European Union

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Schäuble, right, with World Bank president Jim Yong Kim at the G20 in Shanghai this weekend

Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, last week called for leading economies to “go bold” in tackling the looming threat of a global slowdown, saying that “there has to be action on all fronts.” Instead, a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations that concluded at the weekend produced an 11-point statement that was notable as much for what wasn’t in it as for what was.

Ever the budgetary hawk, Germany’s Wolfgang Schäuble – under pressure at home to maintain a balanced budget in the face of huge new spending demands thanks to the refugee crisis – moved quickly at the meeting in Shanghai to bury any idea that the G20 might agree on a coordinated stimulus package through greater public spending. Instead, the communiqué ministers adopted prescribes a medicine that’s much more palatable to Mr Schäuble but politically difficult to administer: pushing ahead with labour-market and competitiveness reforms.

Given Berlin’s struggles within the eurozone to repel repeated pushes from Italy, Portugal, and most recently Spain, for more flexibility in the bloc’s budget rules, the last thing Mr Schäuble wanted was for the most powerful nations on earth to signal that it’s time to open the purse strings. “Thinking about further stimulus just distracts from the real task at hand,” Mr Schäuble said. “If you want the real economy to grow there are no shortcuts without reforms.”

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Read the Restricted report about EUNAVFOR MED (Wikileaks), Brussels, 28 January 2016
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Dear Dr. Turke good morning,
according to your request I need to underlined that the number are not fixed but changeable due to the situation. We can normally count on around 160 people in the Operational Headquarters (OHQ) in Rome and around 60 personnel acting for the staff of the Force Commander on board ITS CAVOUR (the flagship).
The total of EUNAVFOR MED personnel is around 1460, depending on the assets involved.
On the occasion I invite you to follow us on our website (www.eeas.europa.eu/eunavfor-med)and the related social media.
Regards.

Antonello de Renzis Sonnino

(EUNAVFOR Med logo)
CAPTAIN Antonello de Renzis Sonnino
Spokesperson and Chief of Media Cell

Tag: EUNAVFOR MED

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EU Ministers of European Affairs, Industry, Research and related areas meet in Brussels on 29 February 2016 to adopt conclusions on the single market strategy for services and goods focusing on support to SMEs and innovative businesses and services. They are also addressing the situation of the steel industry and starting discussions on the circular economy strategy.

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Mr Kenny does some last-minute campaigning in Dublin ahead of today's general election

Elections are held in a onetime bailout country, and the incumbent party wins – but without enough support to cobble together a governing coalition. It happened in Portugal back in October, in Spain in December, and it seems the most likely scenario to play out today in Ireland, where voters go to the polls for the first time since Dublin emerged from its eurozone rescue two years ago. The Irish Polling Indicator, a daily tally of opinion surveys, has the Fine Gael party of prime minister Enda Kenny at just 28.5 per cent, with coalition partner Labour at 6.5 per cent. “Hung Dáil looms,” declares the Irish Times.

Given Ireland’s unusual political history, finding parties for Fine Gael to partner with (other than Labour) is no easy task. Unlike most Western European democracies, Ireland’s modern party system didn’t really develop on a traditional left-right spectrum. Instead, it’s more of what political scientists term a “centre-periphery” model, originally defined on Ireland’s relationship with its former masters in London. During the Irish Civil War, those who backed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, which gave Dublin independence, went on to become Fine Gael; those who thought the treaty didn’t go far enough (mainly because the new Irish Free State didn’t include Northern Ireland) eventually became Fianna Fáil.

For those historical reasons, a “grand coalition” of the country’s two main political parties would be an anomaly – despite narrow policy differences (indeed, the Irish Times recently posted a video entitled “What’s the difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael?”). To this day, Fine Gael is seen as the party of Dublin’s professional elites, and that division has been exacerbated in the post-bailout environment, where Dublin has thrived but the countryside has failed to rebound. The FT’s Ireland correspondent Vincent Boland has a look at those divisions in his pre-election report from Limerick.

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Political group and committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Ukrainian MPs will join MEPs in Brussels for a 3-day “Ukraine week” high-level conference on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation on 29 February – 2 March. The 40-strong delegation from Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will include its leadership.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Ukrainian MPs will join MEPs in Brussels for a 3-day “Ukraine week” high-level conference on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation on 29 February – 2 March. The 40-strong delegation from Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will include its leadership.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Ukrainian MPs will join MEPs in Brussels for a 3-day “Ukraine week” high-level conference on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation on 29 February – 2 March. The 40-strong delegation from Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will include its leadership.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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South Africa and the EU have developed a comprehensive partnership, of which one important pillar is the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA).

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP