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Member states want the Conference on the Future of Europe to get citizens involved in a wide-ranging debate on Europe's future in the coming decade and beyond, including in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meeting at the level of ambassadors today, they agreed the Council's position on the arrangements for the conference, which paves the way for the opening of discussions on this topic with the Commission and the European Parliament.

In its mandate, the Council takes the view that the conference should be launched as soon as the epidemiological conditions allow for it. It should focus on how to develop EU policies over the medium and long term in order to tackle more effectively the challenges facing Europe, including the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and lessons learned from the crisis.

The Council also stresses the need to involve a wide range of citizens and stakeholders in the process. It suggests building on the citizens dialogues andconsultations which have taken place across Europe and which have fed into the development of the EU's Strategic Agenda for 2019-2024.

Member States want to encourage the active participation of citizens in the Conference on the Future of Europe, which has become all the more relevant following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We need an open and inclusive debate across Europe about the future priorities of the EU and concrete solutions on how to emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis. This broad dialogue with citizens and various other stakeholders will help guide the way ahead, contributing to a joint vision of the direction the EU should take in the next decade and beyond.

Some of the Council's proposals for the organisation of the conference include focussing discussions around a set of topics, broad enough to provide sufficient scope for all participants to provide input. The conference would also address cross-cutting issues related to the way the EU delivers on its policy objectives.

The effective involvement of citizens and stakeholders should be ensured through debates, including at national and regional level, and through multilingual internet platforms and citizens' panels inmember states and at European level. Digital engagement efforts and activities would be of key importance, especially in the event of restrictions related to COVID-19, while physical participation and face-to-face exchanges should remain an essential part of the conference, according to the Council's mandate.

As regards governance, the Council wants to ensure an equal role for the three EU institutions, respect for each institution's prerogatives and the close association of national parliaments. It suggests that the conference could be placed under the authority of an eminent European personality, selected by the three EU institutions, as its independent and single chair.

The Council also considers that the EU framework offers potential to allow challenges to be addressed in an effective manner and notes that the conference does not fall under Article 48 of the Treaty on the European Union, which lays down the procedures for treaty amendments. It takes the view that the outcome of the conference should be reflected in a report to the European Council in 2022, to be followed up effectively by the EU institutions in the light of the guidance received from the EU leaders.

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Conference on the Future of Europe - Council agrees its position - EU News

The Coronavirus measures imposed all across the world have affected not only businesses and leisure travels, but have also separated families, and even lovers.

The latter, have intensified their requests to the competent authorities in the country in which they or their lover is stuck, to open border for unmarried couples by excluding them from travel restrictions imposed in a bid to curb the Coronavirus pandemic.

Recently EU citizens as well, are calling on the European Union to permit their non-EU lovers to enter after three months of separation. The call has been taken to social media, where the hashtag #loveisnottourism is thriving, in particular in twitter.

We are all willing to test, quarantine, do whatever it takes etc. just to see our loved ones, something people take for granted every day! #LiftTheTravelBan, twitter user Claire Greidanus said.

Others joined her and many others in their quest to the EU institutions to make an exemption for couples and lift the travel ban.

The European Union Commission had recommended to the Member States and the Schengen Associated Countries to close the external borders of the territory in a bid to halt the further spread of the Coronavirus.

The recommendation was followed with action by the Members Countries, who did not hesitate to put in place an entry ban for third-country citizens travelling for non-essential purposes.

Affected by the ban were not only tourists, but also workers, family members, and overall, lovers. At first, it was unprecedented that the external border closure would remain in place for more than one month. It, however, did last for three and a half months, and the end of it is nowhere near.

Throughout this period, the EU suggested to the member states to exempt from the temporary travel restriction to the EU+ area all EU citizens and citizens of the Schengen Associated States, and their family members for the purposes of returning home.

According to EUs Articles 2(2) and 3(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC, only the following categories qualify as family members of an EU citizen:

Any other family members, irrespective of their nationality, not falling under any of the categories listed above, who, in the country from which they have come, are dependants or members of the household of the Union citizen having the primary right of residence, or where serious health grounds strictly require the personal care of the family member by the Union citizen, are also defined as family members.

Though point (b) of the article Articles 3(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC clearly states that the partner with whom the Union citizen has a durable relationship, duly attested is also considered a family member, even binational couples in long-term relationships and those engaged have faced difficulties in getting back together within the EU, mainly due to restrictions imposed individually by the Member States.

Border restrictions for months have also separated families and friends within the European Union as well, in particular those living in border areas.

The European Commission recommended on June 11 to all Member States and the Schengen Associated Countries to keep the external ban in place until June 30.

It, however, recommended the gradual and partial reopening of borders, starting from July, in particular for countries where the infection rates were low. It also suggested to those countries that were planning to keep the border closure beyond July 1, to at least open its borders to families.

EU citizens and citizens of Schengen Associated States and third-country nationals legally residing in the European Union, as well as their family members, should be exempted from the travel restriction, regardless whether or not they are returning home, the recommendation says among others.

It still permits the Member States can to take appropriate measures such as requiring such persons to undergo self-isolation or similar measures upon return from a third country for which the temporary restriction on non-essential travel is maintained, provided they impose the same requirements on their own nationals.

The recommendation does not contain anything specific for binational couples separated for months now.

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Love Is Not Tourism Binational Couples Separated by Borders Call on EU to Lift Entry Restrictions - SchengenVisaInfo.com

Khartoum, 24 June 2020 The World Health Organization welcomes a generous contribution of 11.5 million Euros from the European Union to fight COVID-19 in Sudan and improve the countrys overall health system. The large-scale 2-year project will benefit an estimated 42 million people in Sudan, including internally displaced people and refugees.

As part of the ongoing COVID-19 response, the project will cover health preparedness needs across the country, including coordinating the emergency response; ramping up surveillance and testing; isolating and managing COVID-19 patients; and raising awareness of the disease.

To identify cases, WHO will train and equip 400 professional and community members as rapid response teams, which will be available on a 24-hour basis to detect and respond to health events. Teams will learn procedures for specimen collection and transportation so that they can investigate cases and clusters. They will also be trained in contact tracing.

To diagnose cases, WHO will establish and upgrade 3 regional laboratories to respond to COVID-19 and other health hazards, providing laboratoty supplies and testing materials.

To treat patients, 10 isolation centres with ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators and other needed equipment will be established, and basic water services will also be set up in 12 hospitals.

Health care workers will receive training on preventing and controlling COVID-19 infection. The project will also ensure community engagement activities so that people are informed and educated on how to protect themselves and prevent the disease from spreading.

Entitled Humanitarian Development Nexus: Strengthening preparedness and response of the health system addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sudan, the project is funded by the European Union Trust Fund and the Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission, and will be implemented by the World Health Organization in support of Sudans Federal Ministry of Health.

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EU, WHO to strengthen Sudan's COVID-19 response and health system - Sudan - ReliefWeb

The European Union accused the United Kingdom Wednesday of seeking to maintain a relationship with the bloc similar to that of an EU member after Brexit. The EU said they found this idea unacceptable.

"Britain is demanding a lot more from the EU than Canada, Japan or other partners," the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told a forum in Brussels. "We cannot and we will not allow this cherry picking."

He also said that the UK "cannot have the best of both worlds" and stressed the point that "we will never compromise on our European values or on our economic and trade interests to the benefit of the British economy."

"In many areas it is looking to maintain the benefits of being a member state without the constraints," Barnier said. "It is looking to pick and choose the most attractive elements of the [EU]single market without the obligations."

UK pandemic recession will hit hard

Barnier also expressed bewilderment that the UK remained inflexible despite the predicted economic fallout from coronavirus pandemic.

The UK has seen the most deaths in Europe andone of the longest lockdowns and is expected to see its economy hit harder than most other European countries, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The forum comes ahead of high-level talks on Friday when the European Parliament will urge the UK to "urgently revise its negotiating position" after months of talks have yielded little consensus.

'No real progress' so far

The UK officially left the EU in January 2020 and is currently in a transition period due to expire at the end of the year. The EU is open to an extension of this period if trade deals cannot be agreed; UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly dismissed the idea of an extension.

Johnson is set to hold a video conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later in the month to review talks.

Speaking last week, Barnier said he "regrets that, following four round of negotiations, no real progress has been achieved" and accused the UK of "not engaging in detailed on the level playing field."

Key sticking points in negotiations are fisheries and the issue of the land border the UK shares with the EU between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Barnier also said he hoped that the next round of talks could take place face-to-face as Europe re-opens borders closed owing to the coronavirus pandemic. This has yet to be confirmed.

ed/aw (AFP, Reuters)

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It's essentially a choice of a harder or softer Brexit. Harder prioritizes border control over trade. UK firms would pay tariffs to do business in the EU, and vice versa. The softest Brexit would see access to the single market, or at least a customs union, maintained. That would require concessions including the payment of a hefty "divorce bill" to which the UK has provisionally agreed.

Businesses have expressed concern about a "cliff edge" scenario, where Britain leaves the EU with no deal. Even if an agreement is reached at the EU bloc level, the worry is that it could be rejected at the last minute. Each of the 27 remaining countries must ratify the arrangements, and any might reject them. That could mean chaos for businesses and individuals.

If there is no agreement at all, a fully sovereign UK would be free to strike new trade deals and need not make concessions on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK or pay the financial settlement of outstanding liabilities. However, trade would be crippled. UK citizens in other parts of the EU would be at the mercy of host governments. There would also be a hard EU-UK border in Ireland.

The EU and the UK could reach a deal on Britain's exiting the bloc without an agreement on future relations. This scenario would still be a very hard Brexit, but would at least demonstrate a degree of mutual understanding. Trade agreements would be conducted, on an interim basis, on World Trade Organization rules.

Most trade tariffs on exported goods are lifted, except for "sensitive" food items like eggs and poultry. However, exporters would have to show their products are genuinely "made in Britain" so the UK does not become a "back door" for global goods to enter the EU. Services could be hit more. The City of London would lose access to the passporting system its lucrative financial business relies on.

Under the Swiss model, the UK would have single market access for goods and services while retaining most aspects of national sovereignty. Switzerland, unlike other members of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA), did not join the European Economic Area (EEA) and was not automatically obliged to adopt freedom of movement. Under a bilateral deal, it agreed to do so but is still dragging its feet.

As part of the European Economic Area, Norway has accepted freedom of movement something that no Brexit-supporting UK government would be likely to do. Norway still has to obey many EU rules and is obliged to make a financial contribution to the bloc while having no voting rights. Some see this as the worst of both worlds.

Turkey is the only major country to have a customs union with the EU, as part of a bilateral agreement. Under such an arrangement, the UK would not be allowed to negotiate trade deals outside the EU, instead having the bloc negotiate on its behalf. Many Brexiteers would be unwilling to accept this. It would, however, help minimize disruption at ports and, crucially, at the Irish border.

Author: Richard Connor

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Brexit: EU accuses UK of trying to maintain economic benefits amid coronavirus recession - DW (English)

EU Air Bridge to Sudan

The ambassadors of France, Sweden and the European Union welcomed the first flight of the European Humanitarian Air Bridge to support Sudan to tackle the impact of the COVID 19. The event was attended on the Sudanese side by a government delegation led by Undersecretary Mr Mohamed Elshabik of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development as well as colleagues from the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs.

The EU Humanitarian Air Bridge to Sudan consists of two flights and is the single largest operation of the European global Air Bridge initiative. The second flight, bringing in cargo and humanitarian aid workers is scheduled to arrive in Sudan on 24 June next.

At the event tonight, 10 June, a European Boeing 747 carrying some 90 tons of cargo touched down at Khartoum International Airport. The cargo contained medical equipment, vaccines, water purifiers, medical kits, medicine, and medical staff protective equipment.

All the equipment will be distributed and used by the international organizations of Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and International Medical Corps (IMC), in coordination and cooperation with the federal and local health authorities of Sudan.

Mr Mohamed Elshabik, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development thanked on behalf of the government and people of the Sudan the European Union, Sweden and France for their generous support and commitment to helping Sudan to fight the COVID 19.

Ambassador Robert van den Dool, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Sudan, told the press the launching of the European Humanitarian Air Bridge to Sudan is a very tangible illustration of how the European Union is supporting Sudan on fighting COVID 19. This is one of the largest humanitarian cargo planes which has landed in Khartoum Airport since the beginning of the COVID 19 crisis. We have been supporting the Sudanese Government through a partnership with WHO on the COVID 19 response until now and we plan to further strengthen this partnership. We are proud to help organizations such as UNICEF, UNFPA, MSF and IMC to assist and accelerate their humanitarian work to save lives and ease the suffering of vulnerable people, especially those in the remote states and regions of Sudan.

Thanks to Sweden, France and the EUs Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid

Ambassador Van den Dool thanked wholeheartedly Sweden for taking the lead and working with EU humanitarian colleagues in the facilitation and coordination of this Humanitarian Air Bridge with the Sudanese authorities. He also commended France for all their efforts and support in making this important Air Bridge possible. Finally, he stated this unique Air Bridge would not have been possible without the support of the EUs Humanitarian Aid office in Khartoum.

Team Europe support

Being a part of the Team Europe approach, the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge operations are part of the EU's global response to the coronavirus pandemic. Team Europe's support to the whole African continent in the fight against COVID 19 amounts to 3.25 billion, reaffirming that the EU is the leading partner of African countries. This funding is helping countries strengthen their health systems, support their economies in these challenging times, train health staff and reinforce social support systems.

Khartoum, 10th June 2020.

Link:
European Humanitarian Air Bridge arrives in Sudan as part of the EU's Global Response to tackle COVID 19 [EN/AR] - Sudan - ReliefWeb