European Union

Farrell
Approximation of laws
Advocate General Sharpston clarifies the criteria for determining what is an ‘emanation of the State’ for the purposes of establishing the bodies against which an individual may bring a claim based on rights under an EU directive which has not been transposed correctly into national law

Unibet International
Freedom to provide services
The Hungarian legislation on the authorisation of online games of chance is not compatible with the principle of the freedom to provide services

Federatie Nederlandse Vakvereniging and Others
SOPO
Employees’ rights in the event of transfers of undertakings may be maintained where a ‘pre-pack’ is put into effect following insolvency

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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, 2017 - EP

If a week is a long time in politics, what about a few months?

Back in March, the European Union was bracing itself for drama: would the powerful wave of discontent that had swept over the United Kingdom and the United States in 2016 engulf the Netherlands and France?

With the staunchly anti-EU Marine Le Pen riding high in the polls for the presidential election, the bet was on France plunging the EU in turmoil. And then came Emmanuel Macron ‒ the man with no party to his name, the youngest candidate who nobody had bet on, pipping everyone to the post in the first round and going on to win handsomely in the second round.

And now, here he stands, with an absolute majority following his convincing victory in the June 2017 parliamentary election, a feat very few people thought possible only a few weeks ago. Far from being the lame-duck President with no majority that many had predicted, he has emerged as a strong leader with a majority that owes him everything. So, what now for Macron and France?

Three main areas are likely to make or break Macron’s presidency.

“President Macron holds all the cards in his hands”

On top of the list is the labour reform Macron promised during his campaign. Reforming the labour market is, without a shadow of a doubt, an explosive issue in France. Millions of people took to the streets in 2016 to oppose the reforms of Macron’s predecessor, François Hollande, known as the El Khomri law. The precedence it gave to potentially less favourable local agreements over collective sectorial agreements on working time was deemed an intolerable attack on workers’ rights.

And yet Macron wants to go much, much further, by promoting local agreements over their sectorial counterparts in all areas, including wages and working conditions. He argues that France needs to make its labour market less rigid by giving more flexibility to individual companies, to encourage job creation. Critics say that workers will be left to face far worse conditions. The parties on the Left, along with some workers’ unions, have already warned about a summer of industrial action. Considering the long pattern of mass demonstrations defying and defeating countless French governments, Macron has a huge battle on his hands. It is too early to tell its outcome, but his presidency will be defined by his ability ‒ or inability ‒ to implement the most contentious plank of his programme.

With France under a state of emergency since November 2015, terrorism will also be high on Macron’s agenda. But he is caught between a rock and a hard place: keep a regime that is supposed to be for exceptional times only and be accused of illiberal practices; end it and be accused of gross negligence if another attack occurs. That’s why the state of emergency has been called a political trap.

Macron is planning to put an end to it by incorporating its main measures, criticised by many for curtailing civil liberties, into law. By effectively making the state of emergency permanent, Macron risks turning the criticisms into widespread anger, as already witnessed in the call from French jurists and human rights organisations to withdraw his proposals. He might find solace in being supported by a large majority of French citizens, who yearn for security, but does he really want to be dubbed illiberal and tarnish his reputation of being at the vanguard of liberal progressive values? Finding a way out of this trap certainly won’t be easy.

And then there’s the EU. Leaving Brexit aside ‒ after all, no one really knows what Britain wants ‒ Macron’s priority is a strong France in a strong EU. His ambitions are bold and wide-ranging, from deepening EU integration and re-igniting the Franco-German engine to strengthening the Eurozone with its own parliament, budget and finance minister. The question remains how feasible all of this will be. Many states fear Franco-German hegemony, in a re-enactment of the ‘Merkozy’ couple of (still) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. But this time it will be without the counter-balancing act traditionally provided by Britain. Many countries in the eurozone are also wary of losing sovereignty to a more integrated zone, however tempting the possibility of Eurobonds might be. And the idea of Eurobonds is not popular in Germany.

“The road to reforming France will be long and winding, with pitfalls at every corner”

And yet, following the Brexit referendum, the mood has changed in the EU. Pro-European sentiments are on the rise and the EU has more confidence to push its integration forward, as seen in the pledge to enhance EU defence cooperation.

At this point, it is too early to tell whether Macron can reshape the EU. Nothing substantial will happen anyway until the German election in September, and the Brexit talks might well consume all of EU’s energy for the foreseeable future. But Macron is certainly the most pro-European French president since François Mitterrand, and his future role in the EU deserves to be closely monitored.

President Macron holds all the cards in his hands. He has an absolute majority and he has radically redefined the whole political landscape. Out the two traditional juggernauts of French politics, the Socialist party is facing extinction and the Republican Right is licking its wounds. Marine Le Pen’s National Front is in full in-fighting mode over its future direction and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s hard Left only has 17 MPs.

But before anyone jumps to the conclusion that Macron is now set to radically change France, let’s not forget that despite his outstanding electoral successes, he can’t take popular support for granted. He might have won very handsomely indeed but with a record high abstention rate in June, at 52% in the first round and 57% in the second, France was clearly not swept by a wave of Macronmania, and its deep divisions have not suddenly disappeared.

Concentration of power can easily lead to a sense of complacency, but the French ‘street’ has a knack of biting back. Macron is all set, but the road to reforming France will be long and winding, with pitfalls at every corner.

IMAGE CREDIT: CC/Flickr – Lorie Shaull

The post What next for President Macron? appeared first on Europe’s World.

DRAFT OPINION on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Cristian Dan Preda

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

The Maltese presidency reached a preliminary agreement with European Parliament representatives to strengthen cooperation between EU national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws.

"Trust in e-commerce by citizens and companies is an essential condition for making the digital single market more attractive and dynamic. The safeguarding of consumers' rights and interests will be better preserved, including for shopping online, thanks to this new harmonised framework", said Chris Cardona, the Maltese Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business.

The agreement, which has still to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament, aims at modernising cooperation mechanisms to further reduce the harm caused to consumers by cross-border infringements to EU consumer law.

In particular, effective consumer protection has to respond to the challenges of the digital economy and the development of cross-border retail trade in the EU.

Fight against cross-border infringements

This revision of the existing Consumer Protection Cooperation framework will give more powers to national authorities, particularly in the context of the digital single market.

In case of EU-wide breaches of consumer rights, national enforcement authorities and the Commission will coordinate their action to stop these practices, in particular in cases of widespread infringements with an EU-dimension which are likely to harm consumers across a large part of the Union.

Consumer trust in e-commerce

Ineffective enforcement of cross-border infringements, in particular in the digital environment, enables traders to evade enforcement by relocating within the Union, giving rise to a distortion of competition for law-abiding traders operating either domestically or cross-border, and thus directly harming consumers and undermining consumer confidence in the single market.

An increased level of harmonisation setting effective and efficient enforcement cooperation among public enforcement authorities is therefore necessary to detect, investigate and stop intra-Union infringements and widespread infringements.

In order to further harmonise practices across the EU, the new regulation will set out a number of minimum investigation and enforcement powers that every national competent authority will have to be able to exercise in order to coordinate properly in the fight against infringements.

These powers will strike a balance between the interests protected by fundamental rights such as a high level of consumer protection, the freedom to conduct business and freedom of information.

The mutual assistance mechanism between administrations will be strengthened to establish whether an intra-EU infringement has occurred and to bring about the cessation of that infringement.

An improved alert mechanism will allow a competent authority to notify without delay the Commission and other competent authorities of any reasonable suspicion that an intra-Union infringement or widespread infringement is taking place on its territory that may affect consumers' interests in other member states.

Competent authorities will also be able to open investigations on their own initiative if they become aware of intra-Union infringements or widespread infringements by means other than individual consumer complaints.

Catching up with the digital economy

On 25 May 2016, the Commission presented the proposal to modernise consumer protection cooperation as part of a broader package including proposals on cross-border parcel deliveries and on tackling unjustified geo-blocking.

At present, regulation 2006/2004 provides for harmonised rules and procedures to facilitate cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of cross-border consumer protection laws.

The scope of the 2004 regulation covers 18 pieces of consumer legislation, including: provisions to protect consumers from unfair and misleading commercial communication; ensuring that consumers are adequately informed before making purchasing decisions; providing appropriate protection when entering contracts with businesses; as well as complaint and redress mechanisms and access to justice.

However, following a review on the effectiveness of regulation 2006/2004, the Commission concluded that it no longer effectively addresses the challenges of the digital single market.

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/839c2538-04db-11e7-b10f-bc764e093073_296.92_thumb_169_1494843889_1494843889_129_97shar_c1.jpg

EU heads of state or government meet on 22 June 2017 in Brussels to discuss counterterrorism and how to better combat radicalisation. The European Council is also expected to support a strengthening of EU cooperation on external security and defence.  The working dinner is focused on foreign policy issues in light of recent summits and meetings, including with the US and Turkey leaders. The European Council is reaffirming its commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate. Leaders are also taking stock of the implementation of the Minsk agreements. At the end, PM May is informing the leaders about the Brexit negotiations. After the dinner, a session of the European Council (Article 50) is taking place, where the EU27 leaders are discussing the state of play of Brexit negotiations with the UK. In the margins of this meeting, the heads of state and government are expected to endorse the procedure to decide on the relocation of the two EU agencies currently located in the UK.

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Length of video : 173'
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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, 2017 - EP

Length of video : 173'
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, 2017 - EP

Place:        European Convention Centre Luxembourg (ECCL)
Chairs:      Joe Mizzi, Maltese minister

All times are approximate and subject to change

+/- 09.15
Doorstep by minister Mizzi

+/- 10.00
Beginning of Council meeting (roundtable)
Adoption of the agenda
Adoption of non-legislative A items
Adoption of legislative A items (public session)

+/- 10.20
Any other business
- Nord Stream 2

+/- 10.40
Energy efficiency (public session)

+/- 12.20
Energy efficiency of buildings (public session)

+/- 12.30
Clean energy package (public session)

+/- 16.00
Interconnections (public session)

+/- 16.40
Any other business
- External energy relations
- Work programme of the Estonian presidency

+/- 17.00
Press conference (live streaming)

REPORT on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council concerning the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Andrey Kovatchev

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

REPORT on Towards an EU strategy for international cultural relations
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Culture and Education
Elmar Brok, Silvia Costa

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

REPORT on addressing human rights violations in the context of war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including genocide
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Cristian Dan Preda

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of a Framework Agreement between the European Union and Kosovo on the general principles for the participation of Kosovo in Union programmes
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Ulrike Lunacek

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

European Ceremony of Honour for former Chancellor Kohl in the European Parliament on Saturday morning 1 July

A European Ceremony of Honour for former Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl will take place in the European Parliament in Strasbourg from 11.00 a.m. on Saturday 1 July.        

Speakers at the Ceremony will include European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and former President of the United States Bill Clinton. The casket holding the remains of Dr Kohl will lie in state covered by a European flag.

Following the European Ceremony of Honour, which is expected to last for around two hours, the casket will be brought to Germany, where the former Chancellor will be buried after a funeral service in the cathedral in Speyer.

Press contacts:

For the European Council
Preben AAMANN (+32 2 281 20 60; +32 476 85 05 43)

For the European Parliament
Jaume DUCH GUILLOT (+32 2 284 30 00; +32 496 59 94 76)

For the European Commission
Margaritis SCHINAS (+ 32 2 296 05 24; +32 496 58 38 26)
Mina ANDREEVA (+32 2 299 13 82; +32 498 99 13 82)

1er juillet: cérémonie d'hommage européen au PE en mémoire de l'ex-chancelier et citoyen d'honneur de l'Europe Helmut Kohl

Cérémonie d'hommage au Parlement en l'honneur de l'ancien chancelier Helmut Kohl

Une cérémonie d'hommage européen en l'honneur de l'ancien chancelier allemand Helmut Kohl se tiendra au Parlement européen de Strasbourg le samedi 1er juillet.

Au cours de la cérémonie, des discours seront prononcés notamment par le Président du Parlement européen Antonio Tajani, le Président du Conseil européen Donald Tusk, le Président de la Commission européenne Jean-Claude Juncker, la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel, le Président français Emmanuel Macron et l'ancien Président américain Bill Clinton. Le cercueil de M. Kohl sera exposé en chapelle ardente et sera recouvert du drapeau européen.

Suite à la cérémonie européenne, qui devrait durer environ deux heures, le cercueil sera transporté en Allemagne, où l'ancien chancelier sera enterré après un requiem à la cathédrale de Spire.

Pour le Conseil européen
Preben AAMANN (+32 2 281 20 60; +32 476 85 05 43)

Pour le Parlement européen
Jaume DUCH GUILLOT (+32 2 284 30 00; +32 496 59 94 76)

Pour la Commission européenne
Margaritis SCHINAS (+ 32 2 296 05 24; +32 496 58 38 26)
Mina ANDREEVA (+32 2 299 13 82; +32 498 99 13 82)

 

Europäischer Trauerakt für den ehemaligen Bundeskanzler und Ehrenbürger Europas Dr. Helmut Kohl im Parlament am Samstag, den 1. Juli

Ein europäischer Trauerakt zu Ehren des ehemaligen Bundeskanzlers Dr. Helmut Kohl findet am Samstag, den 1. Juli, ab 11.00 Uhr im Europäischen Parlament in Straßburg statt.

Als Redner bei der Zeremonie werden der Präsident des Europäischen Parlaments, Antonio Tajani, der Präsident des Europäischen Rates, Donald Tusk, der Präsident der Europäischen Kommission, Jean-Claude Juncker, die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel, der französische Präsident Emmanuel Macron sowie der ehemalige Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten Bill Clinton erwartet. Der aufgebahrte Sarg mit dem verstorbenen Altbundeskanzler wird mit einer Europaflagge bedeckt sein.

Nach dem europäischen Trauerakt, der etwa zwei Stunden dauern wird, erfolgt die Überführung des Sarges nach Deutschland. Nach einem Requiem im Dom von Speyer wird der ehemalige Bundeskanzler beigesetzt.

Kontakt für die Medien:

Für den Europäischen Rat
Preben AAMANN (+32 2 281 20 60; +32 476 85 05 43)

Für das Europäische Parlament
Jaume DUCH GUILLOT (+32 2 284 30 00; +32 496 59 94 76)

Für die Europäische Kommission
Margaritis SCHINAS (+ 32 2 296 05 24; +32 496 58 38 26)
Mina ANDREEVA (+32 2 299 13 82; +32 498 99 13 82)

AMENDMENTS 5 - 86 - Draft opinion Use of the Schengen Information System for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

AMENDMENTS 6 - 37 - Draft opinion Establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Pressure on US President Donald Trump is growing after the death of Otto Warmbier. Influential Republicans are demanding a firm response to the American student's death. Warmbier died in his home state of Ohio on Monday, shortly after being evacuated to the US after serving 18 months of a 15-year prison sentence in North Korea. Europe's press is deeply concerned about the diplomatic crisis.