European Union

New rules to enable EU citizens subscribing to services that give access to online music, games, films or sporting events, to enjoy this content while abroad in another EU country were approved by the Legal Affairs Committee in a vote on Tuesday.
Committee on Legal Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Caps on the wholesale prices that telecoms operators charge each other for using their networks to carry cross-border “roaming” calls were agreed by industry MEPs on Tuesday. This brings the abolition of roaming charges for consumers a step closer.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Caps on the wholesale prices that telecoms operators charge each other for using their networks to carry cross-border “roaming” calls were agreed by industry MEPs on Tuesday. This brings the abolition of roaming charges for consumers a step closer.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : More than 10 years after EU-Turkey accession talks started, MEPs adopted a resolution on 24 November calling for the negotiations to be suspended until the Turkish government ended its disproportionate and repressive response to July's failed coup. Ankara replied by threatening to let thousands of migrants pass through to Europe. Greek EPP member Manolis Kefalogiannis, head of Parliament’s delegation to Turkey, commented: “We are entering a new phase in EU-Turkey relations”.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : More than 10 years after EU-Turkey accession talks started, MEPs adopted a resolution on 24 November calling for the negotiations to be suspended until the Turkish government ended its disproportionate and repressive response to July's failed coup. Ankara replied by threatening to let thousands of migrants pass through to Europe. Greek EPP member Manolis Kefalogiannis, head of Parliament’s delegation to Turkey, commented: “We are entering a new phase in EU-Turkey relations”.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

will take place on Thursday 8 December, 9:00-12:30 in Brussels.

Organisations or interest groups who wish to apply foraccess to the European Parliament will find the relevant information below.

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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, 2016 - EP

By Alan Beattie

Much horror and perturbation among the Asia-Pacific countries meeting earlier this month in Lima at Donald Trump’s threat to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the proposed regional trade agreement of twelve countries.

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For as long as I have lived in this country – a quarter century, after all – the surest way for French politicians to put an end to their political career was to make a statement, however prudent, in favour of ‘liberalism’. Once labelled a ‘liberal’, you could be sure to be turned in no time into a ‘neo-liberal’ before being commonly and irremediably demonised as ‘ultra-liberal’ (whatever that means). Naming a party ‘lib-dem’ was either political satire or political suicide. Alain Madelin tried in 1998, but gave up in 2002 after having earned exactly 3.91% of the vote in the presidential election.

The primaries, however, seem to have changed things. With the right and centre virtually monopolising the political debate for several weeks, ‘liberalism’ is undergoing an unexpected semantic rehabilitation. The final TV debate between François Fillon and Alain Juppé on Thursday night – followed by an incredible 8.5 million audience – featured two candidates who advocated reforms for which the adjective ‘liberal’ appears perfectly appropriate. And they’re not alone!

Fillon, a Thatcherite liberal? Libération cover page, 22 Nov.

For the 2017 season, the liberalism fashion will actually come in three trends. There’s the daring yet sober design of Fillon’s self-proclaimed ‘radical’ costume, not without a certain reactionary chic. Then there’s the admittedly ‘less brutal’ Juppé outfit, which seems a little bit easier to wear and tries not to break too abruptly with traditional attire. And finally there is the stylish and trendy apparel designed by Emmanuel Macron, rather tasteful actually, but will it stand the test of the spring fashion shows?

‘Liberal’ is one of these key words that have a different meaning in different languages, shaped and draped with connotations by the local political culture. In a wonderful sketch by German humourist Loriot (yes, seriously: German humour!), a liberal-democrat politician keeps repeating in a TV debate that ‘in the liberal sense, liberal not only means liberal’. In the French Fifth Republic ‘liberal’ is traditionally perceived as a shortcut to ‘promotor of cynical laisser-faire capitalism’ and ‘strictly conservative in societal matters’ (not exactly what Fox News or breitbart.com would spontaneously associate).

Fillon, who obtained 2 903 564 votes on Sunday, fits this classical description remarkably well. What is new is that he is no longer ashamed of it. The reason is probably that he has felt that the discourse of the ugly, but simple and necessary truth is being received differently than ten or twenty years ago. Especially the electorate of Catholic obedience and heritage proves very sensitive to his logic of redemption: confession of decades of sinning is followed by punitive repentance and compensated with eternal salvation at the end of the tunnel.

Macron begs to differ. He regularly points out that ‘liberalism is a value of the left’. This would find the applause of the so-called ‘social democrats’, as embodied by former trade unionist, renowned editorialist and historian of the French left Jacques Julliard, who wrote after the 2005 referendum on the constitutional treaty that it was ‘extravagant that the socialist left has heaped opprobrium onto a doctrine that presided over its birth until the mid-19th century and has since then allowed Socialism to distinguish itself from its totalitarian twin’ (Le malheur français, Flammarion, 2005, p. 124). Liberalism was the French left’s ‘take-away’ from the Revolution, from Benjamin Constant to Alexis de Tocqueville (and no, I am not confusing ‘libérté’ et ‘libéralisme’).

For Macron, a true liberal is a politician who ‘attacks privilege and economic deadlock, while working for social mobility rather than favouring those who are already successful!’ According to him, the French confuse ‘liberal’ with ‘conservative’, simply ‘because we do not have a liberal tradition’, as he just recently explained again in an interview with Le Monde.

And there’s the rub. Since Mitterrand’s famous ‘turn to austerity’ in 1983, liberalism has always been equated with humiliating external disciplining, mostly imposed by Brussels and Bonn/Berlin, undermining the Welfare State and public services. Macron is already categorised as a ‘social-liberal’, which – you may have guessed – is a label bestowed only by the guardians of the true doctrine of the French left and comes very close to ‘evil’.

Macron’s clumsy catwalk.

In other words: the stage given to liberalist ideas by the fashion show of the right and the centre may be a very temporary one. Soon other fashion houses will stage their own parades and impose a different lexicon. Macron’s new garment of liberal economics and progressive social ideas does not correspond to traditional French taste. It is truly ‘disruptive’ (to quote one of his own favourite adjectives).

The renaissance and rehabilitation of the word ‘libéral’ is a remarkable feature of this early campaign phase. Whether it will be followed by a redefinition is another question.

Albrecht Sonntag
@albrechtsonntag

This is post # 4 on the French 2017 election marathon.
Post # 4 here.
Post # 3 here.
Post # 2 here.
Post # 1 here.

The post France 2017: The unexpected rehabilitation of an adjective appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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The relations between the EU and the Republic of Moldova are based on the Association Agreement which was signed on the margins of the EU summit held on 27 June 2014. 

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General : With both committee meetings and a plenary session taking place, members have a busy week in store for them in Brussels. In plenary, MEPs are expected to seal the deal with member states on the EU budget for 2017, as well as vote on an agreement with the United States about protecting personal data transferred for law enforcement purposes. Rules on ensuring access to online content for people travelling abroad and a cap on wholesale roaming charges are to be put to a vote in committees.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : With both committee meetings and a plenary session taking place, members have a busy week in store for them in Brussels. In plenary, MEPs are expected to seal the deal with member states on the EU budget for 2017, as well as vote on an agreement with the United States about protecting personal data transferred for law enforcement purposes. Rules on ensuring access to online content for people travelling abroad and a cap on wholesale roaming charges are to be put to a vote in committees.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

While liberal politicians and media lamented the results of Britain’s referendum on membership of the European Union and the outcome of the American presidential election, Moscow reacted to these events with hope.

The momentous developments of the past six months will not have any direct bearing on Russia’s interests, but they will re-shape international politics, bring new people into power and give the Kremlin a chance to ‘re-programme’ its relationship with the West.

Europe is the immediate concern. Moscow wants the EU sanctions imposed over the war in south-eastern Ukraine – and its own subsequent counter-sanctions – to be lifted. At a minimum, it wants to continue to fight the introduction of new sanctions over Russia’s actions in Syria – a goal that the Kremlin managed to achieve last October.

And now, Russia’s hand is stronger. Some of the most vocal and hawkish European critics of Moscow are facing significant domestic pressure. Angela Merkel has lost much of her popularity in Germany and her fate is uncertain as she runs for re-election in 2017.

Britain – as the most prominent opponent of Russia in the EU – has had its voice muffled even before it triggers Article 50. London’s European influence is on the wane, and a Donald Trump-led United States may not need Britain to amplify the American voice in Europe.

“This new moment in the history of Russia and Europe presents an opportunity for change. New presidents and officials may form fresh relationships”

Bulgaria has elected a new president who does not demonstrate hostility to Russia. France is set to do the same in May: the likely final-round candidates – Marine Le Pen of the National Front and François Fillon of the Republicans – are far more Russia-friendly than the current president, François Hollande.

Italy, Spain and Greece, which were most negatively affected by the sanctions, feel that little has been achieved by a confrontational approach. There was almost no impact on Russian policy, but very real damage to their own countries’ tourism- and export-oriented economies.

This is not to say that Russia-EU relations will become rosier after the next wave of elections.

The Dutch are not going to forget the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine unless Russia can produce evidence that it was not responsible for the crash. Trade deals have been made to exclude Russia.

And most importantly, trust has gone out of the relationship. The state of mind among many Russians has moved from ‘Europe does not understand us’ to ‘they mean us harm’.

The Russian intelligentsia – intellectuals, opinion-formers, academics and cultural figures – are excluded from the common European space where they can meet their peers and exchange views and ideas. Given the country’s position outside the EU’s Eastern Partnership, Russian participants are not invited to regional events and platforms where they could meet their counterparts from Eastern Europe. They no longer feel welcome.

Europe has a strong record of supporting well-intentioned but marginal causes in Russia’s domestic development. But interaction and dialogue with mainstream society and opinion-shapers has been largely ignored.

This new moment in the history of Russia and Europe presents an opportunity for change. New presidents and officials may form fresh relationships (although as British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has recently demonstrated, they can also deepen enmity).

Military build-ups and dangerous encounters in Europe are becoming too frequent. We urgently need old-fashioned confidence-building measures that were practiced during the Cold War era – because it is evident that the notion of ‘liberal peace’ is not working.

“Russia is a part of Europe; a notion that politicians and the media in the European Union too easily forget”

Previously-agreed deals suspended after the events in Ukraine – energy projects such as the South Stream pipeline via Bulgaria – can be revived. Mediators in the Minsk process aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine will hopefully make a more concerted and decisive push towards a peace settlement, leaving less room to manipulate differences in the Russian and EU positions.

And countries in Europe’s and Russia’s neighbourhood – such as Moldova, Belarus and Armenia – should be able to develop and preserve relations not on the basis of choice between mutually-exclusive options, but on a sensible combination of links to both of their large neighbours.

Finally, Russia is a part of Europe; a notion that politicians and the media in the European Union too easily forget. The tone of the discourse in Europe is that Russia is always a problem – either  an existential evil or a lame duck punching well above its weight – but this attitude does not bring us closer to solutions at the time of an escalation of tensions on a scale unseen since the end of the Cold War.

Political leaders should talk to each other and establish new rules of engagement in Europe. They should acknowledge that the relationship will not progress in conditions of distrust, and that the discourse of ‘values’ has limited resonance.

Instead, the relationship will have to be rebuilt on the basis of mutual interests and in full sight of the fact that Moscow will seek to avoid deep interdependency. Crucially, societies have to assume their share of responsibility for how low the relationship has fallen and make their own contribution to creating a common European space.

Russia is not Putin, and Putin is not the omnipotent president many think he is. Perhaps we need a Putin-light paradigm, in which we understand more and condemn less.

IMAGE CREDIT: palinchak/Bigstock.com

The post Understand more, condemn less – the way ahead for Russia and the EU appeared first on Europe’s World.

Hannah Moscovitz

Around the world, the social role of higher education has garnered interest and generated important discussion. It is commonly agreed that alongside their research and teaching functions, academic institutions should also promote what has been termed their “third mission”. Important efforts have been made in recent years to further the understanding of the social role of the university. The Talloires network for instance, provides an international forum of institutions committed to strengthening their social responsibilities. In Europe specifically, the social contribution of higher education has gained ground through the elaboration of a ‘social dimension’ to accompany the Bologna Process reforms.

 

Social responsibility has become an important promotional feature for higher education institutions. University mission statements, websites and promotional materials regularly highlight an institution’s commitment to community engagement and public responsibility. Despite the growing importance of university social responsibility at a declarative level, its implementation in practice is not clear cut. The very notion of what constitutes social responsibility in the higher education realm remains ambiguous. Moreover, notwithstanding important efforts, a coherent and all-encompassing approach both within and between academic institutions, to strengthening social responsibility, is far from complete.

 

The European Commission funded, Tempus-ESPRIT (Enhancing the Social Characteristics and Public Responsibility of Israeli Teaching through an HEI-Student Alliance) project, coordinated by the Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society  - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, was developed with the aim of delineating the social responsibility of higher education and clarifying its features, as well as to test models for its enhancement in Israeli universities. Academic institutions and organisations in Israel and Europe [i] as well as the European Students’ Union (ESU) and the National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) took part in the project, launched in 2012, and culminating this month.

 

The project’s overall goal is to analyze, map and strengthen the social and public roles of higher education institutions in Israel. To this end, three main pillars were pursued. At an initial phase a mapping exercise was conducted in order to shed light on the level of social engagement of Israeli students/faculty and their perceptions towards social responsibility. A second pillar involved the development of models and guidelines for the design of curriculum with a social engagement component. A digital platform was also produced to serve as a resource center and contact point to promote dialogue between faculty working on these types of courses.

 

Finally, the project saw the development and testing of a Social Benchmarking Tool (SBT) to assess and compare academic institutions according to their social missions. Together, these three pillars aimed to sharpen the understanding of social responsibility in academic institutions as well as enhance this feature in the partner institutions.

 

On November 21st, ESPRIT project partners and invited guests representing different higher education stakeholders, gathered at the ESU headquarters in Brussels, for a final roundtable to discuss the project’s outcomes and its relevance for Israel and Europe. A number of important themes emerged from this meeting shedding further light on the potential of academic social responsibility efforts in Israel, Europe and beyond.

 

The Social responsibility of universities – promoting a wide definition

Recognisant of the wide-ranging interpretations of social responsibility as it relates to higher education, one of the very first tasks of the ESPRIT consortium was to draft a working definition which would guide its activities and objectives.  The notion of social responsibility was given a wide interpretation – relating to the university’s external actions on the one hand, and its internal policy on the other. A university’s social responsibility is reflected in its community outreach programmes, ‘socially engaged’ courses, partnerships and actions benefiting their surrounding neighborhoods and society in general. It should also be apparent in the institution’s internal functioning; ethical codes, transparency, employment policies, sustainable development etc; and relating to student, staff and faculty wellbeing.

 

During the roundtable, the challenge of promoting social responsibility in the internal domain was considered. Participants highlighted the fact that the internal social policy is often more difficult to discuss and promote, while academic institutions more easily disseminate their ‘external’ actions of community engagement and public responsibility.  Yet, project partners emphasized the importance of seeing the internal and external domains as one common framework; a university’s degree of social responsibility is dependent on both its external and internal actions- they should be understood as intertwined, not as separate entities.

 

Benchmarking University Social Responsibility – An opportunity

Rankings and Benchmarking mechanisms have been gaining momentum in the field of higher education. These systems are primarily focused on the research and teaching functions of universities, generally overlooking their “third mission”. The ESPRIT project aims to add another dimension to benchmarking; one which recognizes that alongside research and teaching, institutions should also be measured by their social characteristics.

 

The Social Benchmarking Tool (SBT) was initiated by the National Union of Israeli Students against the backdrop of a growing social awareness and engagement amongst Israeli students. NUIS representatives understood that students and prospective students are increasingly interested in the degree of social engagement and responsibility in their current or potential academic institutions. The SBT was thus perceived as valuable to provide a transparent picture of the social responsibility feature of universities as well as for offering university management with a self-assessment tool to enhance their social policy.

 

The SBT proposes a data collection mechanism for academic institutions to assess their social policy and compare where they stand vis a vis other institutions. The self-administered questionnaire collects data from a variety of sources within the institution and relates to different features of social responsibility-equality, wellbeing, ethical conduct and environmental policy.

 

The value and innovative character of the SBT for both Israeli and European partner institutions was emphasized. From both a student and institutional perspective, the SBT was discussed as holding important potential for furthering the social functions of universities. Participants also considered the challenges involved in promoting such a mechanism, in particular considering the priority given to the research and teaching functions of higher education. A conceptual shift was proposed in which social responsibility should not be understood as a “third pillar”, rather as an inherent feature of all other functions of higher education.

 

Importance of the student voice in enhancing social responsibility

The importance of student involvement in the promotion of social responsibility was a common theme elaborated throughout the project. The ESPRIT project was founded upon the notion that both students and institutions will inevitably play a part in strengthening the social role of academia. As such, project activities were guided by a university-student alliance, reflected in the active involvement of both the National Union of Israeli Students and the European Students’ Union.

 

The importance of the student voice was re-iterated during the roundtable. Student Union representatives highlighted the fact that there is often a disconnect between student and faculty/staff perceptions on a wide variety of issues, including those related to social responsibility. Working together on these matters offers a valuable bridge to close the perception gap and provides a mutually beneficial and effective framework. The significance of this partnership was also evoked by university representatives at the meeting, who stressed the important breakthrough of the ESPRIT project in this regard, particularly in the Israeli context.

 

The questions raised in the Tempus-ESPRIT project are of international relevance and will undoubtedly continue to be debated and elaborated in the years to come. The project provided EU and Israeli partner institutions the benefit of mutual learning and discussion on crucial questions of social responsibility in the academic realm. While the university/student alliance is vital to promoting an effective social responsibility agenda, the cooperation between institutions, student unions and different countries is also valued. These collaborations deepen the discussion on important issues relevant to higher education stakeholders and to society as a whole.

 

 

Hannah Moscovitz is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel). Hannah works as part of the Tempus-ESPRIT coordinating team at the Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

 

[i] Project partners include: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design; Interdisciplinary Center Herzlyia; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Tel-Hai Academic College; University of Brighton; Center for Higher Education, Consult; Masaryk University; University of Santiago de Compostela.

The post Enhancing the Social Responsibility of Higher Education – challenges, ideas and opportunities. Insights from the Tempus-ESPRIT project appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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The EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement entered into force in May 2014 and provides for wide-ranging cooperation in the areas of political dialogue and security, trade, investments and economic cooperation as well as in the strengthening of people-to-people ties through mobility, educational and cultural exchange programmes.

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On 28 November 2016, the Council agreed on a draft regulation to ban unjustified geo-blocking between member states. 

Geo-blocking is a discriminatory practice that prevents online customers from accessing and purchasing products or services from a website based in another member state. 

The draft regulation is intended to remove discrimination based on customers' nationality, place of residence or place of establishment and to boost e-commerce.

"Shopping online from another EU country in the same way as  locals do is something that many citizens expect nowadays. The new rules to stop unjustified geo-blocking will improve considerably the e-commerce economy and give citizens access to a wider choice of goods and services. This can only happen if there is a guarantee of safety and trust for both buyers and sellers. With our decision today, which was reached just a few months after the proposal was tabled, we have paved the way for a rapid opening of negotiations with the Parliament and a potential close next year".  

Peter Žiga, the President of the Council and Minister of Economy of Slovakia

The agreement was reached by qualified majority. It will serve as the Council's common position to start negotiations with the European Parliament under the EU's ordinary legislative procedure. 

The main features of the Council text are the following: 

Objective and scope 

The main objective of the proposal is to prevent discrimination for consumers and companies on access to prices, sales or payment conditions when buying products and services in another EU country. 

Its scope is in line with the Services Directive, which excludes certain activities such as financial, audio-visual, transport, healthcare and social services. 

The new rules will be in compliance with other EU legislation in force applicable to cross-border sales, such as rules on copyright and Union law on judicial cooperation in civil matters, in particular the Rome I and Brussels I regulations. 

Equal access to goods and services 

Under the new rules, traders will not be able to discriminate between customers with regard to the general terms and conditions - including prices - they offer on the sales of goods and services in three cases. These are where the trader : 

1.    sells goods that are delivered in a member state to which the trader offers delivery or are collected at a location agreed upon with the customer; 

2.    provides electronically supplied services, such as cloud services, data warehousing services, website hosting and the provision of firewalls. This does not apply to services where the main feature is the provision of access to or use of copyright protected works or other protected subject matter, or the selling of copyright protected works in an intangible form, such as e-books or online music; 

3. provides services which are received by the customer in the country where the trader operates, such as hotel accommodation, sports events, car rental, and entry tickets to music festivals or leisure parks. 

Unlike price discrimination, price differentiation will not be prohibited, so traders are free to offer different general conditions of access, including prices, and to target certain groups of customers in specific territories. 

Moreover, traders will not be obliged to deliver goods to customers outside the member state to which they offer delivery. 

Payment transactions 

The regulation shall prohibit unjustified discrimination of customers in relation to the means of payment. Traders will not be allowed to apply different payment conditions for customers for reasons of nationality, place of residence or place of establishment. 

Non discrimination for e-commerce website access 

Traders will not be allowed to block or limit customers' access to their online interface for reasons of nationality or place of residence. 

A clear explanation will have to be provided if a trader blocks or limits access or redirects customers to a different version of the online interface. 

Passive sales 

Under the general approach, some exemptions permitted by EU competition law will remain valid. One example is where traders are bound by an agreement with their supplier requiring them to restrict their passive sales (i.e. sales where the trader does not actively solicit the customer's business). In these cases, the new regulation would not apply. 

Next steps 

Negotiations will start between the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission once the Parliament agrees its position. 

Background 

The Commission submitted the original proposal to the Council and the European Parliament on 25 May 2016. It is based on article 114 of the EU treaty. 

It was presented together with supplementary legislative proposals on cross-border parcel delivery services and a review of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, with the objective to move forward towards the integration of a truly single market. 

In its conclusions of 25 and 26 June 2015, the European Council emphasised the importance of the digital single market strategy and called on taking action to implement key components of the strategy, including the removal of remaining barriers to the free circulation of goods and services sold online and to tackle unjustified discrimination on the grounds of geographic location. 

On 28 November 2016, the Council extended the mandate of the operation EUNAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta until 31 December 2018. The Council also allocated to the operation a budget of EUR 11.064 million from the so-called common costs.

The European Union Naval Force Somalia Operation Atalanta was launched in December 2008 to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast. The operation is part of the EU's comprehensive approach for a peaceful, stable and democratic Somalia.

The operation also protects vessels of the World Food Programme and other vulnerable shipping, monitors fishing activities off the coast of Somalia and supports other EU missions and programmes in the region.

The Council adopted conclusions on energy and development. Access to energy is crucial for eradicating poverty and for delivering on the 2030 agenda. The EU's development policy and actions in the energy sector are also a fundamental part of a revitalised European energy and climate diplomacy.

The Council adopted conclusions on the first results report on EU international cooperation and development. The report is a significant step forward in strengthening the focus on performance and results in EU international cooperation and development.

The Council adopted conclusions on mainstreaming digital solutions and technologies in EU development policy.

Digitalisation needs to be properly mainstreamed across all policy areas, including in the EU's development and foreign policies, while addressing cyber challenges and assuring the promotion and protection of human rights, with particular attention to freedom of expression online.