European Union

Written by Clare Ferguson and Katarzyna Sochaka,

© European Union 2019 – Source : EP/FMA -CCR

The November II plenary session highlights included the vote on the new European Commission, agreement on the 2020 budget, and Parliament’s declaration of a climate emergency. Parliament adopted positions on preparation for COP25, and on the Istanbul Convention, and also debated statements by the Vice-President of the European Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) on Eastern Neighbourhood developments, on the situation in Israel and Palestine, and on the situation in the Middle East, including the crises in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Debates took place, inter alia, on Commission and Council statements on: the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution; on the EU response to the impact of extreme weather events; on discrimination and hate speech against LGBTI people; on the World Trade Organization Appellate Body; as well as on the protection of forest and environmental defenders in the EU. The 2019 Lux Prize, which tells the story of a young woman’s feminist struggle in conservative North Macedonian society, was awarded to God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija, directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska.

Election of the European Commission

Following European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen’s presentation of the full College of Commissioners and their programme, the confirmatory vote on the appointment of the new Commission to replace the outgoing Juncker Commission took place. Members approved the von der Leyen Commission by a large majority (461 votes in favour, 157 against and 89 abstentions). The new Commissioners will officially take office on 1 December, ready to begin work on their new portfolios under the President’s agenda for a ‘Union that strives for more’, including a ‘Green Deal’ and a revitalised economy.

2020 budgetary procedure

Members approved the EU budget for 2020 by a large majority. As sought by Parliament, the approved conciliation agreement reverses most of the Council’s cuts to the Commission’s draft budget, and increases funding for some of Parliament’s priority areas, leading to an overall increase of €400 million compared to the draft budget. With both Parliament and the Council having approved the joint text before 3 December, Parliament’s President was able to sign the 2020 budget into law. This, the final budget of the 2014-2020 period, concludes the budgetary cycle and aims to prepare the transition to the 2021-2027 framework.

United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25)

Members held a joint debate on climate change and heard Council and Commission statements on the climate emergency, as well as their responses to oral questions on the actions undertaken to pursue the Paris Agreement’s objectives. In a symbolic vote, Members declared a climate emergency, while Parliament also voted on a resolution on its position ahead of the COP25 Climate Change Conference in Madrid this year, which seeks to reinforce the EU’s ambition for net-zero global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

EU accession to the Istanbul Convention

Members marked International Day for the elimination of violence against women with Council and Commission statements on EU action to tackle this violation of human rights. Parliament voted overwhelmingly (500 votes in favour, 91 against, 50 abstentions) in favour of a resolution calling on the Council to urgently conclude the EU’s ratification, for which Parliament’s consent is required, and to encourage the remaining seven Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention without delay.

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘Plenary round-up – Strasbourg, November II 2019‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Charles Michel, the new EU Council president, said the EU could be "collateral damage" in "a new Cold War between the US and China" in an interview with six European newspapers on Thursday. He warned post-Brexit talks on a new UK-EU trade deal could split member states "based on different economic situations in different countries". Eurozone reform, enlargement, climate change and the EU budget would be his priorities, he added.

MEPs are to send a "fact-finding mission" to Malta amid calls for EU sanctions if its prime minister, Joseph Muscat, refuses to step down over the killing of a journalist.

Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, and Ireland - some of the EU's main offshore banking and tax haven-type countries - voted Thursday against new EU rules to force multinationals such as Amazon or Apple to reveal how much profit they make and how little tax they pay in Europe, The Guardian reports. Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, and Sweden also voted against, while the UK, another offshore centre, abstained.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (28 November) said his remarks that NATO was experiencing "brain death" had been a useful wake-up call to alliance members, and he would not apologise for saying it.

A Finnish EU presidency paper on migration, designed to feed into the new European Commission, lays out a vision to prevent irregular migration, forced displacement, and boost cooperation on return and readmission.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday (28 November) night as a intensifying probe into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia threatened to further destabilise the government.

Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann on Thursday (28 November) batted back calls for the European Central Bank to take a bigger role in protecting the environment, saying it was up to goverments and not the ECB to fight climate change.

In this Special Edition of the Capitals, EURACTIV's network is reporting on the main priorities of EU member states in the new European Commission.

Ordinary EU citizens should get a say in Brussels lawmaking and hold officials to account via the European Parliament's petitions committee in the next five years, according to its chairman, Spanish centre-right MEP Dolors Montserrat.

EU has to decide whether it wants to go down in history as a force for peace by aligning itself with victims or to be remembered on the side of an apartheid government that slaughtered a defenceless people with impunity.

Ahdaf Soueif, who recently resigned from the British Museum, talks about the persistence of racist thinking, EU-funded authoritarianism in Egypt, and the Cold War roots of terror.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will enjoy a budget of €14.4 billion over the next five years, after the agency’s 22 member states agreed on Thursday (28 November) to increase funding for space exploration.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1720 of 14 October 2019 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Nicaragua.

Following the consent of the European Parliament, the European Council appoints the new Commission until October 2024.

The Council today reached agreement on a draft directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1789 of 24 October 2019 amending Decision 2010/573/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.

Germany's regulatory approach to medical cannabis is good practice and should be replicated across Europe, according to newly-born European Medicinal Cannabis Association (EUMCA).

Many parents are supporting the children who are school striking for the climate, but are they really listening? ask Frida Berry Eklund and Yoca-Arditi Rocha.

Slovakia will not ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, the country's parliament decided, adding that any decision at EU level needs to be made unanimously. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.