines the positive and negative effects of the decision for the right to freedom of information, including the protection of access to knowledge and the matter of delisting by geography rather than language.

• The right to be forgotten: context and the problem of time, Paul Lambert, Communications Law 2019, 24(2), 74-79.

This book extract examines how the right to be forgotten’s ability to protect the privacy of individuals may change in significance over time. It also sets out how unpredictable societal change will compel organisations to realise that ‘knowing there is a RtBF provision in the GDPR is enough on its own’.

3. Stakeholder views

• Electronic Frontier Foundation, European Court’s Decision in Right To Be Forgotten Case is a Win for Free Speech, 26 September 2019.

The EFF is an advocacy group focusing on the protection of access to developing technology, and a third party to the hearings in the CNIL case. Their comments following the judgment provide an insight into the US orientation towards the protection of free speech online. A copy of the EFF’s intervention to the case can be accessed here.

• Article 19, Google win in right to be forgotten case is victory for global freedom of expression, 24 September 2019.

Article 19 is an advocacy group for freedom of expression rights, which intervened in the CJEU hearings on behalf of a coalition of free speech organisations. The group has applauded the outcome of the case, stating that ‘Courts or data regulators in the United Kingdom, France or Germany should not be able to determine the search results that internet users in America, India or Argentina get to see’.

• Computer and Communications Industry Association, EU Top Court: Europe’s ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Does Not Apply Globally, 24 September 2019.

The CCIA advocates internationally for ‘enhancing society’s access to information and communications.’ In this press release it stresses its satisfaction with the balance the court struck between freedom of information and the rights of citizens outside the EU.

• Multistakeholder Expert Group to the Commission, Report from Multistakeholder Expert Group to support the application of Regulation 2016/679, Multistakeholder Expert Group to support the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, 13 June 2019.

The Multistakeholder Expert Group was ‘established to assist the Commission in identifying the potential challenges in the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from the perspective of different stakeholders, and to advise the Commission on how to address them.’ The group shares its opinions of Article 17 GDPR on pp.7-9.

• European Digital Rights, Advocate General issues two Opinions on ‘right to be forgotten’, 10 January 2019.

EDRi is an international advocacy group for digital rights. In this piece, they outline their response to the Advocate General’s opinion in the Google v CNIL case, and include links to their previous opinions on the right to be forgotten.

• Google, Defending access to lawful information in Europe’s highest court, Kent Walker, 15 November 2017.

Walker, general counsel for Google, published this post when the CJEU decision on the Google CNIL fine was pending, and provides some insight into Google’s perspective on dereferencing order litigation.

4. International outlook Doctrinal sources

The Judgment That Will be Forgotten, Oskar Gstrein, Verfassungsblog, 25 September 2019.

Part of this article argues that ‘the right to be forgotten is not a European concept‘, and that the CNIL judgment failed to consider how other countries have approached these cases. It compares the extent of developments in right to be forgotten jurisprudence in the EU to several other countries, and notes that ‘more than 25 percent of the nations on earth have already seen considerable legal developments in the area of a right to be forgotten, including regulation and court judgments.’

Article 8, the Right to be Forgotten and the Media, Hugh Tomlinson QC and Aidan Wills, International Forum for Responsible Media Blog, July 2018.

This review of the M.L. and W.W. v Germany case provides an overview of the criteria used to decide on delisting questions at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). It comments on the parallels between the ECtHR and the approach in the Google Spain case, and outlines why a dereferencing request may be more ‘powerful’ against search engine operators or internet platforms than primary publishers such as news publications.

The ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Online within G20 Statutory Data Protection Frameworks, David Erdos and Krzysztof Gartska, University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No 31/2019, September 2019.

This paper argues that the ‘basic underpinnings [of a right to be forgotten] are present in the great majority of G20 statutory frameworks. Whilst China, India, Saudi Arabia and the United States remain exceptional cases, fifteen out of nineteen (almost 80 %) of G20 countries now have fully-fledged statutory data protection laws. By default, almost all of these laws empower individuals to challenge the continued dissemination of personal data, not only when such data may be inaccurate but also on wider legitimacy grounds.’

National legislation

Argentina

The Right to Be Forgotten, Michael Kelly and David Satola, Illinois Law Review, January 2017.

The most prominent right to be forgotten case in Argentina arose in 2009, in the Virginia da Cunha case. This article gives an overview of the case and its ramifications from pp.28-31.

Australia

Data and Digital Rights: Recent Australian Developments, Goggin et al, Internet Policy Review, March 2019.

This paper explores proposals relating to data privacy rights from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s Digital Platforms, and from a government-mandated creation of a Consumer Data Right.

Brazil

Non-Compliance with Judicial Requests for Content Removal, Bloqueios, January 2007.

Questions on the enforceability of dereferencing orders arose in Brazil in 2007, when one of the country’s largest fixed-line telephone operators responded to a judicial order to remove a video of model Daniela Cicarelli from Youtube, which resulted in Youtube being blocked in large parts of the country. The link above provides an overview of and analysis of the materials in English relating to the case.

Canada

Draft OPC Position on Online Reputation, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 26 January 2018.

The Privacy Commissioner lists ‘Reputation and Privacy’ as one of its strategic priorities for 2015-2020. Its draft position includes sections dedicated to De-Indexing, Source Amendment / Takedown and Legislative Solutions.

Japan

Right to be Forgotten: A New Privacy Right in the Era of Internet, Yuriko Haga, September 2017.

This chapter outlines the history and current situation regarding a potential right to be forgotten in Japan (section 5), including the appearance of cases against search engines since 2008, and the influence of the Google Spain judgment on more recent cases.

Other countries

The Right to be Forgotten – the EU and Asia Pacific Experience (Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore), Zeller et al, European Human Rights Law Review 2019 volume 1, p.23, UNSW Law Research Paper No 19-2, 23 January 2019.

The following articles and reports include further examples of countries where reference to a right to be forgotten has appeared in court judgments, statutes, or draft legislation:

• Colombia
• Chile
• Israel
• Peru, Mexico, Kenya, Russia
• Indonesia
• Singapore.

 

Written by Giulio Sabbati,
In cooperation with Olga Griaznova (from GlobalStat | EUI),

Mercosur, the ‘southern common market’, was founded in 1991 when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asunción. In 2012, Venezuela formally joined Mercosur as a fifth member, but in December 2016 the country was suspended temporarily for failure to transpose Mercosur rules into Venezuelan law. In August 2017, the suspension was prolonged indefinitely. This paper presents economic indicators for the four members, for example showing their GDP and labour market situations, and it also shows those countries’ relative positions on several indexes that assess the situation in terms of doing business, corruption and human development. Finally, it looks at trade between the EU and Mercosur – of both goods and services – highlighting the main trading partners, and the main products and services that the EU exports to and imports from the four Mercosur members.

Download this infographic on ‘Mercosur: Economic indicators and trade with EU‘ in PDF.

GlobalStat, a project of the EUI’s Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation aims to offer the best available gateway to statistical data. It is easily accessible, intuitive to use, and free of charge. In just three clicks it offers data from 1960 onwards for 193 UN countries, five continents and 12 political and regional entities – including the European Union – gathered from over 80 international sources. The project, presents data as diverse as income distribution, water resources, housing, migration, land use, food production, nutrition, or life expectancy, which contributes to a better understanding of the interrelations between human living conditions and globalisation trends.

Written by Gisela Grieger,

© Andy Wong / APImages

Space for freedom of thought is shrinking dramatically across the globe, as the geo-political and geo-economic clout of authoritarian regimes expands. The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is therefore more important than ever: it enables the European Parliament to draw attention to the plight of those who stand up against the repression of human rights and fundamental freedoms, principles on which the EU is based and which it promotes in its external relations, in line with Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union. The 2019 Sakharov Prize laureate is renowned Uyghur economics professor Ilham Tohti, a moderate advocate of the rights of the Uyghur minority and of dialogue with the Han majority in China. In 2014, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on separatism-related charges, against the backdrop of China’s hardening policy of countering religious extremism, ethnic separatism and terrorism – one that now frames Uyghur identity as a major national security threat. The Sakharov Prize is a €50 000 award, which will be presented at a ceremony in the European Parliament during the December plenary session in Strasbourg, in the presence of the other finalists.

Significance of the Sakharov Prize

Every year, since 1988, the European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to individuals or organisations for outstanding achievements in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms – notably the right to freedom of expression; safeguarding the rights of minorities; upholding international law; developing democracy; or implementing the rule of law. The prize was initiated by a 1985 parliamentary resolution adopted in memory of Andrei Sakharov, the eminent Soviet-Russian nuclear physicist, 1975 Nobel Peace Prize winner, dissident and human rights activist. The prize symbolises Sakharov’s courageous defence of human rights, notably the freedom of thought and expression, and personal freedom, that were at times denied him during his professional career.

Award procedure and the 2019 Sakharov Prize finalists and laureate

Candidates for the Sakharov Prize can be nominated by a political group, or at least 40 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). From the list of nominees, three finalists are then shortlisted by MEPs in a joint vote of the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Development. For the 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought the finalists were: 1) Ilham Tohti; 2) murdered Brazilian political activist and human rights defender, Marielle Franco, native Brazilian leader and environmentalist, Chief Raoni, and Brazilian environmentalist and human rights defender, Claudelice Silva dos Santos; and 3) The Restorers, a group of five students from Kenya – Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Purity Achieng, Mascrine Atieno and Ivy Akinyi – who have developed i-Cut, an app to help girls affected by female genital mutilation.

On 24 October 2019, Parliament’s Conference of Presidents decided to honour Ilham Tohti with the 2019 Sakharov Prize. When announcing the decision, Parliament’s President, David Sassoli, stressed that Ilham Tohti had been ‘a voice of moderation and reconciliation’. He added that by ‘awarding this prize, we strongly urge the Chinese government to release Tohti and we call for the respect of minority rights in China’. Ilham Tohti, a liberal Uyghur intellectual, who was previously nominated in 2016, is the third Chinese winner, and the first-ever Uyghur to receive the prize. Wei Jingsheng, who in 1978 called for ‘The Fifth Modernisation: democracy‘, as China launched its economic reform and opening up policy, was awarded the prize in 1996, a year before he was released from prison to his US exile. Hu Jia, a dissident and democracy activist, was awarded the prize in 2008, three years before he was released from prison. Commenting on the 2019 award, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry reportedly said: ‘I hope that Europe can respect China’s internal affairs and judicial sovereignty, and avoid celebrating a terrorist’. The 42nd EU-China Inter-parliamentary meeting, scheduled for 12 November 2019, and the related programme, were cancelled owing to the unavailability of the Chinese delegation.

Ilham Tohti – a voice for the entire Uyghur people

Ilham Tohti was born in 1969 in China’s north-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) which is home to about 10 million Turkic-speaking Uyghurs (about 45 % of the XUAR population) who practise a moderate form of Sunni Islam and enjoy close ethnic and cultural ties with Central Asian countries. Professor Tothi lectured at the Beijing-based Minzu University for ethnic minority studies, and published critical analyses on the impact of the Chinese government’s assimilation policies on the cultural, social, economic, political and religious life of Uyghurs. In 2006, he set up the Chinese language website ‘UighurBiz.cn‘ as a platform for inter-ethnic exchange between Han Chinese and Uyghurs. The website was shut down when Ilham Tothi was accused of having contributed through his website to the 2009 violent attacks perpetrated by Uyghur militants in the XUAR cities of Urumqi and Kashgar. Despite being outspoken in his advocacy of regional autonomy laws, Tohti was opposed to radical separatist movements, standing rather for dialogue and reconciliation with the Han majority. In 2014, after he had reportedly challenged the Chinese government’s version of violent incidents involving Uyghurs, he was detained and, after a two-day show trial, sentenced to life in prison allegedly for ‘separatism‘. As researcher Darren Byler put it: ‘Now, like Ilham, they [both Uyghur students and public intellectuals] realised that all of them could be accused of ‘separatism’. There was no space to publicly suggest ways to oppose the elimination of Uyghur culture’.

Since his sentencing in 2014, Ilham Tohti has been awarded the 2014 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, and the 2017 Liberal International Prize for Freedom. In October 2019, he won the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.

China’s approach to counter-terrorism, de-radicalisation and de-extremification

Since Xinjiang became part of China in 1949, successive Chinese governments have sought to integrate the predominantly rural Uyghurs economically and culturally, first with soft approaches, boosting economic development and respecting ethnic differences, but mainly benefiting incoming urban Han Chinese migrants. Later, government launched ‘strike hard’ campaigns, as deepening inter-ethnic socio-economic cleavages bred violence from Uyghur militants. The appearance of Uyghur foreign fighters in Syria in 2014 highlighted the interlinkages between the internal and external dimensions of the three interconnected threats to China’s concept of stability – religious extremism, ethnic separatism and terrorism. China has stepped up the security element of its strategy for countering these ‘three evils’, and has linked them to the distinctiveness of Uyghur identity. As a result, the XUAR’s public security budget has ballooned, leading to a pervasive and intrusive policing system reliant on ubiquitous cutting-edge surveillance cameras, ethnicity-sensitive facial recognition systems and an algorithm-based big-data analysis platform to identify politically ‘untrustworthy’ people. Since 2017, China has built a well-documented grid of ‘de-extremification’ mass internment camps whose existence it at first denied and then called ‘vocational re-education and training centres’ on the basis of 2018 XUAR legislation. The camps host an estimated one to two million Uyghurs, and other Muslim minorities, who are politically indoctrinated and have the cultural and religious features of their identity systematically eradicated, as China associates them with ‘extremist’ behaviour. China has justified the camps as successful preventive de-radicalisation measures that it appears keen to export.

Global responses to China’s extra-judicial detention camps and high-tech illiberalism

In recent years, Parliament has systematically denounced massive violations of the Uyghur minority’s human rights, in resolutions adopted in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The case of Ilham Tohti was raised during the 2019 EU-China Human Rights Dialogue. Western governments have criticised China’s Uyghur policy in the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council and in the UN Third Committee in 2019, prompting a group of other countries, including Muslim countries, to release joint statements defending China. The US Congress has adopted the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act of 2019. The US has banned the import of products made by firms in Xinjiang over their use of forced labour. It has also issued visa restrictions on key Chinese officials, and blacklisted 28 Chinese firms, including Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, the Chinese government’s main supplier of surveillance gear. The firm enjoys close ties with the Chinese government, and has come under scrutiny in some EU countries for its involvement in the repression of Uyghurs in China. The leaked ‘China Cables‘/’Xinjiang papers’ give clear evidence of the repression that China has staunchly denied, and may prompt more actors to actually ‘walk the talk’.

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘2019 Sakharov Prize laureate: Ilham Tohti‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Ralf Drachenberg and Suzana Anghel,

© glen photo / Shutterstock.com

At the meeting of EU Heads of State or Government in December 2019, the first to be presided over by Charles Michel, EU leaders will meet in three different formats: a regular European Council, a European Council (Article 50) meeting, and an inclusive Euro Summit. The main issues on the agenda of the European Council are climate change, with EU leaders expected to endorse the objective of climate-neutrality for the Union by 2050, and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), with a discussion, for the first time, on the basis of figures proposed by the Finnish Presidency of the Council, as well as on the procedure for reaching agreement. They will also address the idea of a Conference on the Future of Europe, with the aim of developing a joint position of Member States on the initiative. The European Council (Article 50) meeting is expected to discuss the result of the general election in the UK (taking place on 12 December) and the likely consequences for the Brexit process, as well as preparations for the negotiations on future EU-UK relations. The Euro Summit will concentrate on the revision of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Treaty, the budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness (BICC), and technical work on the strengthening of the banking union.

1. Implementation: Follow-up to previous European Council commitments

As announced in the October 2019 European Council conclusions, EU leaders will return to the issues of the MFF for the 2021-27 period, and climate change, as reflected in the annotated draft agenda.

Policy area Previous commitment Occasion on which the commitment was made MFF In the light of this discussion, it calls on the Presidency to submit a Negotiating Box with figures ahead of the European Council in December 2019 October 2019 Climate change Finalise its guidance on the EUʼs long-term strategy on climate change October 2019

At the start of the European Council meeting, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, will address the Heads of State or Government. Sanna Marin, newly appointed Prime Minister of Finland, which currently holds the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of Ministers, will provide an overview of progress made in implementing previous European Council conclusions. This meeting will also be the first European Council to be presided over by Charles Michel, previously Prime Minister of Belgium, who took over as President of the European Council on 1 December.

2. European Council meeting Climate change

The ‘objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050’ will be the main and most sensitive issue for the European Council to consider. For the moment, Member States are still seeking agreement on this objective, which is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of the European Green Deal announced by the new European Commission. Building consensus for the effective ‘endorsement’ of the objective of climate-neutrality by 2050 will be Charles Michel’s first major challenge as new European Council President. He has called the European Green Deal a ‘peace treaty with nature’, and committed to ‘work to “convince” all Member States to agree’ on this objective. Earlier attempts to achieve consensus were not fully successful, therefore resulting in the inclusion of a footnote in the June 2019 European Council conclusions, which acknowledged that ‘for a large majority of Member States, climate neutrality must be achieved by 2050’.

Climate is increasingly a horizontal issue, mainstreamed in all EU policies. Its funding is a key element for the EU’s credibility. EU leaders are expected to agree that a ‘significant percentage’ of the next MFF should be allocated to climate change. The Heads of State or Government will probably also discuss investment to support a ‘just and socially balanced transition’. Several Member States, which fear a negative impact of the green transition on their regions, notably Poland, consider that the acceptance of the principle of a socially balanced transition is needed as a guarantee for their support for the climate-neutrality objective. The forthcoming Just Transition Fund announced by the new Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, would support those regions be most affected by the green transition. In the absence of an agreement on climate targets, the Just Transition Fund, although mentioned in earlier drafts of the October 2019 European Council conclusions, was removed from the final version.

Global CO2 emissions have risen by four per cent compared to pre-Paris Agreement levels, with the EU at risk of being unable to meet its 2020 climate targets. In the context of its 2030 targets, it is urgent for Member States to finalise their national long-term greenhouse-gas emissions strategies, and to communicate them to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in the first quarter of 2020, in compliance with the Paris Agreement. The European Parliament has called on Member States ‘to consider aviation and shipping’ in their national plans and to double their contributions to the UN Green Climate Fund. At its March 2019 meeting, the European Council called for ‘the timely finalisation of the national-long term strategies’. At that point, only four Member States (Czechia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom) had submitted their contributions. In the meantime, the number has increased to five with the submission of the Portuguese contribution.

The European Council will most probably concentrate on several other items as part of its climate debate. These include, inter alia, the mooted carbon border tax and energy security, as well as means to counter climate-related aspects of distortions to the internal market generated by foreign subsidies to foreign-owned companies in the EU. The European Council has already stressed that there is a need to address the ‘distortive effects’ of such subsidies. Furthermore, ahead of the European Council, the European Commission is expected to present proposals for the first ever ‘European Climate Law’.

The European Council could also consider the external dimension of climate action by stressing the EU’s climate diplomacy role in fulfilling the 2019-24 Strategic Agenda objective to globally lead ‘the way forward in the fight against climate change’.

Multiannual Financial Framework

The European Council is expected to hold a substantive discussion on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). On 2 December, the Finnish Presidency of the Council presented a negotiating box with figures. The Finnish proposal envisages a budget of 1.06 % of the EU’s gross national income (GNI) for 2021-2027, which is significantly lower than the proposals of the European Commission (1.114 %) and Parliament (1.3 %). Nevertheless, some Member States call for the MFF to be set at 1.0 %. The proposal from the Finnish Presidency also makes reference to the introduction of a general regime of conditionality ‘to tackle identified instances of general deficiencies as regards the rule of law in Member States’.

Concerning own resources, the Finnish proposal considers the possible introduction of national contributions for non-recycled plastic packaging, as well as a share of the revenues of the Emissions Trading System. Here again, the proposals of the Commission (e.g. call rate applied to the new Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base) and the Parliament’s requests (e.g. digital services taxation, a financial transaction tax, income from the emissions trading scheme, and a carbon border adjustment mechanism) go beyond what the Council currently seems willing to agree on.

Members of the European Council are not expected to reach an agreement on the substance of the MFF at this meeting, but to agree a methodology for reaching consensus. An extraordinary European Council meeting is being considered for early in the New Year, with a view to a possible agreement at the scheduled March 2020 meeting.

On 10 October 2019, the new European Parliament adopted a resolution on the MFF, reiterating that ‘Parliament will not rubber-stamp a fait accompli from the European Council’, and calling on the latter institution to ‘refrain from adopting detailed and purportedly binding conclusions based on the MFF negotiating box, as this would amount to direct interference in the legislative sphere’.

External relations

The European Council is expected to discuss external relations issues. EU leaders could take stock of the evolution of the situation in Ukraine, including the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, and green-light the renewal of the economic sanctions imposed on Russia following the illegal annexation of Crimea. Following the 9 December 2019 Foreign Affairs Council, the EU leaders might call, once again, to strengthen the EU-Africa partnership and to speed up work on the forthcoming comprehensive strategy on Africa announced by the new European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.

Other items Conference on the Future of Europe

The European Council is also expected to discuss the proposal for a Conference on the Future of Europe. The idea was first suggested by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in March 2019, and was subsequently supported by the new Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, before her election by the Parliament. She indicated that she would also consider Treaty change if the outcome of the conference were to require such a step. The notion of Treaty change elicited little enthusiasm from EU Heads of State or Government when presenting their views on the Future of Europe in the European Parliament in 2018-2019. Recently, France and Germany have made a joint proposal outlining their views. For more information, please see the EPRS Briefing, Preparing the Conference on the Future of Europe.

As there is currently no agreed position between the Member States, the European Council is expected to invite the incoming Council Presidency (Croatia) to work towards defining a Council position on the content, scope, composition and functioning of such a conference. This position is likely to emphasise that the conference should as a matter of priority focus on the development of the EU’s policies in the medium and long term, building on the recent citizens’ dialogues. The European Council is likely to underline the need for an inclusive process and shared ownership by European institutions and Member States. In this context, the European Council is also expected to recall the importance of implementing the Strategic Agenda 2019-24.

3. European Council (Article 50) meeting

On 13 December, EU-27 leaders will discuss preparations for the negotiations on future EU-UK relations, notably a negotiating mandate for future trade talks. The result of the UK general election, to be held the previous day, on 12 December, will likely play an important role in the next stage of the withdrawal process, as well as in the shape of the future relationship.

According to Article 50(3) TEU, the Treaties cease to apply to the withdrawing country from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification, unless the European Council, in agreement with the withdrawing country, unanimously decides to extend this period. Following unsuccessful attempts by the UK to ratify the withdrawal agreement and two extensions of the period under Article 50(3), the European Council, on 29 October 2019, approved a third extension to allow for more time for the ratification of the revised withdrawal agreement, until 31 January 2020, at the latest.

4. Euro Summit

On Friday 13 December, EU-27 leaders will meet for a Euro Summit to follow-up on the discussion last June on the deepening of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

The Euro Summit will take stock of progress made since the June statement and consider in particular the revision of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Treaty, the budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness (BICC), and technical work on strengthening the banking union. The Eurogroup, which reports directly to the EU leaders, met to prepare these topics on 4 December.

Ahead of the Euro Summit meeting, President Charles Michel met with the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Central Bank, and the President of the Eurogroup to discuss recent economic developments. They reflected on seven consecutive years of growth and record high employment levels in Europe. According to Michel, uncertainties in the international context are the main reason for risks to the economic outlook. In his opinion, it is essential to deepen EMU and strengthen the banking union, so as to ensure that sustainable economic growth and more jobs can be created. The President of the European Council plans to hold similar meetings ahead of every Euro Summit.

Read this briefing on ‘Outlook for the meetings of EU leaders on 12-13 December 2019‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

© European Union – EP, 2019

The European Parliament regularly receives questions from citizens about the European Youth Event. Are you interested too? Find out how you can take part!

The European Youth Event (also known as EYE) is a two-day event bringing thousands of young Europeans together in the European Parliament’s Strasbourg headquarters.

The EYE gives young people an opportunity to take part in political debates, workshops and other activities, and to interact with leading EU figures and decision-makers. Each event is also a venue for young people to voice their ideas on how to improve Europe and the world.

The event is organised by the European Parliament in cooperation with the European Youth Forum and other organisations.

Practical arrangements for EYE2020

The next edition of the European Youth Event will take place at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 29-30 May 2020.

Groups of at least 10 people aged 16 to 30 – from the European Union and beyond – can sign up to the event. Registration opens in January 2020 on the European Parliament website.

Attending the EYE is free of charge. However, participants have to cover their own transport and accommodation costs and pay for their own meals.

The languages used at the event are English, French and German.

If you cannot attend the event in person, you will be able to follow some of the activities online and participate via social media.

Previous editions

The first edition of the European Youth Event (EYE2014) was held from 9-11 May 2014. It served as a platform for participants to share their ideas and opinions on issues such as youth unemployment, the digital revolution, the future of the EU, sustainability and European values.

EYE2016, held on 20 and 21 May 2016, gave over 7 500 young Europeans the opportunity to discuss a variety of themes under the event’s slogan: ‘Together we can make a change’.

At the latest edition of the event, EYE2018, held in Strasbourg on 1-2 June 2018, close to 9 000 young Europeans got together to discuss issues and came up with 100 ideas on how to improve Europe.

 

Keep sending your questions to the Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (Ask EP)! We reply in the EU language that you use to write to us.

Further information

• European Youth Event, European Parliament.
• European Youth Event on Facebook and Twitter.

Written by Gregor Erbach,

© Waraporn Wattanakul / Shutterstock

The European Green Deal is a programme outlined in the political guidelines of the incoming President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. It aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, while boosting the competitiveness of European industry and ensuring a just transition for the regions and workers affected. Preserving Europe’s natural environment and biodiversity, a ‘farm to fork’ strategy for sustainable food, and a new circular economy action plan are other key elements. Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans will be in charge of leading and coordinating the work on the European Green Deal. A Commission communication on the matter is expected on 11 December, ahead of the next European Council meeting, starting the following day. The European Parliament has scheduled a debate on the European Green Deal in an extraordinary plenary session on 11 December 2019.

Background

The EU is committed to taking action to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement. In November 2018, the Commission adopted the ‘clean planet for all‘ strategy, aiming for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy by 2050. It analyses scenarios for long-term decarbonisation, as a basis for a debate on the move towards an emission-neutral economy. Following up on the Commission’s clean planet strategy, the EU will develop its long-term low-carbon strategy under the Paris Agreement. The European Council intends to finalise its guidance before the end of the year, with a view to the adoption and submission of the EU’s long-term strategy to the United Nations climate change secretariat in early 2020. This is also a priority for the current Finnish Presidency of the Council. In line with the previous European Parliament’s position, a large majority of Member States favour climate neutrality in the EU by 2050, but the June 2019 European Council could not reach a unanimous conclusion on the date.

Main issues

According to von der Leyen’s political guidelines, making Europe the first climate-neutral continent is the ‘greatest challenge and opportunity of our times’. Von der Leyen aims to put forward the proposals for the European Green Deal within the first 100 days of the new Commission’s mandate. This will include a new ‘European Climate Law’ that sets a climate-neutrality target for 2050. Pricing of carbon emissions is mentioned as a key element to ensure the contribution of every person and every sector. The Emissions Trading System (ETS) would be extended to the maritime sector, and the free allowances allocated to airlines would be reduced over time. A further extension to cover traffic and construction is envisaged.

A new European Climate Pact should bring together regional and local authorities, civil society, industry and schools to agree on commitments to change behaviour. Tax policies should be reformed in line with climate ambitions, which includes work on a carbon border tax and a review of the Energy Taxation Directive.

The European Green Deal would be aligned with a new industrial strategy to make the EU a world leader in the circular economy and clean technologies, and to decarbonise energy-intensive industries. The people and regions most affected by the low-carbon transition would be supported through a just transition mechanism that cuts across different funds and instruments and also attracts private investment, as announced in von der Leyen’s speech in the European Parliament on 27 November 2019.

According to the guidelines, record amounts of public funds should be invested in advanced research and innovation, complemented by a strategy for green financing and a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan that would support €1 trillion of public and private investment over the next decade across the EU. Parts of the European Investment Bank should become Europe’s climate bank.

The von der Leyen Commission also aims for more ambitious 2030 emissions reduction targets, both in the EU and internationally. The new Commission President wants the EU to lead international negotiations to raise the ambition of other major emitters by 2021, and has pledged to put forward a comprehensive, responsible plan to increase the European Union’s emissions reduction target for 2030, from 40 % towards 55 %. The plan should ensure a level playing field and stimulate innovation, competitiveness and jobs, based on social, economic and environmental impact assessments.

A new Circular Economy Action Plan would promote sustainable use of resources, especially in resource-intensive sectors with high environmental impact, such as textiles and construction. Europe should lead on the issue of single-use plastics, and extend the fight against plastic waste to micro-plastics.

Another objective is mainstreaming biodiversity across all policy areas and a Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Europe should lead the world at the 2020 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Further elements of the European Green Deal include the EU’s zero-pollution ambition to safeguard citizens’ health, and a new ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy for sustainable food.

Initiatives announced in the political guidelines Legislative proposals

• European Climate Law, enshrining the 2050 climate-neutrality target in law
• Proposal to extend the EU Emissions Trading System to the maritime sector and reduce the free allowances allocated to airlines over time; and to extend this further to cover traffic and construction
• Carbon Border Tax
• Review of the Energy Taxation Directive

Strategies and Action Plans

• New industrial strategy
• Strategy for green financing and a Sustainable Europe Investment Plan
• Comprehensive plan to increase the EU emissions reduction target for 2030 towards 55 %
• ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’ on sustainable food along the whole value chain
• Cross-cutting strategy to protect citizens’ health from environmental degradation and pollution
• Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
• New Circular Economy Action Plan; tackling micro-plastics

Financing instruments

• New Just Transition Fund
• Proposal to turn parts of the European Investment Bank into Europe’s climate bank

Non-legislative initiatives

• European Climate Pact
• Lead the world at the 2020 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity

The mission letter of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans tasks him with setting the strategic direction and chairing the Commissioners’ Group on the European Green Deal. In addition to the points mentioned in the political guidelines, he is to work on reducing the carbon footprint of the transport sector, and on ensuring that the blue economy contributes to climate objectives.

In his hearing before the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on 8 October 2019, Timmermans promised a hydrogen strategy and a strategy for reforestation, and pledged to work towards a system to reassure consumers that imported products are not linked to deforestation. On the topic of transport, he wants Europe to have the best transportation system in the world. This would include emission-free cars and clean public transport. He advocated third-generation biofuels and investment in railways. In connection with farming, he promised to work to improve animal welfare.

References

• Hearings of the Commissioners-designate: Frans Timmermans – Vice-President: European Green Deal, EPRS, European Parliament, September 2019.
• Commitments made at the hearing of Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President-designate – European Green Deal, Policy Department for Economic, Scientific & Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament, November 2019.

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘European Green Deal‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© hansleyfr / Shutterstock

Government officials from across the world are currently holding the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, focussing on how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The conference, which will last from 2 to 13 December 2019, was moved at a short notice to Madrid in Spain, away from social unrest in Chile. Meanwhile, the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is preparing a set of new climate and environmental initiatives, as part of the European Green Deal.

This note brings together commentaries, analyses and studies by major international think tanks and research institutes on climate talks and wider issues relating to climate change.

Four pillars to make or break the European Green Deal
Bruegel, November 2019

4 priorities for the COP25 climate conference in Madrid
World Resources Institute, November 2019

How to make the European Green Deal work
Bruegel, November 2019

Amid climate crisis, will governments deliver ambitious climate action in Madrid?
Heinrich Böll Stiftung, November 2019

Forest-based climate mitigation: Lessons from REDD+ implementation
World Resources Institute, November 2019

Using renewables for electric vehicle demand: A review of utility program designs and implementation strategies
World Resources Institute, November 2019

Financing climate change and sustainable growth
LSE, Gratham Institute on Climate Change, November 2019

The role of international carbon markets in a decarbonising world
New Climate Institute, November 2019

Under swollen tides, Venice says more about our future than our past
Bruegel, November 2019

Understanding decisions and disasters: A retrospective analysis of Hurricane Sandy’s ‘focusing power’ on climate change adaptation policy in New York City
World Resources Institute, November 2019

Getting to zero: A U.S. climate agenda
Centre for Climate and Energy Solution, November 2019

Demystifying carbon border adjustment for Europe’s green deal
Bruegel, October 2019

The road to restoration
World Resources Institute, October 2019

Transition towards a decarbonised electricity sector
New Climate Institute, October 2019

Towards a contemporary vision for the global seafloor
Heinrich Böll Stiftung, October 2019

Coming soon: A massive laboratory for ‘Green New Deals’
Bruegel, October 2019

A possible 2050 climate target for the EU
New Climate Institute, September 2019

Key policy issues in the Green Climate Fund: A guide for the perplexed
World Resources Institute, September 2019

Opportunities to advance mitigation ambition in China: Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions
World Resources Institute, September 2019

Braver, greener, fairer: Memos to the EU leadership 2019-2024
Bruegel, September 2019

The future of disaster risk pooling for developing countries: Where do we go from here?
World Resources Institute, September 2019

Nature: The forgotten solution to climate change
Friends of Europe, September 2019

Cities, climate change and chronic heat exposure
LSE, Grantham Institute on Climate Change, September 2019

The IPCC special report on land: We have to act now
Heinrich Boell Stiftung, August 2019

The ambition call: European Union
New Climate Institute, August 2019

Emissions trading with rolling horizons
Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, August 2019

Planning for 2050: Shifting the focus towards long-term climate objectives
Ecologic Institute, August 2019

Border carbon tariffs: Giving up on trade to save the climate?
Bruegel, August 2019

Carbon utilization: A vital and effective pathway for decarbonization
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, August 2019

Europe’s clean energy transition: An economic opportunity, an environmental imperative
Friends of Europe, July 2019

Global Energy Outlook comparison methods: 2019 update
Resources for the Future, July 2019

Global trends in climate change litigation: 2019 snapshot
Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, July 2019

Jobs and environmental regulation
Resources for the Future, July 2019

Increase climate ambition by making policy more inclusive
Chatham House, June 2019

EU urgently needs to reverse its climate neutrality failure
Bruegel, June 2019

Polluting for profit: The paradox of the EU’s emissions trading system
Instituto Affari Internazionali, June 2019

A brief guide to the Paris agreement and ‘rulebook’
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, June 2019

The future of the EU: Compromises for expanding ordinary legislative procedure and majority voting in climate and energy policies
Ecologic Institute, June 2019

The European Parliament and climate change: Past, present and future
EUROPEUM, June 2019

EU climate diplomacy vis-à-vis Australia, Brazil and Mexico: Engaging difficult partners to enhance global ambition
College of Europe, June 2019

Good governance for long-term low-emissions development strategies
World Resources Institute, June 2019

Addressing the urgency of more stringent climate change policy
Resources for the Future, May 2019

A 100 percent renewable energy system in Europe is technically possible and economically rational
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, May 2019

Human migration in the era of climate change
Resources for the Future, May 2019

The global consumer incidence of carbon pricing: Evidence from trade
Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, April 2019

Making climate neutrality the galvanising heart of a new economic agenda for Europe
European Policy Centre, April 2019

Institutions, climate change and the foundations of long-term policymaking
LSE, Grantham Institute on Climate Change, April 2019

Hard or soft governance? The EU’s climate and energy policy framework for 2030

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Institute for European Studies, April 2019

What is climate resilience and why does it matter?
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, April 2019

Carbon pricing options for international maritime emissions
New Climate Institute, March 2019

Legislating for a low carbon and climate resilient transition: Learning from international experiences
Real Instituto Elcano, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, March 2019

Defining green bonds. The danger of neglecting the issuer side
Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, February 2019

How does climate change affect optimal allocation of variable renewable energy?
Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universität zu Köln, February 2019

Fighting climate change with disclosure? The real effects of mandatory greenhouse gas emission disclosure
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, February 2019

Realizing the promise of Paris: roadmap to a safer climate
New Climate Institute for Climate Policy and Global Sustainability, Natural Resources Defense Council, January 2019

Sinking to zero: the role of carbon capture and negative emissions in EU climate policy
Centre for European Policy Studies, January 2019

Read this briefing on ‘Climate change‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Do you go on-line to share your views, or to like your friends’ photos? Or do you use a digital assistant for directions? Of course – so do many of us! We all use digital technology in our daily lives. But in doing so, we leave traces, and the more we do it, the more traces we leave. These traces are data, and when it is all brought together it can be used to predict or even influence our behaviour.
So, how can we protect our personal data?

Listen to Shara Monteleone, an EPRS policy analyst, explaining the issues in 3 key questions on Data Protection.

 

Or read more in our publications:

• GDPR goes live: A modern data protection law
• Artificial intelligence, data protection and elections
• How the General Data Protection Regulation changes the rules for scientific research

Written by Silvia Kotanidis,

© iQoncept / Shutterstock.com

After the many debates and declarations of principles on the future of Europe of recent years, the time for a more structured reflection on the future of Europe’s development has arrived. The new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to establish a Conference on the Future of Europe, in an effort to give new impulse to European construction and bring Europe closer to citizens. At this stage, details of this initiative are still up for discussion. For Dubravka Šuica, the Commissioner who will take charge of the process, the inclusion of all citizens’ voices will be an essential characteristic of the Conference. However, how to ensure that European citizens are properly represented remains to be clarified.

Preparation of the Conference, in von der Leyen’s approach, will follow three steps: first, the elaboration of the concept, structure, timing and scope with Parliament and Council; then, design of a means to ensure that citizens participate as much as possible, including by fostering online participation for younger people; and last, making sure that appropriate follow-up is provided to the actions agreed by the Conference.

The Parliament has created a working group to contribute to the design of the Conference, in particular in respect of its structure, with a view to a vote in plenary. Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) has also launched discussions, confirming the eagerness of Parliament and its political bodies to play an active part from the beginning of this process.

The Conference on the Future of Europe should be an excellent opportunity to engage in more structured debate, with the intention to find concrete proposals to improve the way in which the EU works not only in terms of institutional dynamics, but also of its policies. Some have however cautioned that the initiative needs to be carried out with the utmost care, in particular on the follow-up to be given to its outcomes, so that it can remain a meaningful endeavour.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Preparing the Conference on the Future of Europe‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© weyo / Fotolia

Countries sharing the euro have made little to change the functioning of the single currency area since French President Emmanuel Macron called for its major overhaul in 2017. Many analysts and politicians have attributed the lack of significant reforms in this area to Germany’s – and some other countries’ – cautious approach, although also underlining that the currency area is now much stronger and more resilient than in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. The single currency area’s most immediate challenge is to cope with the economic slow-down which is partly a consequence of global trade disputes. A smooth transition in leadership at the European Central Bank will also be very important.

This note brings together commentaries, analyses and studies by major international think tanks and research institutes on challenges facing the euro area and related issues. Earlier publications on the topic can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’ published in February 2019.

A major step toward combating money laundering in Europe
Bruegel, November 2019

Scholz’s improved plan to complete the banking union
Bruegel, November 2019

The euro zone’s 2% fixation
Centre for European Policy Studies, October 2019

With or without you: Are central European countries ready for the euro?
Bruegel, October 2019

November 1: Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB with various resistances
Fondation Robert Schuman, October 2019

New beginnings: A new approach to euro zone reform
Notre Europe, September 2019

The ECBs half-baked supervision mandate or, how to get serious about shadow banking again
Foundation for European Progressive Studies, September 2019

Challenges ahead for the European Central Bank: Navigating in the dark?
Bruegel, September 2019

Local public finance in Europe: Country reports
Bertelsmann Stiftung, September 2019

The ECB’s deflation obsession
Centre for European Policy Studies, September 2019

Completing banking union
Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe, September 2019

Economic polarisation in Europe: Causes and options for action
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, September 2019

Holding together what belongs together: A strategy to counteract economic polarisation in Europe
Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche, September 2019

Should the euro zone be less intergovernmental?
Luiss School of European Political Economy, August 2019

Public investment a key prerequisite for private sector activity
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, August 2019

Preparing for uncertainty: Memo to the president of the European Central Bank
Bruegel, August 2019

Wirtschaftliche Polarisierung in Europa
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, July 2019

Divergence and diversity in the euro area: The case of Germany, France and Italy
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, June 2019

Redefining Europe’s economic sovereignty
Bruegel, June 2019

Rebranding capital markets union: A market finance action plan
Centre for European Policy Studies, June 2019

20 years of common European monetary policy: Reasons to celebrate
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, May 2019

Equilibrium real interest rates and the financial cycle: Empirical evidence for euro area member countries
Centre for European Policy Studies, May 2019

The euro zone 20 years from now: Utopia or dystopia?
Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik, May 2019

Vom ESM zum EWF: Klare Regeln bei der Weiterentwicklung vom Krisen- zum Vorsorgemechanismus für eine stabile Euro-Zone
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, May 2019

A second-class funeral: Political dynamics of the euro zone reforms
Observer Research Foundation, May 2019

Public debt and the risk premium: A dangerous doom loop
Centre for European Policy Studies, May 2019

Monetary policy and bank profitability in a low interest rate environment
Barcelona School of Economics May 2019

Ceci n’est pas un PEPP
European Capital Market Institute, May 2019

European Economic and Monetary Union: Who is afraid of treaty reforms?
Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik, April 2019

Understanding the limitations of Maastricht
Centre for European Policy Studies, April 2019

Taking stock of the Single Resolution Board: Banking Union scrutiny
Bruegel, April 2019

A missed opportunity: Five reasons why ESM reform will fail to deliver
Bertelsmann Stiftung, Jacques Delors Institute, April 2019

The Economic and Monetary Union: Past, present and future
Centre for Social and Economic Research, March 2019

Heterogeneity within the euro area: New insights into an old story
Centre d’études prospectives et d’informations internationales, March 2019

For a geopolitics of the euro
Fondation Robert Schuman, March 2019

Revisiting the euro’s trade cost and welfare effects
Institut für Weltwirtschaft Kiel, March 2019

The design of a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism for the euro area: Choices and trade-offs
Centre d’études prospectives et d’informations internationales, March 2019

How to redesign the fiscal regime of the euro zone: An alternative take on lessons from US and euro zone experiences
European Trade Union Institute, February 2019

Finding common ground: A pragmatic budgetary instrument for the euro area
Jacques Delors Institute, Bertelsmann Stiftung, February 2019

20 Jahre Euro: Verlierer und Gewinner
Centrum für Europäische Politik, February 2019

Réforme de l’Union économique et monétaire: Quelle dimension sociale?
Notre Europe, February 2019

Read this briefing on ‘Euro area deepening and reform‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Nicole Scholz.

Every year, 1 December marks World AIDS Day, proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) in 1988 and aimed mainly at raising awareness. This year’s specific theme, ‘Communities make a difference’, draws attention to the crucial role of community health workers and communities of people living with HIV, highlighting their contribution to ending the epidemic. World AIDS Day also offers an opportunity to take stock of progress, globally and in the EU.

HIV/AIDS: Background

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes a person’s immune system to deteriorate, making them vulnerable to often life-threatening opportunistic infections. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. Although HIV/AIDS does not yet have a cure, it is treatable and preventable. HIV medicines (antiretroviral therapy) can slow progression of the virus in the body to a near halt and reduce the risk of transmission. Measures such as practising safer sex or using sterile needles help to avoid HIV infection and prevent AIDS. As an additional prevention method, HIV-negative people at a high risk of infection can use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which involves taking a specific combination of HIV medicines daily. PrEP effectively prevents infection and has the potential to help reverse the increase in new HIV infections. HIV has claimed more than 32 million lives since the beginning of the epidemic some 35 years ago, and continues to be a major global public health issue. Considerable advances have been made, however, and HIV infection has become a manageable chronic health condition. People living with HIV can expect to live a normal lifespan.

Facts and figures from Europe

Despite the progress made – the number of AIDS cases and AIDS-related deaths has declined steadily in Europe since the 1990s – HIV transmission remains a problem in the EU and its neighbouring countries (i.e. the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region, spanning Europe and central Asia). According to the 2018 joint report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the rates and overall numbers of people diagnosed with HIV are highest in the east of the region, lower in the west and in the EU/European Economic Area (EEA), and lowest in the centre.

Estimated new HIV infections and reported new HIV diagnoses in the EU/EEA and WHO European Region, 2008-2017, and target for 2020

The report’s data show that in 2017, 25 353 people were diagnosed with HIV, in 30 of the 31 EU/EEA countries. The rate of new HIV diagnoses was higher among men than women. Sex between men remained the predominant mode of HIV transmission, accounting for 38 % of all new diagnoses. Heterosexual contact was the second most common transmission mode among people newly diagnosed (33 %, equally divided between men and women). Transmission due to injecting drug use accounted for 4 % of HIV diagnoses. 41 % of people diagnosed in the EU/EEA were migrants. The overall EU/EEA trend in reported HIV diagnoses appeared to have declined slightly over the last decade, but contrasting trends were seen at national level: while some countries reported a decline in HIV diagnoses, rates had more than doubled in others.

United Nations-led global efforts to end AIDS

Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 counts among the targets under Goal 3 (target 3) of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN in September 2015. UNAIDS, the joint UN programme on HIV/AIDS, is leading global efforts. Recent UNAIDS statistics show that there were an estimated 37.9 million people living with HIV in 2018. Of those, 23.3 million were accessing antiretroviral therapy, up from 7.7 million in 2010. Around 1.7 million were newly infected with HIV, compared with 2.9 million in 1997 – a 40 % decrease. In 2018, around 700 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide, compared with 1.7 million in 2004. With increasing access to HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by more than 56 % since the peak in 2004. As the WHO points out, although the coverage of services has been steadily increasing, not everyone is able to access HIV testing, treatment and care. Some key populations (men who have sex with men; people who inject drugs; prisoners; sex workers and their clients; and transgender people) are more at risk of HIV, but have less access to care (the ‘PrEP gap‘). In 2018, these population groups accounted for an estimated 54 % of new HIV infections globally (and 88 % in western and central Europe).

On World AIDS Day 2019, the WHO’s five main messages to global decision-makers are:

1. Today, four out of five people with HIV get tested and two out of three get treatment – HIV-affected communities have played a major role in achieving this success.
2. Countries should adopt community-based HIV testing, prevention, treatment and care as a core strategy.
3. Community-based HIV treatment and monitoring saves money and reduces workloads for healthcare professionals.
4. Expanding the role of communities and community-based healthcare will help countries meet global HIV and universal healthcare targets.
5. Community and civil society engagement must remain a key strategy to boost primary healthcare.

EU action on HIV/AIDS

Whereas the Member States have the main responsibility for health, the EU complements national action. EU HIV/AIDS policy focuses on prevention and on supporting people living with the disease. The 2009 Commission communication on combating HIV/AIDS identified policies to help reduce the number of new infections and to improve quality of life for those living with the disease. An action plan on HIV/AIDS in the EU and neighbouring countries, introduced in 2014 to support the implementation of the communication, ended in 2016 and has not been renewed. The Commission’s 2018 staff working document on combatting HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis (TB) in the EU and neighbouring countries gives an overview of policy initiatives to help Member States achieve SDG 3. The EU has invested significantly in HIV/AIDS research over the years, and is financing projects under Horizon 2020. One example is EHVA, a platform for the development of prophylactic and therapeutic HIV vaccines. HIV/AIDS-related projects funded under the EU health programme (2014-2020) include the joint action on integrating prevention, testing and linkage to care strategies for HIV, viral hepatitis, TB and sexually transmitted diseases in Europe (INTEGRATE). At the August 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz, the Commission pledged €550 million to The Global Fund against AIDS, TB and malaria, which new Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides intends to translate into action. At her hearing, she committed to ensure access to innovation and medicines for people with TB, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

The European Parliament, in its 2017 resolution on HIV/AIDS, TB and viral hepatitis, urges the Commission and Member States to develop a comprehensive EU policy framework to address the three diseases. It advocates for the EU to play a strong role in dialogue with neighbouring countries in eastern Europe and central Asia. On HIV/AIDS, in particular, it calls on the Commission and the Member States to facilitate treatment, including for the most vulnerable groups, and to work on combating the stigma associated with HIV infection.

Download this At a glance note on ‘World Aids Day 2019’ in PDF.

Written by Marie Lecerf,

On 3 December each year, the European Commission, together with the European Disability Forum, organises a conference to mark the European Day of Persons with Disabilities, and 2019 marks the 27th anniversary of this day. The conference brings together decision-makers, people with and without disabilities, experts, the media and other stakeholders. Alongside and in support of national policies, the European Union (EU) has introduced a series of initiatives, programmes and strategies to improve the situation of disabled people over a number of decades.

Statistics – Disability in the European Union

According to the latest available   data, in 2012, there were at least 70 million people aged 15 years and over with disabilities in the European Union (EU-27), corresponding to 17.6 % of the population aged 15 years and over. This share is likely to increase with an ageing population, given that people are more prone to develop disabilities with age.

First steps – ‘Equality of opportunity for people with disabilities’

In 1996, the European Commission published a communication entitled ‘Equality of Opportunity for People with Disabilities – A New European Community Disability Strategy’. Later on, an action programme to combat discrimination (2001-2006) was adopted to stimulate the introduction of specific measures to tackle discrimination. As an additional step, in May 2001, the European Commissioner for Social Affairs called on the European Council to dedicate the year 2003 to disabled people.

Legal basis – including disability in EU charters and treaties

As the EU paid closer attention to the situation of disabled people, the question of the legal basis on which it would introduce a genuine EU disability policy became increasingly important.

The European treaties enshrine the rights of persons with disabilities since 1997.. Article 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU, ex-Article 13 TEC) sets out that ‘in defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall aim to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation’.

Moreover, Article 26 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, proclaimed in Nice in December 2000, is dedicated to the professional and social integration of persons with disabilities. Having come into effect in 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon attributed the same legal value to the Charter as to the Treaties.

International dimension – the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was adopted on 13 December 2006. The convention is the first international legally binding instrument, which sets minimum standards for rights for people with disabilities and the first human rights convention to which the EU became a party.

By ratifying the UNCRPD in 2010, the EU associated itself with the efforts agreed at international level to guarantee the fundamental rights of disabled people. The measures taken in the Member States to guarantee compliance with the Charter must be guided by the need to enable disabled people to lead a normal life and be socially integrated on an equal level with others.

A strategy – the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020

To continue its activities, the EU published a new ‘European Disability Strategy 2010-2020′ to enable disabled people to enjoy their rights in full and to participate in society and the economy on an equal footing with others. It draws on the UNCRPD and complements the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. The action plan covers eight areas: accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education, social protection and inclusion, health and external actions.

More and more EU initiatives and actions – assisting people with disabilities

• The EU adopted a directive in November 2000 to promote equal treatment in employment and work. It recognises that the failure to provide ‘reasonable accommodation’ in the workplace could constitute discrimination;
• After nine years of debate, the EU adopted a directive on transport in 2001, which obliges bus manufacturers to provide access for people with reduced mobility;
• To encourage cities to improve accessibility, the European Commission presents annual awards to the most accessible cities;
• A European disability card scheme is being piloted in eight Member States (Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Romania), and should enable persons with disabilities have better access to culture, sports and leisure;
• The provisions of the Erasmus+ programme (2014-2020) promote disabled students’ mobility;
• Disabled people also benefit from the Directive on cross-border healthcare;
• The revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive encourages media service providers to ensure that their services gradually become accessible to people with a visual or hearing disability. The Directive on web accessibility, which seeks to make the websites of public sector bodies accessible to everybody, and the new Directive on the accessibility of goods and services are also key aspects in the promotion of accessibility for disabled people.

An advocate – the Disability Intergroup

The Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament is an informal grouping of Members of the European Parliament who are interested in promoting disability policy. Established in 1980, it is one of the oldest and largest intergroups in the European Parliament.

The Intergroup has been a key player in advocating for and advancing the rights of persons with disabilities in the EU. This new legislature provides an opportunity for the Intergroup to maintain its instrumental position on the adoption of legislation favourable to persons with disabilities.

Further information

Information on disability is available in various European Parliament Think Tank publications. Further details concerning people with disabilities are available on the webpage of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and on the What Europe does for me website.

Written by Ivana Katsarova,

© Ico Maker / Fotolia

Between 1985 and 2019, 60 cities have held the title of European Capital of Culture – most recently Matera in Italy and Plovdiv in Bulgaria in 2019. Initiated in 1983, by Greece’s then Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri, the concept took shape two years later as an inter-governmental initiative under the name of the ‘European City of Culture’. The success of the event was such that in 1999, the Council of the EU transformed it into a Community action, and created a more transparent rotational system for the designation of the titleholder.

The selection procedure – last modified in 2014 – places particular focus on the monitoring of proposals, the enhanced European dimension of projects, improved competition between candidate cities, and the redefinition of the selection panel role.

As more and more cities enter the European Capitals of Culture race, substantial sums of money are being spent, including on the bidding process. While in the early years of the programme (1985‑1994) the average operating budget was around €25 million per city, this amount has more than doubled to reach some €60 million per city for the period 2007-2017.

With rising budgets, there is also increased scrutiny of cities, national governments and the EU, as to the wider benefits in terms of the cultural development, social cohesion and city image that most bids promise. This, in turn, has led to more frequent and sophisticated monitoring and evaluation of the whole process, both by the European Commission and by the host cities themselves.

The symbolic celebration of European cultural identities is however closely tied to the economic success of the operation. According to experts, over time a number of conflicts and tensions have become apparent due to the multiple and sometimes contradictory objectives of the event, e.g. economic and cultural, to name just two. Additional criticism includes failure to enable local ownership, difficulty in overcoming social divides and exhaustion of local resources. Notwithstanding that, ex-post evaluations of the event show that in general it boosts economic growth and tourism, helps build a sense of community and contributes to urban regeneration.

Read the complete briefing on ‘European Capitals of Culture: In search of the perfect cultural event‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Clare Ferguson and Katarzyna Sochaka,

© European Union 2019 – Source : EP/FMA -CCR

The November II plenary session highlights included the vote on the new European Commission, agreement on the 2020 budget, and Parliament’s declaration of a climate emergency. Parliament adopted positions on preparation for COP25, and on the Istanbul Convention, and also debated statements by the Vice-President of the European Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) on Eastern Neighbourhood developments, on the situation in Israel and Palestine, and on the situation in the Middle East, including the crises in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Debates took place, inter alia, on Commission and Council statements on: the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution; on the EU response to the impact of extreme weather events; on discrimination and hate speech against LGBTI people; on the World Trade Organization Appellate Body; as well as on the protection of forest and environmental defenders in the EU. The 2019 Lux Prize, which tells the story of a young woman’s feminist struggle in conservative North Macedonian society, was awarded to God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija, directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska.

Election of the European Commission

Following European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen’s presentation of the full College of Commissioners and their programme, the confirmatory vote on the appointment of the new Commission to replace the outgoing Juncker Commission took place. Members approved the von der Leyen Commission by a large majority (461 votes in favour, 157 against and 89 abstentions). The new Commissioners will officially take office on 1 December, ready to begin work on their new portfolios under the President’s agenda for a ‘Union that strives for more’, including a ‘Green Deal’ and a revitalised economy.

2020 budgetary procedure

Members approved the EU budget for 2020 by a large majority. As sought by Parliament, the approved conciliation agreement reverses most of the Council’s cuts to the Commission’s draft budget, and increases funding for some of Parliament’s priority areas, leading to an overall increase of €400 million compared to the draft budget. With both Parliament and the Council having approved the joint text before 3 December, Parliament’s President was able to sign the 2020 budget into law. This, the final budget of the 2014-2020 period, concludes the budgetary cycle and aims to prepare the transition to the 2021-2027 framework.

United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25)

Members held a joint debate on climate change and heard Council and Commission statements on the climate emergency, as well as their responses to oral questions on the actions undertaken to pursue the Paris Agreement’s objectives. In a symbolic vote, Members declared a climate emergency, while Parliament also voted on a resolution on its position ahead of the COP25 Climate Change Conference in Madrid this year, which seeks to reinforce the EU’s ambition for net-zero global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

EU accession to the Istanbul Convention

Members marked International Day for the elimination of violence against women with Council and Commission statements on EU action to tackle this violation of human rights. Parliament voted overwhelmingly (500 votes in favour, 91 against, 50 abstentions) in favour of a resolution calling on the Council to urgently conclude the EU’s ratification, for which Parliament’s consent is required, and to encourage the remaining seven Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention without delay.

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘Plenary round-up – Strasbourg, November II 2019‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Nikolina Šajn,

In recent years, the concern that some branded products might be inferior in the Member States that have joined the European Union (EU) since 2004 has become ever more apparent. This concern has come to be known as the ‘dual quality of products’. To address the issue, between 2018 and 2019, the European Commission’s Joint Research Service (JRC) compared a set of branded food products sold under the same name and in the same or similar packaging across Member States – the first time a harmonised testing methodology has been used to compare products from the whole of the European Union. The analysis sought to determine whether, despite the identical or similar packaging, there were differences in product composition and, if so, whether those differences corresponded to any geographical pattern. Results showed that about one third of the branded food products analysed had a composition that differed from one Member State to another. However, the results did not point to any geographical pattern that might explain those differences.

In 2017, the Commission had already sought to clarify the relevant legislation with a notice introducing a test that national consumer protection authorities could use to determine on a case‑by‑case basis whether the dual quality of food products was misleading. Later, in April 2018, in the framework of the ‘new deal for consumers’, its proposal for a new directive on modernisation of EU consumer protection rules sought to include the dual quality of products (not just of food products) in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The European Parliament has long voiced its concerns about the dual quality of products and had called for it to be added to the ‘blacklist’ of practices that should always be considered as banned. However, the text of the new directive on modernisation of consumer protection rules as adopted by the co-legislators did not include dual quality as a practice that must be considered unfair in all cases, but rather as one that must be proven to be misleading on a case-by-case basis. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has criticised this, while business organisations defend the right of companies to differentiate their products in different markets.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Dual quality of products – State of play‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Rosamund Shreeves and Martina Prpic,

Consent Matters… Credits: European Commission / Eurostat

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November is a time to take stock of what has been done to root out this violation of women’s and girl’s human rights. It is also a moment to identify where improvements must be made to legislation, policy and practice on the ground to ensure that all women can live free from violence and insecurity. This year, the global focus for the international day is the issue of rape and the importance of ensuring that there is clarity across society regarding the concept of consent.

The most comprehensive survey on violence against women at EU level, published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2014, shows that one in 10 women has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 15, and one in 20 has been raped. Yet a 2016 Eurostat survey shows that more than one in five respondents (22 %) believe that women often make up or exaggerate claims of rape and just over a quarter (27 %) think that there are situations (reflecting attitudes regarding appropriate behaviour for women), where sexual intercourse without consent is justified. Such victim-blaming attitudes are one of the factors that can deter women from reporting rape and obtaining support and justice. Research shows that prosecution rates are not increasing in line with rising reporting rates and conviction rates for rape tend to be low. As several recent court cases in Spain demonstrate, consent – and the question of how it is established – is also crucial to legal definitions and prosecutions of rape.

The benchmark established in Article 36 of the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) is that lack of consent should be the central element in the framing of rape as a criminal offence. As of November 2019, 21 EU Member States have ratified the Convention (AT, BE, DE, CY, DK, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, IE, IT, LU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SE, SI) and the EU is in the process of acceding to it (within its competences). An evaluation report for the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has found that one impact of the Convention has been to encourage states to amend rape legislation to better correspond with Article 36, but the monitoring process has also shown that several countries are encountering difficulties in aligning their legislation with this standard. Analysis conducted by Amnesty International in 2018 found that a minority of EU countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK, since joined by Greece in 2019), define rape based on ‘absence of consent’. Denmark has also announced plans to alter its legislation. Legal definitions of rape often include other elements such as use of force, threat, or coercion. Research conducted by the European Union’s Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE) in 2016 found this to be the case in a majority of EU Member States (23 countries). The explanatory report accompanying the Istanbul Convention clarifies that where legal definitions include such additional elements, rigid approaches to prosecution, such as requiring proof of physical resistance in all circumstances, do not reflect the wide range of ways in which victims can respond and risk leaving certain types of rape unpunished. It also stresses the importance of ensuring that gender stereotypes or myths about male and female sexuality do not affect interpretations of rape legislation and the prosecution of rape cases.

Along the continuum of gender-based violence, lack of consent is an important element in another hidden and previously unrecognised form of abuse, which is receiving increasing attention in the media and at international level. In October 2019, both the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women and the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly identified the issue of violence and mistreatment of women and girls during childbirth and in reproductive healthcare as a widespread, systemic issue and human rights violation. Coerced or forced abortion and sterilisation is one extreme example, which the Istanbul Convention (Article 39) requires signatory countries to criminalise. Women in the EU also share testimonies via movements (e.g. #BreakTheSilence (#prekinimosutnju) in Croatia; ‘EnoughSilence‘ (#bastatacere) in Italy; ‘Me too during childbirth‘ (Minä myös synnuttäjänä) in Finland; and #PayeTonUtérus in France), of other medical interventions resulting in physical and emotional trauma. These include: induced labour and episiotomies, performed without explanation or consent; interventions without pain relief or anaesthesia; verbal and physical abuse; and ineffective complaints procedures. Contributors to the United Nations (UN) report highlight that particular groups of women, including women with disabilities and migrant women, may be especially vulnerable to such abuse.

Where these practices occur during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum, they are defined as obstetric violence. Legal definitions and specific legislation against obstetric violence already exist in Argentina (2009), Venezuela (2007) and Mexico (2014). As yet, there are no specific laws in Europe. However, the issue has been recognised at political level in individual EU Member States, such as France, where a 2018 report on obstetric and gynaecological violence by the Haut Conseil à l’Egalité demonstrated the existence and scale of the problem and recommended 26 measures focused on further research, prevention and improving awareness and complaints procedures. The measures were not unanimously welcomed but have been endorsed by the national union of obstetricians. The World Health Organization (WHO) already highlighted in 2015 that disrespectful, abusive, or neglectful treatment during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum violate women’s rights, deter women from seeking and using maternal health care services and have implications for their health and well-being. The WHO’s recommendations were endorsed by the UN and the Council of Europe. They include calls on governments to support research into respectful and disrespectful care practices, introduce programmes to improve the quality of maternal health care, develop systems of accountability and meaningful support for professionals and involve all stakeholders including women in efforts to improve quality of care and eliminate disrespectful and abusive practices. Civil society organisations in the EU contributed to the UN report and issued their own call to action in 2018.

European Parliament positions

During the previous legislative term, the European Parliament drew attention to the rise in online violence against women, including threats of rape. At a hearing on violence against women on 18 November, its’ Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) announced that it will be working on reports on cyberviolence and sexual and reproductive health and rights in the coming months. In 2018, Parliament condemned forced sterilisation of women with disabilities.

Related EPRS publications:

Violence against women in the EU: State of Play, EPRS, European Parliament, November 2019.

The Istanbul Convention: A tool to tackle violence against women and girls, EPRS, European Parliament, November 2019.

Monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, EPRS, European Parliament, November 2019 (forthcoming).