European Union

Social Europe still has to find its place in the future of the European project. If the social protection of European citizens interests 18% of the French population, it remains far from other priorities such as terrorism, unemployment, immigration or climate.

A dozen EU countries formally recognised Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country's interim president on Monday (1 February), after their ultimatum for calling elections in the Latin American country expired.

Germany needs to phase out coal-fired power by 2030 in order to maximise the economic and social benefits of the zero-carbon transition, and deliver its commitment as part of the Paris Agreement, writes Nigel Topping.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday (4 February) offered a way to break the deadlock over the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, calling for a creative compromise to allay concerns over the future of Irish border arrangements.

EU commissioner Vera Jourova acknowledges minutes should have been produced. "I don't know why we didn't record what we spoke about," she said.

The idea of holding a referendum on national issues from the French “great debate” at the same time as the European elections is generating much discussion, both within the ruling ranks and the opposition. EURACTIV France reports.

With the upcoming elections to the European Parliament fast approaching, Europe is currently in a state of limbo. This makes it an ideal time to reflect on the likely shape of the European Union of tomorrow, and, above all, the form that we, as mutualists, want it to have.

European commissioner for justice Vera Jourova said on Monday the EU code of conduct set up to counter illegal hate speech online "works well". Major internet firms, like Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube, have signed up to the code, promising to take down hate speech within 24 hours. "Companies are now assessing 89 percent of flagged content within 24 hours, and promptly act to remove it when necessary," Jourova said.

Under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Romanian Ministry of National Defence, in cooperation with the European Defence Agency (EDA), organises a conference on the theme of “Capability-Driven Defence Research and Innovation”.

The conference will take place on 26 March 2019 in Bucharest at the Palace of the Parliament venue. 

High-level representatives from Ministries of Defence, defence research centres, industry and the European institutions will discuss the present and future opportunities as well as challenges of the Capability Driven Defence Research. The event will showcase the new prioritisation instruments for defence research, technology and innovation, highlight the fusion that can be achieved on research priorities at National and European level and provide an update on the latest developments on the European Defence Fund. Moreover, the conference will provide to participants insights and lessons learned from some of the most successful R&T collaborative research projects which have been implemented under the framework of EDA.

A formal invitation, including the full programme will be available in the coming weeks. 

Inquiries regarding the event should be directed to: conference2019@dpa.ro

 

Written by Cécile Remeur,

© FOTOCROMO / Shutterstock.

Money laundering through real estate transactions integrates black funds into the legal economy while providing a safe investment. It allows criminals to enjoy assets and derived funds having camouflaged the origin of the money used for payment.

A number of techniques are used, namely cash or opaque financing schemes, overvalued or undervalued prices, and non-transparent companies and trusts or third parties that act as legal owners. Among the possible indicators are geographical features (such as the distance between the property and the buyer and their actual geographical centre of interest). In order to assess the existence of a money-laundering risk, concrete assessments of transactions and a customer’s situation provide indications that help raise red flags and trigger reporting obligations.

The anti-money-laundering recommendations set out by the international Financial Action Task Force (FAFT) are implemented in the European Union (EU) by means of coordinated provisions (chiefly the Anti-money-laundering Directive). Customer due diligence and reporting of suspicious transactions are tools to address money laundering. Real estate transactions involve both non-financial and financial sector parties operating under different legal requirements. Yet, reporting of suspicious transactions in real estate is limited, leaving ample room for improvement.

Improvement is all the more necessary inasmuch as money laundering in general, and in the real estate sector in particular, has a major socio-economic impact, the magnitude of which is difficult to quantify. Awareness is however growing as a result not least of high profile examples of money laundering through real estate in a number of EU cities.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Understanding money laundering through real estate transactions‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

The EU must change its procedure and allow qualified majority voting in all intermediary stages of the EU accession process, writes Srdjan Cvijic.

As part of his 2017 State of the Union address, European Commission President Juncker stood before the European Parliament and introduced a new Industrial Policy Strategy. His aim, he said, was to help the EU's industries become "world leaders in innovation, digitisation and decarbonisation." 

In the context of the EU's industry days, EURACTIV hears from industry leaders, high-ranking political officials and representatives from civil society, on the future challenges of the bloc's industrial sector.

“Information is power,” the boss of French spirits maker Pernod Ricard told EU policymakers last week, underlining the fundamental role of consumer education in reducing alcohol abuse, particularly among students.

The US has withdrawn from the INF Treaty banning the use of land-based mid-range nuclear missiles. It accuses Russia of violating its terms. Moscow has now announced that it will also withdraw from the agreement. While some commentators fear a new arms race others praise the US initiative.

French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly considering holding a referendum in a bid to stop the ongoing yellow vest protests. The French paper Journal du Dimanche wrote that he is pondering allowing the French people to vote on the results of the civic dialogue on 26 May, the day the European elections will be held. Journalists are unanimous that this is not a good idea in the current volatile situation.