European Union

This is Friday’s edition of our new Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

Bar the shouting (and there will surely be some) the Brexit deal is almost done. We’re nearing the moment where the sherpas fade into the background, leaving their leaders to reach the summit when they gather in Brussels on Thursday. An agreement is pretty certain, clearing the way for a June EU referendum. But there are some Brussels beartraps still to avoid — and they’re not all obvious. One issue in particular could be a killer.

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : As co-legislator, the European Parliament is fully involved in setting up general rules and making policy choices in areas as diverse as food safety, data protection and the fight against terrorism. How these rules are then put into practice also matters, as technical requirements can make a big difference to Europeans' everyday lives. That is why MEPs are focussing more and more on the delegated and implementing acts that set out how adopted legislation should be carried out.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : As co-legislator, the European Parliament is fully involved in setting up general rules and making policy choices in areas as diverse as food safety, data protection and the fight against terrorism. How these rules are then put into practice also matters, as technical requirements can make a big difference to Europeans' everyday lives. That is why MEPs are focussing more and more on the delegated and implementing acts that set out how adopted legislation should be carried out.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

This is Thursday’s edition of our new Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

One side-effect of “crisis Europe” has been a surplus of bombastic political rhetoric. In a crowded field Mark Rutte, the Dutch premier, stood out when likening the EU to the fall of the Roman Empire. Hungary’s Viktor Orban touched a nerve with his “no road back from a multicultural Europe” speech, which in turn built on his warning over the bloc “staggering towards moonstruck ruin”. And of course Fico is Fico.

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

This is Wednesday’s edition of our new Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

Greece is not in Dublin. While this fact is pretty basic geography, it is also a crucial part of understanding why the EU’s response to the refugee crisis has been so chaotic.

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General : Our revamped Newshub aggregates social media updates from 751 MEPs, eight political groups and the Parliament itself to create a single unmissable page of Parliament news, which is constantly renewed. Read more on what it is, how it works and then visit to try it out for yourself.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Our revamped Newshub aggregates social media updates from 751 MEPs, eight political groups and the Parliament itself to create a single unmissable page of Parliament news, which is constantly renewed. Read more on what it is, how it works and then visit to try it out for yourself.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

If you are reading this sentence then you must be curious to see how a country that is currently racked with political uncertainty, multiple regions seeking independence, a financial crisis, and both high public debt and unemployment can resolve its issues in the near future. Spain is suffering from ‘jobless growth’ and social and territorial cohesion cracking along the seams. While the DSM will not be the solution to resolve these issues, the future is clearly digital, driving e-commerce, online services and Spain’s growth potential.

After chairing a lunch discussion here at FleishmanHillard’s Brussels offices with leaders in the financial, consumer and government I was left with more questions than answers on if it was possible.

Let’s start with the facts. Economically it remains the 5th largest economy in the EU with its exports 3% higher than imports. According to the IMF, Spain’s expected GDP growth is set to outperform Germany and France in 2016. It was also earmarked by the Davos crowd in their Global Competitiveness Report to be in 10th place for having a world class infrastructure. Its public debt, unlike many EU countries, is dropping and there are signs that jobs (many short term) are returning back to the market with less people leaving the country looking for opportunities. But there is still a lot more room for improvement.

Some areas called out during the discussion included longer term investment in education and digital skills. Spain also needs to tackle the challenges being felt for cross border e-commerce. This includes problems of delivery often attributed with high costs, differing VAT regimes from country to country and ensuring there is a level of security that can increase consumer confidence. It would be safe to say this is not unique to Spain only but endemic across the EU.

Some felt that the DSM is too lengthy in its processes to tackle the issues Spain is experiencing. Many of the legislative processes will take several years before they are agreed and even longer to be implemented in each member state. There were calls for more urgency and more of a top down approach fast tracking specific legislative areas.

Clearly there was consensus in the room that DSM has a lot to prove to deliver results to Europe as a trading block helping it compete internationally. It will require massive coordination by local authorities throughout the 28 Member States as well in Brussels to ensure the goals of the DSM are not politicized and distorted.  Many pointed out the European Commission goals on key areas such as data flows, ecommerce geo-blocking, and cloud computing still remains unclear and definitions for each of those should be clarified before any legislative proposals are made. There was also concern on the changes to the upcoming legislative proposal for the DSM, as it makes its way through the European Commission, Council and Parliament.  But the rewards are also high with a professed €415 billion in growth and hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

 

Ray Pinto

This is Tuesday’s edition of our new Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

  © Getty Images

There are three existential issues stalking the EU: the eurozone financial crisis, the migration crisis and a (potential) Brexit crisis after the UK’s EU referendum. Each one poses potentially acute but largely distinct challenges. But is there a risk of a “perfect storm” bringing these crises together?

Greece is facing the brunt of two traumas. While the threat of Grexit from the eurozone has receded, hard fiscal decisions remain, especially over pensions. The political consensus in Greece is extremely fragile. And the potential for a nasty backlash will increase if worst-case scenarios on Schengen and migration play out. In the event that northern Europe panics and closes Macedonia’s border (hardly an improbable scenario), the social and political burden on Greece will be immense.

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Turkey plays a crucial role in the refugee crisis: not only is it hosting more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees but also most of the one million migrants who reached the EU last year passed through the country. MEPs have called on EU countries to deliver on the €3 billion refugee facility for Turkey. As the EU searches for the best approach to tackle the crisis, two delegations from the civil liberties and budgets committees travel to Turkey this week to assess the situation on the ground.
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Turkey plays a crucial role in the refugee crisis: not only is it hosting more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees but also most of the one million migrants who reached the EU last year passed through the country. MEPs have called on EU countries to deliver on the €3 billion refugee facility for Turkey. As the EU searches for the best approach to tackle the crisis, two delegations from the civil liberties and budgets committees travel to Turkey this week to assess the situation on the ground.
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 65 - Draft opinion on a new forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 64 - Draft opinion Implementation of the 2010 recommendations of Parliament on social and environmental standards, human rights and corporate responsibility
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP