European Union

Growing EU-NATO cooperation to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and boost cyber defence capabilities was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and Defence MEPs in a debate with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Growing EU-NATO cooperation to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and boost cyber defence capabilities was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and Defence MEPs in a debate with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Growing EU-NATO cooperation to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and boost cyber defence capabilities was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and Defence MEPs in a debate with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Growing EU-NATO cooperation to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and boost cyber defence capabilities was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and Defence MEPs in a debate with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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EU-Tunisia relationship emphasises close cooperation on democratic reform, economic modernisation, and migration issues, under the European Neighbourhood Policy. Tunisia and the EU are bound by the legally binding treaty in the form of an Association agreement.

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Written by Cécile Remeur (1st edition),

© Vincenzo De Bernardo/ Fotolia

The fact that print and digital publications are currently subject to separate value added tax (VAT) rates essentially means that products that are considered to be comparable and substitutable are being treated differently to one another. This situation results from rules which, on the one hand, allow Member States to apply reduced rates to printed publications, but on the other exclude this possibility for digital publications. In addition, the recent evolution in the VAT framework means that VAT on digital services should be levied in the Member State where the consumer is based (thus protecting the single market from application of different rates within a Member State because of the different location of providers).

The question of broadening the possibility to apply reduced rates to all publications, be they print or digital, is addressed in the proposal presented as part of the VAT digital single market package, and adopted by the European Commission on 1 December 2016.

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• May 2017: Reduced VAT rate for e-publications
  

Proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC, as regards rates of value added tax applied to books, newspapers and periodicals
Committee responsible: Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) COM(2016) 758
1.12.2016
2016/0374(CNS)

Consultation procedure – Parliament adopts a non-binding opinion)

Rapporteur: Tom Vandenkendelaere (EPP, Belgium) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

 

 

 

  Mady Delvaux (S&D, Luxembourg)

Bernd Lucke (ECR, Germany)

Cora Van Nieuwenhuizen (ALDE, the Netherlands)

Paloma López Bermejo (GUE/NGL, Spain)

Molly Scott Cato (Greens/EFA, UK)

Barbara Kappel (ENF, Austria) Next steps expected: Committee vote

Filed under: Economic and Social Policies, PUBLICATIONS Tagged: book trade, briefings, Cécile Remeur, culture, electronic document, EPRS briefings, EU Legislation in Progress, publication, taxation, VAT rate

Plenary sessions : Debt relief for Greece will be looked into at the next Eurogroup meeting on 22 May, according to Jeroen Dijsselbloem. The president of the informal body of the eurozone's finance ministers made the announcement during a plenary debate in Parliament on 27 April. He also apologised to MEPs about recent remarks that proved controversial.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Debt relief for Greece will be looked into at the next Eurogroup meeting on 22 May, according to Jeroen Dijsselbloem. The president of the informal body of the eurozone's finance ministers made the announcement during a plenary debate in Parliament on 27 April. He also apologised to MEPs about recent remarks that proved controversial.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Free press is vital for having a democracy that works. Today we celebrate the World Press Freedom Day in a difficult context for journalism. Freedom of expression and Freedom of the press are under increasing attacks around the world. 

Free, diverse and independent media are indispensable to promoting and protecting democracy worldwide. A free press and freedom of expression are among the very same foundations of democracy, contribute to stable, inclusive, and resilient societies and can help defuse tensions and contain conflicts. The EU supports the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes ensuring universal access to information and protection of freedom of expression. 

Supporting independent, quality and ethical journalism is essential. By facilitating the free flow of quality and well-researched information on matters of public interest, and by acting as the “public's watchdog”, independent media are the basis of a participatory democracy and a tool to make governments accountable for their actions. The EU ensures that respect for freedom of expression is integrated in all EU policies and development programmes. The EU is notably funding specific projects in third countries enhancing quality of journalism, access to public information and freedom of expression. Since June 2015, the EU has supported at least 45 endangered Human Rights Defenders that promote the right of freedom of expression under its small grant scheme. 

The EU condemns the increase of threats and violations against journalists and media professional offline and in cyberspace. All states are expected to fulfil their global obligations to protect freedom of expression and the safety of journalists by providing a supportive legal environment and prosecuting all attacks against journalists. The EU consistently opposes - in bilateral contacts with third countries as well as in multilateral and regional fora - any legislation, regulation or political pressure that limits freedom of expression and takes concrete steps to prevent and respond to attacks against journalists and bloggers.

The EU Guidelines on Freedom of expression online and offline, adopted in 2014, and their continued implementation, reaffirm the EU's determination to promote freedom of opinion and of expression as rights to be exercised by everyone everywhere, based on the principles of equality, non-discrimination and universality, through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Written by Rafał Mańko (1st  edition),

© iQoncept / Fotolia

In September 2016, the Commission tabled a proposal for a new Financial Regulation which would replace the current one (together with its Rules of Application), as well as amend 14 other sectoral regulations and a decision each also containing financial rules. The Commission justifies its proposal by the need to simplify EU financial rules and make them more flexible. The proposal was submitted within the framework of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) mid-term revision package. However, the Court of Auditors, in its Opinion No 1/2017, identified a number of shortcomings in the Commission proposal, especially with regard to its own financial governance standards.

Versions

• May 2017: Revision of EU financial rules (1st edition)

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and amending Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002, Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, EU No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013, (EU) No 1307/2013, (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014,(EU) No 283/2014, (EU) No 652/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Decision No 541/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council
Committee responsible: Budget (BUDG) and Budgetary Control (CONT) – jointly under Rule 55 COM(2016) 605
14.9.2016
2016/0282(COD)

Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)

Rapporteur:

  Ingeborg Gräßle (EPP, Germany)

Richard Ashworth (ECR, UK) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

 

 

 

 

  Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, Finland)

Inés Ayala Sender (S&D, Spain) / Vladimír Maňka (S&D, Slovakia)

Nedzhmi Ali (ALDE, Bulgaria)

Liadh Ní Riada (GUE/NGL, Ireland)

Bart Staes (Greens/EFA, Belgium) / Indrek Tarand (Greens/EFA, Estonia)

Marco Valli (EFD, Italy) Next steps expected: Vote on draft report in committee

Filed under: EU Financing / Budgetary Affairs, PUBLICATIONS Tagged: briefings, EPRS briefings, EU budget, EU Legislation in Progress, European Union, financial regulation, implementation of the EU budget, Rafał Mańko

Written by Gianluca Quaglio and Amr Dawood,

©Shutterstock/a-image

Disorders due to the abuse of licit and illicit drugs are a major public health concern in the EU, with considerable interpersonal, physical and societal consequences. In the EU, 23 million people are affected by alcohol-related disorders, 24 % of the population smoke, and more than 16 million Europeans (aged 15–34) have used cannabis in the last year. It is estimated that about 2.4 million young adults have used cocaine in the last 12 months.

The sheer magnitude of the problem calls for wide-ranging and effective mitigation and prevention strategies. As part of this response, technology-based interventions for substance-use disorders include computer-assisted behaviour therapies, education, prevention and information interventions, recovery support programmes and wellness monitoring.

A study published by STOA in March 2017, provides a critical literature review on the efficacy of technology-based interventions for drug addiction management. A survey among European experts in the field of addiction was also carried out for the purposes of the study. The study shows that new technologies have the potential to provide parallel or alternative instruments of information, prevention and treatment in the addiction field.

Read the study on ‘Technological innovation strategies in substance use disorders‘ here.

The widespread and growing availability of new technologies presents an opportunity for broad dissemination and increased access to treatment. This opens up enormous possibilities, as a great number of people with substance-use disorders do not seek treatment at present. This means that existing treatment options are not suitable or sufficiently interesting for all subjects with addiction-related problems, and new modes of therapy should be considered and explored.

The number of technology-based interventions applied to substance use disorders has increased greatly in Europe over the past decade. With the development of new internet-based treatments worldwide, knowledge in this specific field is growing steadily. Despite encouraging progress, computer-based treatments for substance-use disorders need to be evaluated with caution. Across research studies, there are methodological difficulties, such as a lack of common definitions, selection biases, inappropriate research designs, difficulties in mounting randomised clinical trials, and uncertain conclusions drawn from findings. There is, however, sufficient evidence to continue to investigate the benefits, but also the limits, of new technologies for substance-use disorders. The evidence gathered to date emphasises the potential of this approach to affect, and perhaps, in the near future, to deeply transform, existing models of health care delivery in the field of addiction.

To keep up to date with this project and other STOA activities, follow our website, the EPRS blog, Twitter and Think Tank pages. We would be grateful if you would also complete the feedback questionnaire on the STOA website (on the list of studies first click on the title of the study and then on the link ‘Your opinion counts for us. Click here.’).

Filed under: BLOG, Economic and Social Policies, Institutional and Legal Affairs, PUBLICATIONS Tagged: Amr Dawood, drugs, Gianluca Quaglio, illicit drugs, public health, STOA, technology

Length of video : 206'
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Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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The EU-Myanmar dialogue takes place in the framework of the ASEM process and of EU-ASEAN meetings.On 23 April 2012, the EU suspended a wide range of trade, economic and individual sanctions against Myanmar, with the exception of an arms embargo.

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General : Proposals to regulate private security firms, a blacklist of countries linked to money laundering and the opportunities and challenges of the sharing economy are just some of the topics covered by Parliament committees this week. In addition the House of European History will be officially launched this week, while the Parliament opens its door to the general public in Brussels.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : Proposals to regulate private security firms, a blacklist of countries linked to money laundering and the opportunities and challenges of the sharing economy are just some of the topics covered by Parliament committees this week. In addition the House of European History will be officially launched this week, while the Parliament opens its door to the general public in Brussels.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

2186: according to the World Economic Forum, that’s the year we will achieve economic gender parity if progress continues at the current rate. It’s a hefty downward revision from last year’s prediction of 2133.

With these statistics, the estimate that seven out of ten women worldwide still suffer physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives and the rise of a world superpower ‘leader’ who has boasted of sexual assault and threatens to set back the clock on hard-won women’s rights, it is not so hyperbolic to suggest that we are on the verge of darkness.

But there are reasons for optimism; to #BeBoldForChange, to borrow the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day. Alongside the dismal shifts we have witnessed there are two immensely powerful trends — the digital megatrend and women’s empowerment — that, if leveraged together, promise to become the great game-changer of the 21st century.

ICT (information and communications technology) is a forceful catalyst for gender equality and women’s empowerment, as underscored by its inclusion in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through my work as Director of a crowdfunding platform for women’s empowerment, I witness the transformative power of ICT every day. Solar-powered, mobile information technology classes are carried to young women from cemetery-slums in the Philippines, enabling them to obtain safe employment in the ICT sector. Women from tribal zones in Pakistan benefit from computer-assisted entrepreneurship classes. In South Africa mobile health (m-health) services are reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Indigenous women in Guatemala are changing their futures thanks to mobile microfinance. In Egypt online civic education campaigns and training are promoting women’s political participation. Using ingenious apps, women farmers in Tunisia are adapting to and even resisting the impact of climate change.

Here in our ostensibly liberated, high-income countries ICT is deployed daily to advance women’s rights and equality. Innovative apps and networks help prevent violence against women and support survivors. (In Europe violence against women costs societies an estimated €228bn per year, so such technologies have additional economic benefits.) Online campaigns combat stereotypes and advance gender equity in the media. Digital platforms enable crowdfunding for female (social) entrepreneurs. Campaigns and apps promote ‘gender-lens investing’, which takes account of empowerment and economic viability. Innovative software is automating screening of job applications and human resources processes, thereby reducing gender bias. Research shows that societies’ ‘digital fluency’ reduces workplace inequality, as well as offering women in particular the flexibility of teleworking.

“Decades of research prove that women’s empowerment is a key driver of wider socioeconomic progress”

Across the world digital technologies are helping women to enjoy their human rights and realise their potential, and this in turn has far-reaching benefits. Decades of research prove that women’s empowerment is a key driver of wider socioeconomic progress. It improves business financial performance and boosts a nation’s or region’s gross domestic product. The ‘Power of Parity’ report by consulting firm McKinsey estimates that narrowing the global gender gap in labour force participation could add US$12 trillion in global annual GDP by 2025. And narrowing the gap helps to address some of today’s toughest global problems, including poverty, food insecurity, and environmental sustainability. The stability of communities depends on empowered women, who are, at a time of spreading extremism, a powerful force for peace and global security.

It’s clear that women’s empowerment is central to wider socioeconomic progress, and crucial if we are to achieve the objectives of the European Union’s Europe 2020 growth strategy and the SDGs. And it’s clear that ICTs can catalyse progress for women.

But there is a roadblock. A digital gender divide that persists across the world – and one that is widening.

3.9 billion people – around half the world’s population – are still offline, and the majority of these are girls and women. Research estimates that women’s chances of benefiting from the advantages of ICT are one-third less than men’s. Across developing countries approximately 25% fewer women than men have internet access. In Africa only 12% of women are online.

Women in low- and middle-income countries face barriers of accessibility, affordability, inadequate digital education and a consequent lack of digital literacy skills, in addition to problems of cultural bias and mobility restraints. In higher-income countries, women remain chronically underrepresented in technology fields. Europe’s gap is stark: only 30% of the ICT sector is female. Women are particularly absent from advanced technical and decision-making positions, with a paucity of females opting for ICT studies and careers. There is an alarmingly leaky pipeline, with many women dropping out of ICT jobs and education. As governments try to correct the supply-demand mismatch in digital skills in the growing ICT sector, it’s estimated that the EU will suffer a shortfall of more than 750,000 digitally-skilled professionals by 2020.

Overcoming the digital gender divide is imperative: both morally, so that girls and women can reap equal dividends in our digital societies and economies; and for the economic, development and security reasons that are growing spectacularly more pressing each day.

“Governments must prioritise gender equality issues, integrate ICT policies with gender and development policies, and move beyond rhetorical commitments towards concrete actions”

The good news is that extensive studies have diagnosed the problems and we have an abundance of recommendations, roadmaps and action plans. These include the Gender Equality Action Plan by the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency; the European Commission’s European Code of Best Practices for Women in ICT; and UN Women’s women and technology recommendations from the 60th session of its Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60). Meanwhile, savvy governments and businesses are implementing multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives — public, private and civil-sector — to advance women’s digital inclusion, digital skills and entrepreneurship, and to attract and retain more female talent in ICT sectors. Such moves address the digital skills deficit and open up huge, multi-billion-dollar market opportunities.

But much more needs to be done. We need greater investment in girls’ and women’s equal and affordable access to ICT, as well as girls’ digital skills education from an early age. Governments must further prioritise gender equality issues, integrate ICT policies with gender and development policies, and move beyond rhetorical commitments and towards concrete actions. More needs to be done to address cybercrime and protect women’s rights and safety online where, according to the WorldWide Web Foundation, “a culture of impunity reigns”. And we need better sex-disaggregated data and analytics to track progress. As the saying goes, ‘what gets measured, gets done’.

To change today’s digital picture we need greater political will. Governments, companies, educators, and civil society: we all need to invest more in girls’ and women’s digital empowerment. We must collaborate, and we can: our increasingly interconnected, digital age offers us unprecedented opportunities to take action. And everyone stands to benefit from increased gender equality in ICT.

Europe has everything to gain by being an exemplary global leader on this front. Capitalising on women’s vast talent to meet the demand for ICT skills could give an estimated annual €9bn boost to EU GDP by 2020. It’s our best means of ensuring productivity, growth, innovation and competitiveness, thereby reaping the wider socioeconomic benefits of women’s empowerment. ICT and innovations in ICT are shaping the world we live in and determining the values we live by. Women must be equal participants in this.

Online and elsewhere, debates continue about the Women’s March on 21 January 2017 and what its significance was, is and will be. One thing is certain: the Women’s March will go down in history as a landmark date, when countless women and men across the globe made their voices heard by calling for the protection of civil rights, and women’s rights in particular. But it’s worth remembering that this worldwide mobilisation began with ICT: a single Facebook post from a grandmother in a remote community on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Our common future can be safer, brighter and fairer. The world urgently needs empowered women, and ICTs are one of the best tools for women’s empowerment.

IMAGE CREDIT: Pramote/Bigstock

The post Digital technologies can be a 21st-century game-changer for women appeared first on Europe’s World.

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The opening gap is considerable The EU and UK are a distance apart on core divorce questions. For all the goodwill, there is a clear clash on what citizen rights to guarantee (continued EU rights versus UK rights for non-EU migrants). The UK side disagree with the premise of an exit bill. There is a big gap on what a “phased approach” means. And there are more hidden, but perhaps more fundamental, differences over the ambition of a trade deal, and when it will come.

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It’s the first thing the French check out when they’re back from their summer holidays and ‘La Rentrée’ – that fateful moment when normal life resumes in early September – is looming again: on what day of the week will the national holidays fall in the forthcoming school year? 1st and 11th November (All Saints and the 1918 Armistice Day respectively) are only worth a quick look – the weather won’t be too enticing anyway. The days who really count are the ‘Bridges of May’ (‘Les ponts du mois de mai’): Labour Day on the 1st, and Victory Day on the 8th. If they fall on a Sunday, you’ll feel like you’re cheated on by some dark forces; but in a good year, when they fall on a, say, Tuesday or Thursday, everything is set for some lovely ‘ponts’, which consist of slipping just one paid vacation day between the weekend and the holiday and enjoying the pleasure of a prolonged spring break. Or two. Or three, actually, since Ascension Day (courtesy to the Catholic Church) is guaranteed to fall on a Thursday.

Some serious economists and exasperated business leaders have repeatedly suggested shutting down the entire country for the entire month of May. Which, true enough, would make things clearer for both international business partners and French HR departments. But France would no longer be itself without the Bridges of May – they will most likely end up on the UNESCO cultural heritage list.

Rarely has the ‘bridge’ metaphor been more fitting than in 2017. Both 1st and 8th May are indeed bridges, pathways from A to B, where the river to cross stands for the presidential election and ‘B’ stands for ‘Unknown Territory’. Whoever wins next Sunday, the Fifth Republic will no longer be the same, and the sudden awareness of the great uncertainty that lies ahead is dawning on the French since the 1st-round results flashed up on their TV screen.

The 1st of May 2017 is the bridge to an unprecedented campaign week, with Le Pen’s hate speech dictating the agenda and the news channels her hypnotised prey, shuddering with excitement at the slow converging of the poll curbs, as if they were witnessing a football cup final where the underdog pushes the favourite towards extra time (and we all know that in penalty shoot-outs, everything is possible, don’t we?).

The 8th of May 2017, rather than a day of relief that the campaign is finally over, is likely to be a day of collective breath-holding: ‘And now? What next?’ A one-day bridge that leads to the next campaign, just as tense as the previous one, and even more unpredictable. How many of the 577 constituencies will be shaken by a major upheaval, no one can tell.

Anti-FN demonstrations on 1st May 2002.

Fifteen years ago, things were so much clearer. The shock of seeing Jean-Marie Le Pen’s grandfatherly smile on the campaign poster for the second round was deep, but it occurred in a familiar setting, with perfectly predictable reactions – massive demonstrations all across the countries over the 1st-May bridge – and outcome: the election of Chirac, and a return in no time to party politics business as usual, as if nothing had happened.

For many French – especially those who had sanctioned Lionel Jospin in the first round because he had not been ‘left enough’ – there was even some kind of self-gratifying redemption in the opportunity to demonstrate against the Front National and defend democracy. Plantu even adapted the ‘bridges’ metaphor to the situation in one of his cartoons for Le Monde. In a rather naïve manner, it seems to me (unless there is some hidden, grave irony that is lost on me).

Plantu cartoon for Le Monde (May 2002)

Le pont d’Avignon

This year, no one knows where the bridge is leading to. A new frontier, full of opportunity? Or a rather scary place, where old landmarks provide no orientation anymore? Or nowhere at all, like the beautiful, but useless Pont d’Avignon? The legislative elections will be a passage to a very complicated summer, with shady majority-building manoeuvres and murky arrangements rather than light-hearted sunbathing. If the country is lucky, some kind of half-baked solution will have been found by the end of August, when ‘La rentrée’ is looming again. If not, the best possible quantum of solace will be the yearly calendar check: 1st and 8th May will be Tuesdays! And Ascension Day will be on Thursday 10th! Who needs a stable government over autumn and winter, when you have perspectives like this for next spring?

Albrecht Sonntag
@albrechtsonntag

This is post # 20 on the French 2017 election marathon.
All previous posts can be found here.

The post France 2017: The Bridges of May appeared first on Ideas on Europe.