European Union

Romania's Superior Council of Magistrates has suspended judge Cristian Danileţ from office on the grounds that he posted videos on Tiktok that were damaging to the reputation of the country's judiciary. Danileţ, who has a large following on social media, has been criticising Romania's judicial reforms and corruption in the judicial system for years.

The leaders of the EU institutions signed a Joint Declaration identifying key legislative priorities for 2022, and welcomed progress on the 2021 priorities.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The leaders of the EU institutions signed a Joint Declaration identifying key legislative priorities for 2022, and welcomed progress on the 2021 priorities.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

While in the last year and half we have held our breath struggling to overcome the most serious sanitary crisis of the last century – focusing on number of contagions, vaccine doses administered and variants of the vaccines – geopolitical crises with the potential of affecting both the global and European stability have kept unfolding

Europe needs to build a new project that innovates, protects and illuminates, Parliament president David Sassoli told EU leaders.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Europe needs to build a new project that innovates, protects and illuminates, Parliament president David Sassoli told EU leaders.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In July, the European Commission unveiled a package of green laws aimed at cutting the EU’s carbon emissions by 55% by 2030. In this special report, EURACTIV looks at the impact the so-called "Fit for 55" package will have on the road transport sector.

The Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders says that a record number of journalists – 488 (including 60 women) – are currently detained worldwide, while another 65 are being held hostage. "RSF logged a total of 488 journalists and media workers in prison in mid-December 2021, or 20 percent more than at the same time last year," it said, in a report.

Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe v Commission, Ireland v Commission e.a
State aid
Tax ruling: Advocate General Priit Pikamäe proposes that the Court allow the appeal brought by Ireland and annul the Commission’s decision declaring aid which Luxembourg granted to Fiat as being incompatible with the internal market

Estonia's thriving wood pellet industry is pitting environmentalists who warn it increases logging and harms biodiversity against supporters who say it makes good use of wood that would otherwise go to waste.

Openbaar Ministerie (Tribunal établi par la loi dans l’État membre d’émission)
DFON
Refus d’exécution d’un mandat d’arrêt européen : l’avocat général Rantos précise les critères permettant à une autorité judiciaire d’exécution d’apprécier le risque éventuel d’ingérence du pouvoir exécutif dans les affaires concernant les personnes recherchées

The European Commission's communication on sustainable carbon cycles promising a new source of revenue for farmers received a lukewarm response from the farming sector on Wednesday (15 December) while NGOs blasted it for letting real polluters off the hook.

AB and Others (Révocation d’une amnistie)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The principle ne bis in idem does not preclude the issue of a European arrest warrant against persons accused of abducting the son of a former Slovak President

EDA’s groundwork to help Member States move towards the integration of MALE-type Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) in civil air traffic in non-segregated airspace received another significant boost on 13 December 2021 when a live MALE-type RPAS cross-border flight was carried out by the French Air Force from Cognac airbase to Spain and back to France. While multiple inland flights had already been performed in the past by the French Air Force, it was the first time that such a MALE-type RPAS flight crossed European borders in non-segregated airspace class A-C.

During this flight - depicted on the chart below - several handovers were carried out between civilian and military air traffic control centers in Bordeaux, Madrid, Barcelona, and Marseille. The cruise was carried out in upper airspace, up to FL 230, according to one “circular” flight plan. The RPAS had no specific onboard equipment such as a detect and avoid system. The flight was successful as it demonstrated the ability of MALE-type RPAS to perform seamless changes from their initial routing and altitude, as requested by the Air Traffic Control. It also demonstrated the benefit of a robust safety analysis, harmonized procedures and a common Concept of Operations “ConOps” for cross-border operations.

Based on the materials gathered during this flight and on the safety analysis performed by the initial Accommodation Study (2017-2019 timeframe) carried-out by EDA, a validation report will be published early 2022, together with the guidelines on how to “accommodate” MALE-type RPAS in General Air Traffic (GAT)  in non-segregated airspace class A-C. 

Accommodation Study

EDA’s Accommodation Study was ordered in 2018 as part of the Agency’s effort to support Member States in the area of MALE-type RPAS air traffic integration. The study conclusions published in February 2019 provided tailored risk assessments and an enhanced aviation safety case assessment methodology for MALE-type RPAS flying in non-segregated European airspace, alongside manned aviation. Following the presentation of those simulations results, France offered the possibility to perform real flights with a MALE-type RPAS (the FAF Reapers), including a cross-border portion with Spain. 

The material gathered during the latest test flight will further consolidate the work  on the validation report and the guidelines of the study.

More information

• EDA project page on RPAS Accommodation Validation 

 

In this press kit, you will find a selection of the European Parliament’s press releases that show MEPs’ priorities in relation to topics on the summit agenda.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In this press kit, you will find a selection of the European Parliament’s press releases that show MEPs’ priorities in relation to topics on the summit agenda.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Thursday, 16 December

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP