European Union

On 5 October 2016, the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) agreed, on behalf of the Council, a negotiating position on visa liberalisation for Georgia. It confirmed the Commission proposal to provide for visa-free travel for EU citizens when travelling to the territory of Georgia and for citizens of this country when travelling to the EU, for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period. 

The Council takes the view that the entry into force of visa liberalisation for Georgia should be at the same time as the entry into force of the new "suspension mechanism". 

On the basis of this mandate, the Slovak presidency will start negotiations with the European Parliament. 

"The Council has today demonstrated its strong commitment to visa-free travel for Georgian citizens, taking into account Georgia's reforms. The Presidency believes that the path of credible reforms is the right one and should be encouraged. We count on the European Parliament's support in finalising the related process so that the citizens of Georgia can enjoy visa-free travel as soon as possible", said Peter Javorčík, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the EU, and President of the Permanent Representatives Committee.

Background 

The proposal for visa liberalisation for Georgia was published by the Commission on 9 March 2016. The Commission concluded that the country had met all the benchmarks for the exemption of the visa requirement. 

Once the new visa regime for Georgia is agreed with the Parliament and formally adopted, it will  move the country from Annex I of Regulation 539/2001 (countries whose nationals need a visa to enter the Schengen area) to Annex II of the same regulation (visa free countries), thus providing for visa-free travel for EU citizens when travelling to the territory of Georgia and for citizens of this country when travelling to the EU, for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period.  

In the context of the current migratory situation in the European Union and taking into account the Commission's proposals for visa liberalisation of Georgia, Ukraine, Turkey and Kosovo and the discussions with member states, the Commission decided on 4 May 2016 to present a proposal to amend Regulation 539/2001 to revise the current suspension mechanism. 

The main objective of the revised regulation is to strengthen the suspension mechanism. It does this by making it easier for member states to notify circumstances which might lead to a suspension, by enabling the Commission to trigger the mechanism on its own initiative, and by tasking the Commission to send an annual report to the European Parliament and Council on the extent to which visa-exempt third countries continue to meet the necessary criteria. 

The possible grounds for suspension have been extended and the use of the mechanism will also be facilitated by shortening reference periods and deadlines in order to allow for a faster procedure. 

The discussions between the Parliament and the Council on the visa suspension mechanism are still ongoing. 

Ireland and the United Kingdom will not be subject to the application of these measures, in accordance with the protocols annexed to the EU treaties. The visa regime of these member states remains subject to their national legislation.

Plenary sessions : MEPs voiced startlingly different views on the state of Greece’s economic adjustment programme, its impact and the prospects for future negotiations between Greece and its creditors, in a public debate with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday afternoon.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs voiced startlingly different views on the state of Greece’s economic adjustment programme, its impact and the prospects for future negotiations between Greece and its creditors, in a public debate with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday afternoon.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

On 4 October 2016, the Council adopted the decision on the EU ratification of the Paris Agreement. This agreement sets the framework for global action on climate change.

Following the vote in the European Parliament giving  its consent, the Council adopted the decision by written procedure. The decision will be deposited on Friday 7 October 2016 with the Secretary-General of the UN, who is the depositary of the Paris Agreement. EU ratification comes into effect from the moment of deposit of the decision.    

The Slovak Minister for the Environment and president of the Council, László Sólymos said: "United, Europe did everything possible to speed up its proceedings and breathe life into the Paris Agreement. The Council's adoption of the decision in just a few hours illustrates our commitment to keeping our promises. The deposit of the ratification instruments on Friday will finally round off the whole process. We can all be collectively proud of this achievement". 

Member states will ratify either together with the EU if they have completed their national procedures, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The agreement will enter into force 30 days after the ratification by at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. So far 63 countries have ratified, accounting for 52.11% of global emissions.

CountryRepresented by

ALBANIA

Ditmir Bushati, Minister for Foreign Affairs

ARGENTINA

Mario Verón Guerra, Ambassador - Head of the Argentinian Mission to the EU

ARMENIA

Garen Nazarian, Deputy Foreign Minister

AUSTRALIA

Ric Wells - Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Deputy Secretary  in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

AUSTRIA

Ambassador Peter Launsky, Vice Minister of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Integration, Europe and Foreign Affairs

AZERBAIJAN

Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

BAHRAIN

Abdulla bin Faisal bin Jabur Al Doseri - Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs

BANGLADESH

Mohammed Shahdat Hossain, Ambassador designate to the EU

BELGIUM

Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Igor Crnadak, Minister for Foreign Affairs

BRAZIL

Everton Vargas, Ambassador designate - Head of the Brazilian Mission to the EU

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

Abu Sufian Haji Ali - Ambassador designate to Belgium

BULGARIA

Daniel Mitov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

CANADA

Kenneth Neufeld, Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Kabul

CHILE

Rodrigo Fernandez Gaete, Deputy Head of the Chilean Mission to the EU

CHINA

Deng Xijun, China's Special Envoy on Afghanistan Affairs

CROATIA

Miro Kovač, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs

CYPRUS

Kornelios Korneliou, Permanent Representative to the EU

CZECH REPUBLIC

Vaclav Kolaja, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

DENMARK

Kristian Jensen, Minister for Foreign Affairs

EGYPT

Hamdy Loza, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

ESTONIA

Vaino Reinart, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

FINLAND

Eija Rotinen, Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deputy Director General

FRANCE

André Vallini, Minister of State for Development and Francophonie

GEORGIA

Mikheil Janelidze, Minister for Foreign Affairs

GERMANY

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister for Foreign Affairs

GREECE

Andreas Papastravou, Ambassador - Permanent Representative of Greece to the EU

HUNGARY

Péter Szijjártó, Minister for Foreign Affairs

ICELAND

Bergdis Ellertsdottir, Ambassador - Head of the Icelandic Mission to the EU

INDIA

M. J. Akbar - Minister of State for External Affairs

INDONESIA

Yuri Octavian Thamrin, Head of the Indonesian Mission to the EU

IRAN

Morteza Sarmadi, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

IRELAND

Declan Kelleher, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the EU

ITALY

Mario Giro, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

JAPAN

Kentaro Sonoura, State Minister for Foreign Affairs

JORDAN

Yousef  Bataineh, Ambassador - Head of the Jordanian Mission to the EU

KAZAKHSTAN

Erlan Idrissov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

KUWAIT

Jasem Albudaiwi, Ambassador designate to Belgium

KYRGYZSTAN

Erlan Abdyldayev, Minister for Foreign Affairs

LATVIA

Andrejs Pildegovics, State Secretary

LITHUANIA

Jovita Neliupšiene, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU

LUXEMBOURG

Romain Schneider, Minister for Development Cooperation

MALAYSIA

Fenny Nuli, Deputy Chief of the Malaysian Mission to the EU

MALTA

Hon Carmelo Abela, Minister for Home Affairs

MEXICO

Miguel Ruiz Cabanas, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs

MONGOLIA

Khishigdelger Davaadorj,  Ambassador - Head of the Mongolian Mission to the EU

MONTENEGRO

Vera Jolicic-Kulis, State Secretary

NETHERLANDS

Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation,

NEW ZEALAND

Murray McCully, Minister for Foreign Affairs

NORWAY

Børge Brende, Minister for Foreign Affairs

OMAN

Najeem Sulaiman Najeem, Al Abri, Ambassador - Head of the Omani Mission to the EU

PAKISTAN

Sartaj Aziz, Minister for Foreign Affairs

POLAND

Joanna Wronecka, Undersecretary of State

PORTUGAL

Nuno Brito, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the EU

QATAR

Soltan Saad Al-Moraikhi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Yun Byung-se, Minister for Foreign Affairs

ROMANIA

Daniela Grigore-Gitman, Secretary of State for Global Affairs

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Zamir Kabulov, Special Envoy for AFG,

SAUDI ARABIA

Nizar bin Obaid Madani, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

SERBIA

Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Miroslav Lajčák, Minister for Foreign Affairs

SLOVENIA

Karl Erjavec, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs

SOUTH AFRICA

Baso Sangqu, Head of the South African Mission to the EU

SPAIN

Luis Felipe Fernandez de la Peña, Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan

SWEDEN

Isabella Lövin, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate and
Deputy PM

SWITZERLAND

Thomas Greminger, State Secretary

TAJIKISTAN

Aslov Sirodjidin Muhrinovich, Minister for Foreign Affairs

THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Nikola Poposki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs

TURKEY

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister for Foreign Affairs

TURKMENISTAN

Rashid Meredov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

UKRAINE

Mykola Tochytskyi, Ambassador - Head of the Ukrainian Mission to the EU

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Ahmad Al Jarman, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

UNITED KINGDOM

Rory Stewart - Department for International Development, Minister of State

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

John Kerry, Secretary of State

UZBEKISTAN

Abdulaziz Kamilov, Minister for Foreign Affairs

  Organisation/agency/IFIRepresented by

ADB (Asian Development Bank)

Zhang Wencai, Vice President and Thomas Panella, Afghanistan Country Director

Aga Khan  Development Network

HH Aga Khan

 AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank)

Nikolai Putscher, Executive Director

EIB

Werner Hoyer, President

IDB (Islamic Development Bank)

Sayed Aqa, Vice President, Cooperation and Country Programming

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Peter Maurer, President

IMF

Daniela Gressani, Deputy Director, Middle East and Central Asia Dept. and Christoph Duenwald, the Fund's mission chief for Afghanistan

IOM

William Lacy Swing, Director-General

NATO

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General

OECD

Douglas Frantz,  Deputy Secretary-General

OHCHR / UNAMA

Danielle Bell, Director of Human Rights Unit at UNAMA and Representative of OHCHR

OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)

Ms Ismat Jahan, Ambassador - Permanent Observer of the OIC Mission to the EU

OSCE

Ambassador Paul Bekkers, Director of the Office of the Secretary General

SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)

Arjun B. Thapa, Secretary-General

SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation)

Rashid Alimov, Secretary General

UNAMA

Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative

UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General

UNDP

Haoliang Xu, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific

UNESCO

Irina Bokova, Director-General

UNHCR

George Okoth-Obbo, Assistant High Commissioner for Operation
Daisy Dell, Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific

UNICEF

(Ms) Jean Gough, Regional Director for South Asia

UNODC

Yury Fedotov, Executive Director

UN Women

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka, Executive Director

WORLD BANK

Annette Dixon, Vice-President

WFP

David Kaatrud, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific

FAO

Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General

https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_c96321.r21.cf3.rackcdn.com/15238_169_full_129_97shar_c1.jpg

EU-Kazakhstan relations are based in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of energy. Kazakhstan is also part of the EU and Central Asia Strategy for a New Partnership.

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Plenary sessions : High-level guests, solemn speeches and a warm applause. All this was present on Tuesday afternoon at the ceremony surrounding Parliament’s historic vote in favour of the Paris climate agreement and the signature paving the way for it to enter into force. Take a look at our slideshow to see how it happened.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : High-level guests, solemn speeches and a warm applause. All this was present on Tuesday afternoon at the ceremony surrounding Parliament’s historic vote in favour of the Paris climate agreement and the signature paving the way for it to enter into force. Take a look at our slideshow to see how it happened.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The UNFCCC Paris Agreement on fighting climate change, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, will come into force next month, having met the necessary conditions much earlier than predicted, as the European Parliament agreed to its ratification by the European Union in a historic vote on Tuesday. The EU will join the US, China and India, other global players and major greenhouse gas emitters, at a November meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) in Marrakesh.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The UNFCCC Paris Agreement on fighting climate change, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, will come into force next month, having met the necessary conditions much earlier than predicted, as the European Parliament agreed to its ratification by the European Union in a historic vote on Tuesday. The EU will join the US, China and India, other global players and major greenhouse gas emitters, at a November meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) in Marrakesh.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Revised EU rules to prevent trade in goods and services that may contribute to torture or execution were approved by MEPs on Tuesday. In negotiations with member states on previous drafts, the European Parliament inserted a ban on the marketing and transit of equipment used for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people in third countries.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Parliament approved €1,651,834 in EU Solidarity Fund aid on Tuesday to help Greece to repair damage caused by an earthquake that hit the Ionian Islands region, and in particular Lefkada, northern parts of Ithaki and Kefalonia, on 17 November 2015.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Parliament gave its green light on Tuesday to EU aid worth €5.3 million to help find new jobs for 1,441 workers made redundant by Microsoft and its suppliers in Finland and almost €4 million for 918 workers made redundant by Ericsson in Sweden. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid had been approved by the EU Council of Ministers on 29 September.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

DRAFT RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement continuing the International Science and Technology Center between the European Union and Euratom acting as one Party and Georgia, Japan, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the United States of America
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Elmar Brok

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The Cooperation Council between the European Union (EU) and Kazakhstan held its fifteenth meeting on Tuesday, 4 October 2016 in Brussels. The meeting was chaired by Mr Miroslav Lajčák, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovakia. The delegation of Kazakhstan was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr Erlan A. Idrissov. Jean-Christophe Belliard, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service was also present.

The Cooperation Council welcomed the start of implementation of the enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement, provisionally applied since 1 May 2015 in a number of areas, including   political dialogue, trade and economic cooperation, rule of law and justice. The Cooperation Council confirmed the mutual interest in consolidating the relations and cooperation, in particular in ensuring regional stability and development.

The Cooperation Council also discussed political, judiciary and economic reforms, the rule of law, trade and economic relations, and international issues, topics that are of importance to both parties. The Cooperation Council addressed the issues of good governance, human rights protection and civil society cooperation. It also underlined the need to maintain the right balance between legitimate security measures necessary in fighting terrorism and individual rights and freedoms.

The Cooperation Council reiterated the importance of a regional dialogue under the EU strategy for Central Asia. Regional security aspects were also discussed in relation to the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan, including border management, counter-terrorism and the fight against drug trafficking.

The EU welcomed Kazakhstan's active participation in the EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting and in the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan.

Suspending EU structural funding for Spain and Portugal would be counter-productive, because it would harm their most vulnerable citizens and regions, a vast majority of MEPs warned the EU Commission at a “structured dialogue” hearing yesterday. The suspension had been proposed under EU Stability and Growth Pact rules, because Spain and Portugal had run up excessive deficits.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Regional Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Away from the spotlight, the EU this weekend reached an altogether different deal with Afghanistan, aimed at increasing the number of deportations from Europe to the war-torn country.

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Prime Minister Theresa May is determined to take Britain on a course to Brexit, but only six months ago she said it wouldn’t be in the country’s interest to do so.

Mrs May, then Home Secretary, said in a pro-Remain speech in April 2016:

“I believe it is clearly in our national interest to remain a member of the European Union.”

But now Mrs May is going to do something that only half-a-year ago she said clearly wasn’t the right thing to do.

Why hasn’t a journalist asked her why? What’s wrong with journalism today?

Quite likely if she had been asked, she would have replied with one of her stock answers, as she did in her speech yesterday at the Conservative Party’s annual conference:

“The referendum result was clear. It was legitimate. It was the biggest vote for change this country has ever known. Brexit means Brexit – and we’re going to make a success of it.”

So, does that mean, whatever your principles and beliefs, if people vote against them, you will then turn your principles upside down and on their head (in this case, on her head)?

On that basis, if Labour wins the next general election, shouldn’t Mrs May then join the Labour party?

In April this year Mrs May gave a speech of almost 6,000 words fully supporting Britain’s continued membership of the European Union. She said then:

“We export more to Ireland than we do to China, almost twice as much to Belgium as we do to India, and nearly three times as much to Sweden as we do to Brazil. It is not realistic to think we could just replace European trade with these new markets.”

“If we.. leave the European Union, we risk bringing the development of the single market to a halt, we risk a loss of investors and businesses to remaining EU member states driven by discriminatory EU policies, and we risk going backwards when it comes to international trade.”

“In a stand-off between Britain and the EU, 44 per cent of our exports is more important to us than eight per cent of the EU’s exports is to them.”

“Remaining inside the European Union does make us more secure, it does make us more prosperous and it does make us more influential beyond our shores.

“I believe the case to remain a member of the European Union is strong.

“I believe it is clearly in our national interest to remain a member of the European Union.”

Now Mrs May says:

“Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it. There will be no attempts to remain inside the EU.

“There will be no attempts to re-join it by the back door; no second referendum. As Prime Minister I will make sure that we leave the European Union.”

If someone tells you it’s a mistake to do something, and then goes ahead and does it, can you ever trust them again?

The late Tony Benn used to classify politicians as either ‘signposts’ or ‘weathervanes’.

• Signposts indicate the way ahead, resolute and unchanging in the face of criticism or challenge.
• But weathervanes spin on their axis, responding swiftly and unthinkingly to changes in the prevailing wind.

Is Mrs May someone who just swings in the wind, whichever way it blows?

Maybe if we blow hard enough, she and her ‘three Brexiteers’ will just fall over.

___________________________________________________

Other stories by Jon Danzig:

• The EU is not the USSR
• Boston wasn’t always against migration
• It’s not undemocratic to challenge Brexit
• List of the latest articles by Jon Danzig

To follow my stories please like my Facebook page: Jon Danzig Writes

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The post Mrs May: Acting against the national interest? appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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Informal meeting of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Ministers on 3 and 4 October 2016, in Bratislava. 

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