The Newsletter n°693 — 23 nov. 2015
La Lettre
Philippe Delivet
—
23 November 2015
The deadly attacks of Paris (January and November 2015) and of Copenhagen (February 2015), as well as those foiled in Belgium, (January 2015) have highlighted the reality and extent of the jihadist terrorist threat across Europe. They also pose the question of Europe's response to this threat with great acuity .
The measures provided for in the treaties do not diminish the Member States' exercise of responsibility in maintaining public order and the protection of internal security (article 72 TFEU ). But the Union must also work to ensure a high level of security, particularly via measures involving coordination and cooperation between police and judicial authorities (article 67 TFEU). And so the question of European "added-value" is raised in a battle that is first and foremost the responsibility of the Member States themselves.
Elections
Uncertainty reigns just one month before the parliamentary elections in Spain
23 November 2015
On 20th December next the Spanish will be renewing the two chambers of Parliament (Congress of Deputies and the Senate). Just one month before the election the People's Party (PP) of outgoing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is in the lead, but it does not appear that it will win the absolute majority.
Foundation
Is Europe at war?
21 November 2015
In an editorial published on his site Jean-Dominique Giuliani, the Foundation's Chairman recalls that the European project to build peace between the continent's nations has succeeded beyond all expectation. Now under attack from the outside, it must, as is often the case in the history of man, learn to fight to protect its way of life and its values - for its survival in fact.
Counter/Terrorism
Fire Arms Control
23 November 2015
On 18th November the European Commission adopted measures that aim to control the possession of fire arms more closely.
Conclusion of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Council
23 November 2015
The terrorist attacks in Paris, the crisis in Syria and the migratory issue were the focus of debate at the meeting of the 28 Foreign Affairs Ministers on 16th November. On 17th November during the Defence Ministers' meeting article 42.7 of the TEU invoked by France was unanimously supported by its European partners.
First measures taken after the attacks
23 November 2015
On 16th November speaking to the Parliament that met in Congress in Versailles the President of the French Republic François Hollande announced several measures following the attacks in Paris. The extension of the state of emergency was adopted by parliament on 20th November for a period of three months.
Conclusions of the Justice and Internal Affairs Council
23 November 2015
The 28 Internal Affairs Ministers adopted measures on 20th November as part of the fight to counter terrorism, including the PNR and systematic control on the Union's external borders.
UN Security Council resolution call to combat Daesh
23 November 2015
On 20th November the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2249 unanimously calling to combat Daesh. The resolution put forward by France asks Member States to step up their work and to coordinate their action to eliminate Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
David Cameron visits Paris
23 November 2015
On 23rd November British Prime Minister David Cameron travelled to Paris and met French President François Hollande to discuss strategies to counter Daesh. He said that he was going to present his action plan to Parliament this week.
Lockdown in Brussels
24 November 2015
Following assessments undertaken by the Belgian crisis centre (OCAM) the terrorist alert level has been at level 4 since 20th November, ie the highest level in Brussels and will remain in place until 30th November. Level 3 remains valid for the rest of the country.
Migration
Integration Summit in Berlin
23 November 2015
During the Integration Summit that took place on 17th November in Berlin German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that migrants should have better access to the country's healthcare system.
Hungary challenges obligatory quotas
23 November 2015
On 17th November the Hungarian Parliament adopted a bill allowing the government to address the EU Court of Justice regarding obligatory quotas for the relocation of migrants between the EU's Member States.
Greek Prime Minister visits Turkey
23 November 2015
On 18th November Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They announced the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in terms of the migratory crisis.
Meeting between British and Slovenian Prime Ministers
23 November 2015
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar met his British counterpart, David Cameron to exchange views on migratory issues in particular.
Financial Crisis
Greece and its creditors come to agreement
23 November 2015
On 17th November the Greek government came to agreement with its creditors. This agreement led to the payment of 2 billion € in loans and 10 billion € for the recapitalisation of the banks that was part of a tranche under the rescue plan.
Growth in Private Activity
23 November 2015
Growth in private activity continued to gather pace in November in the euro zone according to a new estimate by the PMI index published on 23rd November by Markit. The composite PMI lay at 54.4 in November against 53.9 in October, thereby highlighting strong growth on the part of the euro zone since May 2011.
Commission
Euro zone budgetary plans
23 November 2015
On 16th November the European Commission unveiled its budgetary plans for the euro zone countries. It emerges that the debt of 16 euro zone countries which delivered a report (except for Cyprus, Greece and Portugal) is due to drop from 1.9% to 1.7% of the GDP in 2016.
Re-assessment of the European Neighbourhood Policy
23 November 2015
In a joint declaration on 18th November the EU's High Representative, Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner Johannes Hahn announced a refocusing of the European Neighbourhood Policy on the challenges that the EU faces, such as terrorism for example.
Energy Union is moving forward
23 November 2015
On 18th November the Commission pointed to the progress made in terms of Energy Union, likewise contributions made as the COP21 draws closer.
410 million € for farmers
23 November 2015
On 20th November the European Commission announced that it was going to reimburse European farmers 410 million €.
Council
Conclusions of the Council of the European Economic Area (EEA)
23 November 2015
On 17th November the 44th Council of the European Economic Area took place in Brussels during which the progress made in terms of completing the single market were lauded.
Conclusions of the General Affairs Council
23 November 2015
On 17th November the 28 European Affairs Ministers prepared the European Council of 17th and 18th December next with the fight to counter terrorism, the Five Presidents' Report on Economic and Monetary Union and the future of the UK in the Union on the agenda.
Digital cooperation
23 November 2015
On 23rd November Ministers adopted a programme to promote the inter-operability of digital services in Europe (ISA2) of 131 million €. The programme aims to help civil services of Member States offer user friendly digital services designed for citizens and businesses.
Agreement between the Council and Parliament on undeclared work
23 November 2015
A European platform will be set up to encourage closer cooperation between Member States and to facilitate the exchange of information and better practice in view of tackling and preventing undeclared work.
Eurogroup Meeting
24 November 2015
On 23rd November 2015 a Eurogroup meeting took place devoted to the Member States' budgetary forecasts. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the President of the institution notably stressed that four of them would respect the rules of the Growth and Stability Pact: Austria, Italy, Spain and Lithuania.
Conclusions of the Youth and Education Council
24 November 2015
A Council on Youth and Education took place in Brussels on 23rd November 2015. On this occasion ministers adopted the 2015 report for youth, notably aiming to counter youth unemployment. These aspects were also addressed in a context that aims to counter radicalisation.
ECB
New 20€ note
23 November 2015
On 25th November a new 20€ note will be introduced. Various safety devices have been integrated into it to protect it from counterfeiting.
European Agencies
Study of the Member States' legal framework in terms of surveillance
23 November 2015
The EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights stressed on 18th November in a report unveiled in Strasbourg the need to step up and regularly assess the legislative framework that applies to the work undertaken by information agencies in order to protect citizens' fundamental rights.
Dismantling of a European VAT fraud network
23 November 2015
0n 19th November German, Dutch and Polish police forces working together with the enforcement authorities of other European countries arrested 27 people who were involved in a network that, is said to have embezzled some 320 million euros in VAT.
Germany
Germany will host the G20 in 2017
23 November 2015
In 2017 Germany will host the G20 meetings - the group of the 20 leading economic powers in the world - taking over from China in 2016 and Turkey in 2015 announced Chancellor Merkel.
Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt has passed away
24 November 2015
Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt passed away at the age of 96. The former Social Democratic leader, who was Chancellor from 1974 to 1982 died at home on 10th November in Hamburg. Herr Schmidt was a pillar of the Franco-German friendship which he embodied with former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The two men revived European integration and initiated the European Monetary System (EMS) then the ECU (European Currency Unit), the pre-cursor to the euro. After his retirement the former Chancellor devoted himself to the debate of ideas. He was also the co-editor of the weekly "Die Zeit" in which he wrote regularly.
Poland
Vote of confidence by Parliament on the government's programme
23 November 2015
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo presented her government's general policy to the Diet (lower chamber of parliament) on 18th November which adopted it, 236 votes in support, 202 against and 18 abstentions.
Romania
The Romanian Parliament voted in support of the new government
23 November 2015
On 17th November the Romanian government led by Dacian Ciolos, former EU Commissioner, formed of pro-European technocrats, won Parliament's confidence 389 votes in support out of 547 for its programme until the elections that are planned in 2016.
UK
Meeting between David Cameron and Vladimir Putin
23 November 2015
On 16th November British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Syria and Ukraine.
House of Lords decides to grant voting rights to the over 16's in the referendum
23 November 2015
On 18th November the House of Lords (UK) adopted a bill that will give the over 16's the right to vote in the referendum regarding the country's upkeep in the EU.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
20th Anniversary of the Dayton Agreements
23 November 2015
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon marked the 20th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreements on 21st November signed in 1995, which brought the deadliest conflict ever seen in Europe since the Second World War to an end.
Serbia
Serbia will open the first two chapters in negotiations to join the EU
23 November 2015
Serb Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic declared on 18th November that the first two chapters in EU membership negotiations were to be opened by the end of the year.
Studies/Reports
Publication of the Gender Gap Report 2015
23 November 2015
On 19th November the World Economic Forum published its "Gender Gap Report 2015" which assesses women's status in terms of political, economic, educational participation and their state of health.
EU Transport Scoreboard
23 November 2015
On 20th November the European Commission published a transport scoreboard.
Culture
Ingres Exhibition in Madrid
23 November 2015
From 24th November 2015 to 27th March 2016 an exhibition will be run on Ingres at the Prado Museum in Madrid. At this exhibition visitors can view the works of this artist and understand why he "was the pre-cursor to the artistic revolution at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th".
ARTE, European TV channel widens its linguistic offer to English and Spanish
23 November 2015
The Franco-German TV channel launched a selection of programmes sub-titled in English and Spanish on 17th November which are available via the internet. "Arte goes quadrilingual" stressed the channel in a press release.
Max Beckmann Exhibition in Berlin
23 November 2015
The Berlinische Galerie in Berlin is running "Max Beckmann and Berlin" until 15th February 2016. The exhibition shows the decisive role played by the city in the artist's work as it shows what he produced in Berlin.
Agenda
23rd to 26th November
Plenary Session of the European Parliament (Strasbourg)
23rd November
Eurogroup Meeting (Brussels)
23rd and 24th November
"Education, Youth, Culture and Sports" Council (Brussels)
26th November
"Transport, Telecommunications and Energy" Council (Brussels)
27th November
"Foreign Affairs" Council (Brussels)
30th November and 1st December
Competitiveness Council (Brussels)
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The Editors of the Newsletter :
Charles de Marcilly, Helen Levy ,Nelson Pajot, Joséphine Staron, Frédéric Strack,Hyung Jun Yoon, Maximilian Zielke
N°ISSN : 2729-6482
Editor-in-Chief :
Eric Maurice
Director of Publication :
Pascale Joannin
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