European Union

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has provided around 50,000 euros for a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the subject of menstruation at the workplace. The campaign is to include presentations at companies and calls for sanitary pads and tampons to be made available at places of work. Some commentators say it's high time the subject was discussed, others question the need for such a campaign.

The centre-right coalition in Latvia has lost its majority after general elections. The pro-Russia opposition party Saskaņa (Harmony) won the most votes and three parties won seats in parliament for the first time. In view of this fragmentation the formation of a new government is likely to be difficult. Journalists examine what this means for the Baltic state.

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Written by Katarzyna Sochacka and Clare Ferguson,

© European Union 2018 – Source: EP

The highlight of the October I plenary session was the debate on the preparation of the European Council meeting on 18 and 19 October 2018. The series of debates on the Future of Europe continued, this time with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Jüri Ratas. Montenegro’s President, Milo Đukanović, also addressed Parliament in a formal sitting. Parliament adopted, inter alia, legislative proposals on: audiovisual media services; VAT rules; strengthening the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust); mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation of criminal assets; the free flow of non-personal data within the EU; health technology assessment; and emission performance standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Parliament also voted its public procurement package, as well as a report on an amending budget regarding changes to pre-accession aid to Turkey.

Preparation of the European Council on 18 and 19 October 2018

Members made two main demands during the debate in advance of the European Council meeting on 18 and 19 October 2018: that EU leaders take significant steps on migration policy and reform of the European asylum system; and maintain a common position towards the United Kingdom while trying to reach an agreement on its withdrawal from the EU. In the migration context, the leaders will discuss a progress report at this European Council meeting, as agreed in their conclusions of June. Conclusions will also be adopted on internal security, resuming the discussions begun during the informal meeting and Leaders’ thematic debate held in Salzburg on 20 September 2018. Finally, on the margins of the session, a European Council (Article 50) meeting will take place, during which the 27 EU leaders are expected to review the overall state of the Brexit negotiations.

Formal sitting – Milo Đukanović, President of Montenegro

Montenegro’s President, Milo Đukanović, addressed the European Parliament, noting that the referendum in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia held on 30 September, while largely supportive of the proposed change to the country’s name, had elicited a low voter turnout. President Đukanović called for a change in EU policy towards the Balkans, and stated that greater preparation for the referendum would have helped citizens to better understand the importance of this decision for their country’s future.

President Đukanović also spoke about the progress his own country has made, becoming independent in 2006, and a member of NATO since 2017. With 31 of 33 negotiation chapters open, Montenegro is currently ahead of other EU membership candidates in the accession process.

Statements on UNRWA, Yemen and the UN instrument on corporations

Members debated with Commissioners Christos Stylianides and Johannes Hahn on the issue of the EU’s input to a United Nations Binding Instrument on transnational corporations with respect to human rights, as well as the situation in Yemen, and EU support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, following the United States’ withdrawal of financial support. With the exception of this last item, these statements were followed by a vote on EP resolutions. During the debate on UNRWA, several Members called upon the US to cancel its decision to cease contributions to UNRWA, and the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, reiterated the EU’s political and financial support for the agency.

Audiovisual media services

Following the recommendations of the Committee on Culture and Education, Parliament voted to adopt its position on the proposals for a revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (452 votes for, 132 against and 65 abstentions), based on an agreement reached in trilogue on 26 April. It is now up to the Council to approve the new directive so that it can become law. The new rules will then apply 21 months after the directive enters into force. It should be noted that the agreed text includes better protection for children against harmful content, restrictions on advertising, and the application of new rules to video on demand and online video sharing.

Rules on VAT

Two reports on value added tax (VAT), where Parliament is only consulted, were debated and adopted, together with a third report on the application of the reverse charge and quick reaction mechanisms, seeking to update the VAT framework (which dates back to the 1960s), and take steps towards a definitive EU VAT system. Following several years of negotiations, the three texts in question were agreed between the Member States at the Ecofin Council on 2 October 2018. The first proposal concerns the harmonisation of VAT rates, which can distort the single market when, because of VAT charges, goods are more expensive in one country than in a neighbouring EU state. Countries would still be able to apply some VAT reductions in certain circumstances, and some goods would be exempted, but the proposed minimum would be 12 % to 15 %, with Parliament suggesting a maximum of 25 %. An EU VAT web information portal would also be set up to provide information on EU VAT rates, and Parliament expects the benefits of reduced rates to be transferred to consumers. The second proposal concerns the proposed VAT regime for cross-border trade; which aims to tackle VAT fraud, as well as simplifying the rules for e-commerce and for SMEs.

EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation

The agreed text on the proposal to reinforce and enhance the role of the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) was debated and adopted. This EU agency has seen its activities – in fighting terrorism, cybercrime, migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings – escalate in recent years. Parliament is ready to support its increased workload through a new governance model, now that the equally necessary and connected function of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has been decided.

Mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders

Parliament also voted in favour of a new regulation, also agreed with the Council in trilogue, aimed at improving the legal framework governing the freezing and confiscation of criminal assets in cross-border cases. The new regulation would improve mutual recognition in criminal matters in the EU, as well as the procedures recognising, freezing and confiscating criminal gains. Importantly, the proposals also prioritise the victims of such crime and their rights to compensation and restitution.

Free flow of non-personal data in the European Union

Members debated and adopted a text agreed in trilogue on the free flow of non-personal data within the EU, aiming at allowing businesses to stock and process non-personal data (personal data, meaning that which can identify an individual, are already covered by the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR), anywhere in the EU without unjustified restriction (except for public security). The proposal enables data such as accounting and financial information to flow across borders in the EU, giving companies more choice in the location of their data services.

Amending budget No 5/2018: support to Turkey from IPA and reinforcement of ENI and of Humanitarian Aid

Parliament decided to cut the amount of pre-accession aid to Turkey in 2018 by €70 million. In its adoption (544 votes to 28 and 74 abstentions) of the report on draft amending budget No 5/2018, the EP expresses concern at the ongoing deterioration of fundamental rights and liberties and the rule of law in Turkey. Instead, Parliament chose to reinforce, in commitment appropriations, the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) to fund additional actions linked to the Central Mediterranean migratory route, as well as reinforcing, in payment appropriations, the funding available for humanitarian aid.

Opening of trilogue negotiations

Two Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) decisions to enter into interinstitutional (trilogue) negotiations were confirmed. The ECON committee may therefore begin negotiations in view of preparing reports on the proposal for a directive and for a regulation on the prudential supervision of investment firms.

Read this ‘At a glance’ note on ‘Plenary round-up – Strasbourg, October I 2018‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Commissioners voiced "shock" and pledged help after killing of Bulgarian journalist who reported on alleged fraud in European funds.

Limiting global warming to 1.5C would require "unprecedented" changes in society, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday in a special report ahead of the Katowice climate change conference in Poland in December, where governments meet to review the Paris Agreement on tackling climate change. "The next few years are probably the most important in our history," said Debra Roberts, co-chair of IPCC Working Group II.

French far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, kicks of a European tour on Monday, meeting Italy's far-right leader Matteo Salvini in Rome. The meeting is the first in a larger tour, where Le Pen aims to meet populist leaders in Europe ahead of May's European Parliament elections. "It [Italy] shows not only that we can implement our policy, but in addition that it is effective," Le Pen told Le Figaro.

Pro-Russia Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik is set to become a member of Bosnia-Herzegovina's inter-ethnic presidency, winning 56 percent in Sunday's elections, with his opponent Mladen Ivanic taking 44 percent. Once officially confirmed, Dodik will share the post with a Muslim and a Croat member. The Bosnian Muslim party SDA declared victory for their candidate, Safik Dzaferovic, while Social Democrat Zeljko Komsic won the Croat seat.

Mainstream parties lost out to new anti-establishment parties in elections on Saturday in Latvia. The left-leaning Harmony party - which has a cooperation agreement with Russia's ruling party, United Russia - and advocates the interests of Latvia's Russian-speaking citizens, became the biggest party, with 19.8 percent of the vote, according to country's central election commission. About a quarter of Latvia's 2.2 million population are Russian-speaking.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has taken a defiant stance following a European Union announcement last week that it would ramp up trade pressure on Cambodia over human rights concerns.

Written by Christiaan van Lierop,

The world’s largest annual gathering of local and regional representatives, the European Week of Regions and Cities, is undoubtedly one of the high points of the year for the EU regional policy community. Attracting some 6 000 participants to Brussels for four days packed full of learning and debate from 8 to 11 October 2018, this year’s event looks set to be bigger and better than ever before, with over 150 sessions included on the 2018 official programme. What is more, with the EWRC moving to a new central Brussels venue in 2018, Europe’s go-to event for regional policy experts just got better – and the EPRS is delighted to be part of the action once again.

Organised under the headline of ‘For a strong EU Cohesion Policy beyond 2020’, the 16th European Week of Regions and Cities will place a strong emphasis on the current negotiations on the 2021-2027 cohesion policy framework, as well as focusing on such key issues as growth and regional development, the territorial impact of globalisation and digital transformation, and the regional dimension of climate change, as well as education, culture and youth.

As in previous years, the EPRS has published a Topical Digest to tie in with the event. Specially prepared for this year’s EWRC, this publication includes a selection of briefings and studies published by the European Parliament covering some of the main issues up for discussion at the EWRC, such as the legislative proposals under the new cohesion policy package, the digital single market and regional governance, to name but a few.

We will also be present at a special information stand during the whole week where experts from the EPRS’s Structural Policies and Linking the Levels units will be on hand to provide you with more information about EPRS research activities, and to distribute some of our specialist publications on regional policy and beyond. Moreover, we will also be providing visitors with information about the 2019 elections to the European Parliament, supported by our colleagues from Parliament’s Directorate General for Communications, including Parliament’s ‘What Europe does for me‘ project, an easy and clickable guide to what the EU is doing in your local area.

Our involvement in the 2018 European Week of Regions and Cities doesn’t just stop there. For the third year running, the EPRS will also be organising a workshop on research as part of the European Week of Regions and Cities’ Master Class on EU cohesion policy for students and early career researchers. As well as examining how the EPRS supports the work of the European Parliament during the policy making process, this year’s workshop will focus on the current negotiations on cohesion and regional policy, providing participants with the opportunity to share their ideas on the legislative proposals under the MFF package with EPRS experts. In particular, we will be encouraging participants to put forward their recommendations on how to address some of the key challenges identified in the Commission’s proposals, which the EPRS will publish after the workshop. This will give participants the opportunity to make a direct contribution to the policymaking process whilst at the same time putting into practice the EPRS motto, which guides us in all of our work: ‘Empowering through knowledge’.

The Czech president refused on Sunday (7 October) to back down from comments slamming what he called a 90% unemployment rate among the country's Roma, earning a rebuke from campaigners and rights activists.

Interpol's fight against cross-border crime demands cooperation, not politics - be it from Serbia or China.

Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini threatened Sunday (7 October) to shut the country's airports after media reported that Germany planned to send charter flights of rejected asylum-seekers to Italy.

A referendum to change Romania’s constitution to prevent same sex couples from securing the right to marry failed to draw enough voters to validate the result on Sunday (7 October), after a campaign that led to a rise in hate speech against the gay community.

Dissatisfied Latvians rejected the right-of-centre ruling coalition in Saturday's (6 October) parliamentary election but suspicion of the left-leaning pro-Russia party makes it likely the next government will be another formation of ethnic Latvian parties to the right.