Dimitrios Papadimoulis talks about the new Commission
Interview with European Parliament #39;s Vice President, as well as GUE/NGL SYRIZA MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis to Vasileios Katsardis about the new European Union Commission ...
By: SYRIZA European Parliament
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Dimitrios Papadimoulis talks about the new Commission - Video
BRUSSELS Fri Oct 31, 2014 4:32pm GMT
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe addresses supporters outside his ZANU PF party headquarters in Harare, October 30,2014.
Credit: Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will take another step towards normal relations with Zimbabwe from Saturday by ending restrictions on aid, paving the way for 234 million euros (183 million pounds) of new funding, the bloc said on Friday.
The 28-nation EU has been gradually easing sanctions on Zimbabwe to encourage political reform, although it has kept an asset freeze and a travel ban on veteran President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace, as well as an arms embargo.
The EU suspended budgetary support and aid for projects in the southern African country in 2002 in response to human rights violations and what it said were attempts by the Zimbabwean government to prevent free elections.
Ten years later, the EU suspended these sanctions but did not immediately reopen the development aid taps.
The restrictions on EU aid will expire altogether on Saturday, the EU said, enabling the bloc, for the first time since 2002, to make multi-year aid commitments to Zimbabwe and to work with the government on how the money will be spent.
The Zimbabwe government and the EU are preparing a 234 million euro aid programme covering the period until 2020 "aimed at helping Zimbabwe become a more democratic and prosperous country," an EU statement said.
The programme will focus on health, agriculture-based economic development, governance and institution-building.
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European Union to end curbs on aid to Zimbabwe
On November 1, 2014, the new European Commission started its work. One of the priorities of its new president, Jean Claude Juncker, is the digital agenda. The European Union wants to be a leader in the Internet world of tomorrow. Vice President Andrus Ansip from Estonia (some people spell the country name "e-stonia") and Commissioner Gnter Oettinger from Germany will have special responsibilities to implement the big plans. Juncker was elected by the European Parliament, although the green light for his nomination came from the European Council. The European Council is the body where the prime ministers, presidents, chancellors and ministers of the EU member states are sitting together and making final decisions.
Commission, Council, Parliament: Who does What?
It is no secret that the relationships among the three main EU bodies Parliament, Commission and Council are not free from tensions. Juncker, a former prime minster of Luxembourg, has obviously his own ambitions and it remains to be seen, what the problems will be if it comes to policy development for key issues. One test case could be Internet Governance. A resolution on Internet Governance, which was adopted by the EU Council on October 17, 2014, did send already an interesting signal and raises the question how and where future EU Internet Policy will be made.
The fact that the European Council adopted a resolution on Internet Governance underlines that the topic is meanwhile a high priority issue for the EU. The EU Council supports a free, open, secure and unfragmented Internet, based on human rights and puts its authority behind the multistakeholder approach. This is good news. However, the text of the resolution is partly confusing and sends mixed messages which call for more clarification.
Let's start with the good news:
More Clarification is Needed
So far, so good, so clear. But there are some paragraphs in the European Council resolution which are not so clear.
By Wolfgang Kleinwchter, Professor Emeritus at the University of Aarhus and Member of the ICANN Board. In his article he expresses his very personal opinion.
Related topics: ICANN, Internet Governance, Policy & Regulation
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Enhanced Confusion: The European Council and the Governance of the Internet
Nigel Farage: The UK will leave the European Union Oct 2014
UKIP leader Nigel Farage says hello to the new EU commission.
By: Liberty Channel
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Nigel Farage: The UK will leave the European Union Oct 2014 - Video
Ebola Response: Commissioner Elect Stylianides on new role
Commissioner Elect Stylianides today addressed journalists on his new role as the EU #39;s Ebola Coordinator. He focused on the needs of the people in West Afric...
By: European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
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Ebola Response: Commissioner Elect Stylianides on new role - Video