European Union

Estonia apologised to Finland on Monday (16 December) after Estonia's interior minister mocked Finland's new prime minister -- the world's youngest-serving government leader -- as "a sales girl" and questioned her ability to run the Nordic country.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the prospect of a Brexit cliff-edge at the end of 2020 to push for the European Union to give him a comprehensive free trade deal in less than 11 months.

Nicky Morgan will stay on as Britain’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Minister, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office announced on Monday (16 December).

The European Commission said on Monday (16 December) it would closely examine whether a new Polish draft law undermines the independence of the judiciary, amid tensions between Brussels and Warsaw over democratic standards.

President Sassoli opened the 16-19 December session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

President Sassoli opened the 16-19 December session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Written by Enrique Gomez Ramirez,

The Amazon rainforest, which is the largest ecosystem of its kind on Earth and is shared by eight South American countries as well as an EU outermost region, was ravaged by fires coinciding with last summer’s dry season. However, most of these fires are set intentionally and are linked to increased human activities in the area, such as the expansion of agriculture and cattle farming, illegal logging, mining and fuel extraction.

Although a recurrent phenomenon that has been going on for decades, some governments’ recent policies appear to have contributed to the increase in the surface area burnt in 2019, in particular in Brazil and Bolivia. Worldwide media coverage of the fires, and international and domestic protests against these policies have nevertheless finally led to some initiatives to seriously tackle the fires, both at national and international level – such as the Leticia Pact for Amazonia.

Finding a viable long-term solution to end deforestation and achieve sustainable development in the region, requires that the underlying causes are addressed and further action is taken at both national and international levels. The EU is making, and can increase, its contribution by cooperating with the affected countries and by leveraging the future EU-Mercosur Association Agreement to help systematic law enforcement action against deforestation. In addition, as the environmental commitments made at the 2015 Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris will have to be renewed in 2020, COP25 in December 2019 could help reach new commitments on forests.

Amazonian region

Read the complete briefing on ‘Amazon wildfire crisis: Need for an international response‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Listen to policy podcast ‘Threat to the Amazon rainforest needs an urgent response’ on YouTube.

The way Poland disciplines its judges gives rise to political abuse, a European anti-corruption watchdog has said, but Warsaw is planning to tighten the leash further still.

With digital technologies set to irrevocably change the face of our healthcare systems, the ethical concerns surrounding the use of artifical intelligence (AI) are increasingly gaining prominence in policy circles.

The European commissioner for justice Didier Reynders urged Malta on Monday to accelerate reforms of its judiciary system to ensure an independent investigation over the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galicia. "Recent controversies have underlined that progress should accelerate, for example on securing an effective and autonomous prosecution service with clear protections from the risk of political interference," Reynders wrote in a letter to Maltese justice minister Owen Bonnici.

The French official tasked with overseeing the pension reforms that sparked strikes across the country, Paul Delevoye, stepped down "on his own initiative" on Monday due to a transparency scandal, the daily France24 reported. French media reported that Delevoye failed to disclose outside income from multiple second jobs that he maintained after joining the government. Protest are expected to continue during the next days.

Member states have called on the European Commission to assess which measures will be the best to tackle deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and worldwide. They also request the commission to work together with the member states, industry, civil society and partner countries on the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of forests as part of the Green Deal.

A quasi zero-cost timely departure is sometimes better than reaching a zero-sum situation. The European People’s Party (EPP) has now been presented with a great opportunity to be released from the pain of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party.

The longest in the history of UN climate negotiations, the COP25 ended on Sunday (15 September) with almost no significant decisions being made. Julia Panzer gives her take about the business implications of the Madrid climate talks.

A draft €100-billion “Just Transition Mechanism” outlined by the European Commission as part of its Green Deal last week will eventually see the light in January, EU officials have said. The amount of “fresh money” under the new fund is however expected to be limited.

The European Defence Agency has today published its annual Defence Data report for the year 2018, detailing spending by the 27 EDA Member States. Total defence expenditure stands at €223 billion, representing a 3% increase on 2017  and marks the fifth consecutive year of increased defence spending. EDA’s report also finds that Member States are not meeting spending commitments in key areas.   
 

Total defence expenditure returns to pre-financial crisis levels  

The year’s report finds that overall defence spending by the 27 EDA Member States has almost returned to pre-financial crisis levels, €225 billion in 2007 compared to €223.4 billion in 2018. This level of spending represents 1.4% of GDP and 3.1% of total government expenditure. Although overall spending fell by 11% between 2007 and 2013, since 2014 Member States defence expenditure is increasing in line with economic growth.  

“It is extremely positive that defence budgets have almost fully returned to pre-financial crisis levels, with 2018 marking the fifth consecutive year of increased spending. Our report is evidence that Member States have put a renewed impetus into defence spending after suffering heavily in the years following the financial crisis. Nevertheless, EDA’s findings do paint a mixed picture in terms of European collaborative defence, with a worrying fall in both equipment procurement and R&T spending in a European context. While European collaborative defence R&T still remains significantly below 2008 levels, it is encouraging that the value and number of ad-hoc R&T projects under EDA is increasing”, Jorge Domecq, EDA’s Chief Executive, commented. 
 

Shortfalls on collective spending commitments  

Despite the rise in total defence expenditure, spending on fulfilling collective benchmarks has failed to keep pace. Spending on areas where collective benchmarks have been agreed namely: Defence Investment; Defence Research and Technology; European Collaborative Defence Equipment Procurement; and European Collaborative Defence R&T all still remain below 2008 levels. EDA’s report provides detailed analysis of how current spending relates to these four collective benchmarks agreed at the EDA Steering Board in 2007, as follows:

• €44.5 billion on Defence Investment (procurement of new equipment and R&D), representing 19.9% of Total Defence Expenditure against a collective benchmark of 20%; 
• €6.4 billion on European Collaborative Defence Equipment Procurement, representing  17.8% of Total Defence Equipment Procurement against a collective benchmark of 35%; 
• €2.1 billion on Defence Research and Technology, totalling 0.9% of Total Defence Expenditure against a collective benchmark of 2%; and, 
• €153 million on European Collaborative Defence R&T, totalling 7.3% of Total Defence R&T against a collective benchmark of 20%.    
   

Key findings  

However, among the 27 EDA Member States some disparities in achieving these benchmarks can be observed:  

• 14 Member States spent 20% or more of their defence budget on investment in 2018, up from 7 states in 2014;     

• 21 Member States now dedicate more than 10% of defence budget on investments;  

• 8 Member States combined account for 96% of total defence research and technology spending, with the largest four accounting for 85%.   
   

Background 

EDA collects defence data on an annual basis, and has done so since 2006, in line with the Agency’s ministerial Steering Board decision of November 2005. The Ministries of Defence of the Agency’s 27 Member States (all EU Member States except Denmark) provide the data. EDA acts as the custodian of the data and publishes the aggregated figures in its booklets. 

All data is collated (“Total incorporates 27 EDA Member States”), and it has been rounded. Defence expenditure figures are provided in constant 2018 prices in order to take inflation into account and allow for a comparison across years.  
 

More information  

• EDA Report: Defence Data 2017-2018 Key Findings and Analysis  

The European Commission has been driven into the uptake of a fresh startup mindset in its efforts to develop a value chain for batteries in the last two years, said the Head of Unit for Automotive and Mobility Industries at the DG GROW Joanna Szychowska.

Far-right trolls commonly target women and minorities and seek to subvert the work of politicians, journalists and activists. But technology platforms and their supporters tend to resist legislation that could help tame the trolls.

The hearing over the arrest warrant issued by Spain for the extradition of three Catalan leaders, Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluis Puig, was postponed again on Monday by a Brussels court, until 3 February. The European Court of Justice will announce its preliminary ruling on the parliamentary immunity of Catalan MEP Oriol Junqueras on Thursday, which may affect Puigdemont's and Comín's cases as they were also elected MEPs.

EU member states have asked the European Commission to develop a new strategy for the protection and welfare of animals, calling it "an issue of high importance to European citizens". The ministers recognised on Monday the need to update the current legislation for animal transportation over long distances, the welfare of cattle over six months, pet-breeders and animal slaughter.