European Union

The Committee of inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) elected its chair and four vice-chairs at a constituent meeting on Wednesday morning, thus officially starting its one-year mandate.
Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The Committee of inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) elected its chair and four vice-chairs at a constituent meeting on Wednesday morning, thus officially starting its one-year mandate.
Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

This is Wednesday’s edition of our Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

Europe is waking to news that Donald Trump has taken a huge, bounding leaptowards securing the Republican nomination for US president. It is not yet wrapped up; the Republican race will probably run through to the spring. But Mr Trump could barely have emerged in better shape from Super Tuesday and the Europe’s press are all a bit stunned. Before they could even deploy some withering headlines, Mr Trump beat them to the punch, blasting the bloc on terrorism and migration: “You look at Brussels, look at Sweden, you look at Germany – it’s like a disaster.” With an eye on the presidential race, he at least had the diplomatic courtesy to hold back on attacking Germany’s Angela Merkel, a leader he recently said would “be out if they don’t have a revolution”.

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DRAFT OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an EU common list of safe countries of origin for the purposes of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, and amending Directive 2013/32/EU
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Jozo Radoš

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Just over two years after the Euromaidan mass protests resulted in removing President Viktor Yanukovych from power, Ukraine is still at a crossroads between war and peace, between corruption and reform. The entry into force of the EU-Ukraine free trade area on 1 January 2016 was a milestone in relations between the two entities. Our timeline tracks the main events of the past two years, from the annexation of Crimea to the Minsk II peace agreement and more.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Just over two years after the Euromaidan mass protests resulted in removing President Viktor Yanukovych from power, Ukraine is still at a crossroads between war and peace, between corruption and reform. The entry into force of the EU-Ukraine free trade area on 1 January 2016 was a milestone in relations between the two entities. Our timeline tracks the main events of the past two years, from the annexation of Crimea to the Minsk II peace agreement and more.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/9c5f3f50-e084-11e5-b3b7-bc764e092fac_157_thumb_169_1456930190_1456930213_129_97shar_c1.jpg

Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, visits countries along the Balkan route and Turkey.

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DRAFT REPORT with a proposal for a European Parliament recommendation to the Council on the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Andrey Kovatchev

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Implementation and review of the EU-Central Asia Strategy
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

It is of crucial importance to continue backing the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's progress towards EU membership, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs on Monday. But only if the July 2015 "Przhino Agreement" to pave the way out of the country’s political crisis via elections is implemented in full and if substantial progress is also made on delivering urgent reform priorities, including media freedom, parliamentary control of interception of communications and fighting corruption.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

It is of crucial importance to continue backing the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's progress towards EU membership, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs on Monday. But only if the July 2015 "Przhino Agreement" to pave the way out of the country’s political crisis via elections is implemented in full and if substantial progress is also made on delivering urgent reform priorities, including media freedom, parliamentary control of interception of communications and fighting corruption.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

It is of crucial importance to continue backing the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's progress towards EU membership, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs on Monday. But only if the July 2015 "Przhino Agreement" to pave the way out of the country’s political crisis via elections is implemented in full and if substantial progress is also made on delivering urgent reform priorities, including media freedom, parliamentary control of interception of communications and fighting corruption.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

"Cooperation with Ukraine is essential and our solidarity should not be questioned", said European Parliament President Martin Schulz at the opening of "Ukraine week" on Monday evening. This 3-day high-level conference is bringing together MEPs, national and Ukrainian MPs to share experience on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

"Cooperation with Ukraine is essential and our solidarity should not be questioned", said European Parliament President Martin Schulz at the opening of "Ukraine week" on Monday evening. This 3-day high-level conference is bringing together MEPs, national and Ukrainian MPs to share experience on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

"Cooperation with Ukraine is essential and our solidarity should not be questioned", said European Parliament President Martin Schulz at the opening of "Ukraine week" on Monday evening. This 3-day high-level conference is bringing together MEPs, national and Ukrainian MPs to share experience on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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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

This is the Tuesday edition of our Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

The British EU referendum campaign is barely a week old and it already feels like a war of attrition. For outsiders watching from Brussels, one of the most peculiar clashes is around the question of whether a vote to leave the EU actually means Britain will leave. It turns on arcane EU law – Article 50 of the EU treaty, the so-called exit clause – but it is high-politics. Will voters see an exit as a dangerous gamble, or a gradual withdrawal to a safer place? “A country invokes Article 50 to start exit negotiations, which would seem the obvious first step after a leave vote. But there is nothing mandating London pull the Article 50 trigger immediately, and some have suggested using the Leave vote to try to get better terms without an Article 50 break. The argument will run and run because, as often in politics, both sides rest their case on a kernel of truth.

The idea of “vote Brexit for a better EU deal” comes from theVote Leave campaign and some prominent Brexiteers, including for a brief but dazzling moment Boris Johnson, the London mayor. David Cameron tried to nix the concept by saying the British people “would rightly expect” an Article 50 exit to start “straight away” after a leave vote. That would start a two-year clock ticking on exit talks, opening the risk of British membership and trade arrangements ending overnight if talks turn hostile. The British prime minister added that to imagine other EU countries would negotiate a new UK membership deal was “for the birds”. He won support on Monday by Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister, who said the what-if game on future negotiations was “insane”.

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A UK government paper on Monday followed up Mr Cameron’s salvo by explaining the divorce mechanics. Lots of uncertain scenarios are depicted – described by Mr Johnson as “baloney” – including a 10-year Brexit process subject to countless vetoes in Europe. But on Article 50, the paper just echoes Mr Cameron’s view of the public “expectation”. It did not say it must be invoked immediately. And nor did it say that Article 50 would cover every aspect of Brexit. Indeed it points out there would need to be a complex trade negotiation alongside and separate from the Article 50 divorce. (For the legal geeks, we have explained more in this annotated version of the Article 50.)

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