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Published on June 29, 2023

After months of effort, negotiations, and expressions of concern about mesothelioma and other deadly diseases, members of the European Parliament have prevailed on the European Union (EU) to overhaul its asbestos policies. The new exposure limits will now match that of the Netherlands, which currently has the lowest existing limit in the EU.

In response to growing knowledge about asbestos role in the development of mesothelioma, the European Union banned the use of the toxic mineral in 2005, and some countries took action far earlier than that. But the prohibition on current and future use did not address the existence of asbestos that was already in place in the roofs, ceilings, electrical systems, and insulation of buildings constructed before the ban. With a robust renovation initiative planned for the immediate future, advocates for workplace health knew that it was time to take action.

The new rules are expected to significantly lower the incidence of mesothelioma in the future, as they change the occupational exposure limit from 0.1 to 0.01 fibers per cm3, a tenfold shift downward. The numbers will be decreased again after a maximum time period of six years, dropping to 0.002 fibers per cm3, which is the current maximum level in the Netherlands.

Though workers representatives acknowledge that the new regulations will lower mesothelioma rates in the future, they are still concerned about workers who are currently exposed, and urge people to begin acting on the new exposure limits now. Speaking to these worries, Claes-Mikael Stahl, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation said, Todays agreement is an important step forward in ending the scandal of workplace cancer. But the long implementation period means that workers wont benefit from the safer limit until after much of the work as part of the renovation wave has been completed.

He went on to say, That is why it is imperative that member states do not wait until the end of the implementation period and put the lower limit into effect as soon as possible.

While European workers enjoy greater protections against in place asbestos, workers in the United States continue to face the risk of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. For information on facing these diseases, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.

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European Union Takes on Mesothelioma with New Asbestos Rules - Mesothelioma.net Blog

European Union leaders have called on the blocs foreign policy chief to draft a strategic and forward-looking report on Trkiye-EU relations, a statement from the bloc said on Friday.

The 27 EU heads of state and government, who attended a two-day summit in Brussels, invited Josep Borrell and the European Commission to submit a report on the state of play of EU-Trkiye relations in the light of the recent general and presidential elections in Trkiye.

The document must build on the instruments and options identified by the European Council, and proceed in a strategic and forward-looking manner, as per the summits conclusion.

The EU leaders also called for a speedy resumption of negotiations under the U.N. framework for finding a comprehensive settlement for the Cyprus issue."

Their document further referred to the verification of decisions made at EU summits held in March and June 2021 regarding Trkiye, where EU leaders had stated their readiness to gradually and proportionally develop cooperation with Ankara and start high-level dialogue on topics of mutual interest such as migration, healthcare, climate, war on terror and regional issues.

They had asked for commencing technical works to bolster relations with Trkiye on managing migration and authorization to update the Customs Union agreement.

The Cyprus issue is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot administration in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) over sovereign rights.

The TRNC entirely broke away from the south and declared independence in 1983 after a coup aimed at Greeces annexation of the island led to Trkiyes military intervention, dubbed Cyprus Peace Operation, as a power guarantor to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

An international embargo against Turkish Cyprus is currently in place in several areas that allow access to international communications, postal services and transport only through Trkiye.

Turkish Cyprus has been resolute in demanding a two-state solution that would ensure international recognition and equal sovereignty and status, something the Greek Cypriots reject.

The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years. U.N.-backed reunification talks have been in limbo since the last round collapsed at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017 between guarantor countries Trkiye, Greece and the U.K.

The Greek Cypriot administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on Greek hegemony.

The crisis also looms over Trkiyes accession to the EU, which has been essentially frozen due to political roadblocks by certain EU members, including Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, for reasons unrelated to membership criteria, according to Ankara.

Turkish officials argue that the EU can never live up to its potential on the world stage without Turkish membership in the bloc.

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EU eyes 'strategic' progress in Trkiye relations - Daily Sabah

In response to an invitation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Zimbabwe, the European Union has decided to deploy an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the Harmonised elections of 23 August 2023.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has appointed Mr Fabio Castaldo, Member of the European Parliament, as Chief Observer for this mission.

High Representative Josep Borrell stated:

The deployment of an EU Election Observation Mission to the general elections in Zimbabwe shows the EU's commitment to support democracy and the rule of law. Under the leadership of Chief Observer Castaldo, the EU EOM will contribute to enhancing citizens trust in the process and to further strengthening Zimbabwes democratic institutions. The Zimbabwean authorities have expressed their commitment to credible, transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections. This is what is expected and the Zimbabweans deserve

The Chief Observer, Mr Castaldo declared: Democracy requires more than elections, but a country cannot be a democracy without holding genuine elections. That is why I feel honored to head an EU EOM to Zimbabwe. Credible, transparent and inclusive elections are a cornerstone of democracy and play a critical role to promote a peaceful and democratic path towards greater stability and prosperity, not only for the individual countries, but also for the broader regions. On the basis of an impartial and objective assessment of the election process, we hope to continue working with the Zimbabwean authorities after the elections to encourage the implementation of the observation mission's recommendations. The EU can play a pivotal role in this process, and we will always be by the side Zimbabwean people.

With the service provider of the EOM arriving in Harare the first week of July, the Core Team of the EU EOM will consist of 11 election experts that will arrive in Zimbabwe shortly after. Towards the end of July, 46 Long-Term Observers will join the mission and are to be deployed across the country to follow the electoral campaign. 44 Short-Term Observers are also foreseen to be deployed closer to election-day. Finally, a number of Locally-Recruited Short-Term Observers from the EU Member States accredited in Zimbabwe may integrate the mission on Election Day. The EU EOM will remain in the country until the completion of the electoral process.

Following the EU election observation methodology, the mission will issue a preliminary statement and hold a press conference in Harare after the elections. The final report, which will include a set of recommendations for future electoral processes, will be presented and shared with stakeholders after the finalisation of the entire electoral process.

CONTACT DETAILS

NABILA MASSRALI Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy nabila.massrali@ec.europa.eu +32 (0) 2 29 88093 +32 (0) 460 79 52 44

DANIEL PUGLISI Press Officer for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management/Foreign Affairs and Security Policy daniel.puglisi@ec.europa.eu +32 (0)2 29 69140 +32 (0)460 767374

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Zimbabwe: The European Union deploys an Election Observation ... - ReliefWeb

The rules are the rules, that is until they get updated.

Open banking has been given a potential new set of rules after the European Commission today released its proposals to update the rules governing payments.

The revised Payment Services Directive proposal (which will replace PSD2 with PSD3) comes alongside the new Financial Data Access (FIDA) proposed rules as well as separate Payment Services Regulation (PSR).

Overall, the new package of measures will have far-reaching consequences for banks and fintechs just as PSD2 has been key to the open banking industry over the past five years or so.

It includes measures aimed at increasing the baseline adoption, functionality and performance of open banking Application Programming Interfaces but is much more ambitious in scope than existing regulation.

Today we are taking concrete steps to modernise not only the EUs retail payments industry but the financial service sector as a whole. In doing so, we are putting the best interests of citizens and consumers at the heart of financial services. In the EUs growing data economy, every interaction in finance creates new data, said Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union.

McGuinness, who yesterday inked a financial services cooperation pact with the UK, says it is, therefore, vital consumers remain in control of their payments and data.

Today we are proposing a set of measures including enhanced protection for consumers making electronic payments in the EU and improved criteria to prevent and remedy payment fraud. This proposal will ensure customers and businesses benefit from more innovative payment and financial service options, whilst being confident that these are offered in a safe, transparent and secure way, she added.

New rules, new goals

The EU has set out six major goals in the proposal.

These are: combating and mitigating payment fraud, improving consumer rights, further levelling the playing field between banks and non-banks in terms of access to payment systems, boosting open banking, improving the availability of cash in shops and via ATMs and making enforcement of the rules more robust.

It comes at a time of increasing digitalisation of financial services in the EU.

Electronic payments in the EU, for example, have soared in recent years, with the pandemic accelerating a long-term trend. In 2021 the volume of electronic payments hit 240trn, compared with 184.2 rn in 2017).

Todd Clyde, CEO of Token.io, an account-to-account payment infrastructure provider, says the publication of the European Commissions proposals for a revised regulatory framework for payment services is an exciting development for the payments industry.

This is because, he says, it demonstrates a commitment to creating a stronger foundation and infrastructure for open banking-powered payments solutions across the European market.

We are particularly pleased to see the European Commissions proposal include measures aimed at increasing the baseline adoption, functionality and performance of open banking Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

API-based interfaces provide the most secure and performant way for Third Party Providers (TPPs) like Token.io to interface with banks, and ultimately support the delivery of innovative services and better outcomes for end users.

Further, we believe formalising the explicit minimum baseline functionality required from banks open banking interfaces will help level-up the overall performance of the ecosystem.

We also welcome the European Commissions statement that banks and TPPs are free to establish commercial arrangements for premium APIs, through which enhanced functionality and value-added services beyond those required under regulation can be provided.

Premium APIs, built on equitable commercial models, have the potential to enable the development of higher-quality and more innovative end-user propositions (such as dynamic recurring payments and payment guarantees) and will support the wider adoption of open-banking based payment propositions.

Both the PSR/PSD3 and Financial Data Access (FIDA) proposals are setting in motion a future for open finance in Europe by unlocking possibilities for innovation across the financial services and other industries.

However, not all are happy with the proposals which include the potential for banks to be able to charge for access to data.

The EU says it wants to avoid radical changes that could destabilise the open banking market or increase implementation costs but buried deep in the report is the ability for banks to charge for data access, adding an extra layer of friction to adoption.

PSD2 promised a fairer financial landscape, where consumers could easily switch to better options and banks would compete on quality and value. Yet traditional banks have shamelessly undermined the essence of PSD2, using consumers' own data to lock them into poor-value services, said a spokesperson for Klarna.

So the EU's reboot to stop this backsliding and empower consumers is great news. However, the Financial Data Access Proposal's provision allowing banks to charge for accessing consumer data raises serious concerns. Personal data belongs to the consumer and should not be used as an expensive fence to lock them into worse service and higher fees. Data is either free or not; it cannot be free at a price," they added.

There is some further nuance here, the proposals state that data holders i.e banks can ask for reasonable compensation from data users for making customer data available to them.

Although it doesnt have any guidance on what this but does say where the data user is an SME (e.g. a small FinTech firm), compensation cant exceed the costs directly attributable to the individual data request.

It can in no way be considered as a payment for the data itself, but rather as compensation for the costs of building and maintaining the technical infrastructure required for accessing high-quality data that can be used by data users to add further value for the financial sector customers.

Link:
PSD3: The European Union unveils new open banking rules - AltFi

As of today, the largest marine protected area in the North-East Atlantic will benefit from greater conservation objectives. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) has decided to broaden the conservation scope of the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea basin Marine Protected Area (NACES MPA), located in the high seas of the North Atlantic, in international waters, to protect the seabed and a number of species and habitats. The European Union, represented by the European Commission, is a contracting party to the OSPAR Convention. This extension is a tangible contribution to the Global Biodiversity Framework agreement which commits to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030. It also supports the recently adopted agreement on protecting biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

Virginijus Sinkeviius, Commissioner for Environment, Fisheries and Ocean said:

Today we have good news for the Atlantic Ocean. Together with our partners in OSPAR, we expanded the conservation scope of this large marine protected area in international waters, which is almost the size of France. By protecting and restoring seabird populations, marine biodiversity and the integrity of the seabed and ecosystems, we take an important step towards fulfilling our commitment to protect at least 30% of the sea by 2030. This is critical to protect global marine biodiversity and enhance its resilience to climate change.

Marine Protected Areas are an essential tool for the protection and restoration of marine biodiversity and for the long-term sustainability of seas and oceans. They maintain and improve the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services and related socio-economic benefits, including food security.

Established in 2021 to protect seabirds, the NACES marine protected area now has greater conservation objectives which will also cover the seabed and other species and habitats such as coral gardens and deep-sea sharks. The set up and management of this high seas marine protected area will be supported by the recently adopted agreement on protecting biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. The extension, which contributes to EU ambitions and commitments under the EU biodiversity strategy and the Global Biodiversity Framework , is based on a thorough scientific assessment and follows comprehensive and targeted stakeholder consultation.

The OSPAR Convention aims to protect the North-East Atlantic maritime area against the adverse effects of human activities to conserve marine ecosystems and, when practicable, restore marine areas, which have been adversely affected. It has 16 Contracting Parties: Belgium, Denmark, the EU, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The Convention was open for signature at the Ministerial Meeting of the Oslo and Paris Commissions (thus OSPAR) in Paris on 22 September 1992 and entered into force on 25 March 1998.

The NACES marine protected area is the largest one in the OSPAR network and covers nearly 600,000km2 (an area the size of France). It is the eighth collectively designated MPA in the area beyond national jurisdiction within the OSPAR maritime area.

Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction

EU and the Global Biodiversity Framework

OSPAR

NACES MPA designation 2021

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Biodiversity: EU supports strengthening of largest marine protected ... - environment.ec.europa.eu