European Union

The European Union and its Member States pledged today more than € 3 billion to assist the Syrian people inside Syria as well as refugees and the communities hosting them in the neighbouring countries for the year 2016.

The pledge triples the EU support offered at the last donor conference in Kuwait on 31 March 2015, and comes on top of the €5 billion that the EU has already committed in response to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. 

The announcement was made at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference hosted by the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the United Nations by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk and High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini.

Tusk and Mogherini represented the EU alongside Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement and Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management.  The London-based conference drew leaders from of over 70 delegations.

European Council President Tusk conveyed a message of hope: "With this pledge we hope to offer millions of people better lives. Refugees have had little choice but to flee their country. Many of them have lost everything. And now after so many years of conflict, people have lost hope. We have a moral duty to bring their hope back."

HRVP Mogherini recalled that only a political solution would put an end to the immense suffering experienced by the Syrian people and reiterated the EU's full support to the efforts undertaken by UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura to ensure constructive peace talks.

She added: "As the European Union, we share with the entire international community the responsibility to save Syria, for the sake of its citizens and the whole region. That's why we bring proposals to further step up our existing engagement of the last five years, when the EU has already been the leading donor on the Syria crisis. While we provide humanitarian and development aid, and propose economic and financial support in different forms also for Jordan and Lebanon, we keep working for a political transition in Syria that can put an end to the war. The intra-Syrian talks in Geneva have opened a window of opportunity.  This window will not be open forever, and it is crucial that all the parties engage constructively in a dialogue that has to bring concrete results on the ground. The EU and its Member States will continue to provide life-saving assistance, but also to push all parties to ensure access to those in need across Syria, to work on ceasefires and to protect civilians. The humanitarian work and the diplomatic efforts have to go hand in hand: they can reinforce each other, or weaken each other. The EU is committed to making both deliver."

Over the past five years, the war has claimed more than 250,000 lives, most of them civilians, while over 18 million people are in need of assistance, including 13.5 million inside Syria. The war has led to major displacements inside the country (6.5 million internally-displaced) and beyond. With over 4.6 million people having fled primarily to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, the war has had a deep impact on Syria's neighbours.

The continued hospitality and generosity of Syria's neighbours and especially the communities hosting the refugees is widely appreciated by the international community. At the London conference, the EU announced its intention to significantly increase its support in particular to Lebanon and Jordan, the two countries with the biggest number of refugees in terms of proportion of refugees to the host population. The EU is ready to start negotiating 'EU Compacts' with both countries, to strengthen its political, economic, trade and social ties in addition to improving the living conditions of refugees and affected host communities. 

C & J Clark International
External relations
The regulation imposing an anti-dumping duty on imports into the EU of certain leather footwear originating in China and Vietnam is partially invalid

Plenary sessions : MEPs debated the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women in public spaces on Wednesday evening, with Commissioner Corina Crețu. Everything possible must be done to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice, regardless of their culture or origin, they insisted.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs debated the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women in public spaces on Wednesday evening, with Commissioner Corina Crețu. Everything possible must be done to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice, regardless of their culture or origin, they insisted.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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EU law may preclude the imposition of penalties in respect of the unauthorised cross-border intermediation of sporting bets carried out in Germany

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Mr Kenny with Irish president Michael Higgins after formally dissolving parliament Wednesday

To date, no eurozone leader who has guided his country through a bailout has emerged politically unscathed on the other side. Portugal’s Pedro Passos Coelho was deposed as prime minister in November after inconclusive general elections. Earlier last year, Greece’s Antonis Samaras suffered a similar fate at the hands of leftist Alexis Tsipras. And Spain’s Mariano Rajoy is looking increasingly unlikely to win back the premiership in Madrid after informing King Felipe VI this week that his coalition-building efforts were going nowhere. Can Enda Kenny end the losing streak?

The Irish prime minister asked for parliament to be dissolved yesterday, setting the stage for a three-week sprint to election day on February 26. Mr Kenny is already touting his economic record, and to any outsider, that would seem to be enough to put him over the top. Ireland is expected to be the fastest-growing economy in the EU in 2016, which would be the third year running. Its unemployment rate of 8.6 per cent, while still high, is lower than the eurozone average and well below the 14.7 per cent rate when Mr Kenny assumed office in 2011.

Despite that record, opinion polls have stubbornly shown his Fine Gael party unable to get much above 30 per cent, a good-sized decline from the 36 per cent they took in the last general election. More troublingly for Mr Kenny is the demise of his coalition Labour party, which has seen its support cut in half. Without Labour, it’s unclear who Fine Gael would go into coalition with – which could produce a similar result to that faced by Mr Rajoy and Mr Passos Coelho, who emerged from their elections atop the largest party, but one too small to cobble together parliamentary majorities.

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EU data protection authorities have hinted at more uncertainty for companies when it comes to EU-US data transfers, at least until April.

So what do we know?

Companies which are still relying on the Safe Harbor framework to transfer data between the EU and the US could be investigated by national data protection authorities in the EU, said the chair of the Article 29 Working Party in Brussels today. Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin heads the group, which brings together all the national data protection authorities in Europe. In a live statement this afternoon, she confirmed that companies using other legal mechanisms to transfer data (such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs)) would escape investigation for a few more months, as data protection authorities continue to carry out a review on this issue which won’t be concluded until April at the earliest.

This review includes a thorough analysis that it has done on the US surveillance systems. The Article 29 Working Party has raised concerns that the scope of surveillance in the US and remedies available to citizens could impact the effectiveness of BCRs and SCCs.  The new Privacy Shield agreement could help improve the situation, but the devil is in the details. A recent statement outlines four essential guarantees for intelligence activities (which Mrs. Falque-Pierrotin during the press conference made a point that it applies to EU countries as well):

1. Processing should be based on clear, precise and accessible rules where people are reasonably informed should be able to foresee what might happen with her/his data where they are transferred;
2. Necessity and proportionality with regard to the legitimate objectives pursued need to be demonstrated: a balance needs to be found between the objective for which the data are collected and accessed (generally national security) and the rights of the individual;
3. An independent oversight mechanism should exist, that is both effective and impartial: this can either be a judge or another independent body, as long as it has sufficient ability to carry out the necessary checks;
4. Effective remedies need to be available to the individual: anyone should have the right to defend her/his rights before an independent body.

Why wait until April? What’s the delay?

The Article 29 Working Party has not yet received any documentation on the new Privacy Shield agreement from the Commission. They have received verbal statements from Commissioner Jourova this morning with a promise to receive the detailed texts by the end of February. Once the documents have been received, the Article 29 Working Party will need to review and meet again to make a final decision.

It is worth noting that there was a lot of optimism in the voice of the Article 29 Working Party’s President today, but much still needs to be reviewed.  Will the new measures announced by Commissioner Jourova yesterday be robust, enforceable and secure enough to pass the data protection authorities’ test?

 

Ray Pinto

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The European Commission must table a communication on a new strategy for gender equality and women’s rights 2016-2020 as soon as possible and deliver on its political commitments, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Wednesday. The communication should address gender equality issues which is in line with the international agenda, they add.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The European Commission must table a communication on a new strategy for gender equality and women’s rights 2016-2020 as soon as possible and deliver on its political commitments, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Wednesday. The communication should address gender equality issues which is in line with the international agenda, they add.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Threatening to leave a club is often a balancing act. Push the other members too hard and you may face a brick wall; push too little and the exercise becomes useless. What’s more, to have any degree of success you need ambitious goals and a realistic strategy to achieve them. This is more or less the situation David Cameron is in, as he wields his threat of pulling Britain out of the European Union. Alas, his goals are weak and his strategy is creaking.

The British Prime Minister outlined his conditions for staying in the EU in November 2015. Eagerly awaited both in and outside Britain, the shopping list proved disappointing when unveiled.

Michael D Beckwith / Flickr Creative Commons

Cutting benefits for EU migrants coming to Britain and a symbolic request for exemption from the idea of ‘ever closer union’ were among the conditions laid down. But they are hardly the big issues that affect people’s daily lives. Threatening to pull the country out of a union which underpins the world’s largest economic market, unless these sorts of conditions are met, betrays some worrying thinking.

Of course, Mr Cameron doesn’t intend to exit the EU. The chances are he cares little about any damage to his reputation among other EU leaders. His real priority is stopping the haemorrhage of Tory Party members to the United Kingdom Independence Party, a right-wing party whose raison d’être is to get Britain to quit the EU.

What better way to outflank UKIP than to defeat it in a popular vote on its favourite territory: Europe.

But here too David Cameron is revealing some disturbingly poor strategy. He, like many in his party, is averse to the institutions in Brussels . He has spent his political career criticising the EU. When he eventually does start campaigning, voters will find it hard to believe him when he says Britain should stay in the EU. His messaging will certainly have a whiff of Jekyll and Hyde about it.

The situation on the ground is worrying, though not yet desperate. Polls today show a victory for those who want to leave the European Union. Much of the mainstream media supports a British withdrawal. Hysterical, partisan headlines like ‘Millions of jobless Bosnians could be headed for Britain as country applies to join EU’ are all too common [1]. The main political parties are still too divided. Labour and the Conservatives will not be backing one side or the other, instead allowing every Member of Parliament to campaign how he wishes.

Weakness plagues the other side too of course. Those campaigning for a ‘Brexit’, or British exit of the EU, are currently divided into two bickering groups (Vote Leave and Leave EU). But they are likely to merge sooner or later in outrage at Mr Cameron’s weak demands in his renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership. The Brexit campaign has so far been far more effective at rousing its supporters with emotional arguments.

The one sector that has been vocal is big business. They have most to lose from quitting the EU as their cheerleader, the UK government, would no longer be able to frustrate rules governing the single market. But messaging about falling turnovers and weaker job creation is hardly the stuff of campaign victories. We need stories about people.

This means Mr Cameron has to change course quickly if he wants to avoid hitting the iceberg.

He has little time in which to do this. This means he of all people needs to start campaigning passionately about the benefits of Britain in the EU. That also means getting those in his party to start being vocal. It means
ministers should be travelling up and down the country to spread a positive message.

It’s time to start using the things that Europe has given us, like the ERASMUS programme, cross-border travel or strong consumer rights. And to start using the things it can do for us, like more cooperation on research, migration or foreign policy. Where are the celebrities campaigning for Britain to stay in the EU? Another good starting point would be to inject some life into the online platform for the Stay In campaign.

The referendum is likely to take place in mid-2016. The British people deserve a real debate on what being part of the EU is about, not hear the usual stories about bureaucrats and bendy bananas. The EU isn’t perfect, but then nor is Westminster. Both Britain and the EU have too much to lose if they divorce. If Mr Cameron doesn’t start moving soon, the UK is at risk of sleepwalking towards Brexit.

[1] Daily Express, 27 January 2016.

The post Sleepwalking towards Brexit? appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Plenary sessions : The ongoing talks on a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), among countries representing 70% of world trade in services, should deliver a deal that eases EU firms' access to international markets but does not force EU, national and local authorities to open up public services to competition, or otherwise restrict their right to regulate in public interest, say MEPs in recommendations approved on Wednesday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The ongoing talks on a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), among countries representing 70% of world trade in services, should deliver a deal that eases EU firms' access to international markets but does not force EU, national and local authorities to open up public services to competition, or otherwise restrict their right to regulate in public interest, say MEPs in recommendations approved on Wednesday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : A move to veto a plan to temporarily raise NOx emission limits for diesel cars was rejected by MEPs on Wednesday, after the EU Commission promised a review clause and tabled a long-term legislative proposal to revamp the EU car approval regime.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : A move to veto a plan to temporarily raise NOx emission limits for diesel cars was rejected by MEPs on Wednesday, after the EU Commission promised a review clause and tabled a long-term legislative proposal to revamp the EU car approval regime.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Talks on a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), with countries representing 70% of world trade in services, should deliver international rules and more opportunities for EU firms to supply services such as transport and telecoms in third countries. But "nothing should prevent EU, national and local authorities from maintaining, improving and applying their laws", notably on labour, social protection and data protection, say MEPs’ recommendations to EU negotiators, voted on 3 February 2016.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Talks on a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), with countries representing 70% of world trade in services, should deliver international rules and more opportunities for EU firms to supply services such as transport and telecoms in third countries. But "nothing should prevent EU, national and local authorities from maintaining, improving and applying their laws", notably on labour, social protection and data protection, say MEPs’ recommendations to EU negotiators, voted on 3 February 2016.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU Commission should not authorize the use of glyphosate-tolerant GM soybeans in food and feed, said Parliament on Wednesday. MEPs note that glyphosate, a herbicide, is classified as “probably carcinogenic” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and that GMOs are being authorized in the EU without the support of member states.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU Commission should not authorize the use of glyphosate-tolerant GM soybeans in food and feed, said Parliament on Wednesday. MEPs note that glyphosate, a herbicide, is classified as “probably carcinogenic” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and that GMOs are being authorized in the EU without the support of member states.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP