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On 25 February 2021, the Council adopted Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/353 [1]amending Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP.

The Council Decision prolongs the restrictive measures against Belarus for one year, until 28 February 2022.

The Candidate Countries the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania[2] and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this Council Decision.

They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.

[1] Published on 26.02.2021 in the Official Journal of the European Union no. L 68, p.189

[2] The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain third countries concerning restrictive measures against Belarus...

Read: The one area where the U.S. COVID-19 strategy seems to be working

The European Union is partly to blame for this debacle. It approached vaccine procurement in its right-minded European way, using the purchasing power of a bloc that represents 446 million people to negotiate for lower prices, and protecting the peoples interests by holding pharmaceutical companies responsible in case of problems with new vaccines rushed to market. By contrast, early last year, Donald Trump and his British fraternal twin, Boris Johnson, moved swiftly to partner with drug companies in vaccine development, dismissed liability concerns, and secured first dibs on the end product.

So far, the Anglo-American approach looks like the better one: The United States is already awash with vaccines, and expects more than a billion doses to be delivered by the end of this year. Americans are getting vaccinated at an astonishing clipan average of 2 million shots in a single daywhile here in France, three months into the vaccination campaign, only 2.5 million people, out of a population of 67 million, had been fully vaccinated as of March 24. The United Kingdom has also been vaccinating up a storm. Add a little post-Brexit bitterness to our seething European envy when we see more than 844,000 people vaccinated on a single day in Britain. While less than 10 percent of the French population has received a first dose at this point, 29 million Britons have had their first jab.

The bitterness we feel watching Britain and the United States do better is compounded by a sense of unfairness. European countries, unlike the majority of countries in the world, have the wherewithal to produce their own COVID-19 vaccines. AstraZeneca is an Anglo-Swedish company. Pfizers vaccine was developed jointly with BioNTech, which is German. The multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson manufactures in Europe. The problem is that not all the vaccines produced in Europe stay in Europe. While the European Union has struggled to fulfill its vaccine needs, its been exporting vaccines to countries around the worldsome 41 million doses to more than 30 countries, including 10 million to Britain and even a million doses to the United States. Exasperated, the EU moved on March 24 to block for six weeks the export of vaccines produced in Europe to countries with higher vaccination rates.

Read: Britains vaccine nationalism

Europes frustrations are particularly understandable with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A multinational giant with a global supply chain, J&J produces COVID-19 vaccine in Europe and ships it to the United States for bottling. But the finished vials are blocked from being re-exported to Europe, thanks to an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components, the European Council president, Charles Michel, has complained. Europe learned during the Trump years that it could not count on the United States. Its learning now that in an era of vaccine nationalism, the moral high ground of international cooperation has yielded in the United States and Britain to an our-people-first-because-we-can approach to a terrible global crisis.

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Why America Is Beating Europe on Vaccination - The Atlantic

March 29-31, 2021 Virtual Joint Workshop to Explore Cleantech Opportunities Created by the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

VANCOUVER, BC, March 24, 2021 /CNW/ - Canadian and European cleantech industry stakeholders, investors, policy-makers and leaders with an interest in joint market opportunities are invited to an upcoming workshop titled "Canada-European Union CETA Opportunities for the Clean Technology Sector," to be held virtually from March 29-31, 2021.

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, will open the proceedings with the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkeviius. The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Enterprise, Export Promotion and International Trade, will open the third day of the event. The workshop will highlight how CETA can help achieve sustainable development objectives through clean technology trade and investment.

The workshop will bring together clean technology innovators and users, experts and government representatives to explore environment and trade cooperation opportunities in the context of CETA. The event will feature promising sectors such as hydrogen, carbon capture, utilization and storage, and the circular economy.

Other workshop topics will include:

The workshop will feature innovative opportunities for interaction between participants on each day, including:

Additional information and online registration are available at:

CETA Workshop

The event is free of charge.

About the Organizers

The Delegation of the European Union to Canada

Established in 1976, the European Union Delegation to Canada is a fully-fledged diplomatic mission and, as such, the natural contact point in Canada between the EU and the Canadian authorities. It also has a strong public diplomacy mandate designed to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the European Union as well as EU-Canada relations. Follow @EUinCanada

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Environment and Climate Change Canada informs Canadians about protecting and conserving our natural heritage, and ensuring a clean, safe and sustainable environment for present and future generations.

Supporting Organization: Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre

Foresight is Canada's cleantech ecosystem accelerator. Foresight supports the identification and validation of cleantech opportunities and the successful commercialization of solutions.We bring together industry, government, academia, investors, and innovators to address today's most urgent climate issues and support a global transition to a green economy. Find out more at http://www.foresightcac.com and follow on Twitter @ForesightCAC.

SOURCE Foresight Clean Technology Accelerator Centre

For further information: Astrid Nunez, 604-358-5079, [emailprotected]

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Canada and the European Union Announce Workshop on CETA Opportunities for Clean Technology - Canada NewsWire

Skopje, 22 March 2021 - The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022 has been a valuable support to North Macedonia in particular to further strengthen fundamental freedom and human rights of citizens, concluded the participants of the Second Beneficiary Steering Committee Meeting taking place online today in Skopje. The programme will continue assisting authorities to comply with European standards in the field of human rights, rule of law and democracy.

During the meeting partner and beneficiary institutions took stock of the Horizontal Facility II key achievements, welcoming the flexibility of the programme to tackle key challenges during implementation, in particular in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her address, Deputy Director, Horizontal Facility Beneficiary Co-ordinator - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Gorica Atanasova Gjorevska expressed her appreciation and support for the dedicated implementation of the objectives of the Joint Programme of the European Union/Council of Europe - Horizontal Facility II, stressing the active involvement of the beneficiary institutions and stakeholders in the continuous realisation of the projects, in these very difficult conditions and pandemic environment. The Annual Steering Committee is yet another opportunity for all of us to assess the progress made, as well as to discern the areas in which my country needs further assistance in the domestic reform processes while remaining dedicated to the European agenda" said Atanasova Gjorevska.

In his remarks, the Head of Cooperation in the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of North Macedonia, Nicola Bertolini stressed that: With our joint and continuous efforts in the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe Horizontal Facility initiative, we have managed to develop strong partnership, trust and we have delivered numerous positive results in the field of human rights, rule of law, that contribute to the overall reform processes in North Macedonia and the whole region.

The Head of Programming Department in the Council of Europe Office of the Directorate General of Programmes, Pilar Morales, underlined that: The Council of Europe, hand in hand with the European Union and the domestic partners, remains now more than ever, in this particular challenging context, committed to support North Macedonia to forge ahead with its reform agenda and advance on its EU path and compliance with Council of Europe standards.

With a dedicated budget of over 4.1 million, the EU and Council of Europe joint Horizontal Facility II programme is currently implementing six major actions in North Macedonia. Through the technical assistance, these actions are supporting the needs of the public authorities in addressing important reforms to ensure justice, fight corruption and organised crime, promote diversity and equality and to advance freedom of media and freedom of expression, within the framework of the EU enlargement process.

The Horizontal Facility II joint programme was created as a co-operation initiative of the European Union and Council of Europe to assist Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to comply with Council of Europe standards and, where relevant, the European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.

Despite the effect that COVID-19 pandemic had on the implementation of the actions under the Horizontal Facility II in North Macedonia, notable results were achieved during its second year of implementation.

In the field of ensuring justice and equal rights with the support of the programme, the provision of free legal aid services for the citizens of North Macedonia has been consolidated. This framework an informational and awareness raising campaign promoting better access and more efficient free legal aid services for the citizens of North Macedonia has been conducted in close co-operation with the Ministry of Justice.

In the efforts to guarantee prisoners rights, the consolidation of External Oversight Mechanism and the awareness raising initiative to promote this mechanism have contributed to a better protection against the violations perpetrated by prisons police. Furthermore, in co-operation with the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions important progress has been identified towards addressing violent extremism and radicalisation in prisons.

To support the authorities in the fight against corruption and economic crime, key contribution has been provided in the effective implementation of the EU Directive and the Council of Europe Recommendation on whistle-blowers. In addition, consultations and guidance was provided to the authorities in the process of reviewing the draft amendments to Anti Money Laundry/Combatting the Financing of Terrorism Law, and related Strategy. Starting from this year, with the support of the programme a training centre within the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption of North Macedonia is being established, which will provide capacity building and knowledge tools in the framework of fighting corruption and economic crime.

Referring to the efforts in fighting discrimination and promoting diversity, assistance was provided to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in the process of integrating key standards and recommendations from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), in the country reforms and policies to counter discrimination. Furthermore, key raising awareness initiatives have been introduced in various communities in North Macedonia to promote protection of rights of LGBTI persons, and fight hate speech.Focusing on the work to combat human trafficking in North Macedonia, the programme has provided important contribution in the process of improving the identification, protection of, and assistance to victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, with a particular attention on children. During this period, support was given to the authorities in the process of ensuring effective legal aid and representation for the victims of domestic violence, while working together with civil society organisations to promote and raise awareness on the dangers of human trafficking for various vulnerable communities.

In the field of freedom of expression, key assistance was provided in promoting freedom of expression and freedom of the media in North Macedonia helping key actors in their endeavours to improve the application of European standards related to freedom of speech. Important consultations and expertise on the amendments to the Criminal Code of North Macedonia to ensure more safety for journalists, were conducted in co-operation with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice. In addition, capacity building activities and knowledge tools have been shared with the community of legal professionals in North Macedonia aiming to improve the application of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Court case-law on freedom of expression in North Macedonia.

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European Union and Council of Europe to further strengthen co-operation with authorities in North Macedonia towards consolidation of human rights...

At the European Parliament this morning, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi emphasized the importance of the European Union as a major partner and supporter of the IAEA, especially in the area of safeguards, security and safety. During his exchange with MEPs, he called for even closer cooperation to address global challenges related to non-proliferation, climate change and sustainable development worldwide. Mr Grossi spoke through video link during ajoint hybrid session of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) the first time for an IAEA Director General to speak at the European Parliament.

The IAEA is a vehicle through which the European Union can achieve its Agenda for a Renewed Multilateralism and fulfil its Agenda 2030, Mr Grossi stated. I believe that your noble objectives of: strengthening global recovery and tackling inequalities; of winning the race against climate change and restoring our relationship with nature; and of building partnerships and alliances will be easier to achieve when you work with, and support, the IAEA, Mr Grossi stated in the virtual exchange.

Since 2008, the EU has contributed approximately 140 million, including 10.8 million in 2020, in extrabudgetary funds to the IAEA. The contributions have been pivotal in supporting projects in nuclear safety and security, as well as technical cooperation, to ensure all nations benefit from the peaceful uses of nuclear technology.

Mr Grossi highlighted the scope of the Agencys work and its relevance to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Nuclear techniques and technologies help countries protect their crops, protect their health through nuclear medicine all over the world, he said. Furthermore, the IAEA is an indispensable player when it comes to fighting, for example, plastic pollution through isotopic tracers.

In light of the pandemic, the IAEA launched ZODIAC, a major initiative to preventfuture outbreaks of diseases that spread from animals to humans. By using nuclear-derived technologies to detect viruses and antibodies in animals and humans, we will build up the defences of countries at the forefront of these outbreaks, Mr Grossi stated. It will be nuclears contribution to reducing the chance that the world falls victim again to a devastating pandemic like COVID-19. We see many EU Member States increasing their contributions to our activities in the area of nuclear applications.

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IAEA Director General Highlights Global Impact of Cooperation with European Union, Calls for Closer Partnership | IAEA - International Atomic Energy...