EU Updates – June 2015
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EU Updates – June 2015 EU INSTITUTIONS French Front National leader Marine Le Pen and Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders have formed a new group in the European Parliament called Europe of Nations and Freedoms (ENF). Le Pen will preside over the group together with Freedom Party MEP Marcel de Graaff. Other parties providing MEPs for ENF include the Austrian Freedom Party, the Belgian Vlaams Belang and the Italian Lega Nord. European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva has set up a Brexit unit that will deal with UK demands for EU reforms and renegotiation of British EU membership in preparation of the Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders in/out referendum to be held in the UK before the end of 2017. The unit, whose main celebrating the formation of their function will be to mediate between British and EU civil servants, starts its work on 1 new parliamentary group September and will be led by Jonathan Faull, a British lawyer and top civil servant. ECONOMY EU RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA The Eurozone officially exited a period of deflation in The EU sanctions against Russia have been May following five months of deflation. This month, extended until the end of January next year in an the inflation rate dropped slightly from 0.3 per cent effort to make Russia comply with the ceasefire to 0.2 per cent. The European Central Bank (ECB) has agreement signed in Minsk in February. Russia has been making efforts to increase price levels, for responded by extending its ban on food imports example by its bond-buying programme. This scheme from the EU by a year starting from the end of survived a German challenge in the European Court June. of Justice, which confirmed that it is in line with EU treaties. TTIP A vote on the EU-US trade deal TTIP at the plenary JUSTICE session of the European Parliament has been The EU Advocate General Melchior Wathelet has postponed to an undetermined date by its President stated that during their first three months in another Martin Schulz, officially because too many EU member state, unemployed EU migrants are not amendments (about 200) were filed. However, various MEPs interpret the decision as an attempt to automatically entitled to social benefits. Other benefits could be justified during this period as long cover up major disagreements within the two as migrants are able to prove that they are genuinely biggest parliamentary groups on ISDS, a looking for a job. The statement precedes a case controversial part of TTIP that would allow multinationals to sue governments through involving a Spanish family taken to the European Court of Justice by Germany. The court usually international arbitration courts. follows the advice of the Advocate General. The European Court of Justice has upheld a 2013 ruling that the European Commission has the right to deny public access to trade documents. The case was brought to court in 2011 by campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory, which claimed that the Commission had unlawfully withheld information about free trade talks with India. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament TECHNOLOGY An agreement was reached by the European Commission, the European Parliament and national governments that data roaming charges within the EU will have been abolished by June 2017. There will, however, be an interim period from April 2016 to June 2017 during which firms are allowed to impose additional charges on domestic rates. The compromise deal, which also aims to safeguard net neutrality, ends months of difficult negotiations. © CIVITAS Institute for the Study of Civil Society 2015 Compiled by Lotte van Buuren EUEU Updates Updates – May– June 2015 2015 FOREIGN POLICY AND DEFENCE Following tragedies in the Mediterranean and repeated Italian calls for more EU support, European leaders have agreed to reallocate over a two-year period 40,000 migrants who are currently staying in Italy and Greece. In contrast to the European Commission proposal, the scheme will not involve mandatory quota, to which Eastern European countries like Poland and the Czech Republic were fiercely opposed. The plan, discussed during a European Council summit, is expected to be finalised by the end of July. In another effort to curb the migration crisis, the EU military operation EUNAVFOR Med has kicked off, which aims to target Libyan people smugglers by gathering intelligence about the smuggling networks and by destroying their boats. The summit conclusions also included plans to detain potentially illegal migrants in special facilities in Italy and Greece where they could be screened on eligibility to receive asylum in Europe. The capabilities of the EU’s border-control agency Frontex to return migrants to their home countries is also planned to be increased. ANTITRUST POLICY ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY The European Commission will be investigating Leaders of the G7 states (the US, Canada, whether the American internet corporation the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Japan) Amazon has breached competition rules in have issued a joint statement that by the contracts with publishers about e-book end of the century, the global economy distribution. Some of these contracts would should be decarbonised – meaning no include possibly illegal clauses giving Amazon carbon emissions from fossil fuels. The G7 the right to be informed and compensated if also set a global target of reducing publishers offer better terms to competitors. greenhouse gas emissions with 40-70% by 2050 compared to 2010 levels. The The deadline for Google to respond to EU statement also specified that rules to charges that it would manipulates search results achieve these goals should be legally in its ”Google shopping” service to the binding. The agreement, concluded during a disadvantage of competitors has been extended meeting in Bavaria (Germany), increases the to 17 August. European commissioner for chance of a deal at the climate summit in competition Margrethe Vestager granted the Paris coming December. extension requested by Google because the internet giant had not been able to access the Greece has signed a deal with Russia to case file immediately after the accusation was enter a joint enterprise to construct the made. Google risks a fine of roughly $6mn Turkish Stream pipeline that will transport (£4.3mn) if it loses the case. gas from Russia to Turkey and Europa via the Black Sea. The pipeline is expected to be completed by 2019. Leaders of the G7 countries and the EU during a summit in Bavaria © CIVITAS Institute for the Study of Civil Society 2015 Compiled by Lotte van Buuren EU Updates – June 2015 EU STATES Greece A crucial Eurogroup meeting crushed hopes of a deal between the Greek government and its creditors before a deadline to unlock the remaining €7.2bn of Greece’s bailout programme. This last tranche of emergency funding from the European Central Bank (ECB) Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would have enabled Greece to repay €1.6bn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). By missing this repayment deadline, Greece is now officially in arrears and the Greek banks are in serious trouble. In order to prevent further bank runs, the Greek government has decided to keep the Greek banks shut until at least 6 July and to limit cash withdrawals to €60 (£42) a day. The question of whether or not the Greek government should still accept the hardly changed terms of a continued bailout will be put before the Greek people in a referendum on Sunday 5 July. In the case of a “no” vote, Greece is likely to go bankrupt and it may even exit the Eurozone. Denmark Luxembourg Poland Parliamentary elections toppled With large majorities of Three ministers and former the coalition led by Prime respectively 78% and 80.8%, Foreign Minister Radosław Ministe r Helle Thorning- voters have rejected to grant Sikorski have resigned following Schmidt from the Social suffrage to foreign nationals and an eavesdropping scandal in Democratic Party. The populist to 16- and 17-year-olds. The which government officials were right -wing Danish People’s ruling coalition government of recorded while making rude Party (DPP) won with 21.1% of liberals, socialists and Greens had comments about i.a. British the vote. campaigned for a “yes” vote. Prime Minister David Cameron. France A French lorry driver called Yassin Salhi rammed his van into a chemical factory near Lyon in an attempt to blow it up. He also decapitated his boss, whose head was found near two flags with the Muslim profession of faith. A French prosecutor has stated that the motives of Yassin Salhi were terrorist and that he has links to Muslim extremists of Islamic State (IS) in Syria. UK MPs have voted in favour of the The Netherlands referendum on British EU In a milestone verdict, the Dutch membership planned by Prime government has been ordered to Minister David Cameron. In Brussels, reduce the emission of greenhouse gases with 25% by 2020 compared to his proposals were met with less enthusiasm and Cameron has 1990 levels. A court has never before accepted that EU treaty change is forced a government to step up its EU member states not possible before the referendum. efforts to address climate change. EU CANDIDATE STATES Turkey In the general election, the leading AK Party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has surprisingly lost the majority it enjoyed since it came to power in 2002. The party still won 41% of the vote but is now forced to form a coalition or accept ruling as a minority government. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) crossed the notoriously high 10% threshold, securing dozens of parliamentary seats for the first time. OTHER STATES Tunisia A gruesome terrorist attack on a beach in tourist town Sousse killed 38 people, 30 of whom were British.