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Minister stressed the need to consolidate efforts to prepare an ambitious Joint Declaration of the upcoming summit.

REUTERS

On Wednesday, Kuleba held a video conference call with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Ann Linde, MFA Ukraine's press service reports.

On the eve of a video conference of the Eastern Partnership foreign ministers, scheduled for June 11, the interlocutors discussed issues of Sweden's support for Ukraine's European integration aspirations.

Kuleba noted the importance of consolidating efforts to prepare an ambitious Joint Declaration of the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit on the principles of joint ownership and strategic nature of the initiative, taking into account the interests of Eastern partners.

Ukraine's top diplomat briefed his Swedish counterpart on the security situation in the country's temporarily occupied territories, about the developments in the Normandy Four negotiations, and the process of the implementation of Minsk agreements.

Read alsoNo constructiveness on Russia's side to achieve peace in Donbas FM Kuleba

The foreign minister also noted that the issues of combating armed aggression by the Russian Federation and joint steps to de-occupy Crimea should remain a priority on the OSCE agenda.

"I am convinced that the high level of Swedish diplomacy will effectively and consistently protect the principles and norms that underpin the architecture of European security and the activities of the OSCE during the Swedish chairmanship in 2021," Kuleba emphasized.

In turn, the Swedish foreign minister noted progress in reform implementation in Ukraine, including the adoption of a law on the land market. The entry to the Ukrainian market of major Swedish brands, such as IKEA, is a testament to Ukraine's success on this path.

The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Sweden expressed their intention to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries and make efforts to minimize the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the international economy.

As UNIAN reported earlier, foreign ministers of the six members of the Eastern Partnership and the leadership of the European Union will hold an informal video conference on June 11.

In turn, the leaders of 27 countries members of the European Union and six states that are part of the Eastern Partnership will hold a video conference on June 18. At the same time, an in-person meeting of leaders within the summit's framework is scheduled for early 2021.

On April 21, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the Eastern Partnership initiative of the European Union should contribute to Ukraine's gradual integration into the EU's internal market.

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EU should take into account interests of partners, including Ukraine, withing Eastern Partnership initiative Kuleba - UNIAN

BRUSSELS (AP) Europe could have its free travel zone up and running again by the end of this month, but travelers from further afield will not be allowed in before July, a European Union commissioner said Friday after talks among the blocs interior ministers.

Panicked by Italys coronavirus outbreak in February, countries in the 26-nation Schengen travel zone where people and goods move freely without border checks imposed border restrictions without consulting their neighbors to try to keep the disease out. The moves caused massive border traffic jams and blocked medical equipment.

Free movement is a jewel in Europes crown that helps its businesses flourish and many European officials feared that the very future of the Schengen area was under threat from coronavirus travel restrictions. These added to border pressures already caused by the arrival in Europe of well over 1 million migrants in 2015.

I personally believe that we will return to a full functioning of the Schengen area and freedom of movement of citizens no later than the end of the month of June, European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Friday after the video-conference meeting.

All but essential travel into Europe from the outside is restricted until June 15, but many ministers suggested Friday that they want this deadline extended until early July.

The meeting came as the Czech Republic was easing restrictions with some of its neighbors; Austria, Germany and Hungary. Also Friday, Switzerland said it plans to lift restrictions on travel from EU nations and Britain on June 15. Switzerland is not an EU member but is part of the Schengen travel zone.

READ MORE: EU proposes 750 billion-euro coronavirus recovery fund

Johansson said Europes Centre for Disease Prevention and Control believes that confinement, social distancing and other health measures are working. More than 175,000 people have died in Europes coronavirus outbreak, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, mostly in Britain, Italy, France and Spain.

Physical distancing and other health-related measures are still needed, of course. But health authorities are clear that there is no longer a clear justification for either travel restrictions or border measures within the EU Schengen area, Johansson said.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, whose country plans to lift its remaining border checks on June 15 like many other EU countries, said the internal border controls will be over in all of Europe at the end of June.

The news should come as a relief to millions of Europeans still trying to work out their summer vacation plans which begin for many in July once the school year is over and who are anxious to know whether they will be allowed to head to the continents beaches or mountains.

Its also good news for European countries whose economies have been ravaged by the spread of COVID-19 and are hoping for a much-needed boost from their decimated tourism industries.

But the perception that Italy is still dangerous is weighing heavily on its tourism sector, which along with related industries accounts for 13% of Italys gross domestic product.

In an apparent reference to Austria and Greece, which have not fully opened to Italian tourists, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio denounced the ad hoc measures put in place by some countries as a violation of the European spirit that has always distinguished us.

Di Maio said Rome would provide regular infection data to Austria so they can have certainty about Italys numbers. Last week, he said Italy refused to be treated as a leper after Greece announced a list of 29 countries whose citizens could visit without testing or quarantine requirements, but excluded Italians, Britons and residents of other hard-hit countries.

READ MORE: EU warns of recession of historic proportions this year

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez and Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte have sent a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen urging the lifting of restrictions at our internal borders () in a coordinated, non-discriminatory manner. The letter was shared with media in Spain on Friday.

The government leaders of the eurozones third- and fourth-largest economies want the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to play a leading role in defining as soon as possible these criteria together with the member states.

Spain, which relies on tourism for 12% of its GDP, plans to wait until July 1 to drop its 14-day quarantine requirement for everyone who crosses its borders, Spaniards included.

Many of our member states are approaching the date when they are going to reopen their borders to tourist mobility, Snchez and Conte wrote. How this process is carried out will largely determine our citizens perception of the centrality of the European Union in tackling this crisis.

Germanys Seehofer said most of the EUs interior ministers want to extend the current entry ban on outside travelers by 14 days until July 1.

Visitors from the United States, Russia or Brazil, for example, would only be allowed back into Europe on based on how those nations have brought the spread of the virus under control, he said. Those three nations account for 44% of the worlds confirmed infections and nearly 38% of the worlds confirmed coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

Worldwide, 6.6 million people have been confirmed infected by the virus and over 391,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins, but experts say the tally understates the true toll of the pandemic due to limited testing, missed mild cases and deliberate government undercounts.

Read more:
European Union wants borders free of virus restrictions by end of June - PBS NewsHour

On 7 May 2020 the European Commission included Mauritius in its list of identified third-country jurisdictions having strategic deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) regimes which pose significant threats to the financial system of the Union (high-risk third countries).

The decision took the local financial services community by surprise and puts at great risk a sector of the Mauritian economy which accounts for around 12% of GDP. It also comes at a time when the resilience of the islands economy is going to be thoroughly tested in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As reiterated by the Prime Ministers Office in a Communique on 2 June 2020 (Communique), Mauritius has always adhered to international standards of good governance, transparency and taxation. To recall, the EU and the OECD have recently confirmed that Mauritius' tax regime is in conformity with their governing standards. Mauritius has also incorporated FATCA and CRS requirements into its domestic laws and has ratified the OECDs Multi-Lateral Instrument (MLI).

The Communique lays emphasis on the fact that in January of this year, Mauritius took cognisance of the FATF conclusions on its legal and regulatory framework on AML-CFT. It immediately formulated and agreed upon a detailed action plan with the FATF, with specific deadlines to remedy the identified shortcomings. It is noteworthy to mention that, out of a total of 58 recommended actions, Mauritius has only five outstanding actions to implement by September 2021.

Much has been written and said about the arbitrary nature and unfairness of the European Commissions decision. On the very same day that it adopted a new methodology, the Commission, according to the Prime Ministers Office, did the exact opposite in failing to engage in necessary consultations with Mauritius and denying the country an opportunity to provide any explanation or make any representations prior to its inclusion on the list.

The present article purports to assess the situation from a procedural point of view while setting out the options available to Mauritius in response to the European Commissions decision.

Mauritius has stated clearly that it has engaged into discussions with the European institutions with a view to reconsidering the Commissions decision. It is apposite to have a look at the legal framework of the European Union and the powers and responsibilities of the European Commission to assess options.

The European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union. Among its responsibilities, the Commission proposes laws in line with the objectives of the EU treaties and designed to bring benefits to citizens, businesses and other stakeholders of the EU. The decisions of the Commission in relation to such new laws and policies have to be adopted in accordance with the procedure set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

It is by way of Delegated Regulation that the European Commission sets out its latest list of high-risk third countries. The Delegated Regulation of 7 May 2020 amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 supplementing Directive (EU) 2015/849 (as amended in 2018) of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing.

The Commission derives its powers to issue Delegated Regulations generally from Article 290 of the TFEU, reproduced below.

Article 290

1. A legislative act may delegate to the Commission the power to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act.

The objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation of power shall be explicitly defined in the legislative acts. The essential elements of an area shall be reserved for the legislative act and accordingly shall not be the subject of a delegation of power.

2. Legislative acts shall explicitly lay down the conditions to which the delegation is subject; these conditions may be as follows:

(a) the European Parliament or the Council may decide to revoke the delegation;(b) the delegated act may enter into force only if no objection has been expressed by the European Parliament or the Council within a period set by the legislative act.

For the purposes of (a) and (b), the European Parliament shall act by a majority of its component members, and the Council by a qualified majority.

It is Article 9 of Directive 2015/849 which empowers the Commission to issue Delegated Regulations specifically to prevent the use of financial systems for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, thus enabling the Commission to establish its list of high-risk third countries. The relevant extract is reproduced below:

Article 9

1. Third-country jurisdictions which have strategic deficiencies in their national AML/CFT regimes that pose significant threats to the financial system of the Union (high-risk third countries) shall be identified in order to protect the proper functioning of the internal market.

2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 64 in order to identify high-risk third countries, taking into account strategic deficiencies

The power to issue Delegated Regulations is subject to conditions set out in Article 64 of Directive 2015/849. Sub-paragraph 5 (reproduced below) is of particular relevance.

Article 64

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 9 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of one month of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by one month at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

The Delegated Regulation of 7 May 2020 is therefore not final inasmuch as it will only come into effect if there is no objection expressed by the Council of the EU or the European Parliament. The difficulty is that such an objection should come within one month of its notification to the Council or Parliament. If we were to assume that the Delegated Regulation was notified to the Council or Parliament on the date of its publication, that is 7 May 2020, then this delay expires on 7 June 2020 pursuant to Article 64 (5) of the Directive 2015/849, unless extended at the initiative of the European Parliament or Council.

Time is therefore of the essence and, as pointed out in its Communique, Mauritius has embarked on an extensive diplomatic and lobbying campaign to this effect.

Although the legal route would not be a preferred option for any country having to deal with such a matter, Article 263 (4) of the TFEU offers a possible alternative should diplomatic efforts remain in vain.

Article 263

(ex Article 230 TEC)

Any natural or legal person may, under the conditions laid down in the first and second paragraphs, institute proceedings against an act addressed to that person or which is of direct and individual concern to them, and against a regulatory act which is of direct concern to them and does not entail implementing measures.

The proceedings provided for in this Article shall be instituted within two months of the publication of the measure, or of its notification to the plaintiff, or, in the absence thereof, of the day on which it came to the knowledge of the latter, as the case may be.

EU case law suggests that the following may apply for annulment under Article 263 (4): individuals, companies, trade associations, third party states, public bodies of member states.

On the issue of admissibility, only the following may be the subject matter of an application under Article 263 (4):

Inasmuch as the Delegated Regulation of 7 May 2020 is not directly addressed to Mauritius but to members of the EU, and that, further, it requires EU member states to adopt implementing measures in relation to the third countries identified as high risk therein, Mauritius can contemplate relief under Article 263 (4) on the ground that the said Delegated Regulation is of direct and/or individual concern to the country. (Vide Microban International and Microban (Europe) v. European Commission 2011 T-262/10)

The government is sparing no effort to convince the EU that Mauritius, as a jurisdiction of choice and substance, has been wronged by its inclusion in the list of third countries posing a threat to the financial system of the EU. While legal recourse might not be envisaged at this stage by the Mauritian authorities, the government as well as all stakeholders in the financial services sector in Mauritius remain hopeful of a favourable outcome following the confirmation of ongoing discussions with the EU.

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EU Listing: What is the possible recourse for Mauritius? - JD Supra

The Swiss Federal Council on its meeting on Friday, June 5, has supported a decision for citizens of all European Union Member states including Britons, as well as citizens of the Schengen Associated Countries Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland, to be permitted enter the country as of June 15.

The decision has been suggested by the Federal Department of Justice and Police and presented to the Council by the Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter.

Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter informed the Federal Council at its meeting on June 5 that the Federal Department of Justice and Police FDJP intends to lift the existing entry restrictions, applicable with regard to all EU/EFTA states and the United Kingdom as of June 15, a press release of the Swiss Council reads, regarding the decision.

A possible easing of border restrictions has been announced previously, given that the situation permits. However, previously, Switzerland noted that it would not open its border for trips from Italy, despite that the latter opened for the EU and EFTA citizens on June 3.

At that time, the Swiss authorities, asserted it was too early to lift border controls with Italy noting that they would have to coordinate border opening with Italy with the Italian authorities.

A decision to open borders with Austria, Germany and France on June 15 in agreement with the authorities of those countries, has been announced since mid-May when entry restrictions between Switzerland, Austria and Germany were relaxed for several categories.

According to the press release of the Federal Council, their decision is in line with that of many European countries, referring to the fact that several other countries as France and Iceland will also open their borders on the same date.

During todays informal video conference of Schengen-state justice and home affairs ministers, numerous ministers expressed the desire to see a return to normality and advocated the lifting of European internal border controls as of June 15, the press release reads.

Possible lifting of further entry restrictions for third countries will be decided by the Council on a later date, in consultation with the Schengen member states.

>>Timeline of EU Member States Reopening Their Borders

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Switzerland to Reopen Borders for All EU/EFTA and UK Travelers on June 15 - SchengenVisaInfo.com

BANGOR, Maine U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on European Union cars if the bloc does not drop its tariff on American lobsters, naming White House trade adviser Peter Navarro the "lobster king" in charge of talks.

Trump, speaking at an event with commercial fishermen, also asked Navarro to identify Chinese products to hit with tariffs unless Beijing dropped its duties on American lobsters.

"If the European Union doesn't drop that tariff immediately, we're going to put a tariff on their cars, which will be equivalent," Trump said.

"Peter Navarro is going to be the lobster king now," he added after putting the adviser in charge of talks, promising the fishermen the tariffs on American lobsters would be dropped quickly by the EU.

No comment was immediately available from the U.S. Trade Representative's office or the EU's delegation in Washington. The Chinese embassy had no immediate response.

Trump's top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, had proposed a mini-deal with the EU last year that would have reduced barriers for U.S. lobsters, but it never gained traction.

Talks between the two sides have struggled in recent months despite repeated visits by the EU's new trade commissioner, Phil Hogan. Sources close to both sides, speaking on condition of anonymity, say they do not expect to make much headway this year.

Trump has previously made threats to place duties on European automobile imports, with the intent of receiving better terms in the U.S.-Europe trade relationship. He has delayed imposing the tariffs a number of times.

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Trump again threatens tariffs on European cars, this time over lobsters - Autoblog