European Union

The EU is right that diplomacy is key in deterring cyberattacks. Yet, more political decisiveness and coordination are required to be successful.

While many say they seek a solution to the refugee crisis, the answer might be – quite literally – right in front of your face: digital technology.

US and Russian leaders to meet for about 30 minutes in the margins of the event at the same time as plenary talks on global warming.

The European Parliament on Thursday voted to suspend EU membership talks with Turkey. MEPs supporting the move argued that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on opposition and the press, go against EU values and democratic criteria. Ankara warned that suspending talks would be a "terrible mistake". The parliament, however, has little say in the process. EU member states are divided on whether to continue accession talks with Turkey.

The US president's first visit to Poland on Thursday resulted in warm words, but few concrete solutions for Central Europe.

With the code of conduct Italian authorities are trying to impose on NGOs that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, people would be forced to endure additional days at sea while states tussle over which port to send them too.

Reunification talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders collapsed early Friday without a deal, said UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, who also took part. The discussions had been described as the "best chance" for a deal since the island was divided in 1947. Sources said Turkey insisted on maintaining their military presence on the island after reunification, whereas the Greek side wanted the withdrawal of all 35,000 Turkish troops.

EU states are running out of time to comply with migrant relocation quotas on Italy and Greece, the Commission has said.

EU countries have declined to help Italy by opening their ports to migrants, but aim to expel more people and impose “rules” on NGO rescues.

EU and Japanese leaders hailed their agreement on free trade as a rejection of protectionist trends. The two sides still need to agree on investment courts for the deal to be concluded.

The EU Brexit negotiator warned that a customs union between the UK and EU will not be possible if the UK doesn't want to respect single market rules, and "no deal" would send the UK back to "a distant past".

More deaths due to unsafe rubber dinghies after EU naval operation destroyed wooden boats, Amnesty International has said.

Sanctions imposed on Russia are a "covert form" of protectionism, president Vladimir Putin wrote in the German daily Handelsblatt on Thursday, ahead of the G20 summit. Putin argued that protectionism was becoming widespread. "Unilaterally imposed and politically motivated sanctions on investment, trade and, in particular, technology transfer become its covert form," Putin wrote. He went on to state that sanctions have "no perspective" and contradict G20 principles.

British prime minister Theresa May will hold a bilateral meeting with US president Donald Trump at the G20 summit on Friday in Hamburg, a British official told Reuters on Wednesday. The two will discuss the potential missile crisis in North Korea, and May will tell Trump that the Paris climate accord does not need to be renegotiated. Trump will hold another bilateral meeting that day with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

MEPs gave the green light on Wednesday to start talks with member states on new anti-dumping trade rules. Talks will begin on 12 July. The new rules, on the method of calculating import duties for all World Trade Organization (WTO) members, were proposed by the European Commission last May as a way of circumventing China's claim for market economy status and its possible unfair trade practices.

Russia and China bond over anti-Western rhetoric and the shared interest of keeping the US at bay, but beyond that, there is little that binds Moscow and Beijing together.

Air show with an A350 XWB, an A400M, an Eurofighter Typhoon and an H160 helicopter.

Tag: Airbus

The fourth in a series of five meetings of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) was held in Lisbon on 16 – 18 May 2017. 

The conference was opened by General Henrique Castanheira Macedo – Deputy Director General from the Portuguese Ministry of Defence, Mrs Claudia Canaveri – Deputy Head of Energy Efficiency at DG Energy, and Mr Rini Goos – Deputy Chief Executive at the European Defence Agency. It was closed by Mr Denis Roger – Director European Synergies and Innovation at the European Defence Agency. 

“Whatever we do on international defence cooperation and collaboration, it must ultimately be about maintaining our strategic defence objectives, and developing and delivering enhanced military capability, increasing readiness and effectiveness,” EDA Deputy Chief Executive Rini Goos said during his opening address. “We need to ensure that our infrastructure – the backbone of the military – is future-proofed and efficient in its operation so that we can support ultimately, the front line. This is why the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector is so important – it provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to work together to make a real change in the provision of defence capability and one which can have an enduring legacy, setting a benchmark for the rest of the defence sector.”

Maintaining the momentum of the first, second and third events held in Brussels, Dublin, and Rome in 2016, the third conference was attended by around 100 experts from government administrations representing the majority of EDA Member States, as well as industry, academia, NATO representatives and the European Commission.

In closing the conference, Director European Synergies and Innovation Denis Roger set out, “At this event, it has been useful to take stock of what we have learnt so far to ensure that we keep a focus on defence outputs.  We must also not lose sight of where the challenges and opportunities lie; and to start to develop thoughts on how to move forward, but in a way which supports capability development objectives”. Encouraging a sense of urgency, Mr Roger concluded, “We need to become more implementation focused in future, finding solutions to overcoming barriers.  We need to start developing and agreeing plans for action, and we need to do it now.”

 

Background 

The Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector is a European Commission initiative managed by the European Defence Agency. It brings together experts from the defence and energy sectors to share information and best practice on improving energy management, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy. The Consultation Forum takes place in a series of five plenary meetings over 24 months, concluding in October 2017.

The work is carried out in three parallel working groups each with a particular focus: (1) Energy Management, (2) Energy Efficiency & 3) Renewable Energy. 

The 33rd plenary session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) will take place in St. Julian’s, Malta, from 19 to 21 June 2017.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : This year's Charlemagne Youth Prize has been awarded to the Erasmus Evening radio show from Poland. The ceremony took place in Aachen, Germany, on 23 May.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP