European Union

On 6-13 June, during the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council the 39th session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) Conference will take place in Rome. On 8 June, the Latvian Minister for Agriculture, Jānis Dūklavs, will deliver a speech at the General Debate on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

Tsipras, left, with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday

The Greek government of prime minister Alexis Tsipras has long argued debt relief must be part of any new agreement to complete its current €172bn bailout. But the compromise plan drawn up by its international creditors and presented to Tsipras on Wednesday night in Brussels (obtained by the Greek daily To Vima, and posted here) contains no such promise.

So Athens is intending to present its own restructuring plan that the government claims will cut its burgeoning debt load from the current 180 per cent of gross domestic product to just 93 per cent by 2020.

The plan is touched on in the 47-page counter-proposal Athens sent to its creditors Monday night (see page 44 in the document, posted by the German daily Tagesspiegel here). But it is given a full treatment in a new seven-page document authored by the government and entitled “Ending the Greek Crisis”. Brussels Blog got a copy and posted it here.

The restructuring plan is ambitious, offering ways to reduce the amount of debt held by all four of its public-sector creditors: the European Central Bank, which holds €27bn in Greek bonds purchased starting in 2010; the International Monetary Fund, which is owed about €20bn from bailout loans; individual eurozone member states, which banded together to make €53bn bilateral loans to Athens as part of its first bailout; and the eurozone’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, which picks up the EU’s €144bn in the current programme.

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If all the elements of the new plan are adopted, the Greek government reckons its debt will be back under 60 per cent of GDP – the eurozone’s ceiling agreed under the 1992 Maastricht Treaty – by 2030, as this chart from the document shows:

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On 1-3 June, under the Latvian Presidency, an away day for the Committee of the European Social Fund (ESF) organised by the European Commission (EC) took place in Riga. At the meeting, state administration bodies from the EU Member States together with social partners discussed topical issues related to ESF implementation in each Member State. 

On 1-3 June, under the Latvian Presidency, an away day for the Committee of the European Social Fund (ESF) organised by the European Commission (EC) took place in Riga. At the meeting, state administration bodies from the EU Member States together with social partners discussed topical issues related to ESF implementation in each Member State. 

General : US-Cuba relations, Venezuela´s situation and the Colombia Peace Process were among the topics debated at the eighth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (Eurolat), which opened on Thursday in Brussels. MEPs and members of Latin America’s parliaments are to deliver a political message to the heads of state or government meeting in Brussels on 10-11 June for the European, Latin American and Caribbean Summit (EU-CELAC)

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : US-Cuba relations, Venezuela´s situation and the Colombia Peace Process were among the topics debated at the eighth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (Eurolat), which opened on Thursday in Brussels. MEPs and members of Latin America’s parliaments are to deliver a political message to the heads of state or government meeting in Brussels on 10-11 June for the European, Latin American and Caribbean Summit (EU-CELAC)

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : Bendable and transparent smart phones, lighter air planes... All this and much more could soon become reality thanks to graphene. On 2 June, MEPs discussed with experts the potential of using the wonder material in various sectors, from electronics to health. Nobel Prize laureate Konstantin Novoselov, who co-discovered graphene, said: “Science is the easy part. To develop a technology, you should know what products you are aiming at, and this should be coming from the industry."

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : Bendable and transparent smart phones, lighter air planes... All this and much more could soon become reality thanks to graphene. On 2 June, MEPs discussed with experts the potential of using the wonder material in various sectors, from electronics to health. Nobel Prize laureate Konstantin Novoselov, who co-discovered graphene, said: “Science is the easy part. To develop a technology, you should know what products you are aiming at, and this should be coming from the industry."

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Today`s political trilogue on the EFSI regulation was productive and it was the last one. During the meeting, the last minor political issues were resolved on the proposed regulation on the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI). 

The #mindpower short film project dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Latvian poets Rainis and Aspazija has arrived in sunny southern Italy where it meets the cheerful singer Al Bano.

The ninth EU-Algeria Association Council took place this morning in Brussels.

The Association Council was chaired by Ms Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission. Algeria was represented by H.E. Mr Ramtane Lamamra, Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

This latest meeting of the Association Council enabled the two parties to renew their intention to consolidate the bilateral relationship, not only through the implementation of the Association Agreement, but also through an ambitious political dialogue.

In this connection, the Association Council was an opportunity to reflect on common challenges.  The two parties reviewed the latest developments on Libya, the Malian crisis and combatting terrorism and preventing radicalisation. They also discussed migration and energy cooperation, marked this year by the holding of the first high-level dialogue on energy. The progress of integration in the Maghreb region was also discussed.

The EU and Algeria noted a convergence of views on the review of the European Neighbourhood Policy and reiterated their commitment to concluding negotiations on the action plan in 2015. In this context, both parties expressed their interest in the continuation of political, institutional and socio-economic reforms in Algeria aimed at strengthening democracy and good governance, through an inclusive dialogue with all elements of civil society. To that end, the two parties reviewed bilateral cooperation priorities, including the diversification of the economy and the strengthening of citizen participation in public life.

The parties also addressed the subject of the protection and defence of human rights. The EU welcomed the recent reforms adopted on the advancement of women. Concerning the right of association, the right to assembly and the freedom of assembly, the EU encouraged Algeria to strengthen its cooperation with the United Nations system in order to align itself more closely with the international standards in this field.

As regards technical cooperation, the two parties signed a protocol to the Association Agreement allowing Algeria to participate in Euro-Mediterranean programmes. Algeria will consequently be able to take part in 20 EU programmes, such as COSME (SMEs), Horizon 2020 (research) and Creative Europe (culture and media).

General : "We cannot have sustainable development without addressing social, development and environmental issues," said Sam Kahamba Kutesa, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, during his visit to the Parliament on 3 June. He was there do discuss new Sustainable Development Goals with the foreign affairs committee. We talked to him about issues such as climate change and migration.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : "We cannot have sustainable development without addressing social, development and environmental issues," said Sam Kahamba Kutesa, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, during his visit to the Parliament on 3 June. He was there do discuss new Sustainable Development Goals with the foreign affairs committee. We talked to him about issues such as climate change and migration.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP