Archive for the ‘European Union’ Category

How ‘Brexit’ Could End the European Parliament’s ‘Traveling Circus’ – New York Times

Though far from a done deal, the need to relocate the medicines agency, the British withdrawal from the bloc and the recent election of the reform-minded Emmanuel Macron as president of France have created a historic opportunity, said Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, a European lawmaker from Sweden who is the chairwoman of a campaign group called Single Seat, which advocates one venue for the Parliament.

We are convinced that a change in the seat for the European Parliament would be a very concrete way to show the citizens that we work for them, said Ms. Corazza Bildt.

In recent decades, British lawmakers of all stripes have criticized the traveling circus. They include fierce critics of European integration, like Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party, and pro-European politicians, such as Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister.

Negative publicity surrounding the European Union much of it inflated or plain erroneous helped its critics to persuade Britons to vote in a referendum last year to leave.

But the decision appears to have united the 27 other member states and helped to stabilize the European project.

It would be a further irony if Britains departure were to help heal the running sore about Strasbourgs role.

It is one of the few positive things in an otherwise lose-lose Brexit situation, said Ms. Corazza Bildt, of the possibilities now opening up. We dont want a symbol of peace to become a symbol of waste, she added.

Her comments highlight the extent to which the Parliaments seat in Strasbourg has become associated with the most idealistic and the most extravagant facets of the European Union.

To many in France and Germany, the location in a city once fought over regularly by their two nations is a physical symbol of the reconciliation that European integration was intended to foster.

Estimates of the expense of the commute vary, but the European Court of Auditors, the blocs spending watchdog, has identified it as $130 million annually. Campaigners point to the environmental cost of 19,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year and to the loss of thousands of working hours for lawmakers and staff members because of the commute.

Moving the Parliament to Strasbourg full-time would be difficult because other European bodies that the lawmakers scrutinize are in Brussels.

For the situation to change, several obstacles would have to be overcome.

The French government maneuvered in 1992 to enshrine the monthly plenary sessions in Strasbourg in European Union treaties, and there can be no change without Pariss approval.

France has resisted every previous attempt to amend the rules, and last week Nathalie Loiseau, a French minister for European affairs, told reporters that there was no ambiguity over her countrys support for Strasbourg as the Parliaments seat.

However, Ms. Corazza Bildt believes that Mr. Macron, an advocate of modernization, might be persuadable. One possibility might be to offer France not only the medicines agency, but also something of greater political significance perhaps a new military planning headquarters, or the right to host occasional European Union summit meetings.

The ball is in the court of the lyse, she said, referring to the French presidents office. The decision belongs to France, what we are asking for is dialogue.

For the city of Strasbourg, there could be benefits. The Parliament brings visitors to the city for only a few days every month, requiring large numbers of hotel rooms and taxis that are not needed for much of the rest of the year.

By contrast, the European Medicines Agency, which oversees the approval of drugs across Europe in much the same way that the Food and Drug Administration does in the United States, has around 890 staff members and hosts a steady stream of meetings of experts. On most weekdays, those activities fill around 350 London hotel rooms.

For the medicines agency, relocating to Strasbourg could complicate life because the citys transport links are poorer than those of London. (Members of the European Parliament have managed there for decades, of course, albeit while often grumbling.)

When laying down the criteria to be considered when relocating agencies the European Banking Authority, also in London, will need to move as well the European Council, which represents the member governments, said accessibility was a priority.

That included the availability, frequency and duration of flight connections from the capitals of all E.U. member states to the airports close to the location; the availability, frequency and duration of public transportation connections from these airports to the location; as well as the quality and quantity of accommodation facilities.

Other national governments have their eyes on the medicines agency, too. Several cities have made clear their desire to host it, with formal submissions requested by the end of the month and a decision expected by the end of the year.

And few things energize European leaders as much as the competition to host agencies, which bring both prestige and cash for local economies.

In 2001, Silvio Berlusconi, then the prime minister of Italy, blocked plans to locate the European Food Safety Authority in Finland, while promoting an alternative site in the Italian city of Parma. He told fellow leaders: Parma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns dont even know what prosciutto is.

Two years later, the agency moved to Parma.

A photograph with an earlier version of this article, using information from Agence France-Presse, was published in error. It showed the European Council building, not the European Parliament.

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How 'Brexit' Could End the European Parliament's 'Traveling Circus' - New York Times

EU trade pact with Ukraine to take full effect in September – Reuters

BRUSSELS A broad new trade treaty struck between the European Union and Ukraine will take full effect from September, the European Council said on Tuesday on the eve of an upbeat summit in Kiev.

"This is the final step of the ratification process through which the EU and Ukraine commit to a close, long-term relationship in all main policy areas," it said in a statement.

Many provisions of the deal were already operating on a provisional basis, it said, adding that the its conclusion would bring a "new impetus to the cooperation".

Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for the 24-hour summit, starting with a dinner on Wednesday in Kiev.

Poroshenko voiced confidence on Tuesday that the second-biggest ex-Soviet state would move closer to membership of the EU and the NATO defense alliance -- although neither body sees that as remotely likely in the coming years.

"I am confident we will win," Poroshenko said in a statement. "Ukraine will definitely be in the family of European nations, both in the European Union and in NATO."

A senior EU official said that the summit was expected to be upbeat in tone: "This is a very positive moment in our relationship," he said, noting that a long-standing ambition for Ukrainians to have visa-free access to the EU had become a reality last month for those with modern, biometric passports.

However, Ukraine still has much to do to reform Soviet-era administration and infrastructure to bring it closer into line with its western neighbors and to curb corruption, he added.

The summit agenda covers Ukrainian reforms and the implementation of the trade and association pact, security in Ukraine - notably the peace process with Russia over the conflict in the east - and regional and foreign policy matters.

The EU and Ukraine have been concerned that President Donald Trump could scale back U.S. support for Ukraine in the interests of improving ties with Russia. But EU officials and Poroshenko welcomed as a sign of support Trump's appointment at the weekend of a special envoy for Ukraine as well as a visit to Kiev on Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.[nL8N1K00IY]

Poroshenko welcomed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday and said Kiev would work on a membership plan, something Moscow said would not promote stability. [nL8N1K12L4]

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels and Alessandra Prentice in Kiev; editing by Alexander Smith)

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is increasingly unlikely to nominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen next year for a second term, and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn is the leading candidate to succeed her, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing four people close to the process.

A day ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress on the state of the U.S. economy, two of her colleagues cited low wage growth and muted inflation as reasons for caution on further interest rate increases.

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EU trade pact with Ukraine to take full effect in September - Reuters

2016 EU budget reports: generating added value out of every euro spent – EU News

The European Commission today published three reports on the implementation of the 2016 EU budget. They show that the EU budget in 2016 has helped achieve the political priorities of the European Union, has created added value for the EU citizens and was spent in line with EU rules.

Another conclusion from those reports is that simplifying EU rules is key to making it easier for local authorities, farmers or businesses to use EU funds effectively and correctly. This ties in with the recommendations of the High Level Group on simplification, also presented today, which are feeding into the broader reflection on the future of EU finances launched by Commissioner Gnther H. Oettinger in June.

Gnther H. Oettinger, in charge of budget and human resources, said: "As the data demonstrate, the EU budget delivers concrete results, be it boosting research and innovation, supporting farmers, helping Europeans find jobs, supporting investment, fighting against climate change or providing humanitarian assistance across the world.. This is real added value that only our common EU budget can bring".

Below are some key achievements of the EU budget in 2016:

- The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who have benefitted from EU funding. This made a total of 17 Nobel prize laureates, four Fields medal winners and countless discoveries with global impact linked to the EU's investment into research and innovation.

- About seven million farmers were supported with direct payments in 2016, 150 million was made available to compensate for the milk crises.

- More than 140 000 Small and Medium Enterprises in 21 countries received a total of 5.5 billion of loans from the COSME programme.

- 21% of the 2016 budget was devoted to fighting climate change.

- Over 120 million vulnerable people in more than 80 countries, including those most affected by the Syria crisis, received humanitarian aid worth over 2 billion.

- Hundreds of thousands lives saved in the Central Mediterranean alone with the joint efforts of EU Member States and the newly established European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

Background

The three reports mark the beginning of the annual procedure by which the European Parliament assesses the way the Commission has implemented the EU budget in 2016. At the end of that procedure the Parliament decides whether to sign off the EU's accounts or not. In addition to today's reports, the Parliament will take into account the European Court of Auditors' annual report which is expected in September 2017. The Commission has received the Parliament's approval every year since 1997, and the European Court of Auditors has found that the EU accounts to be fully reliable every year since 2007.

For More Information:

- Integrated financial reporting package - 2016 brochure

- Annual Management and Performance Report for the EU budget 2016

- EU Accounts 2016

- Commission Report on the follow-up to the discharge for the 2015 financial year

- Reflection paper on the Future of EU finances

- Follow Commissioner Oettinger on Twitter

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2016 EU budget reports: generating added value out of every euro spent - EU News

European Union Revises List Of Banned Airlines – MRO Network

There are now 181 air carriers on the European Union Air Safety Listmeaning they are subject to an operating ban or restrictions in European skiessince the list was recently updated to remove operators based in Benin and Mozambique and to add Med-View of Nigeria, Mustique Airways of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Aviation Co. Urga of Ukraine and Air Zimbabwe.

The public list of banned and restricted air carriers was initiated by a European Commission regulation in 2006. It is periodically updatedgenerally twice a yearby a group of member-state representatives that make up the European Union Air Safety Committee.

A centralized process is used to authorize third-country operators for commercial air transport in European airspace. The system is managed by the European Aviation Safety Agency, which ensures that all approved foreign air carriers comply with minimum international safety standards, primarily those propagated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

According to the commission, the purpose of the list is two fold: helping to maintain high levels of safety in the EU while also encouraging affected countries to improve their levels of safety.

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European Union Revises List Of Banned Airlines - MRO Network

European Union parliament condemns United Kingdom Brexit … – Firstpost

Brussels: The European Parliament's group on Brexit negotiations has made a damning assessment of British proposals on EU citizens' rights after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, a further indication of how tough the two-year negotiations are expected to become.

Representational image. Reuters

In a letter Monday to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and seen by The Associated Press, the group said "the UK does not respect the principles of reciprocity, symmetry and non-discrimination." Furthermore, it said that under the UK proposals made on 26 June, EU citizens in Britain would be looking at "nothing less than relegation to second-class status."

Citizens' rights in each other's nations are considered the first issue that both sides must settle. Even though Barnier is leading the negotiations, the European Parliament still has a veto right on any deal.

Recently, Barnier had said that Britain cannot enjoy "frictionless" trade with EU partners after it leaves the union. He took a tough position on theBrexitnegotiations, warning there will be "negative" consequences no matter what.

He said the consequences would be even worse if the EU and Britain can't agree on departure terms, and there's no "reasonable justification" for failing to reach a deal. He insisted, however, that the EU isn't trying to punish Britain for voting to leave.

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European Union parliament condemns United Kingdom Brexit ... - Firstpost