European Union

The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament visited Pakistan on 18 - 21 April 2017 (Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore). The visit was organised with the objective of pursuing strengthened dialogue between the EU and Pakistan, with a view to the upcoming adoption of a new EU-Pakistan Strategic Engagement Plan, that will address the full range of political and security issues; governance; human rights; migration; trade and energy.
Read the complete press statement below:
Further information
Press statement
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Taking into account that ASEAN is the EU’s third largest trade partner, this study focuses on the future of the EU-ASEAN relations and the work being done by both parts towards establishing a strategic partnership (which involves embracing all aspects, from trade to energy, from climate change to security issues, from human rights to sustainable development).
Deepening and enhancing relations between one of the most dynamic region in the world and the largest and most affluent market will bring important benefits to both European and ASEAN citizens. The study argues that strengthening the parliamentary dimension of the relationship would, besides supporting representative democracy in Southeast Asia, contribute to maintaining the momentum launched in 2012.
Further information
Study: The future of EU-ASEAN relations
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

This study seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of the developments around energy discussions related to the series of gas discoveries in the offshore of Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, with the ultimate aim of assessing the realistic implications of regional gas discoveries for both Eastern Mediterranean countries and the EU. Multiple lines of conflict in the region continue to make future Eastern Mediterranean gas activities a major geopolitical issue.
Further information
Study: Energy - a shaping factor for regional stability in the Eastern Mediterranean
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

On 21 June 2017 from 14:30 to 19:30, the European Parliament will organise a high-level conference on migration management in the European Parliament in Brussels. The conference will bring together political leaders, policymakers and practitioners to contribute to a reflection on a strategy to manage migration flows, and ensure a stable and prosperous environment at our borders. It will be organised in cooperation with the relevant parliamentary committees. Speakers will notably include:

Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission

Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission

Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank

Markku Markkula, President of the Committee of the Regions

Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship

Neven Mimica, Commissioner for International Development

Julian King, Commissioner for Security Union

Louise Arbour, United Nations Special Representative for International Migration

William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration

Claude Moraes, Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee

Linda McAvan, Chair of the Committee on Development

Further information
Registration
Programme
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

This in-depth analysis discusses the main political, economic and development challenges that contemporary Mauritania is faced with, illustrating how these challenges can only be properly grasped with consideration to their historical evolution.
Mauritania is an important ally of the EU in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel and faces several inter-related development challenges: ensuring an efficient use of the revenue derived from natural resources, economic diversification and improved governance. Based on this, the study investigates the current basis for EU-Mauritania relations and suggests a select number of policy areas for consideration, as this relationship continues to evolve around issues of mutual concern such as security and development.
Further information
Study: State of play of the EU-Mauritania relations
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

France v Commission
State aid
The Court confirms that the capital injection and the privatisation measures adopted by France in favour of SNCM constitute unlawful State aid incompatible with the internal market

Air Berlin
Transport
Cancellation fees charged by airline companies may be assessed for unfairness

Toshiba v Commission
Competition
The Court upholds the €61.44 million fine imposed on Toshiba (of which €4.65 million jointly and severally with Mitsubishi) for its participation in the gas insulated switchgear cartel

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G20 leaders meet in Hamburg, Germany, on 7 and 8 July 2017. The theme of the German presidency of the G20 is 'Shaping an interconnected world'. Leaders discuss the main topics of economic, financial, climate, trade, employment and development policy. Migration and refugee flows and counter-terrorism are other key issues of global significance that appear on the summit agenda. The President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission represent the EU at the summit.

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As the first female deaf Member of the European Parliament I am naturally a supporter of rebalancing under-representation in political and economic debates. While I do not solely focus on gender or disability in my Parliamentary work (I also work on migration, security and privacy), these issues do play a large role in my day-to-day life as a politician and advocate for people with disabilities. Equality and non-discrimination are the fundamental values that underpin all my efforts at the European Parliament, matched with a passion forged by the challenges I have dealt with throughout my life.

I was the first deaf lawyer in Belgium, finishing my law studies in 1993 at the Catholic University of Leuven. I have previously studied in the United States (as a Rotary exchange student in Kirkwood, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri), and also studied in the United Kingdom (as an Erasmus exchange student in Leeds) and at the University of California, Berkeley, where I completed my Master’s in Law. These experiences gave me valuable international experience as well as fluency in American and British Sign Language and English written and spoken language skills from which I still benefit today.

There were challenges: much of my education was spent in mainstream schools where I did not have a sign language interpreter to support me in the classroom. It was only through my time in Kirkwood that I learned that accessibility and the provision of sign language interpreters are (or should be) ‘normal’ parts of equal treatment in education and in the workplace.

This experience led me to spend time working for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund in the United States, and the California Center for Law and the Deaf and, after having joined the Brussels bar, in the non-profit sector for a number of disability-related NGOs. Here I saw first-hand the issues faced by people with disabilities at a regional, national and European level.

“Equality and non-discrimination are the fundamental values that underpin all my efforts at the European Parliament”

As a lawyer my impact was limited to one client at a time. In politics I had the opportunity to have a more significant and longer-lasting influence on a greater number of people. Being aware of the very real and practical barriers that people with disabilities encounter on a daily basis, I believe I can take a much more realistic and holistic view of legislation and policies and assess them based on their practical effect in daily life.

I was a Member of the Flemish parliament from 2004 to 2014. For seven of those ten years I was also a city councillor in Ghent and a Belgian senator. In 2014 I was elected to the European Parliament and became a Vice-President of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group. From the beginning I have also been a Co-Chair of the Disability Intergroup, an informal cross-party group that meets regularly to bring disability and accessibility issues to the forefront of Parliament’s political debate.

Having spent time in NGOs I understand how difficult it can be for civil society organisations to reach out to politicians, especially ministers and other high-ranking officials. So when I am abroad on official parliamentary business I always try to ensure that I meet with local disability and deaf organisations. I listen to their concerns and pass these on to the relevant government representatives or put them in touch with each other. I feel it is one of my responsibilities and something that is relatively easy for me to achieve, while it might take a local or national organisation years to have the same network and contacts.

When it comes to accessibility, for me the most important factor is making sure that change is sustainable. There had only ever been one other deaf MEP, and the system in place for that MEP was not fully suited to my situation and needs. Ever since I arrived at the Parliament, I have been working to change the system and rules of procedure, not only for fellow MEPs with a disability, but for staff and interns too.

I work with two sign language interpreters on a daily basis, matched to my linguistic profile: one works with both spoken English and American Sign Language, while the other uses Flemish Sign Language and spoken Dutch. This enables me to have meetings in both Dutch and English, which is essential in a multilingual European environment. To protect the status of sign language and improve the status of sign language interpreters in Europe I also initiated a resolution that was almost unanimously adopted in plenary in November 2016.

“When it comes to accessibility, the most important factor is making sure that change is sustainable”

I also regularly ensure that public meetings at the European Parliament, such as committee sessions and hearings, are accessible to all. This has led to my office becoming a contact point for accessibility. While in the short term this is positive for my personal visibility in the Parliament, I am working to change the situation so that the Parliament itself takes over this responsibility and becomes a more inclusive workplace and institution – a key theme of my campaign to become the Parliament’s president.

Three of the seven candidates in the January 2017 presidential election were women (the figure has never been higher). But since 1979, when the European Parliament was first directly elected, there have only been two female presidents: Simone Veil and Nicole Fontaine. Italian centre-right MEP Antonio Tajani won the election, continuing a 15-year run of male presidents.

Some people claimed my candidacy was merely a political stunt or a statement, and not a real campaign. But that is not true. My candidacy was the first to be announced. It was supported by a structured campaign with a manifesto, a website and a whole campaign team working tirelessly for weeks. I would almost go so far as to say that it was my candidacy that sparked a real presidential race with candidates from all political parties – something not seen for many years.

But of course a very important side effect was an increase in visibility of sign language, and indeed disability and gender issues. My campaign was not at all built on the fact that I am deaf or disabled; instead we focused on the role of the president, as well as the gender factor. My team and I felt that being disabled was irrelevant to the job of the European Parliament president, and so the issue did not constitute part of my election manifesto. But it was mainly through my previous collaborative work on disability and equality that I was able to gather cross-party support throughout the whole European Parliament.

Being both deaf and a woman can be challenging and sometimes frustrating on a daily basis. However, I have learnt to stay positive and to embrace my role as a ‘change-maker’ for a large group of people, which includes women, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and all others who might be in a disadvantaged situation that they are unable to change by themselves.

IMAGE CREDIT: ©European Union 2017

The post Breaking down barriers: my journey to the European Parliament presidential election appeared first on Europe’s World.

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The EU-Japan summit takes place on 6 July 2017 in Brussels. At the summit, leaders are expected to announce a political agreement on the EU-Japan free trade agreement and the EU-Japan strategic partnership agreement. The EU is represented by Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. Japan is represented by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Download this video here.

Europa building - Brussels

Media Programme 

10.55
Arrival of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe
Welcome by President Tusk
(Europa VIP entrance and Forum - photo/TV opportunity)

11.00
Plenary meeting

12.10
Joint press conference (Presidents Tusk, Juncker and PM Abe)

12.50
Working lunch 

 

Accreditation

• Access with interinstitutional press card or 6-month badge, 2nd semester 2017*

or

• press day pass, issued upon presentation of ID and valid press card, or assignment letter from the media, signed in original and mentioning the event. 

Press entrance : 175 Rue de la Loi - 1000 Brussels (Justus Lipsius building)

• Photos and video coverage of the event will be available for preview and download on http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu
• Live streaming will be available on http://video.consilium.europa.eu
• For more details on the EU-Japan Summit,  see the meeting page.

* 6-month badges, 2nd semester 2017, can be collected in Justus Lipsius building

ICPP 2017. Photo credits: Meng-Hsuan Chou

Martina Vukasovic

The third edition of the International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP) took place 28-30 June 2017, in Singapore, on the premises of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (following the 1st ICPP in Grenoble in 2013 and the 2nd ICPP in Milan in 2015). The conference  included almost 150 thematic panels organized into 18 larger thematic groups, covering conceptual themes related to e.g. policy process theories, governance, comparative policy analysis, implementation, policy design etc., as well as sessions dedicated to specific policy domains (e.g. health and environment).

 

Apart from this, two roundtables and one keynote speech was organised. The opening roundtable focused on policy-making and state capacity in a globalised world, while the topic of the closing one was policy advisory systems. On the second day of the conference, Christopher Hood gave a keynote speech on austerity and the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in understanding contemporary policy-making dynamics. The conference was preceded by a set of courses focusing on theoretical approaches and workshops in which PhD students and young scholars could get feedback on their research projects.

 

When it comes to higher education, research and innovation, two panels were organized. First, “Analysing knowledge policy coordination for the 21st century” panel included papers on multi-level/multi-actor/multi-issue governance arrangements, transnational higher education in Germany, performance funding in Australia, role of vice-presidents for research in Canada, global excellence/local relevance of higher education, regional policy coordination and convergence and good governance. Second, the “Transnational circulation and multilevel governance reforms” panel focused on comparisons between European (Bologna Process) and Asian (ASEAN) regional integration in higher education, policy transfer and policy dialogues.

 

The conference also included panels on educational policies, comparative policy analysis, interest groups, complexity in public policy, policy transfer, policy design, policy advise, expertise and evidence, accountability and legitimation, science diplomacy, S&T policy and evaluation, etc. as well as a roundtable on public policy education.

 

The next ICPP conference will take place in 2019 in Montreal.

 

The post Knowledge policy coordination (International Conference on Public Policy 2017) appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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The Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union takes over on 1 July 2017.

Download this video here.

Fries
Transport
The age limit of 65 years laid down in EU law for pilots of commercial aircraft transporting passengers, cargo or mail is valid

Friday 7 July 2017
G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany
09.15 Joint press briefing with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker
10.00 Official welcome by Chancellor Angela Merkel
10.30 Retreat session
13.00 Working lunch
15.30 Working session
20.30 Dinner hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel

Saturday 8 July 2017
G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany
09.30 Meeting with Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc
10.00 Meeting with Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong
10.30 Working session
12.30 Meeting with Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull
13.05 Pull aside with President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in
13.15 Working lunch
15.15 Concluding session

Monday 10 July 2017
17.00 Meeting with President of Cabo Verde Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca

Tuesday 11 July 2017
13.30 Meeting with Prime Minister of Romania Mihai Tudose

Wednesday 12 July 2017
Kyiv, Ukraine
EU-Ukraine Summit
19.30 Working dinner hosted by President Petro Poroshenko

Thursday13 July 2017
Kyiv, Ukraine
EU-Ukraine Summit
10.45 Welcome by President Petro Poroshenko
11.00 Plenary session
12.30 Joint press conference
13.00 Working lunch

Friday 14 July 2017
12.45 Meeting with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić followed by working lunch
14:05 Press statements

One of the topics of the G20, as you know, is migration. Europe has been struggling with the unprecedented wave of illegal migration for two years now. We have managed to overcome to a great degree the crisis on the East Mediterranean route. We have worked out an agreement with Turkey and strengthened our cooperation with the Balkan states. The result is the decrease in the number of irregular migrants from 158 thousand in the first half of 2016, to 9 thousand in the first half of 2017. However, the situation on the Central Mediterranean route, that is from Libya to Italy, still remains critical. In order to address it, we need solidarity and cooperation of the international community. Today it is Italy in particular, that needs this solidarity. Our objective should be to effectively stop this wave at its source, namely in North Africa. This is the main task for the EU. In this respect, Italy can count on Europe's help in every dimension. But this cannot mean a wider opening of Europe's door towards illegal migration. That is why, here at the G20, I will call on all the leaders to be ruthless in the fight against smugglers.

We are engaged in this not just because of the migration pressure on Europe, but as it is a real humanitarian issue. Migrant smuggling is an organised business. Last year it generated 1.6 billion dollars in Libya alone. These profits allow the smugglers to control some parts of the country. They also cooperate with terrorists and further undermine the stabilisation of Libya. But above anything else, innocent lives are lost. So far this year more than 2,000 people have died at sea. And the number of people dying in the desert is even higher.

We need more efforts at the international level to break the smugglers' business model. This is why I will propose to all the G20 leaders to pursue targeted UN sanctions against smugglers. By this I mean assets freezes and travel bans. It is the very minimum that can be done at the global level. Unfortunately I have to say that today we do not have the full support even for this minimum. If we do not get it, it will be a sad proof of the hypocrisy of some of the G20 members. But I still hope we will succeed. Thank you.

On 29 May 2017, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2017/905[1] implementing Council Decision 2010/788/CFSP.

The Decision amends the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures as set out in Annex II to Decision 2010/788/CFSP, adding nine persons to the list.

The Candidate Countries the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, Montenegro* and Albania*, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area, as well as the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this Council Decision.

They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.

[1] Published on 29.05.2017 in the Official Journal of the European Union no. L 138, p. 6.

* The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

Uber France
Approximation of laws
According to Advocate General Szpunar, Member States may prohibit and punish, as a matter of criminal law, the illegal exercise of transport activities in the context of the UberPop service, without notifying the Commission of the draft law in advance

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP