European Union

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for aid workers.

Twitter Hashtag #EUandME

EU development policy seeks to foster the sustainable development of developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty. Providing over 50 % of all global development aid, the EU and its member countries are collectively the world’s leading donor. For example, development assistance provided by the EU and its members totalled €75.5 billion in 2016.

© Joseph Sohm / Fotolia

If you work or volunteer for an NGO (non-governmental organisation) in the field of development you and your organisation may be benefiting from a number of EU programmes and measures.

For instance, NGOs can get funding via grants and contracts under various humanitarian aid and assistance programmes and initiatives. Grants are direct financial contributions to organisations, or to projects carried out by them. Contracts are meanwhile awarded for the purchase of services, supplies or works.

The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) provides funding for NGOs, international organisations and United Nations agencies carrying out humanitarian work on the ground in many countries around the world. In addition, the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), regularly publishes open calls for tender.

The EU Aid Volunteers programme offers people from all over the EU opportunities to become EU aid volunteers in humanitarian projects worldwide. NGOs can also use Erasmus+ to attract young people from around the EU who might be interested in taking part in volunteering projects.

Further information

• EPRS Guide to EU Funding 2014-2020. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/EPRS/Funding_Guide.pdf
• European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/general_en
• EU Aid Volunteers programme, http://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/humanitarian-aid/eu-aid-volunteers_en

A European Union tax overhaul to raise levies on large digital firms needs a thorough debate although an agreement could still be found by the end of the year, Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Saturday.

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for fashion shoppers.

Twitter Hashtag #EUandME

Do you love shopping for clothes? Even if you are a dedicated follower of fashion, you may not be aware of the impact that EU laws have on the fashion items you buy. The textile and clothing sector plays an important role in European manufacturing, and EU laws ensure the quality standards of products sold on the European market. EU law means that something labelled as pure silk is not a cheap copy, and puts rules place on footwear manufacture, helping to protect your interests as a consumer and making sure the goods you buy aren’t fakes.

© CHEN, PAO-CHIN / Fotolia

EU standards ensure that children’s clothes are safe with regards to cords and drawstrings. The EU is also concerned that fashion goods are produced fairly, and is looking to reduce the impact of fashion on the environment (e.g. reducing textile waste)

The EU also works on various initiatives to strengthen European fashion industry competitiveness, such as measures to protect intellectual property rights that mean that European designers get paid for their work. It also helps small and medium-sized fashion enterprises to access finance, and helps stimulate creativity and innovation. Through its trade agreements, the EU also gives fashion designers and textile companies the opportunity to export to the world.

Further information

• EPRS briefing on Workers’ conditions in the textile and clothing sector: just an Asian affair? Issues at stake after the Rana Plaza tragedy, 2014,
  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2014/538222/EPRS_BRI(2014)538222_REV1_EN.pdf
• EPRS briefing on Benefits of EU international trade agreements, European Added Value in Action, 2017, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2017)603269

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for home owners.

Twitter Hashtag #EUandME

As a citizen of the European Union, you have the right not only to live, work, study and do business anywhere in the EU, but also to buy property. Two-thirds of Europeans own their own home; some of them are still paying back a loan or mortgage, while others own their home entirely. Those who have finished paying their mortgage spend less on housing, so it is quite understandable to want to buy your own home, not only to live in but also as a means of saving money.

© klublu / Fotolia

The two main difficulties you will face when buying a house in another EU country concern understanding the legal environment for residential property and financing the purchase. The EU is working to make it easier and safer for you to do both by funding initiatives such as CROBECO and IMOLA, which aim to increase transparency around and information about the real estate market and to harmonise land registries. In addition, the Mortgage Credit Directive is helping to open up the mortgage market in the EU.

Once you own your home, you will need to pay property taxes. In the absence of EU-wide tax rules, you will need to make sure with the authorities of both the country where you are tax-resident and the country where you are buying a property which laws apply and what taxes you need to pay, and where. Fortunately, most countries have signed bilateral agreements destined to avoid double taxation, so you will only have to pay the tax once.

Further information

• European Parliament, study ‘Cross Border Acquisitions of Residential Property in the EU: Problems Encountered by Citizens’, 2016, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/556936/IPOL_STU(2016)556936_EN.pdf
• Housing statistics, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Housing_statistics

Written by Alina Dobreva,

© European Union 2017 – Source : EP

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union address to the European Parliament, and the subsequent debate, on 12 September 2018 is to be the last one during the current mandate. It comes in the context of the ongoing reflection on the future path of the European Union, especially in view of the European elections next May. The debate will therefore be an occasion to reflect on the legacy and achievements of this Commission, to present the priorities until the end of the mandate and to follow up on the ongoing debate on the future path of the European Union of 27.

President Juncker’s speech is expected to be accompanied by a set of concrete initiatives and proposals with the aim to deliver positive results for citizens by the time of the Sibiu summit in May 2019. This year’s speech comes as the campaigns for the European elections start to take shape, but also in the period of intensive debate on the Commission’s proposals for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which set out the Commission’s vision of the EU financing of policies during that period.

The State of the Union debate now forms part of the process for the adoption of the annual Commission Work Programme and thus plays an important role in identifying major political priorities to be agreed in interinstitutional dialogue.

This briefing is an update of an earlier one, of September 2017, by Eva-Maria Poptcheva.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The 2018 State of the Union debate in the European Parliament‘.

Weekly schedule of President Donald Tusk 10-16 September 2018

Remarks by President Centeno following the Eurogroup meeting of 7 September on ongoing discussions on labour market reforms, Portugal and euro area reforms ahead of December Euro Summit.

Plenary session and Committee meetings, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel will be meeting in Marseille late this afternoon, but neither Paris nor Berlin wanted to disclose what will be on the menu - a silence that is louder than words.

Manfred Weber’s European Commission presidency bid is “absurd” given that he represents a political party with close links to Vladimir Putin and politicians like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who openly question the EU's values, according to leftist chief Gabriele Zimmer.

Anybody with an internet connection and a social media profile will have seen examples of hate speech against migrants and refugees in recent years. And we’re not talking about legitimate criticism of globalisation or Europe’s current migration policy – rather, dehumanising and violent language, calling for the sinking of refugee boats or the gassing of migrants.

The latest round of EU-sponsored Kosovo-Serbia talks effectively collapsed on Friday (7 September) as Serbia's president refused to sit down with his Kosovo counterpart, citing a ban by Kosovar authorities on his planned visit to the former Serbian province as a reason to reassess all relations with Pristina.

The “Google tax” will return to the EU finance ministers’ agenda on 7 September. However, whereas France and Spain are arguing in favour of the European plan, Germany seems to be hindering its adoption. EURACTIV France reports.

In an exclusive interview, Ska Keller, co-chair of the Greens-EFA group, shared what she expects from next week's State of the Union speech and the vote on whether to trigger punitive Article 7 measures against Hungary, as well as weighing in on Manfred Weber's bid to lead the EPP into the EU elections.

Written by Giulio Sabbati and Gianluca Sgueo,

This Infographic contains up-to-date information on key data concerning the forthcoming European elections (to be held in 2019). In a one-page format, readers can find information of the Election day, the voting systems adopted at Member States’ level, as well as on rules governing eligibility and allocation of seats. Most importantly, the infographic takes into account the re-distribution of seats following on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, and the overall reduction of total number of seats to 705. Further, more in-depth analysis is available on the second page of the infographic.

Read this infographic on ‘2019 European elections: National rules‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Prolonging the Cohesion debate and postponing the final agreement will have a negative impact on the policy’s essence and content, but will also further affect the European idea, participants underlined during a hearing at the European Economic and Social Committee on Thursday (6 September).

A highly coordinated cyber attack has hit the UK's largest airline, British Airways, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of customers, with masses of financial and personal data stolen by hackers in what BA boss Alex Cruz called "a very sophisticated, malicious attack."

When it comes to vaccination and immunity, what matters is to ensure high immunity levels and not the way each EU government will decide to follow, EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis told EURACTIV.com following a heated debate on the issue in Italy.

President Trump is once again under pressure after new revelations from the White House. Legendary reporter Bob Woodward reports in a book that Trump's co-workers disobey instructions in order to prevent political fallout. And an anonymous White House official has published serious accusations against his boss in an op-ed for the New York Times. But this resistance against Trump from within his own camp is contentious among journalists.