European Union

Dyson
Energy
Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe proposes that the Court holds that suppliers and dealers of vacuum cleaners may not use supplementary labels which reproduce or clarify the information contained in the energy label provided for in an EU regulation

The Scotch Whisky Association
Agriculture and fisheries
Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe issues his opinion on the interpretation of EU law provisions relating to geographical indications for spirit drinks in the context of a dispute concerning a German whisky named ‘Glen Buchenbach’

Porras Guisado
SOPO
Pregnant workers may be dismissed on grounds of a collective redundancy

Problem-oriented project learning is integral to Roskilde University pedagogical philosophy, which requires students to become researchers already from their first day at the university. Every semester, the students have to come up a new research idea and find fellow students to work with to carry out a project. The project is worth half their ETCS points and it is the only grade, they get in their first year of study. Thus, it is imperative for students to not only find an interesting topic, but also students they can work with.

The semester starts with project group formation, a 3-day process, which begins with brainstorming research ideas and ends with formation of research groups working on specific topics. The aim of the process is to facilitate an inclusive space where all students can exchange ideas and discuss potential research topics. However, the process can be a brutal example of social exclusion and alienation, where weaker students struggle to find groups. Thus, it is crucial to make sure the process is open and inclusive. All research ideas are written on a whiteboard and posters, enabling everyone, including the lecturers, to see which ideas are active (see photo at the end of the text). Moreover, groups are open for new students to join until 1 hour before the deadline.

This semester, a colleague and I facilitated the project group formation for second semester students studying international social sciences. The first day is all about generating ideas, which the students explore in more detail on the second day and the final day is about agreeing on a research topic.

The first day, I introduced the requirements for the project. Afterwards, lecturers presented their research interests, which aimed to inform the students of the supervision topics available. Then students volunteered to give ‘fire-speeches’, i.e. promote their research ideas and convince other to join them. My colleague wrote the research ideas on posters, which we placed across the room, so students interested in an idea could, write their brainstorming down and, if they left, new students could follow the discussion. At the end of the first day, the students had to pick two themes this reduced the number of themes.

The second day, the students had to explore these two ideas further. Supervisors are present during the whole group formation, and they talk to students about their research ideas. This semester, one group wanted to go undercover in a cult, which led to discussions with several supervisors about ethics of undercover research. In the end, the students joined other research topics. At the end of day two, the students had to choose one research theme they wanted to explore in more details the final day.

During the final day, the students developed research topics and wrote short statements, which enabled me to allocate appropriate supervisor to the projects. A few students, who had not been present the previous days, were able to join existing discussions. There were several big groups, which had to find a way of separating into smaller groups (the maximum numbers of students in a group is six). My colleague and I helped these groups to find different perspectives on the same research topic, which enabled them to separate into smaller project groups.

The process often generate clusters of research topics. This semester three groups write about public spaces and borders; two groups write about asylum centres, another two groups about social media and business whilst there are two groups looking at Fiji coups, one group from a domestic and political perspective and the other group from an IR perspective.

Overall, the 111 students have formed 22 project groups with 2 till 6 students in each group. It is now time for the students to formulate their research design, agree on how to collaborate, and make an appointment to see their new supervisor.  Thus, the group work has only just started.

Over the coming semester, I will discuss some of the benefits and challenges of problem-oriented project work, including giving and receiving peer feedback, workshops focusing on how the students can manage their project and group work, and the role of the supervisor.

 

The post Group formation: from research ideas to project groups appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Length of video : 111'
You may manually download this video in WMV (1.3Gb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/9_13_2012-97030-financial-markets-16-9-preview_22.92_thumb_169_1516789172_1516789172_129_97shar_c1.jpg

EU Finance Ministers meet on 20 February 2018 in Brussels to discuss sustainable finance, issues related to the EU budget and the role of public procurement in investment and innovation.

Download this video here.

Length of video : 152'
You may manually download this video in WMV (1.7Gb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 280 - Draft report Implementation of the EU external financing instruments: mid-term review 2017 and the future post-2020 architecture
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

A good rule of thumb is that when you’re in a hole, you stop digging. Unless, of course, you’re in the tunnelling business.

The British government is very much not in that line of work – such things being outsourced – so the rule would seem to apply in spades.

And yet is spades that the Cabinet appear to be holding in their hands, as the series of speeches on Brexit continues this week.

So what’s going on?

The first observation is that none of the speeches to date – Johnson’s, May’s, Davis’, Gove’s – have really said anything new. They promise bright futures and underline common interests with European friends, but they lack substantive detail on how to get to these sunlit uplands. Read in soundbites, one can find evidence of whatever one likes, as well as whatever one doesn’t.

Given that this cycle of speeches was pitched as a moment of revelation and clarification, the lack of a road map will continue to concern those involved in the Article 50 negotiations, especially as we move towards next month’s European Council, where progress will have to have been achieved on a number of points.

The mutual inconsistency of the speeches – e.g. on state aid, or on deregulation – points to the on-going lack of consensus in Cabinet, which tomorrow’s Chequers meeting is unlikely to resolve.

All of which brings us back to the opening observation on holes.

Prudent politics would suggest that at times of uncertainty, the default option should be to avoid making rash decisions. Better instead to find a holding position and wait for things to change – as they always do – and hopefully become less fraught.

(Clearly, there’s also the maverick school of thought, which pushes for radical action in periods of uncertainty, but this has to be grounded in profound self-confidence, some kind of justifiable pay-off, plus a sense that holding isn’t possible. Neither the first nor the last of these would appear to hold in this case.)

The effect – if not the object – of Cabinet’s indecision has been to create a holding pattern, visible in several places.

Most obviously, the lack of push-back on a stand-still/’full monty’ transition is a particularly pure expression of this. Take the UK out of the EU, but keep everything else in place. Even the mooted intervention from Davis today on a mechanism to indicate displeasure with new regulation during this period is a minor point in comparison to the rest of the package, with the UK becoming a rule-taker.

But it’s also to be seen in the shifting rhetoric of various Cabinet ministers. There is much more talk now of gaining the power to diverge from EU regulation, rather than actually diverging. In this world of alignment, there is a growing assumption that the UK will remain aligned unless it chooses to de-align, rather than implementing a new framework from the get-go. Even the obvious exception to this, agriculture, is set up to stick to CAP rules until the end of 2020, and is a relatively self-contained area of regulation: moving to a UK agricultural policy will not necessarily require similar shifts in other parts of policy.

Again, as I’ve argued before, it might be that for immediate political purposes in the UK, it will suffice that the country leaves the EU in March 2019, and then a new period will begin in which government can work out a long-term plan for its EU policy without quite the same pressure.

Indeed, by pumping out the contradictory messages contained in the speeches of late, it can hold off different factions until there is simply no time to plot another course.

The danger in all this is that it is not a given that present confusion and uncertainty will be replaced by future clarity and security. Rather, trying to keep things the same represents a rather precarious path.

That precarious nature is not so much intrinsic to the EU side – in broad terms, having the UK as a (literally) silent partner looks pretty good – as it is to the UK side. Paying into the budget, taking all the rules, obeying all the ECJ judgements, continuing free movement: each one is a red rag to eurosceptics, who would not struggle to find sympathetic media outlets to spread their message.

Since any agreement on ‘not digging’ is likely to have clauses about the ability of either party to withdraw from that agreement, a new contest risks springing up in the UK about making use of those clauses: most obviously, it would become a key cleavage in the 2022 general election, especially if transition has been extended.

Not making a decision is an often-overlooked option within negotiations. But leaving a decision for now should not be the same as ignoring it for good: there is always a reckoning to be had. To think otherwise is foolish at best, fatally damaging at worst.

The post Nothing has changed appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Length of video : 93'
You may manually download this video in WMV (1Gb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Next year, the UK will be the only EU member ever to leave. No other countries are leaving. On the contrary, more countries are queuing to join.

In the EU, Britain and Britons have a say and a vote on the running and the future direction of our continent. Every five years, we’ve been able to vote for 73 UK MEPs to represent us in the European Parliament, which debates and democratically passes EU laws.

The European Union has been a reforming organisation since its inception in the 1950s. Every single treaty has been fully debated and passed by our Parliament in Westminster.

Not once were any changes to our membership imposed on us, and neither could they be, as the EU is a democracy.

Furthermore, every new member that’s joined the EU has required the unanimous consent of all the Parliaments of every EU country, including the UK.

New members must adhere to strict joining requirements, including a commitment to EU values and principles.

These EU values include, “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”

Before becoming a member, a country has to demonstrate that it has a stable government guaranteeing, “democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy, and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.”

The EU Council, comprising the elected leaders of every EU country, discusses and democratically agrees the agenda and future direction of the EU.

The European Commission is the servant of the EU, and not its master. The European Parliament elects the Commission President; has to approve each of the Commissioners, and has the democratic power to dismiss the entire Commission.

In the EU, we don’t lose sovereignty, we gain it. In the EU, we not only have a say and vote on the running of our country, but also our continent.

When Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, first applied for Britain to join the European Community back in 1961, he told the country it would involve some ‘pooling of sovereignty’ with other members.

But he eloquently explained that in renouncing some of our sovereignty, we receive in return a share of the sovereignty renounced by other members.

In urging Britain to accept that we will be stronger and more prosperous as a member of the Community, Mr Macmillan asked:

“Are we now to isolate ourselves from Europe, at a time when our own strength is no longer self-sufficient and when the leading European countries are joining together to build a future of peace and progress, instead of wasting themselves in war?”

Sadly, almost 60 years later, the answer is yes. Britain is now planning to isolate itself from the affairs and organisation of the mainland of our continent.

For a good reason? None that anyone has been able to explain or demonstrate.

But it’s not too late for Britain to do a U-turn on Brexit, if that’s what Britain wants. Reasons2Remain is campaigning for a democratic reversal of Brexit.

Please support our efforts by sharing all our videos and articles widely. The link to our portfolio is at Reasons2Remain.co.uk

• Join and share the discussion about this article on Facebook:

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.12'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

Outside the EU, we lose a say and a vote

→ In the EU, we gain sovereignty – Please shareOUTSIDE THE EU, WE LOSE A SAY AND A VOTENext year, the UK will be the only EU member ever to leave. No other countries are leaving. On the contrary, more countries are queuing to join.In the EU, Britain and Britons have a say and a vote on the running and the future direction of our continent. Every five years, we’ve been able to vote for 73 UK MEPs to represent us in the European Parliament, which debates and democratically passes EU laws.The European Union has been a reforming organisation since its inception in the 1950s. Every single treaty has been fully debated and passed by our Parliament in Westminster. Not once were any changes to our membership imposed on us, and neither could they be, as the EU is a democracy.Furthermore, every new member that’s joined the EU has required the unanimous consent of all the Parliaments of every EU country, including the UK. New members must adhere to strict joining requirements, including a commitment to EU values and principles.These EU values include, "respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”Before becoming a member, a country has to demonstrate that it has a stable government guaranteeing, “democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy, and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union.”The EU Council, comprising the elected leaders of every EU country, discusses and democratically agrees the agenda and future direction of the EU. The European Commission is the servant of the EU, and not its master. The European Parliament elects the Commission President; has to approve each of the Commissioners, and has the democratic power to dismiss the entire Commission.Outside the EU, Britain will only be able to look on as EU laws are decided without us, even though those laws will affect us just as much, whether we’re a member or not.In the EU, we don’t lose sovereignty, we gain it. In the EU, we not only have a say and vote on the running of our country, but also our continent. When Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, first applied for Britain to join the European Community back in 1961, he told the country it would involve some ‘pooling of sovereignty’ with other members.But he eloquently explained that in renouncing some of our sovereignty, we receive in return a share of the sovereignty renounced by other members.In urging Britain to accept that we will be stronger and more prosperous as a member of the Community, Mr Macmillan asked:“Are we now to isolate ourselves from Europe, at a time when our own strength is no longer self-sufficient and when the leading European countries are joining together to build a future of peace and progress, instead of wasting themselves in war?”Sadly, almost 60 years later, the answer is yes. Britain is now planning to isolate itself from the affairs and organisation of the mainland of our continent. For a good reason? None that anyone has been able to explain or demonstrate.But it’s not too late for Britain to do a U-turn on Brexit, if that’s what Britain wants. Reasons2Remain is campaigning for a democratic reversal of Brexit. Please support our efforts by sharing all our videos and articles widely. The link to our portfolio is at Reasons2Remain.co.uk.• Words by Jon Danzig• Please re-Tweet: twitter.com/Reasons2Remain/status/966053667462897664• This video is also now on YouTube. Please share: youtu.be/4qRhtF-_5vQ#STOPBREXIT #EXITBREXIT

Posted by Reasons2Remain on Tuesday, 20 February 2018

The post Outside the EU, we lose a say and a vote appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Promoting women’s participation in CSDP missions and operations is important to sustain EU’s credibility, to improve effectiveness, to promote equality at home and abroad, to increase the talent pool for personnel, and to make the best use of our financial resources. More needs to be done by both member states and the EU to fulfil promises to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
Further information
Study: Women in CSDP missions
Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/1b771244-1621-11e8-b604-bc764e093073_181.93_thumb_169_1519119465_1519119465_129_97shar_c1.jpg

The Informal Meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers (Development), taking place on 20 February 2018, in Brussels.

Download this video here.

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/b863bf68-977e-11e5-b3f1-bc764e084e2e_42.27_thumb_169_1516788936_1516788937_129_97shar_c1.jpg

EU Finance Ministers of the eurozone meet on 19 February 2018 in Brussels. The meeting takes place in two formats - the first part is a regular meeting of the euro area ministers, while the second part is a meeting of the ministers of 27 EU member states. Among other topics, ministers discuss Greece's economic adjustment programme, the reform of the European Stability Mechanism and the appointment of the next ECB Vice-President.

Download this video here.

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/03c0806e-157b-11e8-9769-bc764e092fac_40.88_thumb_169_1519053844_1519053844_129_97shar_c1.jpg

The European Union works to bring an end to the conflict in Syria.

Download this video here.

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/0fd16b0e-d5e6-11e7-b286-bc764e092fac_362.1_thumb_169_1516788643_1516788644_129_97shar_c1.jpg

EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meet on 19 February 2018 in Brussels to exchange views on "The Future of Food and Farming" and the revision of the EU bioeconomy strategy, and to be informed about the EU protein plan.

Download this video here.

DRAFT REPORT Towards an EU external strategy against early and forced marriages – next steps
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Charles Goerens

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Ahead of his participation in the ceremony of the Centennial of the Restoration of the State of Lithuania, President Donald Tusk met with President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė in preparation of next week's informal European Council and discussed the future EU budget.