European Union

We would like to warmly congratulate you on winning this Sunday's general elections. Your reconfirmation as Prime Minister gives you a strong mandate to accelerate an ambitious reform agenda and will allow us to further deepen the close personal relationship that we have developed.

We look forward to continuing our successful cooperation with you and to take forward our common agenda for free and fair trade and a rules-based international order. Following the EU-Japan summit held in July this year, we are finalising the negotiations of the Strategic Partnership Agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreement and we trust that very soon we can reap the benefits of these agreements. We should aim to conclude the negotiations by December. As strategic partners we have a responsibility to enhance our bilateral security partnership, as well as to cooperate closely on the manifold shared challenges in our regions, and in particular on the Korean peninsula.

We look forward to meeting you soon and wish you and your government every success for the future. 

Today in Luxembourg, EU Employment and Social Policy ministers agreed unanimously on the text of the Proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and gave the authorisation to sign it on behalf of the member states at the Gothenburg Summit.   

The President of the Council, Jevgeni Ossinovski, Minister for Health and Labour of Estonia, said: “The ministers were unanimous in their support for the Social Pillar. We all recognise that in the face of globalisation, digitalisation and the changing nature of work, our social systems need to change but remain robust. The proclamation summarises what Europe believes in and what makes it unique: a continent of equality, fairness and support for the vulnerable.”   

The Pillar is a political commitment and provides guidance to the member states and the EU institutions; it aims at strengthening the social acquis and delivering more effective rights to citizens. It focuses on employment and social aspects and at making the European social model fit for the challenges of the 21st century. The objective of the Pillar is to contribute to social progress by supporting fair and well-functioning labour markets and welfare systems. 

It sets out 20 principles and rights, divided into three categories:

• equal opportunities and access to the labour market
• dynamic labour markets and fair working conditions
• public support /social protection and inclusion. 

The proclamation covers for instance policy domains such as housing, education, social and health care and employment. 

Next steps

The European Pillar of Social Rights will be proclaimed jointly by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Since there is consensus between the three Institutions on the joint text, the proclamation will be signed by the three institutions during the Summit for fair jobs and growth in Gothenburg on 17 November.

Video of my recent talk, ‘Can Britain stop Brexit?’

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post Can Britain stop Brexit? appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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Princess of Asturias Foundation convenes the Princess of Asturias Awards, which are presented at an academic ceremony held each year in Oviedo, capital of the Principality of Asturias. The Foundation’s aims are to contribute to extolling and promoting those scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form part of the universal heritage of humanity and to consolidate the existing links between the Principality of Asturias and the title traditionally held by the heirs to the Crown of Spain.

Download this video here.

Investigations into the technical incident of 18 October affecting the kitchens of the Europa building are continuing but are not yet complete.

In light of the above, the Secretary General has decided that the Europa building will not re-open next week, unless the cause of the issue is determined and all installations have been inspected, verified and put back into service.

Meetings due to take place in the Europa building, as well as staff with offices there, are being temporarily transferred to the Justus Lipsius building in order to ensure the continuity of Council business. 

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EU Ministers for Employment and Social Affairs meet on 23 October 2017 in Luxembourg to focus on employment and social policy issues. Among items to be discussed are: posting of workers, coordination of social security systems, European Pillar of social rights, European Semester

Download this video here.

 

A couple of months ago I wrote about the latest Flash Eurobarometer survey on perceptions of EU regional policy. One of the interesting results was the apparent increase in awareness of EU regional policy in the UK after the referendum.

 

Having now had a chance to access the raw data as part of a wider project I’m doing on EU regional policy and the EU referendum, I’ve been able to look a bit more closely at this. This allows us to get a longer-term picture of how awareness of EU regional policy has changed in the UK over the last seven years.

 

Here are the results to the question “Have you heard about any EU co-financed projects to improve the area where you live?” for the last four waves of the Flash Eurobarometer survey on perceptions of EU regional policy.

 

 

A couple of observations: Firstly, between June 2010 and June 2015 the level of awareness has remained relatively static (and low). There is a slight downward trend, but nothing conclusive. However between June 2015 and March 2017 there was a notable increase in awareness of EU funded projects. Secondly, this increase exceeds the margins of error, so we can be fairly confident it’s not a random blip. In other words the result of the latest survey seems to buck the trend.

 

Now, the conclusions and caveats of my earlier post still stand. While the timing of the EU referendum might offer one potential explanation for the sudden increase in regional policy awareness, we can’t say for certain it was the cause based on this survey. And despite the recent increase, the overall level of awareness is still low. But it does speak to the wider debate going on at the moment about communicating cohesion policy to citizens, and that incorporating it into national political discourses may hold one answer to raise awareness.

The post UK awareness of EU regional policy over time appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

The hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution will be celebrated at the end of October. After the removal of the czars from power and a civil war that claimed many victims the Bolsheviks took over the government of the country and in 1922 founded the Soviet Union. For almost 70 years the Stalinist one-party state ruled over its allies in Central and Eastern Europe. Commentators interpret the October Revolution from today's perspective.

The central government in Madrid is moving to suspend Catalonia's autonomy to prevent an illegal secession by the independence-seeking region. This could escalate the situation, commentators fear, doubting that the protagonists have the political skill to react appropriately.

A Polish man has set himself on fire in protest at the policies of the national-conservative government, sustaining serious injuries. Some commentators see him as a new symbol in the fight against the governing PiS party. For others the incident can be put down to media hype.

The discount supermarket chain Lidl has once again caused an outrage by removing Christian symbols: an advertisement for a new store in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas shows the city's skyline with the crosses from church steeples removed. Although the company has since apologised and withdrawn the ad, Lithuanian media are beside themselves with anger.