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 racial and ethnic minorities.

If you are of a different race or ethnic background than most people in the country where you live, you might worry that you will face discrimination when you look for a job or that your child will be treated unfairly at school. However, the EU is founded on respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities, and is looking after your interests, even if you don’t have EU citizenship.

EU law prohibits discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin in most walks of life: employment, education and vocational training, social protection, and access to goods and services, including housing. This means that you should not be treated less favourably or put at a disadvantage because of your racial or ethnic background. When discrimination occurs, there are mechanisms in place to make it easier for you to seek justice. EU countries are obliged to ensure that judicial and administrative procedures are available to everyone. EU law also makes it easier for you to bring your case to court.

© Mat Hayward / Fotolia

Harassment based on race or ethnicity, and incitement to discrimination or hatred, including online hate speech, are strongly prohibited under EU law. Thanks to the EU, offences against people based on race or ethnic origin are punishable under criminal law and victims of crime are ensured minimum standards in all EU countries.

The EU also funds projects to help minorities, collects field data, and helps countries to exchange best practices.

Further information

• European Commission, website ‘Combating racism and xenophobia’, https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/racism-and-xenophobia/combating-racism-and-xenophobia_en
• EPRS publication ‘EU measures against discrimination’, 2017, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2017/603887/EPRS_ATA(2017)603887_EN.pdf
• Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=LEGISSUM:l33114&from=EN&isLegissum=true

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 fishing enthusiasts.

Are you one of the many Europeans who love to cast a fishing rod in their free time? Through actions such as protecting European waters and studying the impact of recreational fishing, the EU is helping not only to protect the environment, but also to ensure the future of this popular hobby.

© Hetizia / Fotolia

Every fisherman knows that fish are best caught in clean rivers, lakes and coastal waters. The EU has taken important steps to protect our waters against all kinds of risks, thereby supporting healthy fish populations. One such risk is pollution, which the EU has reduced thanks to strict legislation. Another risk is posed by non-native fish infesting European waters. The EU has passed special laws to protect our native European fish populations against invasive fish species. These and other EU measures help not only to ensure a natural balance of species, but also to improve your chances of success on your fishing trips!

Recreational sea fishing has received a lot of attention in the EU recently, because it is a popular activity and it supports many jobs in coastal areas. At the same time, not a lot is known about the impact that this type of fishing has on European fish stocks. The EU has therefore commissioned new research in this area. The results will make it easier in the future to adopt EU rules that strike the right balance between sustainable sea fishing, on the one hand, and your desire to catch the big ones, on the other.

So, thanks to EU action, you and future generations should be able to enjoy fishing throughout Europe for years to come!

Further information

• European Parliament Policy Department study on ‘Marine recreational and semi-subsistence fishing – its value and its impact on fish stocks’, 2017, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/601996/IPOL_STU(2017)601996_EN.pdf
• European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment website, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm

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 bathers.

Europe’s bathing water is much cleaner today than previously. Europeans can now swim in increasingly cleaner coastal and inland bathing areas, thanks to EU laws and national water policies that protect our health and the environment.

In 1975, environmental and health concerns led to the first EU legislation on bathing water. It set out minimum quality standards for clean bathing water across Europe and was revised in 2006 to introduce quality management and simplify controls.

Photo credit: © soupstock / Fotolia

Under the EU rules, countries have to monitor bathing water quality according to clear procedures, improve the management of water resources, provide timely information to the public, and report annually to the EU. Water quality is assessed using microbiological data, and rated as excellent, good, sufficient or poor, depending on the level of pollution. Preventive measures are taken if water quality is poor (banning bathing, closing the site, informing people), alongside tackling the pollution and health threats.

In 2016, around 21 000 European sites reported on their water quality – 10.8 % were classified as having ‘sufficient’ and ‘good’ water quality, and only 1.4 % were rated as ‘poor’. The assessment highlights that 85.5 % of the sites monitored were free from harmful water pollutants, as they met the highest, ‘excellent’ quality standard (an increase from 78.1 % in 2011).

Further information

• European Environment Agency, State of bathing water, https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/status-and-monitoring/state-of-bathing-water/state/state-of-bathing-water-3
• European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment website, Bathing water quality, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-bathing/index_en.html
• European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment website, Legal Obligations under the EU Bathing Water Directive, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-bathing/summary.html

Weekly schedule of President Donald Tusk 18-26 June 2018

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Payments regulation has the potential to make or break the FinTech revolution, which will have meaningful consequences for the whole financial services sector and society more broadly.

Eurozone ministers are expected to give the green light to the final disbursement of aid to Greece and agree on measures to help with its debt burden. Meanwhile, the government in Berlin is shaken by Bavarian rebels over migration.

China and the UK have joined the US in closing their domestic ivory markets. It is now time for the EU to follow their footsteps if we are to give Africa’s elephants a fighting chance to survive the current onslaught from global criminal syndicates increasingly involved in the poaching and distribution of ivory, argues Catherine Novelli.

Hungary continues to block the European mandate to begin negotiations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, to the great displeasure of MEPs. EURACTIV.fr reports.

Like the Olympics, the World Cup is one of life’s great distractions. Its enduring popularity ensures that it is also an obsession for politicians. Argentina’s military junta was so desperate to win the competition it hosted in 1978, that it...

Matteo Salvini promises to send record numbers of migrants packing. However, that quickly comes up against the cost, logistics, and diplomacy, of how such a threat would be carried out - and the price for the EU as a whole.

The copyright reform proposed by the European Commission will hinder work on artificial intelligence, harm smaller entities on the internet and simply make life more difficult for Internet users, argues Michał Kanownik in an interview with EURACTIV Poland.

More and more voices are calling for an urgent reform of the strained Dublin asylum system as migrants continue arriving across the Mediterranean and migration takes centre stage in Europe again.

If the EU continues to over-regulate AI, its AI systems will fail to compete on a global scale and the technology's long-term future, for better or worse, will be shaped by the United States and China.

If emissions continue at their present rate, human-induced warming will exceed 1.5°C by around 2040, according to a draft UN report leaked ahead of an intense climate-focused political week.

Former German and French leaders Gerhard Schroeder and Nikolas Sarkozy joined Russian president Vladimir Putin at the football World Cup opening ceremony in Moscow on Thursday, even though EU leaders and EU officials stayed away in a quiet protest against Russian aggression in Europe. Leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Panama, and Saudi Arabia were also snapped enjoying Putin's hospitality.

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© Nuthawut / Fotolia

The European Commission has made proposals for the new long-term budget and on own resources for the European Union. The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 is slightly bigger than the current MFF, in constant prices. The budget proposal takes into account the shortfall on the revenue side caused by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, on the one hand, and the growing need to finance new priorities, on the other. The Commission proposes to increase funds for such areas as competitiveness, migration and security, and to reduce spending on traditional policies, such as cohesion and agriculture. For the first time, the Commission proposes to make the availability of funds dependent on the respect for the rule of law and EU values in recipient countries.

This note offers links to a selection of recent commentaries, studies and reports from some of the major international think tanks and research institutes, which discuss the EU’s long-term budget and related reforms. More reports on the topics are available in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’, published in March.

Budget de l’Union européenne: Quel compromis possible entre la France et l’Allemagne?
Fondation Robert Schuman, June 2018

Budget européen: Le bal des hypocrites
Mouvement européen, June 2018

The MFF proposal: What’s new, what’s old, what’s next?
Notre Europe, Bertelsmann Stiftung, May 2018

New priorities for the EU
Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, May 2018

What to know about the EU’s new budget
Chatham House, May 2018

On the future of the European Union
Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, May 2018

Should the EU budget have a stabilisation function?
Centre for European Policy Studies, May 2018

The Commission’s proposal for the next MFF: A glass half-full
Bruegel, May 2018

The battle over Europe’s budget
Centre for European Reform, May 2018

Allen Behauptungen zum Trotz: Die Gemeinsame Agrarpolitik hat kaum Entwicklungswirkungen
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, May 2018

Der nächste Mehrjährige Finanzrahmen: Reaktionen auf den Vorschlag der Europäischen Kommission
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, May 2018

The next EU budget: Firmly rooted in the past?
European Policy Centre, May 2018

The Multiannual Financial Framework, where continuity is the radical response
Centre for European Policy Studies, May 2018

EU funds for migration, asylum and integration policies
Bruegel, May 2018

Agriculture in Europe: Greener practices and a brighter future for the sector
European Policy Centre, May 2018

What does Europe care about? Watch where it spends
Bruegel, May 2018

New EMU stabilisation tool within the MFF will have minimal impact without deeper EU budget reform
Bruegel, May 2018

How large is the proposed decline in EU agricultural and cohesion spending?
Bruegel, May 2018

The EU budget after Brexit: Reform not revolution
Centre for European Reform, April 2018

The European budget talks: Financial threat to a global Europe
European Council on Foreign Relation, April 2018

Common or own goals: Reforming the financing of the European Union
Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, April 2018

The EU budget: The Union risks having the wrong debate
Centre for European Reform, April 2018

A done deal? Why innovation could struggle to be a priority in the next MFF
Jacques Delors Institut Berlin, April 2018

No escape from politics: Four tests for a successful fiscal instrument in the euro area
Notre Europe, Bertelsmann Stiftung, March 2018

For a regional solidarity policy after 2020
Notre Europe, March 2018

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: Easing the pain from trade?
Bruegel, March 2018

Rethinking the European Union’s post-Brexit budget priorities
Bruegel, March 2018

EU budget post-Brexit: Confronting reality, exploring viable solutions
European Policy Centre, March 2018

Read this briefing on ‘EU Multiannual Financial Framework‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Katarzyna Sochacka and Clare Ferguson,

© European Union 2018 – Source : EP

The June plenary session highlights were the continuation of the debate on the future of Europe with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, and the preparation of the European Council meeting of 28 and 29 June 2018. The European Commission and Council participated in discussions on, inter alia, the independence of the judiciary in Poland, humanitarian emergencies in the Mediterranean and solidarity in the EU, and the economic and monetary union package. VP/HR Federica Mogherini’s statements on the Iran nuclear deal, the annual report on human rights and democracy in the world (2017), and on the Georgian occupied territories ten years after the Russian invasion, were also discussed. Debates followed on the first anniversary of the signature of the Istanbul Convention and on the closure of the ivory market to combat poaching. Parliament approved the proposal to amend the regulation on OTC derivatives, an agreement on common rules in the field of civil aviation, on monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions and on fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles. It approved the final text of a proposed directive on proportionality tests for new national professional regulations. It also approved the new composition of Parliament after ‘Brexit’, and further macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.

Iran nuclear deal, human rights and democracy, and Georgian occupied territories

Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, made a statement on the Iran nuclear agreement; Mogherini also discussed the annual report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World (2017), and the EU’s policy on the matter, followed by debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Russia, Bahrain and on the situation of Rohingya refugees. Another topic for discussion was the situation in the Georgian occupied territories, ten years after the Russian invasion.

OTC derivatives

A proposal to amend and simplify the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), which deals with the regulation of ‘over-the-counter’ (OTC) derivatives in the EU, was debated and amendments approved by Members, clearing the way for the ECON committee to open trilogue negotiations. The 2017 Commission proposal covers issues such as the clearing obligation, reporting requirements, risk-mitigation techniques and trade repositories in the OTC derivatives market. Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs proposes further amendments that would boost transparency, compliance with reporting requirements, and access to clearing, including the principle that clearing services be provided under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commercial terms.

Common rules for civil aviation and European Union Aviation Safety Agency

Europe remains the safest air space in the world and the EU intends to ensure it stays that way. MEPs approved the trilogue agreement on common rules in the field of civil aviation and on reform of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) statutes. Parliament’s focus in its position on the proposals has been on adapting the rules to heavier air traffic and emerging technologies in aviation. One of the key points also includes the obligation of registering certain recreational drones.

CO2 emissions from and fuel consumption of new heavy-duties

Free movement of goods in the EU is also essential to the success of the internal market. However, the large-scale use of heavy-duty vehicles in transport has consequences for our environment, as they emit around a quarter of all road transport CO2. Parliament’s amendments extend EU targets to reduce these emissions, to include new administrative fines on manufacturers who fail to comply, and introduce new on-road verification tests. Parliament validated the provisional trilogue agreement on the proposal on monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles that seeks to stimulate market uptake of cleaner, fuel-efficient, heavy-duty vehicles, by an overwhelming majority.

Further macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

Members approved the granting of new macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for a maximum of up to €1 billion, which will help cover Ukraine’s needs in external financing for 2018-2019. Despite the priority accorded to Ukraine under the Eastern Partnership, the EU has already cancelled assistance payments due in the previous programme, because of the country’s failure to meet the conditions regarding governance and economic reforms. Parliament and Council positions to date indicate that any further assistance will be conditional on progress in the fight against corruption, with a proposed Memorandum of Understanding to be signed covering institutional and administrative capacities, including an anti-corruption court.

Proportionality test before adoption of new professional regulations

Parliament adopted a compromise text agreed in trilogue on the proposed directive introducing a proportionality test for new national regulations for professions, which affect employment in areas such as medicine and architecture. Public concern has been expressed regarding the inconsistent application of proportionality principles and a lack of transparency in the access to such professions, which is decided by Member States individually. Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection obtained a compromise between addressing unnecessary national requirements and allowing a specific status for healthcare services, and Council’s desire to limit obligations regarding the transparency of the national regulatory process.

Composition of the European Parliament

The number of Members of the European Parliament is limited to 751 under the Lisbon Treaty. The United Kingdom withdrawal means the seats left vacant by British Members must be redistributed, a situation complicated by the withdrawal date falling just before the next European elections. The composition of the European Parliament will therefore change after ‘Brexit’, providing an opportunity for Parliament to correct the current flawed application of the degressive proportionality principle (minimum of 6 seats per Member State, maximum 96; with each Member elected in more populous states representing more electors than those elected in less populous states, and vice versa), without reopening the Treaties. Parliament voted on whether to consent to a European Council decision on a partial redistribution of seats for the next term, involving no loss of seats for any Member State, reserving 46 seats for future enlargements, and reducing the overall number of Members to 705. Parliament approved the proposal by a very large majority (566 votes for, 94 against, 31 abstentions). The reform is due to be formally ratified at the end of June by the European Council.

Structural and financial barriers to access to culture

EU citizens have a huge range of cultural heritage sites, museums, exhibitions, films, and live performances to choose from, and digital access to cultural services makes it even easier to find cultural stimulation. In addition, the EU offers support to Member States in promoting cultural life. Nevertheless, participation in cultural activities remains low. Against this background, Parliament voted this week on a CULT committee report on the barriers to accessing culture in the EU, which include public funding levels, access, and the role of education.

Opening of trilogue negotiations

Three parliamentary committees’ decisions to enter into interinstitutional (trilogue) negotiations were confirmed: on interoperability of electronic road toll systems and facilitating cross-border exchange of information on the failure to pay road fees in the Union; on charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructure (TRAN committee); on free flow of non-personal data in the European Union (IMCO committee); and on screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union (INTA committee).

Three further TRAN committee decisions to open negotiations were rejected: on the posting of road transport drivers; on driving times, rest periods, and positioning by means of tachographs; and on the occupation of road transport operator and access to the international road haulage market. These reports will therefore be placed on the agenda of the July part-session.

Read this ‘At a glance’ note on ‘Plenary round-up – Strasbourg, June 2018‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

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EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meet on 18 and 19 June 2018 in Luxembourg for an exchange of views on the EMFF, fisheries controls and the fishing opportunities for 2019. They are also discussing the post 2020 CAP reform package and the agricultural market situation.

Download this video here.

Despite concerns over a potential new euro crisis due to Italian political instability,the president of the European Central Bank,  Mario Draghi, believes the currency is “strong”. EURACTIV’s partner La Tribune reports.