European Union

The EU issued a declaration taking note of the results of the presidential elections declared by the Electoral Commission in Uganda, welcoming the absence of major violent incidents, and calling on the government to respect the freedom of expression and the right to peaceful and safe assembly.

European Council President Charles Michel participated in the plenary of the European Parliament on the inauguration of the new President of the United States and the current political situation.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for Europe, which needs a stronger, more united and more assertive foreign and security policy, MEPs highlighted on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for Europe, which needs a stronger, more united and more assertive foreign and security policy, MEPs highlighted on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament is deeply concerned that many authoritarian regimes around the world have used the pandemic to repress civil society and critical voices.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament is deeply concerned that many authoritarian regimes around the world have used the pandemic to repress civil society and critical voices.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Artificial Intelligence must be subject to human control, allowing humans to correct or disable it in case of unforeseen behaviour, say MEPs.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Artificial Intelligence must be subject to human control, allowing humans to correct or disable it in case of unforeseen behaviour, say MEPs.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Written by Tania Latici,

© assetseller / Adobe Stock

In her first State of the Union speech, and in the section of the speech most applauded by the European Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the use of qualified majority voting (QMV) in areas such as sanctions and human rights. The crises and security challenges accumulating in and around the European Union have added to the urgency of having a more effective and rapid decision-making process in areas pertaining to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The core encumbrance against unanimous EU agreement on foreign policy is argued to be the absence of a common strategic culture among EU Member States.

The Lisbon Treaty’s architects have equipped the EU Treaties with ‘passerelle clauses’ – provisions usually aimed at modifying the decision-making of the Council of the EU. The passerelle clause for CFSP is Article 31(3) of the Treaty on European Union, which empowers the European Council to, by unanimous agreement, allow the Council of the EU to take decisions by QMV in some areas of the CFSP. Another option is an emergency brake – cancelling a vote for vital reasons of national policy – while constructive abstention is an option which allows a Member State to abstain from a unanimous vote without blocking it.

Since 2016, the EU has witnessed growing momentum to shape its identity as a security provider and peace promoter. From 2020 and until 2022, it is undertaking a strategic reflection process taking the form of a ‘strategic compass’, whereby the threats, challenges and objectives for the Union in security and defence will be better defined. It is in this context that the debate about QMV in foreign and security policy has resurfaced and continues to be the subject of policy discussions. Nevertheless, recent efforts to innovate in the EU’s methods for adopting sanctions in the field of human rights abuses (the European Magnitsky Act) have been unsuccessful in their attempt to move from unanimity to qualified majority voting.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Qualified majority voting in foreign and security policy: Pros and Cons‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Figure 1 – The pros and cons of QMV in foreign and security policy

EU antitrust regulators have sought information from advertisers regarding Google's advertising technology practices, a European Commission document seen by Reuters shows.

Last Friday, and without much media coverage, the Guardian of the Treaties dealt the latest blow to European citizens' shot at direct democracy by rejecting a petition proposing a protection package for national minorities that had garnered 1.1 million signatures across the EU.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed the claim of a Cypriot producers' organisation who challenged the trademark validation of Bulgarian halloumi-sounding products arguing that they could deceive consumers.

The French government will unveil a draft revision of the Constitution on Wednesday (20 January) to include the notion of environmental preservation. While the ultimate aim is to submit this proposal to the French public, holding a referendum seems a distant prospect. EURACTIV France reports.

President Donald Trump leaves the presidency under a dark cloud of his own making, ending his single four-year term stained by two impeachments, deep political divisions and his handling of a pandemic that has caused 400,000 U.S. deaths.

Russian authorities have applied for registration of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the European Union, the country's sovereign wealth fund financing the jab said Wednesday (20 January) .

The siege of the Capitol was one of the darkest moments, but not the last hour of modern democracy, writes Anna Donáth.

MEPs discussed the programme for the next six-month presidency of the Council of the EU this morning with Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

MEPs discussed the programme for the next six-month presidency of the Council of the EU this morning with Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© brainwashed 4 you / Adobe Stock

The European Union and the United Kingdom reached a last-minute deal on trade and other issues on 24 December 2020, thereby avoiding major disruption from 1 January 2021, the date on which the transition period ended. However, many politicians and experts have noted that the agreement does not cover all areas of potential partnership, as well as leaving some issues ambiguous, so there is much potential for complex further negotiations in the future. In practice, the EU-UK trading relationship has been further complicated, at least in the short term, by the effects of the coronavirus crisis and a recent upsurge in infections in the United Kingdom.

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on Brexit and related issues. More studies on the topic can be found in a previous item from this series, published in September 2020.

Brexit brief
Institute of International and European Affairs, January 2021

The great Brexit heist
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2021

The UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement 2020
Senior European Experts Group, January 2021

How Britain and the EU could cooperate on defence after Brexit
European Council on Foreign Relations, December 2020

How UK-EU trade cooperation can survive Brexit
European Council on Foreign Relations, December 2020

Warming relations: UK-EU climate cooperation after Brexit
European Council on Foreign Relations, December 2020

What’s in the EU-UK Brexit deal?
Council on Foreign Relations, December 2020

Ten reflections on a sovereignty-first Brexit
Centre for European Reform, December 2020

Brexit trade deal means ‘freedom’, but at a cost: The arguments will be far from over
Centre for European Reform, December 2020

Navigating accidental illegality
Centre for European Reform, November 2020

Post-Brexit foreign, security and defence co-operation: We don’t want to talk about it
Centre for European Reform, November 2020

The Brexit trade deal is no frictionless uncoupling
Centre for European Policy Studies, December 2020

Brexit, le malheur de rompre
Institut français des relations internationales, December 2020

Breaking up is hard to do: Royaume-Uni et Union européenne après le Brexit
Institut français des relations internationales, December 2020

A deal is done: What happens now?
UK in a Changing Europe, December 2020

Is Brexit war finally over?
UK in a Changing Europe, December 2020

Brexit is not done: This deal is no ‘game, set and match’
UK in a Changing Europe, December 2020

What the Brexit deal means for Northern Ireland
UK in a Changing Europe, December 2020

UK manufacturing welcomes the deal in as far as it goes
UK in a Changing Europe, December 2020

Boris Johnson’s brinkmanship: To the cliff edge or beyond?
European Policy Studies, December 2020

China and Brexit drive the UK’s ‘tilt’ to Indo-Pacific
Chatham House, November 2020

Brexit and coronavirus: Economic impacts and policy response
Institute for Government, December 2020

The Brexit deal is the latest case of the government’s disregard for parliamentary scrutiny
Institute for Government, December 2020

The New Year does not mean that Brexit is old news
Institute for Government, December 2020

The Brexit deal is about taking back control rather than ‘exact same benefits’
Institute for Government, December 2020

Partnerships for the future of UK foreign policy
Foreign Policy Centre, December 2020

Le Brexit pourrait-il mener à la fin du Royaume-Uni?
Egmont, December 2020

Parliament should have a meaningful vote on the EU trade deal. But it doesn’t
Foreign Policy Centre, December 2020

Partnerships for the future of UK foreign policy
Foreign Policy Centre, December 2020

Brexit: Adieu or Au revoir?
Friends of Europe, December 2020

European security after Brexit
Institut des relations internationales et stratégiques, December 2020

Brexit, the area of freedom, security, and justice and migration
Istituto Affari Internazionali, December 2020

Devolution in the UK and the combined challenges of pandemic and Brexit
Polish Institute of International Affairs, December 2020

The UK’s European question is far from over
Scottish Centre for European Relations, December 2020

Where next for Scotland and Brexit: Four challenges
Scottish Centre for European Relations, November 2020

Read this briefing on ‘Brexit: The EU-UK trade deal‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

The head of the EU border agency will not step down, a Frontex spokesman said, as the force's board met Wednesday (20 January) to air claims guards were involved in illegal migrant pushbacks.