European Union

Plenary sessions : Benchmarks are widely used to track market developments, however financial scandals involving benchmarks such as Libor and Eurobibor have shown that they are susceptible to manipulation.On 18 May MEPs debate new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU and vote on them the next day. Dutch Alde member Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, who wrote the report with recommendations, said: “It is a major step forward in ensuring the future robustness and accuracy of benchmarks.”

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : Benchmarks are widely used to track market developments, however financial scandals involving benchmarks such as Libor and Eurobibor have shown that they are susceptible to manipulation.On 18 May MEPs debate new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU and vote on them the next day. Dutch Alde member Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, who wrote the report with recommendations, said: “It is a major step forward in ensuring the future robustness and accuracy of benchmarks.”

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

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EU Ministers of Foreign and European Affairs meet in Brussels on 19 May 2015 to prepare the European Council of June and to discuss topics such as the migratory pressures in the Mediterranean and the state of play on the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). 

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Despite the $5.4bn pledged at the Cairo donors’ conference last October, Gaza remains in ruins. This cannot continue.

When I visited the bombed-out wreckage of Gaza at the time, the conference was seen as a success, creating a glimmer of hope for families who sat amid the rubble. They thought better days were ahead, the blockade would be lifted and reconstruction would actually begin, creating jobs for the unemployed. That optimism has gone.

Growing bitterness

Over 100,000 men, women and children remain displaced, unable to rebuild their homes. The UN-designed mechanism to allow building materials to pass through the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has been slow to make any visible impact. Bitterness is growing over the scarcity of cement and other materials making it through. The blockade is also preventing exports and economic opportunities. On the streets, the talk is no longer about how to rebuild, but about desperation and possible war. Militants are again telling people “you have nothing left to lose”.

The lack of building material is down to strict Israeli restrictions rather than shortages of money. Israel claims the restrictions are necessary for its security. If that is the case, and Israeli security is really the reason for the crippling border closures, I have a solution: let security personnel from Heathrow or JFK airports control the crossing of people and goods at Gaza’s borders.

Israeli politicians feel safe when they pass through the world’s busiest airports – even in the age of international terror – so the Americans and Europeans should convince Israel to transfer responsibility for border security from its young soldiers to real professionals, experienced in detecting security threats and explosives.

It’s hard to see how Israeli could oppose such a proposal without signalling that the Gaza blockade is actually not about security, but is in reality designed to foster regime change by strangling reconstruction, development and hope – in violation of international law. As the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated, the closure is now a collective punishment against the civilians of Gaza.

Slow reconstruction

If all the houses, schools and other buildings destroyed during the war last summer are to be rebuilt over the next five years, and Gaza’s housing needs are fully met, approximately 430,000 tons of basic construction material will need to enter Gaza every month. Even at their highest, levels this year have failed to reach a quarter of that amount. In March, construction material entering Gaza peaked at 64,000 tons. At this rate, it will take decades to complete the reconstruction.

The blockade continues to blight the lives of tens of thousands of women, children and men who have nothing to do with terrorism. The international community is almost unanimous in verbally denouncing its illegality. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated that the blockade of Gaza must end, the EU has called for the immediate and unconditional lifting of the border closure, and both the ICRC and the Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have spoken out against the punitive collective nature of the blockade under international law.

Oslo agreement

In 1993, I co-organised the Norwegian Channel that led to the Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). Through active international diplomacy, Gaza was able to get Palestinian self-rule for the first time. Palestinian-Israeli joint industrial parks were planned, tens of thousands of Palestinians continued to cross the border into Israel for work every week, the Israeli stock exchange surged and Shimon Peres declared “Gaza can become the Singapore of the Middle East”.

The contrast with today’s dismal situation could not be starker. The IMF reported a contraction of Palestinian economic activity in 2014. The desperation in today’s Gaza is damning both for the Israeli and Palestinian political and military elites, and for the Quartet of U.S., UN, EU and Russian mediators. Things have to change. Israelis are not safe when their Palestinian neighbours are left without hope. International players cannot accept spending scarce public funds on rebuilding from the rubble of each new war.

The EU can lead

For those of us who have mediated in the many frustrated peace efforts since Oslo, it is clear that the Quartet – in particular the EU and the U.S. – must work with regional actors to take the lead, instead of being led along by Israeli and Palestinian politicians incapable of breaking their peoples out of the vicious cycle of hatred and revenge.

Instead of ritualistic donor conferences and new declarations of intent, Brussels and Washington should set deadlines for Palestinian elections and ending Israel’s blockade. They should impose compromise solutions. There are many excellent plans hidden away in drawers that could bring security to Israelis and justice to Palestinians, but they need to be driven by international pressure.

So let 2015 be different. Start by giving hope to Gaza. We have seen over the last 20 years that there are no entities on earth less qualified to control Gaza’s borders than those doing it now. It is time to lead rather than be led in Middle Eastern diplomacy.

IMAGE CREDIT: CC / FLICKR – andlun1

 

 

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On 18 February 2008 the Council adopted a new European partnership with Albania and on 1 April 2009, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) entered into force. Albania submitted its application for EU membership on 28 April 2009.

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Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership following the Helsinki European Council of December 1999. Accession negotiations started in October 2005.

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Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

MONDAY 18 MAY

Place:        Justus Lipsius building, Brussels

Chair:        Mārīte Seile, Minister for Education and Science

All times are approximate and subject to change

Education

+/- 08.00     Arrivals

+/- 08.05     Doorstep by Minister Seile

+/- 08.45     Meeting between representatives of European youth organisations and youth ministers

+/- 10.00     Beginning of Council meeting

                     Adoption of the agenda

                     Approval of legislative A items (in public session)

                     Approval of non-legislative A items

+/- 10.30     European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) and preparation of the 2015 Joint Report (in public session)

+/- 12.45     Role of early childhood education and primary education

+/- 13.00     Working lunch - Accessibility of Education          

+/- 14.30     Press conference

Youth

+/- 15.00     Beginning of Council meeting

 +/- 15.10     Cross-sectorial policy cooperation

 +/- 15.20     Youth work

 +/- 15.40     Young people political participation in the democratic life of Europe (in public session)

TUESDAY 19 MAY

Place:        Justus Lipsius building, Brussels

 Chair:        Dace Melbārde, Minister for Culture

                    Mārīte Seile, Minister for Education and Science

 All times are approximate and subject to change

Audiovisual and culture

+/- 09.00     Arrivals

 +/- 09.00     Doorstep by Minister Melbārde

 +/- 10.00     Beginning of Council meeting

 +/- 10.10     European audiovisual policy (in public session)

 +/- 11.50     Cultural and creative cross-overs

 +/- 12.00     European Capital of Culture for the year 2019

 +/- 13.00     Working lunch - Meeting between sport ministers and representatives of the sport movement

+/- 14.40     Press conference

Sport

+/- 15.00     Beginning of Council meeting

+/- 15.10     Role of grassroots sport

+/- 15.25      Promote physical activity (in particular among young people) (in public session)

Place:        Justus Lipsius building, Brussels

Chair:        Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia  

All times are approximate and subject to change

+/- 07.30    Arrivals

+/- 08.50    Doorstep by Minister Rinkēvičs

 +/- 09.00   Beginning of Council meeting

 +/- 09.05    (poss) Approval of legislative A items (in public session)

                    (poss) Approval of non-legislative A items

                    Follow-up to the Special meeting of the European Council (23 April 2015)      

                    Preparation of the European Council on 25-26 June 2015

                    4 Presidents report on the EMU

+/- 11.30    Press conference

Wednesday 13 May 2015
Aachen, Germany
Participation in the ceremony for the award of the Charlemagne Prize to the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz

Thursday 14 May 2015
Aachen, Germany
Participation in the ceremony for the award of the Charlemagne Prize to the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz
10.20 Bilateral meeting with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko

Friday 15 May 2015
Gdansk, Poland
17.00 Participation in the conference "Europe with a view for the future"

Thursday 21 May 2015
Riga
Eastern Partnership summit
20:00 Informal working dinner

Friday 22 May 2015
Riga
Eastern Partnership summit
09.00 Official welcome
09.45 Family photo
10.00 Plenary session
13.45 Press conference

I would first like to thank sincerely Chairman Linden, Mayor Philipp and the citizens of Aachen. It is an honour to be here this evening. Aachen is, of course, a symbol of European unity. But it is also the home region of the person in whose name we gather this evening, Martin Schulz.

Dear Martin, I am delighted for you. Tomorrow, you will be a Karlspreisträger. Their ranks include kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, popes… and Poles. Like you, all have dedicated their lives to the unity of Europe. You are not the first President of the European Parliament to receive the Karlspreis. But your personal contribution to parliamentary democracy in Europe ensures that you will not be the last. After the European elections last year, the body to which you have dedicated over 20 years entered an important new stage of its history.

Martin, I have witnessed at first hand your ferocious work-rate, your total commitment and your tireless efforts as the most vocal spokesperson for democracy in Europe today. When I report to the Parliament after each European Council, I watch with admiration as you steer, with impressive authority, great European debates involving hundreds of parliamentarians from 28 countries. Perhaps I am being too influenced by the sonata we have just heard. But it seems to me that you are like the much-feared conductor of a great democratic orchestra. Everybody who knows you knows that you are impossible to deny. You will never give up and never give in in the fight for the things you believe in, and for that, I warmly salute you.

This year, we go from Schuman to Charlemagne, as we celebrated the beginnings of European integration on May 9th and now award this prestigious honour a few days later on the feast of the Ascension. The Schuman Declaration and the birth of the Coal and Steel Community were the start of Europe's ascension out of the grim cycle of violence and vengeance that haunts its history. I was powerfully reminded of that last weekend in my hometown of Gdansk, when I attended a ceremony to mark the end of the Second World War on Westerplatte, the very place where the War started.

Today - in the first major city liberated from Nazi rule by Western forces - we sit side-by-side as the closest partners, allies and friends. But seventy years ago, our peoples faced each other on the battlefields, and just 25 years ago, they were divided from each other by an Iron Curtain. Our responsibility remains never to forget the catastrophe that happened in Europe, still within living memory: the bitter fruit of economic depression, militant nationalism, racial hatred and totalitarianism. Its' legacy is with us still.

Martin, I know you feel that responsibility heavily. It is one reason for your uncompromising belief in the primacy of democracy and the rights of the individual. Part of the beauty of European integration is that you are in fact the 9th German to receive this prize. An award, in the words of its founder, Dr Kurt Pfeiffer, dedicated to the "voluntary union of the European peoples without constraint, so that in their newfound strength they may defend the highest earthly goods - freedom, humanity and peace."

You were there too, in 2012, when - alongside my colleague Herman (here today) and the President of the European Commission - the Union received the Nobel Peace Prize. It was the ultimate recognition of the unique contribution of European integration as a project for peace and a milestone on a journey not yet complete.

Our duty to remember the past puts the challenges of the present into perspective. Let us not forget the lessons of the 1930s, which W.H. Auden called "a low dishonest decade". Then, political leaders allowed an economic malaise to linger too long. They tolerated the violation of sovereign borders in the name of peace. They dismissed the rise of extremists on the right and left as temporary phenomena.

Every generation has to struggle for Europe. The first post-war generation had to rebuild and reconcile the Western half of the continent. The second had to re-unite the West with its vast Eastern hinterland, crushed under the boot of totalitarianism for half a century. What is then the challenge for the third generation of European unity? Nothing less than to deliver on the promise of Europe with a ruthless determination. To live its values and defend them from enemies inside and on the outside. To avoid the trap of political hypocrisy. To build a roof to protect the house of the European project.

In practice, this means action in several areas, none of which will be a surprise. First, it means doing whatever is necessary now to create a dynamic European economy that brings prosperity to its citizens on a lasting basis. That cannot be done without a satisfactory resolution of the Greek question, pro-investment policies and wide-ranging fiscal and labour market reforms. Ultimately, we must create a genuine Economic and Monetary Union, based on democratic consent, that allows Europe to be both competitive and caring.

Second, it means being aware that our credibility as a global actor was never more at stake than at the present time. To the east, there is a doubt whether Europeans have the courage to stand up to intimidation. We must leave people in no doubt. More broadly, there are those in the world that wonder whether the European Union - an economic giant - is truly aware that it can only shape the global order by having secure access to energy and also the open markets of its allies. When I consider the potential of a new transatlantic trade treaty to secure our prosperity and way of life for a generation, I am amazed that no-one is demonstrating in the streets in favour of the deal. The failure of TTIP would be a blow to Europe's standing in the world. We can either shape global prosperity in the Atlantic or have it decided for us in the Pacific.

Martin, I know that your favourite novel is The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, whose most famous quotation is "Everything needs to change so everything can stay the same." I could not agree more. On all the issues I have just mentioned, we need to continue delivering change just to keep the status quo. This moment in the European Union's development is not a dress rehearsal. Citizens will not wait forever as mainstream politics fails to deliver prosperity and security. We must do what needs to be done, now, with a strong sense of purpose, or Europe goes backwards. it is as simple as that.

Sadly, the name Lampedusa evokes not just a beautiful novel of a bygone age, but now also the human tragedy unfolding every day in the Mediterranean. It is the third great challenge facing Europe, and unfortunately the one likely to remain with us the longest. We face a difficult summer ahead. In the coming months, we must respond to the crisis as humanely and responsibly as possible. It is a desperately difficult task and one in which we cannot hope to succeed fully without the assistance from the other side of the sea. No country can ignore responsibility if it can help prevent more deaths.

Let me turn aside for a moment to a related issue which absolutely affects the future of the European Union. Britain's European debate is an essential factor in almost everything we will discuss here this evening and tomorrow, whether it has to do with economics or geo-politics. History dictates that whenever Britain and the continent are estranged, the result is very bad for both. No reasonable person wishes for a Europe or a European Union devoid of British influence. We must work together to build a Union that properly serves its 500 million citizens.

It is my dearest hope that many other British names will join Winston Churchill, Roy Jenkins, Edward Heath and Tony Blair as recipients of the prize which Martin will receive tomorrow. King Alfred the Great was a uniting European monarch every bit as much as Charlemagne, his inspiration and model.

In his Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu observed that every democratic system, if it is to function well, needs a clear separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary. The European Union is no exception to this. But the European Parliament is exceptional: the world's only supranational, multi-lingual legislator, in conjunction with the Council. Since the passage of the Lisbon treaty, it has matured into perhaps the most remarkable expression of parliamentary power in the world, as anyone who has witnessed the process of co-decision can attest. If - as Spinoza said - the law is the mathematics of freedom, the European Parliament has expanded the freedoms of ordinary Europeans, using its own special calculus.

As you well know Martin, Günter Grass sadly died last month after a remarkable, sometimes controversial, life. He was your compatriot and fellow socialist, and also a Kasubian from Gdańsk, just like me. I was fortunate to have met him several times in my and his city. Grass famously said the job of the citizen is to keep one's mouth open, not shut. In this context, Günter Grass must surely have been very proud of you! I think we can confidently say that the European Parliament has been a great global citizen, often acting as the Union's conscience and remaining unapologetic about giving voice to its highest ideals. As its' most eloquent and fearless spokesperson, you can be proud of that, Martin - as I am sure your fellow parliamentarians are of you as their champion this evening.

However, let me insert one word of caution here. Despite all your efforts, we have to accept that the rise of the directly-elected Parliament has not coincided with a comparable increase in support for Europe across the continent. Populism is by no means a European, or Eurozone phenomenon; it is a political reality all over the world. But in our own backyard, just constructing and empowering institutions is no answer in itself. To maintain consent, institutions must deliver. Those that deliver just words become footnotes of history.

Dear Martin,
I find it hard to believe that it is now five years ago since I sat where you now sit and that I return this evening as President of the European Council. I can only wish you and Mrs Schulz the same joy that my wife and I experienced then. You truly both deserve it.

Dear Martin,
We represent two different political camps. You the democratic left, and me, the moderate right. But we have understood each other in the long years of our friendship, better than believers in the same ideas maybe because life is more important than ideology, and indeed our life stories have so much in common. You matured politically as a Socialist; I was thrown in jail by the Polish Communists. But my intuition tells me, that if you were a Pole, you would have shared the same prison cell with me.

We both know what the daily hard work is all about; when you sold books, I worked for many years as a construction worker. Yes, we have both been well-educated by life.

Your wife comes from today's Polish town of Szprotawa (Sprottau), while my parents grew up in Freistadt Danzig, that is why we both know that the friendship between Poles and Germans is one of the keys to a free and secure Europe. And, last but not least, we both dreamed about the same, completely apolitical career, the career of a professional football player: you played for your beloved Rhenania 05, Würselen, while I played for Lechia Gdańsk. If not for our injuries and some deficiencies in the football technique we could have played against each other in the World Cup in Spain in 1982. Without you on the team, the Germans only won the silver medal, when Poland without me on the field, just got the bronze. Now, de facto, we are playing in the same club, and tomorrow, you will join the golden medallists.

Martin, welcome to our golden team.

Martin, herzlich Willkommen in unserer goldenen Mannschaft.
 

On 19 May 2015, the EU Military Committee will meet at the level of Chiefs of Defence (CHODs).  

On this occasion CHODs will host Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under Secretary General of the UN - Head of Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and Lieutenant General Viktor Muzhenko, Chief of Defence of Ukraine.  

They will discuss recent developments regarding current and planned EU military missions and operations.  

For the first time, CHODs from partner nations engaged in EU military operations and missions have been invited to discuss with the 28 EU CHODs. Thus, CHODs from Canada, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Switzerland will express their view as well as their experience and recommendations.  

The 28 EU CHODs will also have an exchange of views with Colonel General Viktor Muzhenko, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the current situation in the country.

The CHODs will also focus attention on the deliverables for the next European Council of June and the foreseen follow-up work.