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The forced diversion of a Ryanair jet carrying holidaymakers from one EU country to another Greece to Lithuania has rightly been described as state-sponsored hijacking. In this the week of Bob Dylans 80th birthday, the incident was a shocking reminder of Dylans warning that democracy dont rule the world.

What is at immediate issue is the liberty and wellbeing of a young journalist and his girlfriend. Beyond the specific individuals involved, the arrest and silencing of a journalist represent a deliberate assault on press freedom which is more essential than ever today in holding political leaders to account nowhere more so than in countries with undemocratic and repressive regimes such as that of president Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus.

Moreover, the implications of the hijacking go even wider in two important respects. First, the actions of the Belarus government represent a serious threat to a rules-based international order, according to which it should be assumed among other things that civilian aircraft are free to go about their business without fear of air piracy.

This is not the first case of scandalous interference with civilian aircraft. Nor has Lukashenko invented the idea of what may be called transnational repression. One only has to think, for example, of the grotesque murder of another journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul. But the recent Ryanair incident was cynically premeditated and uniquely barefaced.

The second, wider implication of the episode is that it sets an enticing precedent for other countries, including larger countries, for whom the rule of law represents, if not a barrier to their actions, at least some impediment.

The international response to the incident will thus be of immense importance, for the kidnapped journalist, for press freedom more generally and for the rule of international law. The challenge of calibrating and shaping that response falls in the first instance to the European Union, given that the hijacked plane was travelling between two of its member states and owned by an Irish company.

The EU has already imposed several rounds of sanctions against the Belarus government. However, it must now self-evidently take additional urgent and strong measures. Several European governments expressed immediate and justifiable outrage about Lukashenkos behaviour, but the key is further collective action. The EU is not a military power and is sometimes hamstrung by the need for unanimity on all foreign policy matters.

There are those, especially in the pro-Brexit press, who strain at the bit to proclaim the EUs foreign policy to be toothless. This is, of course, nonsense. The EU exercises significant international influence and has immense economic and trade levers, especially in Lukashenkos neighbourhood. But this latest outrage is a direct challenge to the purpose, values and indeed as regards air travel - the practical operation of the European Union. Its response must be commensurate with that challenge and should hit the regime where it hurts.

The EU should, at the same time, act in concert with those who broadly share its commitment to a rules-based international system and to freedom of the press. Nato, of which Greece and Lithuania are both members, has made its position clear. US president Joe Biden, in contrast to how his predecessor Donald Trump is likely to have reacted, has described the hijacking as dangerous and abhorrent. The UK government, now hopefully fully committed after a blip over the Brexit Northern Ireland protocol to implementing international law, has also strongly criticised the Belarus aggression and called for further sanctions. The more the EU and UK can work together in support of their shared values the better.

The extent to which the Russian government may have approved of the hijacking is, as yet, unclear. The fact that the Russian foreign ministry declared itself shocked by European reaction suggests a mindset of which Lukashenko, who depends on Putins support, will have been aware.

Bob Dylan, in A Hard Rains a-Gonna Fall, sang about the sound of thunder that roared out a warning. The hijacking of a Ryanair airplane as well as the ransomware attack on the HSE by Russia-linked hackers both sound clear warnings to this country. They are timely reminders that security is not just about military hardware but also about things like the safety of civilian aircraft and cybercrime. They are a reminder that security is not a dirty word, that we cant afford to bury our heads in the sand, and that we can only assure Irelands own security by working with others, notably with our partners in the European Union.

There seems to be a growing awareness of this in Ireland. A recent Red C poll, conducted on behalf of the European Movement, indicated that 54 per cent of Irish people believe that Ireland should be part of increased EU security and defence co-operation.

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Ryanair hijacking is a direct challenge to values of the European Union - The Irish Times

The European Union's (EU) Covid-19 passport scheme will be up and running from July 1, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said.

The announcement on Friday came a day after negotiators from EU member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission agreed on the regulations that will govern this Covid-19 travel document, Xinhua news agency reported.

The freshly struck deal on the scheme will allow travel in summer, Reynders said at a press conference here, adding that this was "good news for all European citizens".

"All member states must get fully ready during the month of June, so they can hit the ground running," Reynders said.

He added that the European Commission was offering technical support and up to a million euros per state to help.

There will be a six-week transition period for member states that need more time.

The scheme will allow EU citizens to travel more freely within the EU in total health safety and will support economic sectors dependent on free movement, Reynders told journalists.

Three types of certificates will be available free of charge, in paper or digital format: one attesting vaccination with an EU-approved shot; a second showing negative test results; and the third for people who have recovered after having been infected with Covid-19.

Regarding the cost of the required tests, Reynders said the Commission will also mobilise an additional 100 million euros to support member states in providing affordable tests.

The regulation underlines that member states shall refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions on the holders of an EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate, unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health.

"It is in all of our interests to make this work. Citizens will be able to travel safely. Businesses will be able to benefit from their spending, and transport will be able to operate," Reynders said.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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European Union to offer 3 types of Covid-19 passports from July 1 - Business Standard

In addition to seeking limits on flights, European officials called for the immediate release of the journalist, Roman Protasevich, who was detained on Sunday with his partner, Sofia Sapega. His arrest was aggressive even for Mr. Lukashenko, who claimed an improbably large victory in an election last year and was already subject to European Union sanctions.

Airlines are often forced to adjust operations in response to major disruptions, geopolitical and otherwise. This month, for example, several U.S. airlines canceled flights to and from Israel as a conflict there escalated. Some carriers also adjusted procedures, including adding fueling stops, after the hacking of a fuel pipeline company that serves airports on the East Coast of the United States.

In 2014, nearly 300 people were killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine, where hostilities were raging, on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. Western governments blamed the Russian government and Russian-backed rebels fighting the Ukrainian government, while Moscow denied involvement. The Netherlands sued Russia in the European Court of Human Rights last year in an effort to secure evidence that would be useful to families of the victims.

From 2017 until this year, Qatar Airways was forced to avoid airspace over Saudi Arabia and several neighboring countries after they imposed an air, land and sea embargo against Qatar. In some cases, that meant flying longer routes around the Arabian Peninsula. The neighbors accused Qatar of supporting terrorism. Qatar has denied those accusations.

The movement to isolate Belarus will have little effect on U.S. passenger airlines, which rarely fly over the country, according to Flightradar24. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken condemned the forced landing of the Ryanair flight, calling it a shocking act that endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including U.S. citizens. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the safety of U.S. flights over Belarus should be assessed.

But cargo carriers could be affected. On Sunday, for example, more than a dozen flights operated by U.S. airlines flew over Belarus, according to Flightradar24, including five by FedEx, four by UPS and two by Atlas Air.

In a statement, UPS said that its network remained unaffected, but that it was evaluating other flight route options that will provide for the safety of our crews and aircraft, as well as maintain service for our customers in case it had to make changes. FedEx said it was closely monitoring the issue.

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E.U. and Britain Move to Impede Belaruss Access to Air Travel - The New York Times

European Union foreign ministers called on Tuesday for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and boosted humanitarian aid for Gaza, but failed to reach the unanimity that might give the EU leverage in peacemaking. read more

Hungary, Israel's closest ally in the bloc, declined to join the other 26 foreign ministers in calling for a truce on their video call, convened by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Nevertheless, the other ministers vowed that the EU would try to relaunch the peace process along with the United States, Russia and the United Nations.

"As a minimum we can try to get a ceasefire, then provide humanitarian aid, and then see what can be done to restart the Middle East peace process to address the root causes of the violence," Maltese Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo told Reuters.

"We cannot let the extremists on both sides feed off each other and set the agenda," he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in Paris that the Middle East quartet of mediators, comprising the EU, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, was the right forum to push for a resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been moribund since 2014.

"We must relaunch the peace process as quickly as possible and find a path to dialogue," he said.

SLOW TO RESPOND

Weeks of Israeli-Palestinian tensions boiled over into armed conflict at the start of last week, and Turkey in particular has criticised the West's failure to respond quickly. read more

Washington has long been the key broker in Middle East peacemaking, but President Joe Biden did not publicly back the idea of a ceasefire until a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. read more .

The EU is Israel's biggest trade partner and a big aid donor to the Palestinians. But it has been reluctant to use such leverage or discuss possible economic sanctions on Israel's government.

Borrell said he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday.

At least eight smaller EU states, led by Luxembourg and including Belgium, Ireland, Malta and Finland, are vocal defenders of the Palestinians. Several Belgian lawmakers called this week for EU travel bans and asset freezes on Israeli politicians over the violence.

Germany, which still carries a burden of guilt over the Nazi crimes of World War Two, is unwilling to discuss coercive measures against Israel, but pledged 40 million euros ($49 million) on Tuesday in humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.

Others, including Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Poland, are more ready to speak out in Israel's favour. Austria flew an Israeli flag over the federal chancellery in Vienna on Friday. And in Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, Netanyahu has found an ally prepared to block statements or actions critical of Israel.

"The European Union should have, right now, a leading role (in defusing the crisis). It doesn't have that role, either because of differences in approach by member states or because there is no strategic approach from Brussels," Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides told Cypruss Alpha TV.

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EU - minus Hungary - calls for Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire - Reuters

European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The European Commission wants to propose in 2023 a more unified way of taxing companies in the European Union, hoping that such rules, which have failed to win support in the past, will stand a better chance if they follow global OECD solutions expected this year.

The Commission will present a plan on Tuesday including this proposal and other measures for adjusting the EU's business taxation to make it more up to date with the modern world, where cross-border business, often carried out via the Internet, is commonplace.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is to agree in June on global rules on where to tax large multinational corporations like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple or Microsoft and at what effective minimum rate.

The deal is aimed at stopping governments competing with each other through lowering tax rates to attract investment and at creating a way to tax profits in countries where the customers are rather than where a company sets up its office for tax purposes.

The Commission wants to use the OECD deal to propose more unified rules for business taxation for the 27 EU countries, which currently have 27 different tax systems.

"The forthcoming global agreement will mark a decisive step ... in the reform of the international corporate tax system," read a draft statement prepared by the Commission for Tuesday and seen by Reuters.

"At EU level, we must build on this progress and take forward a similarly ambitious business taxation agenda that ensures fair and effective taxation," it said.

The Commission will propose "Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation" or BEFIT: a set of corporate tax rules for the whole of the EU which would allow taxing the same things across the bloc and the allocation of profits for taxation at national rates between EU countries according to a formula.

Key considerations for the formula would include how to give appropriate weight to sales by destination and how to reflect the importance of the market where a multinational group does business. Also important will be how assets, including intangible ones, and labour should be reflected to ensure a balanced distribution of corporate tax revenue across countries with different economic profiles, the draft said.

In a box on the draft statement spelling out a commitment on when the Commission aims to put forward its corporate tax proposal it put a date of 2023.

UNIFIED BUSINESS TAX RULES TO HELP ECONOMY

The Commission believes BEFIT would reduce barriers to cross-border investment, cut red tape and compliance costs in the EU's single market of 450 million people, combat tax avoidance and support jobs, growth and investment.

It would also provide a simpler and fairer way to allocate taxation rights between EU countries and ensure reliable and predictable corporate tax revenues for governments.

But the Commission's ideas for EU corporate taxation rules have failed before.

Since setting tax rates is a jealously guarded prerogative of parliaments, the Commission proposed in 2011 the EU should at least unify what they tax, rather than how much, in a proposal called the Common Corporate Consolidated Tax Base (CCCTB).

But the proposal went nowhere because many EU governments saw it as a foot in the door for the EU to have a say on national tax policies and potentially on actual tax rates later.

"While the principles of a common tax base and of formulary apportionment already featured in the previous CCCTB proposal, the new proposal will reflect the significant changes in the economy and in the international framework," the draft said.

"Most notably, it will seek to build on the approach taken in the forthcoming global agreement in its proposals for the definition of the tax base," it said.

"It will also feature a different apportionment formula, which will better reflect the realities of todays economy and global developments, in particular by taking better account of digitalisation," the draft said.

The Commission also plans to propose next year an EU law forcing large multinationals to publish the effective tax rate they pay in the EU and, by the end of this year, it plans to present a law against the abusive use of shell companies set up just to minimise the tax bill.

By the first quarter of next year the Commission wants to propose a law that would make it less attractive for companies to finance themselves through debt from a tax point of view, and more attractive to use equity.

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EU eyes another go at more unified European business taxation - Reuters