European Union

Every year the European Public Affairs Consultancies’ Association (EPACA) organises an essay contest for young Public Affairs professionals to discuss a topic of relevance to the industry. This year, EPACA wanted to know participants’ ideas on how to improve public trust in EU public affairs. A question key to Public Affairs professionals and which makes us rethink our relation to and responsibility towards a critical actor in European politics: the European people.

After all, EU citizens remain the pillar of the European Union. Their voice, whether it is dimmed or amplified by their national and European representatives, remains the fundamental source of legitimacy for any politician and stakeholder involved in politics. Indeed, without a certain level of approval from the European general public, individuals or organisations who want to impact on EU affairs loses significant support and credibility; and the more those are lost at the bottom, the more limited the effect at the top will be. Hence why public trust in EU public affairs is so critical, and why it is essential for businesses to keep thinking about what it takes to ensure and improve it. Our research executive Anne Sauviat was the winner of the EPACA Essay Competition and provided some answers to this challenging but crucial question.

How to improve public trust in EU public affairs?

 To what extent are EU public affairs public? Which ‘public’ is actually encompassed under such appellation? These are important questions when thinking about the issue of public trust in EU public affairs for a reason: trust comes from a feeling of inclusion, which itself encompasses both a physical and symbolic dimension.

Apathy and skepticism have increasingly taken over public opinion on European politics. This mistrust is notably due to Europeans feeling alienated from a political environment and process they expect to be integral to. Yet, many perceive European politics as unreachable and incomprehensible conversations between political, economic and industrial elites. In this context, public affairs consultancies mainly appear as illegitimate intermediaries influencing EU politicians for private stakeholders ‘ interests.

Thus, building trust in EU public affairs necessitates overcoming the negative connotation they often assume. The notion and activity of lobbying should be brought back to its original meaning and purpose: providing decision-makers with practical information on topics they are not necessarily fully aware of, and informing them of the demands from the various groups of the civil society they represent. European public affairs would be better acknowledged if they were given a more ‘positive’ definition and if their relevance for both public and private entities were promoted.

Public trust also relies on the transparency of the information and services exchanged by the various actors (in)directly involved in the European political process. Giving accessibility to such data helps the public better understand and confide in the reliability of politically-invested individuals and organisations.

Finally, beyond the status of witnesses, European citizens should be more extensively and actively included in the public affairs debates. The new methods of communication and wide range of social media can significantly contribute to the ‘re-democratisation’  of European public affairs and their relative re-appropriation by the general public.

Anne Sauviat

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Habib Essid met the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Human Rights and Security and Defence subcommittees on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in his country. Security challenges, fighting terrorism and tackling migration flows were the key issues raised in the debate.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Habib Essid met the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Human Rights and Security and Defence subcommittees on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in his country. Security challenges, fighting terrorism and tackling migration flows were the key issues raised in the debate.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Habib Essid met the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Human Rights and Security and Defence subcommittees on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in his country. Security challenges, fighting terrorism and tackling migration flows were the key issues raised in the debate.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

A deal struck by MEPs and Council of Ministers negotiators in the small hours of Thursday morning means the architecture of the Juncker plan to unlock €315 billion public and private investments in the real economy in 2015-2017 can now be put to a European Parliament vote on 24 June and the investment programme can kick off in the summer.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

A deal struck by MEPs and Council of Ministers negotiators in the small hours of Thursday morning means the architecture of the Juncker plan to unlock €315 billion public and private investments in the real economy in 2015-2017 can now be put to a European Parliament vote on 24 June and the investment programme can kick off in the summer.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

On 28 May 2015 the Council confirmed a political agreement on the reform of the Travel Package Directive.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_c96321.r21.cf3.rackcdn.com/15390_169_full_129_97shar_c1.jpg

Relations between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States are a particularly important aspect of the EU development cooperation policy.

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Thursday 28 May (Internal market - Industry)

+/- 08.55     Presidency doorstep by Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola
+/- 09.30     Beginning of Competitiveness Council meeting
                     Adoption of the agenda
+/- 09.40     Adoption of legislative A items (in public session)
+/- 09.50     Package travel (in public session)
+/- 10.30     Product safety package (in public session)
+/- 12.15     Single-member private limited companies (in public session)
+/- 13.15     Trade mark package (in public session)
+/- 13.30     Lunch
+/- 15.00     Adoption of non-legislative A items
+/- 15.05     Digital single market policy
+/- 17.05     Any Other Business:
                    - Implementation of the unitary patent
                    - Update on the implementation of the communication on defence
                    - Small Business Act
                    - Monitoring of Competitiveness Council conclusions
                    - Work programme of the incoming Presidency
+/- 18.30     Press conference    

Friday 29 May (Research - Innovation)  

+/- 09.20     Presidency doorstep by Minister Mārīte Seile
+/- 10.00     European Research Area (ERA) roadmap 2015-2020
+/- 10.15     Review of the ERA advisory structure
+/- 10.45     Open and excellent European Science: follow up to Science 2.0 public consultation
+/- 12.45     Open, data-intensive and networked research: faster and wider innovation
+/- 13.00     Any Other Business: Work programme of the incoming Presidency
+/- 13.10     Press conference

 

The European Union and Switzerland on 27 May 2015 signed an agreement on the automatic exchange of financial account information, aimed at improving international tax compliance.

The agreement represents an important step in ongoing efforts to clamp down on tax fraud and tax evasion. It upgrades a 2004 agreement that ensured that Switzerland applied measures equivalent to those in an EU directive on the taxation of savings income.

Under the agreement, the EU and Switzerland will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other's residents, starting in 2018. The aim is to address situations where a taxpayer seeks to hide capital representing income or assets for which tax has not been paid.

The text was signed in Brussels:

• on behalf of the European Union, by Jānis Reirs, minister for finance of Latvia and president of the Council;
• on behalf of Switzerland, by Jacques de Watteville, state secretary for international financial matters.

The signature took place in the presence of Pierre Moscovici, commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs, who also signed the document.

"Today's agreement shows that the EU's member states and Switzerland are not only politically committed to promoting fair competition in taxation together. We also share the aim of improving international tax compliance on the basis of a reciprocal automatic exchange of information on accounts held by financial institutions", said Mr Reirs.

The agreement ensures that Switzerland applies strengthened measures that are equivalent to the EU directive, as upgraded in March 2014. It also complies with the automatic exchange of financial account information promoted by a 2014 OECD global standard.

There are provisions intended to limit the opportunities for taxpayers to avoid being reported to the tax authorities by shifting assets or investing in products that are outside the scope of the agreement. Information to be exchanged concerns not only income such as interest and dividends, but also account balances and proceeds from the sale of financial assets.

Tax administrations in the member states and in Switzerland will be able to:

• identify correctly and unequivocally the taxpayers concerned;
• administer and enforce their tax laws in cross-border situations;
• assess the likelihood of tax evasion being perpetrated;
• avoid unnecessary further investigations.

The EU and Switzerland must now conclude the agreement in time to enable entry into force on 1 January 2017.

Introduction

1.             The Post-2015 Agenda presents a great opportunity to address the interlinked challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development. Making the most of this is a key priority for the EU and its Member States. In its conclusions of 16 December 2014, the Council set out the EU's position on how to do so in a universal and transformative manner. These conclusions complement the December 2014 conclusions and further develop aspects of the new global partnership needed to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).   

2.             To implement such a far-reaching agenda, a new global partnership for poverty eradication and sustainable development is required. It should transform and strengthen the way in which the international community works together.

3.             Significant progress has already been achieved. The proposal from the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing and the UN Secretary-General's synthesis report show that an agreement on an ambitious Post-2015 Agenda for people and the planet leaving no-one behind is within reach.

The Council on 26 May 2015 participated in a meeting with the European Parliament and the Commission to discuss the issue of the outstanding bills in the EU budget. The Council and the European Parliament took note of the Commission's outlook according to which the backlog of outstanding payment claims for the 2007-2013 cohesion programmes could decrease to around €2.0 billion by the end of 2016. At the end of 2014 the backlog of outstanding payment claims for the 2007-2013 cohesion policy programmes reached a peak of €24.7 billion.  

Reasons that contributed to phasing out

The difficult decisions taken by the two arms of the EU budgetary authority have contributed to stabilize and reduce the backlog. Thus, in 2013 the Council and the Parliament approved an increase in payments of around €11.8 billion. At the end of last year the two arms of the EU budgetary authority agreed to increase payments in the 2014 EU budget and to mobilise the contingency margin to tackle the unprecedented level of unpaid bills. The expected reduction in the backlog is also due to a significant decrease in payment claims for cohesion programmes for 2007-2013 which is likely over the next months as these programmes come to a close.

Early warning system 

The inter-institutional meeting took note of a draft joint statement on a payment plan for 2015-2016 agreed between the Latvian presidency and representatives of the Parliament and the Commission on 19 May 2015. The draft joint statement includes a commitment by the two arms of the EU budgetary authority to phase out the unsustainable backlog of outstanding payment claims for the 2007-2013 cohesion programmes, and moreover to avoid a similar build-up of backlog in the future. The Commission is called upon to scrutinize closely the implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes and to set-up an early warning system.  

Background 

The draft joint statement on a payment plan is a result of the package deal reached in December 2014 on a number of draft amending budgets for 2014 and the 2015 EU budget. As part of this package the Council, the Parliament and the Commission undertook to agree on a payment plan to reduce the level of unpaid bills before the Commission presents its draft budget for 2016.  

Next steps

The draft joint statement will be submitted to the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee on 27 May, with the approval by the EU finance ministers scheduled for 19 June. The Commission will present its draft budget for 2016 on 27 May.

On 26 May the EU and Timor-Leste signed a short-stay visa waiver agreement at a ceremony that took place in Brussels. On behalf of the EU, the agreement was signed by H. E. Ilze Juhansone, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Latvia, Chairman of the Permanent Representatives Committee, and by Yolanda Gallego-Casilda Grau, Head of Unit "Visa Policy", European Commission. For Timor Leste, Roberto Sarmento de Oliveira Soares, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, signed the agreement.  

The new visa regime provides for visa-free travel for EU citizens when travelling to the territory of Timor-Leste 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 order to benefit from visa-free travel, citizens from the EU and Timor-Leste must be in possession of a valid ordinary, diplomatic, service/official or special passport. Visa-free travel applies to all categories of persons and for any kind of purposes of travel (for instance tourism, cultural visits, scientific activities, family visits, business etc.), except to persons travelling for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity.  

The decision on the conclusion of the agreement will now be sent to the European Parliament with a view to obtaining its consent before it can be concluded. However, it will apply on a provisional basis as from 26 May 2015.

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

Latvian Presidency and the European Parliament on 28 May 2015 after lengthy discussions over 12,5 hours, turning to be the longest trialogue in the ECOFIN history, reached a provisional agreement on a regulation on a European fund for strategic investments (EFSI) aimed at stimulating the economy.

General : A deal struck by MEPs and Council of Ministers negotiators in the small hours of Thursday morning means the architecture of the Juncker plan to unlock €315 billion public and private investments in the real economy in 2015-2017 can now be put to a European Parliament vote on 24 June and the investment programme can kick off in the summer.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : A deal struck by MEPs and Council of Ministers negotiators in the small hours of Thursday morning means the architecture of the Juncker plan to unlock €315 billion public and private investments in the real economy in 2015-2017 can now be put to a European Parliament vote on 24 June and the investment programme can kick off in the summer.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : Several major Western news organisations have been hit by politically motivated cyber-attacks over the past few years, mostly in retaliation for their critical coverage of events, countries or movements such as the Syrian regime or Islamic State. MEPs discussed on 27 May how the EU could help to counter such attacks. Check out our timeline to learn more about the attacks and read on to find out how the EU could help.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : Several major Western news organisations have been hit by politically motivated cyber-attacks over the past few years, mostly in retaliation for their critical coverage of events, countries or movements such as the Syrian regime or Islamic State. MEPs discussed on 27 May how the EU could help to counter such attacks. Check out our timeline to learn more about the attacks and read on to find out how the EU could help.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : Europe should focus on saving lives when dealing with migration, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a speech at the European Parliament on 27 May. During the plenary session he called attention to the 1,800 people who drowned while crossing the Mediterranean this year: “Europe has an important role to play and a collective responsibility to act. Saving lives should be the priority.” He also discussed sustainable development and preventing violent extremism.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP