European Union

General : Tax rulings, EU-Russia relations, Turkey’s reform progress, boosting free trade with the US, empowering women in Africa and the current situation in Georgia are all on the Parliament's agenda when MEPs gather this week in Brussels. Political groups will also prepare for the plenary session in Strasbourg on 18-21 May. Meanwhile Parliament President Martin Schulz will be awarded the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : Tax rulings, EU-Russia relations, Turkey’s reform progress, boosting free trade with the US, empowering women in Africa and the current situation in Georgia are all on the Parliament's agenda when MEPs gather this week in Brussels. Political groups will also prepare for the plenary session in Strasbourg on 18-21 May. Meanwhile Parliament President Martin Schulz will be awarded the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Dr Denis Mukwege will join the Development Committee to debate how empowering women in Africa can foster the overall development of societies and why addressing health and human security is a prerequisite for progress in developing countries. Dr Mukwege was awarded the Sakharov Prize 2014 for his work for the victims of sexual violence in Eastern Congo's Kivu provinces.
Committee on Development

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Dr Denis Mukwege will join the Development Committee to debate how empowering women in Africa can foster the overall development of societies and why addressing health and human security is a prerequisite for progress in developing countries. Dr Mukwege was awarded the Sakharov Prize 2014 for his work for the victims of sexual violence in Eastern Congo's Kivu provinces.
Committee on Development

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

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One of the new A400M military transport aircraft crashed Saturday, May 9 near Seville in southern Spain. It was a test flight, conducted systematically before a new airplane is delivered to the customer. This usually occurs with a reduced crew. This is the first accident of this type of device since its commissioning. The aircraft informed the control tower to report a problem, before rushing toward the ground. The crew was Spanish and the accident has cost four lives.
The manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space, a subsidiary of European aerospace group (former EADS, up to 2013), which assembles the A400M at its factory in Seville, Andalusia, said in a statement that the plane was destined for Turkey. Airbus was not able to provide details of the accident, but has formed a crisis unit.

The first copy of the new European aircraft was delivered to France in 2013. Since then, Turkey and Germany have also taken delivery. Equipped with four turboprop engines, the A400M can carry up to 37 tons on 3300 km, land on unprepared terrain like sand, with a cargo of tanks or helicopters. The device has experienced many delays in its production and in its deliveries and accumulated an overbudget of 6.2 billion euros (around 30%).
Airbus has high hopes for this device that hits the market when its US competitors are at an end, including the C-130 developed there over 50 years. A total of 174 copies have been ordered to date, including 50 from France, 53 from Germany, 27 from Spain and 22 from the UK.

Following the crash of the Saturday A400M, Germany, the UK and Turkey have decided to stop their planes. If other countries are waiting for the identification of disaster`s causes, France has meanwhile decided to keep its six A400M in service but only "for priority flights," said the Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

In March 2015, the Royal Air Force has received its second A400M transport aircraft "Atlas". And one of the six aircraft delivered to the Air Force will going to fly, this March 6, around the world, in 15 days, 11 stops and 3 days, 2 hours and 20 minutes of cumulative flight (Transall C-160 would require three times as long). And that in order to ensure the commercial promotion of the device in Australia, check the availability of land and Faa'a Tontouta in New Caledonia and measure crew`s fatigue and alertness during the long trips.

These appearances are deceiving. After being rescued in 2010 while additional costs and delays mounted, the A400M program traverses a zone of turbulence again, which led to the replacement of Airbus military aviation branch`s director, Domingo Ureña-Raso by Fernando Alonso. The first A400M delivered in December to the German army, would have been found some "875 shortcomings" ... Hence the severe criticism of the manufacturer by Berlin, which also wants to replace as soon as its C-160 Transall suffering a serious problem of availability. "There is more at stake than the single image of an industrial company, it is question of the reliability of Germany in its alliances' military even said Ursula von der Leyen, the German Minister of Defense. And estimate that Airbus "seemed to have a problem with understanding the quality of a product". French Air Force was to receive 4 planes in 2015, it will have to settle for just 2. And Again, if all goes well as the delivery of the second aircraft is expected to occur at the end of the year.

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L`une des nouveaux avions de transport militaire A400M s'est écrasé samedi, le 9 mai près de Séville, dans le sud de l'Espagne. Il s'agissait d'un vol d'essai, réalisé systématiquement avant qu'un nouvel appareil soit livré au client. Il s'effectue généralement avec un équipage réduit. C'est le premier accident de ce type d'appareil depuis sa mise en service. L'avion a informé la tour de contrôle pour lui signaler un problème, avant de foncer vers le sol. L'équipage était espagnol et l`accident a coûté la vie à quatre personnes.

Le constructeur Airbus Defence and Space, filiale du groupe aéronautique européen (EADS jusqu`à 2013) qui assemble l'A400M dans son usine de Séville, en Andalousie, a indiqué dans un communiqué que cet avion était destiné à la Turquie. Airbus n'a pas été en mesure de donner des détails sur l'accident, mais a constitué une cellule de crise.

Le premier exemplaire de ce nouvel avion européen a été livré à la France en 2013. Depuis, la Turquie et l'Allemagne en ont également pris livraison. Équipé de quatre turbopropulseurs, l'A400M peut transporter jusqu'à 37 tonnes sur 3.300 kilomètres, se poser sur des terrains non préparés comme le sable, avec à son bord des blindés ou des hélicoptères. L'appareil a connu de nombreux retards dans sa fabrication puis dans ses livraisons et a accumulé un dépassement de budget de 6,2 milliards d'euros (environ 30%).
Airbus a de grands espoirs pour cet appareil qui arrive sur le marché quand ses concurrents américains sont en bout de course, notamment le C-130 conçu il y a plus de 50 ans. Au total, 174 exemplaires ont été commandés à ce jour, dont 50 par la France, 53 par l'Allemagne, 27 par l'Espagne et 22 par le Royaume-Uni.

Suite au crash de l'A400M de samedi, l'Allemagne, le Royaume-Uni et la Turquie ont décidé d'immobiliser leurs avions. Si les autres pays attendent que soient identifiées les causes de la catastrophe, la France a quant à elle décidé de garder ses six A400M en service mais seulement "pour les vols prioritaires", a précisé le ministre de la Défense Jean-Yves Le Drian.

En mars 2015 le Royal Air Force vient de recevoir son deuxième avion de transport A400M « Atlas ». Et un des six exemplaires livrés à l’armée de l’Air va boucler, ce 6 mars, un tour du monde accompli en 15 jours, 11 escales et 3 jours, 2 heures et 20 minutes de vol cumulé (un Transall C-160 aurait besoin de trois fois plus de temps). Et cela afin d’assurer la promotion commerciale de l’appareil en Australie, de vérifier l’accessibilité des terrains de Faa’a et Tontouta en Nouvelle-Calédonie et de mesurer la fatigue et le niveau de vigilance des équipages sur de longs trajets.

Ces apparences sont trompeuses. Après avoir été sauvé en 2010 alors que les surcoûts et les retards s’accumulaient, le programme A400M traverse à nouveau une zone de turbulences, ce qui a conduit au remplacement du directeur de la branche aviation militaire chez Airbus, Domingo Ureña-Raso par Fernando Alonso. Sur le premier A400M livré en décembre à l’armée allemande, il aurait été constaté quelques « 875 manquements »… D’où les sévères critiques adressées au constructeur par Berlin, qui veut par ailleurs remplacer au plus vite ses Transall C-160 qui souffrent d’un sérieux problème de disponibilité. « Il y a plus en jeu que la seule image d’une entreprise industrielle, il est question de la fiabilité de l’Allemagne dans ses alliances » militaires, a même déclaré Mme Ursula von der Leyen, le ministre allemand de la Défense. Et d’estimer qu’Airbus « semblait avoir un problème avec sa compréhension de la qualité d’un produit ».L`armée de l’Air française devait recevoir 4 avions en 2015, elle devra s’en contenter de seulement 2. Et encore, si tout va bien étant donné que la livraison du second avion devrait avoir lieu à la fin de l’année.

Source : Sudouest.fr et Zone militaire

Language English Tag: A400M

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To celebrate Europe day, held every year on 9 May, the EU institutions open their doors to the public. Visitors to the Council are be able to take guided tours of the facilities and learn more about the work of the institutions on the available information stands. Events and activities for all ages take place throughout the day.

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Wow isn’t my timing great! Just as I decide to wind down my European blogging, the Conservatives go and get a majority and an In/Out referendum is on the table for 2017. Under those circumstances, I think even the Australians will be a bit more interested in EU issues, so I’ll write a bit more about them than I have been doing!

So what are my thoughts on this the day after? I’m not a big fan of referenda in general – we have a representative democracy and in the absence of clear instructions, as in the Irish constitution, on which issues should go to a referendum, it seems to me to be either a cop out or a buck pass. As in UK politics in general, matters get reduced to a simple black/white, when we know that they are almost always more nuanced than that.

Having said that, if there is one, then bring it on. I’m not worried about having a chance to have the debate, and within a referendum campaign, I am hoping that those who see our membership of the EU as a necessity, or something of importance, but have had no real reason to articulate that publicly, may now be prepared to stand up and be counted. Hopefully there will be more room in public debate for both, or rather all, sides of the argument. Hopefully we will move on from a situation where three-quarters of the stories in the BBC’s UK and the EU section are about Nigel Farage.

Screenshot from BBC iPad app on 9 May 2015

 

The interesting dimension is Scotland, and also Wales and Northern Ireland. If English votes take the UK out of the EU, how will that play in those home nations that have tended to have a more realistic if not necessarily positive relationship with the EU?

These are certainly going to be “interesting times” for a Eurogeek, whichever side of the world I will be on in 2017.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called again for the bloc to build an army, saying a flock of hens posed more of a threat than its current military capabilities. "A bunch of chickens looks like a combat formation compared to the foreign and security policy of the European Union," Juncker told a Brussels forum in typically lively language.
"I always call for a European army as a long-term project. It is not something you can build from scratch tomorrow morning," he said. Juncker has consistently backed the idea that the EU's 28 member nations — all no strangers to a bloody, war-torn past — should accept a military arm, a need highlighted by the Ukraine crisis. "A common army among the Europeans would convey to Russia that we are serious about defending the values of the European Union," he told Germany's Welt am Sonntag in March.

A joint EU force would also rationalize defense spending and drive further EU integration. For many European Union states, however, defense is a no-go area, with Britain especially hostile to sacrificing what it sees as a core sovereign prerogative to Brussels.Britain also insists that NATO, the US-led military alliance set up to hold the Cold War line against the Soviet Union, should remain the focus of European defense efforts. Juncker told the forum that considering the current fragmented state of EU military readiness, it was perfectly "right that central and eastern European countries put their trust primarily in NATO." "The 28 armies are just not up to it," he added.

EU leaders are due to review the bloc's security policy at a June summit to take on board the threat posed by a more assertive Russia and turmoil across North Africa and the Middle East. Analysts say it is unlikely to lead to radical changes in the current very limited joint military operations undertaken by the EU, such as the Atalanta anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa.

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Tag: JunckerCFSPCSDP

OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the use of Passenger Name Record data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Arnaud Danjean

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

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On 14 November 2005, the Council established an EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS) under the European Security and Defence Policy. The operational phase began on 1 January 2006 with an initial duration of 3 years.

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A Tory government, sceptic on the EU, with a small majority sounds familiar – think of the Major government in the 1990s (though with a majority then of 21 well ahead of Cameron’s slender advantage). But little else looked the same as politicians, pundits and the public alike surveyed the new British political scene on Friday morning.

Within minutes of the UK’s polls closing on Thursday evening, an election outcome no one had predicted was harshly outlined by the exit polls: a Tory majority government, a complete wipe-out for the Lib-Dems nationwide, and a dreadful and hugely disappointing overall result for Labour, with their wipe-out in Scotland by the Scottish Nationalist Party every bit as bad as Labour’s worst scenarios.

Big names fell throughout the night – Labour’s Douglas Alexander went early on, later shadow Chancellor Ed Balls after a recount in the grey light of the next morning. Vince Cable, Simon Hughes, Charles Kennedy, Danny Alexander and many other Lib-Dems saw their parliamentary careers ended, while Nick Clegg kept his seat only to gaze out over a rump Lib-Dem contingent of 8 MPs down from 57. The Lib-Dem share of the UK-wide vote was under 8%, a debacle from which there may be no return. By early breakfast time, pundits were wondering if it would be Clegg or Miliband to step down first; in the event, UKIP’s Nigel Farage beat them to it, resigning first, then Clegg shortly before midday and Miliband less than 30 minutes later. The face of British politics changed in one short hour.

The two big victors of the night were David Cameron and Nicola Sturgeon. Cameron is back in Downing Street with a majority no poll had predicted before election day and that the Tories hadn’t dared to dream of. And Nicola Sturgeon led the SNP to victory in 56 out of Scotland’s 59 MPs – up 50 MPs from 2010. As one Scottish journalist put it ironically on Twitter, there were even so more Unionist MPs in Scotland than pandas (three MPs – one each of Labour, LibDem and Tory, with just two pandas on loan from China in Edinburgh zoo).

The UK’s first-past-the post system delivered the Tories their small but so unexpected majority with about 37% of the vote, while the landslide in Scotland reflected the SNP getting over 50% of Scotland’s votes. Labour was  wiped out in its historic heartland of Scotland, despite – or indeed very much linked to – the ‘no’ vote in the independence referendum. The UK Independence Party with its anti-EU, anti-migration, Little Englander stance came out of the night as the UK’s third biggest party in percentage terms – around 12% – but only one MP. Leader Nigel Farage failed to win his target seat and promised (before his resignation) to fight for proportional representation, something that David Cameron is not likely to be spending time on in the next five years.

EU Referendum, potential Brexit on Cards

David Cameron has said very clearly that he would not govern again without holding an EU referendum, so that prospect will now move centre stage. He has also said it would be by 2017, yet it is very unclear how any treaty change could be agreed and ratified by the EU’s 28 member states in such a short time scale, but that will be his aim.

Cameron’s likely demands for EU reform are fuzzy and have changed often in the last couple of years. Migration, despite its prominence in the British political debate in the last few years, did not figure centrally in the election campaign, but issues of controlling and restricting other EU citizens from UK benefits is likely to figure strongly in Cameron’s demand for EU reforms, but what sort of changes other member states will support is less than clear.

Still, with a possible ‘Brexit’ now on the cards, other EU leaders, however reluctant given the ‘awkward squad’ approach of the UK to EU affairs, will mostly do what they can  to keep the UK in while protecting their own interests. The most recent polls put the ‘yes’ vote for staying in ahead, but much can change in a country with a Tory government with a small majority and a strong right-wing agenda, a large eurosceptic UKIP contingent, a wiped-out Lib-Dem party, and a Union with Scotland fraying rapidly.

While the main focus in EU politics for the Cameron-led government will be the referendum, the loss of British influence in the EU over the last five years – from a low profile on Ukraine and Turkey, to no influence over budgetary policies – is likely to continue along with the UK’s wider lessening of global foreign policy influence.

Future cuts in public expenditure are likely to lead to a harsher atmosphere, with unpredictable impacts on opinion on the EU. The Tories’ promised cuts are likely to leave the British state a much smaller share of national income than, in some predictions, since the 1930s. The Tories promised £12 billion in cuts from the welfare budget heralds some drastic attacks on poorer people’s benefits, from young people to the disabled and sick.

Independence for Scotland on the cards again

The bonds linking the four countries of the United Kingdom are now visibly strained to a new level with Scotland and England heading in such different directions politically. The vote in Scotland was in many ways positive, representing a new, positive engagement with politics across the country, including a more positive outlook on the EU, on migration, as well as a strong anti-austerity position. But the SNP will have little influence over Cameron’s majority government (though in his first statement on the steps of no 10, Cameron promised more devolution soon), and the chance of a majority at Westminster with Labour disappeared in the earlier hours of Thursday night.

In the middle of election night, Nicola Sturgeon insisted that this vote was not one about independence, but held out the possibility that elections to the Scottish Parliament due next year would indeed potentially bring the issue up all over again. Any ‘no’ in the now definite EU referendum would also clearly propel the more pro-EU Scots towards an independence ‘yes’. The UK’s historic 300-year existence is now under question like never before.

Where next for the UK?

Cameron has said he would not serve a third term as Prime Minister, so his fellow cabinet ministers will  surely be setting out their stalls very soon to succeed him as leader, and contenders will doubtless be pushing for a leadership election in two years’ time rather than the three or four that Cameron might prefer.

The UK has a clearer government now than many had expected, but the future of the UK, as a country and in the EU, is anything but clear.

 

 

IMAGE CREDITS: CC / FLICKR – UK Parliament

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So it would appear that we will have a Conservative Government with a small majority in the House of Commons. A single party governing over a divided country means the first priority will be dealing with divisions within the United Kingdom – most notably the ‘Scottish question’. Yet of equal importance for this government will be the question of Europe.

David Cameron promised to hold a referendum on British membership of the EU before the end of 2017 if re-elected to Downing Street. Such is the desire to see this amongst his back benchers that Europe might be the issue that maintains discipline among them for other government business – at least until a referendum campaign begins.

Ironically, it may be that the result is the best that those concerned with seeing Britain continue as a member of the EU over the medium term could have hoped for. The UK is now certain to hold a referendum which it would not have had if Ed Miliband had triumphed. Yet, and perhaps more significantly, Cameron’s victory means that the conditions under which this referendum will be held will be more favourable than virtually any conceivable alternative.

For one thing, the ability of the Tory right to talk of a UKIP threat may now be limited; UKIP won only a single seat, which was not claimed by party leader Nigel Farage. More importantly, support for UKIP seems to have affected Labour as much as the Conservatives, notably the defeat inflicted on Ed Balls by the Conservatives, where UKIP polled around 7,000. One potential implication of this is that these backbenchers will find it much harder to bully the Prime Minister when he comes to drawing up the wishlist for his much-vaunted ‘re-negotiation’ of the terms of EU membership.

This in turn increases the likelihood that David Cameron will campaign in favour of continued membership following a re-negotiation that is more likely to succeed. Thus, both major national parties alongside, presumably, the SNP, will come out against ‘Brexit’.

Given this, and despite the suspicion with which the British press – particularly the tabloids – is viewed by Europhiles, it seems likely that only the Daily Express will openly campaign for ‘Brexit’. It will be interesting to see how the Murdoch press approaches the referendum campaign, but my bet would be that metaphors about ‘holding ones nose and voting to stay in’ will be thick on the ground.

Finally – and this would have been the case whatever government had been elected – the business community will come out overwhelmingly in favour of continued membership. However unpopular some in business – notably the banks – may be, their capacity to induce fear was on open display at the time of the Scottish independence referendum and will doubtless be at the fore again in a referendum on EU membership.

Support for British membership has been rising steadily over the last year or so, and this combination of political and broader contextual factors points to a victory for the anti-Brexit camp. For all the uncertainty the prospect of a referendum might seem to bring, there is room for some optimism for those keen to see the UK continue as an EU member.

Of course there are caveats. Perhaps the overwhelming lesson of last night for all those – particularly academics – interested in politics is that polls must be taken with a pinch of salt. And referenda are, of course, particularly unpredictable.

Events in Scotland point to the fact that one referendum may not be enough. For all the rhetoric of some Europhiles that a popular vote on EU membership might ‘lance the boil’ or ‘empty the poison from’ UK-EU relations, it is conceivable that one referendum will lead to calls for a second.

All this being said, it seems that we are finally at a point where the British can have a genuine debate on EU membership. The election campaign warns us that this campaign might not be an exercise in soaring rhetoric and clarity of vision, but that chance for a proper debate is welcome. Were I a betting man – which, after last night, I no longer am – I would place my stake on the public voting to remain in the club.

 

 

IMAGE CREDITS: CC / FLICKR – Council of the European Union

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