European Union

EU council chief Donald Tusk said he wondered if there is a 'special place in hell for those who promoted Brexit without a plan', as Brussels expects British PM Theresa May to arrive on Thursday - without a plan.

The EU blocked the merger of the makers of Germany's ICE and France's TGV trains, citing concerns of reduced competition and extra costs for consumers and taxpayers. The two countries now want to change the rules.

Deutsche Bahn recently hit a record number of passengers, despite defective reservation systems, chronic delays, poor maintenance and not enough staff. But German frustration with a service that is meant to be the pinnacle of reliability is on the up and was recently creatively expressed by one Munich commuter.

The European Commission decided on Wednesday (6 February) to block the merger of Siemens and Alstom, meant to create a European champion in the railway sector, due to the negative impact it would have on the European market and consumers.

Brexiteers with no plan of how to deliver on their exit plans deserve a "special place in hell", EU Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday (6 February), sparking a new war of words with UK politicians bent on leaving the bloc this March.

The European Defence Agency has just concluded multiple framework contracts with Global Helicopter Service GMBH, Elitaliana S.R.L. and Starlite Aviation Operations Ltd. for the provision of fixed and rotary wings medical evacuation services in the context of EDA’s Support of Operations. The contracts run until January 2023 for a maximum value of 120 million Euro. 

In national and multinational operations, the provision of In-theatre aeromedical evacuation services is often a challenge. In many cases, capabilities are not available from Member States and outsourcing is necessary to provide air medical evacuation services through private companies. Experience shows that contracting on the spot under time pressure is mostly not a cost-effective solution. Having in place ready-to-use arrangements is very beneficial to ensure immediate availability of services, whilst equally reducing the administrative burden and achieving economies of scale.

The overall purpose of the AIRMEDEVAC project is to efficiently and cost effectively provide contributing members with an option to order ‘ready-to-use’ commercially available In-theatre aeromedical evacuation services through EDA. The 4 contributing members (CM) today are: Austria, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The project is open to all EDA participating Member States, EU entities as well as third states having an administrative arrangement with EDA.

The contributing members have mandated EDA through a Project Arrangement (PA) to manage the project including the negotiation of Multiple Framework Contracts (FWCs) and service requests on their behalf. The contracts concluded today are the result of a close cooperation dating back to 2016 between EDA, the EU Military Staff and the contributing members to define the requirements and evaluate the services required. EDA has been in the lead of the process up to the conclusion of the contract and will continue to be fully responsible for its management throughout the implementation. 

The contractors offer services to evacuate patients from the point of injury to the initial Medical Treatment Facility (Forward AIRMEDEVAC) or to transfer them between in-theatre Medical Treatment Facilities (Tactical AIRMEDEVAC) in the context of national and/or international defence and/or security operations. Services include access to a wide range of Rotary and Fixed-Wing aircraft in Europe and Africa to meet a variety of operational needs, both abroad and at home. 

The project constitutes an efficient pay-per-use solution that does not impose any binding financial commitments beyond services requested. It is quick and flexible and will reduce the administrative burden for members who do not have to run their own bidding processes since they can rely on the EDA framework contracts.
 

More information: 

• AIRMEDEVAC factsheet
• EDA brochure support to operations

In the run-up to the European elections, the social dimension of Europe remains a great unknown to European citizens. EURACTIV France reports.

NATO signed the accession protocol with North Macedonia on Wednesday (6 February). The military alliance also decided to hold a summit in London in December, when North Macedonia could officially join the alliance.

Commission wanted farmers' EU subsidies to be capped at €100,000, with payouts they would have received beyond that redistributed to smaller farms. But member states oppose the idea.

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Nearly 18 months after falling under a shower of bullets outside his parliamentary residence in Dodoma, opposition leader Tundu Lissu, the most persistent thorn in the side of Tanzanian President John Magufuli plans to re-enter the political fray.

Written by Rosamund Shreeves,

© frikota / Fotolia

The European Union is committed to working collectively to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) as part of broader efforts to combat all forms of violence against women and girls, and to support the efforts of its Member States in this field. The European Commission has undertaken to assess EU efforts to combat FGM every year, on or around the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on 6 February.

Facts and figures

Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes all procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. FGM is carried out for cultural, religious and/or social reasons, mostly on young girls between infancy and the age of 15. It has no health benefits and can have serious immediate and long-term effects on health and wellbeing.

In 2016, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that, worldwide, at least 200 million women and girls are currently living with the consequences of FGM and around 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM every year. The practice, which is most common in 28 African countries, is also prevalent in the Middle East (Yemen, northern Iraq), and Asia (Indonesia), and has been reported to a lesser extent elsewhere. An assessment, issued by the UN Secretary General in December 2018, finds that prevalence has been reduced in some regions, but progress could be cancelled out by population growth, girls undergoing FGM (increasingly performed by medical professionals) at a younger age, and the fact that, as a result of population movement, it is becoming a global issue.

Official EU statistics on the prevalence of FGM in Europe are lacking. However, three studies to map FGM, conducted by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) between 2012 and 2018, found that there are victims (or potential victims), in at least 16 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Around 20 000 women and girls from FGM-practising countries seek asylum in EU Member States every year, with an estimated 1 000 asylum claims directly related to FGM. This number has increased steadily since 2008.

Commitments and action to combat FGM

FGM constitutes a form of child abuse and gender-based violence; recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity; the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and the right to life in cases where the procedure results in death. A range of measures have been adopted at international, EU and national level to prevent FGM and to protect FGM victims.

International instruments

At international level, United Nations and Council of Europe standards are benchmarks in work to combat FGM. Key treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Geneva Convention, all cover FGM indirectly, with specific guidance on protection and asylum for victims. The Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (‘Istanbul Convention’), is the first treaty to recognise that FGM exists in Europe (Article 38), and sets out a number of specific obligations on preventing and combating the practice, and providing support to victims and those at risk.

International action

The UN’s longstanding efforts to end the practice culminated in its first specific resolution on female genital mutilation in December 2012, calling for the adoption of national action plans and comprehensive, multi-disciplinary strategies to eliminate FGM. The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development identifies FGM as a harmful practice which is to be eliminated by 2030 (Goal 5), a priority reaffirmed by the UN in 2018.

The UN named 6 February the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation and the European Commission takes stock annually, around that day, of EU efforts to combat FGM. 

Legislative and policy framework at European level

Although the EU itself currently has no binding instrument designed to protect women from violence, relevant instruments exist in a number of areas. The principles of gender equality and non-discrimination are affirmed in the Treaty on European Union and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which also guarantees the right to dignity and includes specific provisions on the right to physical and mental integrity. The Directive on Victims’ Rights requires provision of support services to victims of violence, including FGM. In relation to asylum, the Asylum Reception Conditions Directive specifically mentions victims of FGM amongst vulnerable persons who should receive appropriate healthcare during their asylum procedure, while the recast Qualification Directive includes FGM as grounds to consider when granting asylum. The EU also signed the Istanbul Convention on 13 June 2017 and is currently in the accession process. Parliament has urged those Member States that have not yet done so to ratify and implement this Convention.

Combating gender-based violence is a priority in the European Commission’s strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019. On FGM, this includes pursuing the measures set out in the action plan adopted in the 2013 communication, ‘Towards the elimination of female genital mutilation’, aiming to ensure that action to combat FGM is mainstreamed across the fields of justice, police, health, social services, child protection, education, immigration and asylum and external action. Areas where the Commission has promised to act include:

• Providing the reliable, comparable EU-level data necessary to establish the prevalence of FGM and provide a solid basis for policy;
• Improving victim support by helping Member States to develop support services for victims, and training and awareness-raising for relevant professionals, focusing on empowering communities;
• Supporting Member States in prosecuting FGM more effectively;
• Ensuring that women at risk are protected more effectively under EU asylum rules through proper transposition and implementation of the EU legislative framework on asylum and victim protection;
• Promoting worldwide elimination of FGM, by ensuring that EU external policy addresses FGM, and that awareness is included in gender and child rights training for EU staff in relevant external delegations.

The Commission has reported on action undertaken to 2018, including the launch of a knowledge platform for professionals who come into contact with (potential) victims, and funding made available under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014‐2020 and the joint EU-United Nations Spotlight initiative.

Instruments against FGM at national level

Many of the actions needed to end FGM lie within the competences of the Member States. FGM is now a prosecutable offence under national laws in all Member States, either as a specific criminal act or as an act of bodily harm or injury. However, very few cases are brought to court. A number of Member States have also developed national action plans on FGM. Continuing issues of concern include barriers to reporting and successful prosecution, support for victims and ensuring long-term, sustainable cultural change.

European Parliament position

The European Parliament has played a particularly important role in raising awareness and pushing for firm action on FGM, including through the work of its Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). Parliament has adopted resolutions on FGM in 2001, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2018, calling on the Commission and Member States to provide the legal and other means required to raise awareness, protect and support victims and ensure that offenders are prosecuted. In 2016, it urged Member States to recognise FGM as a form of persecution and the Commission to draw up interpretive guidelines on FGM, according appropriate protection to women and girls seeking asylum.

This publication is a further update of an ‘at a glance’ note published in January 2015.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘Zero tolerance for female genital mutilation‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

EU lawmakers are divided over how much the bloc’s climate planning should rely on carbon removal technologies, after a draft appraisal of the European Commission’s 2050 strategy questioned their “feasibility”.

“Europe for Aviation” is the theme around which European aviation organisations working to implement the Single European Sky (SES) will gather at this year’s World ATM Congress, from 12 to 14 March in Madrid, Spain.

Strong collaboration between European aviation organisations (civil and military) is proving key to generating growth for the industry and to meeting the passenger demand for safer, smarter, greener and more seamless air travel, in line with the EU Aviation Strategy. Over the course of the 3-day Congress, these organisations will come together to show how through collaboration they can go much further in tackling pressing challenges, such as air traffic delays and congestion, drone integration, digital transformation and cyber security.

The “Europe for Aviation” stand and theatre (#849 and #1151) will host a wide range of debates, presentations and guided walking tours, illustrating the collaboration in action between European aviation organisations working to implement SES, namely the European Commission, EUROCONTROL, SESAR Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU), SESAR Deployment Manager (SESAR DM), European Aviation Safety Agency, European Defence Agency, Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), and EUROCAE. In doing so, the organisations will show how between them they cover the full project management cycle from policy and funding to research and deployment.

Look out for:

• Official opening by Director General of DG MOVE, Henrik Hololei with the Executive Directors/Director Generals of each of the participating organisations.
• Single European Sky Awards ceremony (#SESAwards) followed by a networking drink (12 March, 17:00).
• Panel debate sessions on the looming capacity crunch, global interoperability, civil-military collaboration, standardisation, and the future of the Single European Sky.
• Technical sessions on U-space and drone integration, communications navigation and surveillance (CNS), datalink services implementation, digital transformation and cybersecurity.
• A series of SESAR walking tours on the latest technological advances underway by SESAR partners, and their status in terms of research and development, and deployment.
• Dedicated stand for networking with SES partners, featuring interactive and virtual reality experiences.

Register as exhibitor visitor at the Congress and gain free access to the “Europe for Aviation” stand and theatre.

Follow #EuropeForAviation for updates from: 
@Transport_EU @eurocontrol @SESAR_JU @SESAR_DM @EASA ‏@EUDefenceAgency @INEA_EU @EUROCAE1

 

Europe for Aviation

Europe for Aviation” is the theme around which European aviation organisations working to implement the Single European Sky will gather at this year’s World ATM Congress.  Over the course of the 3-day Congress, these organisations will come together to show how through collaboration they can go much further in tackling pressing challenges, such as air traffic delays and congestion, drone integration, digital transformation and cyber security.

 

Macedonia is poised to become Nato's 30th member state, Nato head Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels on Wednesday after the alliance signed an accession protocol with Skopje. "It's a proud day for us all," Stoltenberg said, adding that it would join in about a year after the 29 Nato allies ratified the move. "History doesn't simply happen, you have to make it happen," Macedonian foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov said.

According to media reports the EU Commission will forbid a merger between the train divisions of Siemens and Alstom. The producers of the ICE and TGV wanted to fuse to be able to compete against their Chinese rivals and had the backing of the governments in Paris and Berlin. Are the Brussels competition watchdogs making the right decision?

US President Donald Trump has held his second speech on the State of the Union - before a Congress no longer dominated by the Republicans. Prompted no doubt by the fact that the Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives in November, Trump's speech writers incorporated signals of compromise. But commentators are unconvinced.