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UK PM May says we are prepared to leave the European union without a deal - ForexLive

Building on the actions already undertaken in previous years, next year's EU budget will continue dealing effectively with the migration challenge, both inside and outside the EU. Improved reporting will enhance the focus on concrete results which will be achieved thanks to EU funding.

Commissioner Gnther H. Oettinger, in charge of budget and human resources, said: With this budget we want to strike the right balance between keeping our past commitments regarding major EU programmes and addressing new challenges, while enhancing EU added value. We try to make sure that more young Europeans will be able to find jobs and that more key investments will be made on the ground. Demonstrating tangible results and making a difference in the daily lives of Europeans continues to drive all EU action.

The proposed budget operates within the limitations set by the European Parliament and Member States in the Multiannual Financial Framework yet under the assumption that the Council will formally adopt the already agreed mid-term revision of that Framework quickly following the elections in the United Kingdom on 8 June. Otherwise, some of the additional proposed expenditure like the remaining 700 million for the Youth Employment Initiative during 2018-2020 would be at risk and the Commission would probably need to use budget from the agriculture heading to pay for additional amounts devoted to security and migration.

The European Parliament and the European Union Member States will now jointly discuss this proposal.

Boosting jobs and investments

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Juncker Plan, is backed by an EU budget guarantee, complemented by an allocation of the European Investment Bank's own capital. It aims to support jobs and spur growth by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources to harness private investment. It is already expected to mobilise 194 billion in investments to date. In 2018, the Commission proposes to provision the EFSI guarantee fund with a further 2 billion.

The Structural and Investment funds remain the main investment instruments of the EU supporting SMEs and actions mainly in the areas of research and innovation, transport, environment and rural development. The EU budget will provide 55.4 billion for Structural and Investment funds for regions and Member States and almost 59.6 billion for farmers and rural development.

After a slow start in the first years, the 2014-2020 EU structural and investment programmes are expected to reach cruising speed in 2018, as per the commitments agreed by the Member States and the European Parliament. This explains the increase by 8.1% of overall payments, in comparison to the 2017 budget.

The promotion of sustainable development will also guide the action of the EU budget outside the Union, which is being significantly reinforced as regards neighbouring countries. The new European Fund for Sustainable Development is thus expected to leverage additional financing, in particular from the private sector.

Offering better opportunities to young people

The Erasmus+ programme aims to implement the agreed policy objectives of the EU in the fields of education, training, youth and sport by improving the skills and competencies of students, fostering quality improvements in education, training and youth institutions/organisations and promoting policy development. The 2018 draft budget sets aside 2.3 billion for this purpose - a 9.5% increase compared to the 2017 budget.

By the end of 2016 around1.6million young people had benefitted from actions supported by the Youth Employment Initiative. This initiative contributed to the decrease of youth unemployment rates in most Member States. However, as the unemployment rates still remain above pre financial crisis levels, continued efforts and support at EU level are called for. To this end, an additional 1.2 billion should be provided to the Initiative over 2017-2020, of which 233 million is included in the draft budget 2018 and 500 million in an amending budget for 2017 which is also proposed today.

Another opportunity for young people is the European Solidarity Corps, which provides volunteering placements, traineeship and job offers for 2-12 months, fostering solidarity in communities across Europe. Today, the Commission proposed an own budget and legal base for the European Solidarity Corps to enable 100,000 Europeans to take part by 2020. Actions related to the European Solidarity Corps for 2018-2020 will come to a total of 342million, of which 89 million in 2018.

Responding effectively to geopolitical challenges

As migration and security continue to be top priorities, the Commission is planning to continue financing a wide range of related actions within the EU such as providing humanitarian assistance, reinforcing external border management, supporting the most affected Member States, and more. The 4.1 billion planned in the draft budget for 2018 in the areas of migration and security brings the total of overall EU funding for migration and security to an unprecedented 22 billion in the 2015-2018 period. The 2018 draft budget reflects the fact that the bulk of this was frontloaded.

Additional funds will also be available to tackle the root causes of migration externally, notably by providing assistance for non-EU countries dealing with large migration flows such as Lebanon and Jordan. The draft budget also includes the pledges for this region made at the Brussels conference on supporting the future of Syria in April 2017, which total 560 million.

In the area of security, EU funding will focus on preventive security measures, notably in the field of serious and organised crime, including reinforcing coordination and cooperation between national law enforcement authorities, increasing the security of the EU's external borders and supporting Member States to fight against terrorism and cybercrime.

Moreover, the Commission launched in 2017 a so-called preparatory action for EU funded defence research. Overall 90 million are budgeted for the 2017-2019 period to fund collaborative research in innovative defence technologies and products.

Background

The draft EU budget includes two amounts for each programme to be financed commitments and payments. 'Commitments' refer to the funding that can be agreed in contracts in a given year; 'payments' to the money actually paid out. In the draft 2018 budget, commitments represent 161 billion (up 1.4% from 2017) and payments 145 billion (up 8.1% from 2017, due to the 2014-2020 EU structural and investment programmes reaching cruising speed in 2018, after a slow start in the first years).

For More Information

- Draft EU Budget 2018 Questions and Answers

- Draft EU budget 2018 documents

- EU Budget Focused on Results

- EU Results (online collection of EU funded projects)

- Press release on the European Solidarity Corps

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2018 EU budget: Commission proposes budget with focus on jobs, investments, migration and security - EU News

Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, hosted an informalgatheringwith thePrime Ministersof the Western Balkans partners, Prime Minister of MontenegroDukoMarkovi, Prime Minister of KosovoIsa Mustafa, Prime Minister of AlbaniaEdi Rama, Prime Minister of SerbiaAleksandarVui,Prime Minister-designateof the former Yugoslav Republic of MacedoniaZoranZaev, andBosnia and HerzegovinaCouncil of Ministers Chairman DenisZvizdito discuss the way forward forthe region'sEUmembershipperspective.

All presentconfirmed theirfull commitment tocontinue working for theEuropean Union integrationprocess, as confirmedby the EU at the March 2017 European Council. They reiterated their determination and strong shared interest instrengtheningcooperationand bringing about tangible resultsforthe lives of the citizens of the region.They emphasised their commitment togoodneighbourlyrelations and deepening regional understanding, through mutual respect and cooperation.

High Representative/Vice-President Mogheriniencouraged the six Prime Ministers to accelerate the necessary work in order to meet their citizens' expectations and move closer to their European Union future.

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Federica Mogherini hosts an informal gathering with Prime Ministers of the Western Balkans partners - EU News

Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said Thursday that differences remain between the Trump administration and the European Union on Russia, energy and trade.

I am not 100 percent sure that we can say today that we have a common opinion about Russia, Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who is sometimes called "the other Donald," said after a meeting with President Trump at EU headquarters.

Tuskadded that while some issues "remain open, like climate and trade," the leaders agreed first and foremost on the need to combat terrorism.

EU officialswere skeptical in advance of Trump's visit. Their concernswere driven in part by the U.S. leaders positive stance on Britain's vote last year to leave the bloc. Trump at the time called it a great idea.

However, he has since spoken of theimportance of European unity.

European officials are also concerned that the Trump administrationmight withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming, and turn away from trade arrangements with the EU.

Trumps visit to Brussels marked the fourth leg of his first overseas trip. Before heading into the talks with Tusk and European Commission PresidentJean-Claude Juncker, he spoke enthusiastically about his earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and at the Vatican.

His ceremonial welcome last week in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Trump told the European officials, was beyond anything anyones seen. The Saudis staged elaborate festivities including a traditional sword dance.

And the president called his private encounter with Pope Francis on Wednesday very impressive. The president and the pontiff met privately for half an hour, and Francis presented Trump with gifts including a copy of a papal encyclical on climate change.

The pope was terrific, Trump said.

After the visit to the EUs sprawling new headquarters, Trump headed to a luncheon with the newly elected French president, Emmanuel Macron. The two men were meeting for the first time.

During the French presidential campaign, Trump had praised Macrons far-right opponent Marine Le Pen for her tough positions on immigration and borders, but he had stopped short of endorsing her.

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Trump visits European Union headquarters; EU leaders cite some differences - Los Angeles Times

As armed police step up their patrols at home, there were warnings that the Manchester bomber may have links to terror cells in Europe. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

The UKs full participation in European Union security and intelligence co-operation will be critical to the fight against terrorism after Brexit, leading British security experts have said, as Theresa May announced wide-ranging new plans to counter extremism.

The growing demands for the prime minister to face down anti-EU forces in the Tory party and make membership of bodies such as Europol, the EUs criminal intelligence agency, a top priority, came amid fears that Brexit could leave the UK with inferior access to key European databases and deprive British police forces of vital tools in high-level, pan-European anti-terror probes.

The calls from senior figures including Sir Hugh Orde, former chief constable of the police service of Northern Ireland and former head of Europol Max-Peter Ratzel were reinforced on Saturday night by Dominic Grieve, the Tory chair of the Commons intelligence and security committee.

Grieve said full participation, even if it meant accepting EU rules and judicial oversight for the European Court of Justice (ECJ), could not be more crucial. He said he believed May was committed to remaining closely involved in EU security but believed that doing so would require compromise that would be hard for some in Mays party to accept.

Although our partnership with the US for intelligence sharing is extremely important, the fact is that the current terrorist threat is very much a European dimension issue. The Schengen database and knowing about who has moved where are all intimately dependent on European systems and we have got to try to remain in them, he said.

I think it is going to be very difficult, and the government and Parliament will have to face up to the fact that it might turn out during the Brexit negotiation that some sort of mechanism for the European court is going to be necessary, he added.

After the Manchester attack, which killed 22 people and left dozens of others grievously injured, it was revealed that suicide bomber Salman Abedi had travelled back to England from Libya via Turkey and Dusseldorf four days before the attack.

The bomb contained the same kind of explosives as those used in the Paris and Brussels attacks in 2015 and 2016, prompting speculation that Abedi was linked to terror cells on the European mainland. UK counter-terrorism officials investigating the Abedi network are working with Europol, with separate bilateral inquiries ongoing with German and Belgian intelligence agencies.

Orde told the Observer that UK membership of EU bodies such as Europol and Eurojust, which brokers judicial co-operation in criminal cases, not only allowed access to huge amounts of vital data, but also meant UK police could set up joint inquiries with German police or those from other national forces without delay.

European arrest warrants were also essential, he said: If we dont have all this, it makes it a lot more difficult to do this crucial work. It it vital that we get to a situation as close to what we have as members of the EU as possible, though it is difficult to see how we do that. As members of Europol and Eurojust, states are subject to EU rules on data transfers and procedures and ECJ jurisdiction in any disputes or appeals over use of tools such as arrest warrants.

Ratzel, who led the pan-EU crime-fighting agency until 2009, warned that Britain must accept some of the rulings of the ECJ as part of any deal something May has previously ruled out. My expectation is that once you have an important role to play, you have to be under the European Court of Justice. Cherry picking cannot work. You have to obey the rules of the club. I am personally sure that the Europeans will never accept Britain having a role in Europol without being under the rule of the European Court of Justice.

As anti-terror policies of the rival parties were placed centre stage in the election campaign, May declared on Saturday night that more needed to be done.

She added: We need to be stronger and more resolute in standing up to these people. Spelling out details of a new commission for countering extremism, announced in the Tory manifesto, she said government had to widen its role and approach.

There is clearly a role for government in tackling extremism where it involves behaviour that is or ought to be criminal. But there is also a role for government to help people and build up organisations in society to promote and defend Britains pluralistic values, and stand up to the extremists.

Mays initiative came as Labour also attempts to boost its security credentials by pledging to appoint 1,000 more intelligence staff. Jeremy Corbyn has already said he would appoint an extra 10,000 police, 3,000 firefighters and 3,000 prison officers. Suggesting that public spending cuts had put people in danger, Corbyn said that ensuring the safety of communities demands properly resourced action across many fronts.

It means upholding and enforcing our individual rights, promoting community relations, supporting our emergency services, tackling and preventing crime and protecting us from danger, including threats of terror and violence, he said.

The Manchester bombing was the worst terror attack to hit Britain since the 7 July attacks in London in 2005.

A street in Manchesters Moss Side was evacuated by counter-terrorism officers and controlled explosives were used in a raid on a property in Cheetham Hill.

Two men aged 20 and 22 were arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning at the Cheetham Hill address, police said. Neighbours identified Yahya and Mohamed Werfalli as two of the occupants of the raided house. They were said to be of Libyan descent and part of the same friendship groups as the Manchester bomber.

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We need deal with the EU to combat terror, experts tell Theresa May - The Guardian