European Union

International health resilience: A defining challenge

Speaking at the World Health Summit, President Charles Michel highlighted the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the European response and how it can support global solutions.

Only the Tories can now save Britain from the Tories.

That may seem a strange thing to say, but even Tories know when things have gone too far.

The Conservatives have dominated the 19th, 20th and, so far, the 21st centuries.

Since the 1830s, the Conservatives have been in the business of winning. They are the world’s most successful political party.

The Tories are Teflon coated. They instinctively know how to cling onto power regardless of scandalous, corrupt, and sleazy behaviour that has blighted so many of their administrations.

And for sure, scandalous, corrupt, and sleazy behaviour is blighting their current reign in office under Boris Johnson.

Tories, however, instinctively know when enough is enough. And right now, the party knows that the country has had enough.

Even the Daily Mail has had enough. The paper, under the editorship of Paul Dacre, was strongly pro-Boris. He could do no wrong.

But Dacre has left the building, and the Mail is changing colours.

In December 2019 the paper ‘rejoiced’ at the landslide win of Mr Johnson. Today, the Daily Mail reports that the nation is ‘aghast at Boris’s misjudgement’.

Their front page yesterday referred to Tory ‘sleaze’. The paper today reports the Tory poll lead has plunged ‘FIVE POINTS in the wake of Owen Paterson shambles’.

The Mail points out in large print:

‘Senior Conservatives are saying the episode raised serious questions about the Prime Minister’s judgment.’

A Tory grandee is quoted in the paper commenting on Johnson’s governing style:

‘It’s a bit like his marital infidelity – it’s in the price. A lack of attention to detail is expected.

‘But I tell you this latest shambles is one of the worst.

‘If and when Boris’s popularity in the country goes – and it might – a few more episodes like this and he will be out.’

Of course, there will be more episodes like this. Boris Johnson is prone to them. Government by chaos, contempt and cronyism are his modus operandi.

But what follows Johnson?

Yes, more Tory rule, at least until the next general election, which is likely to be almost three years away and yes, likely to result in yet more Tory rule.

Even if The Labour Party gets their act together (and right now it hasn’t) it would be difficult (although not impossible) for an opposition to win against a government with an 80-seat majority.

A lot now depends on public reaction. And maybe more pertinently, the reaction of papers such as the Daily Mail.

If – and it is a big if – the public and press reaction more loudly recognises Brexit for the disaster that it is, maybe the Tories of today might start to remember the Tories of yesterday.

What do they have to remember? This:

• It’s because of the Conservatives that the UK applied to join the European Community in the first place.
• It’s because of the Conservatives that the UK eventually joined the European Community.
• It’s because of the Conservatives that support for Britain’s continued membership of the European Community was won by a landslide in the first referendum in 1975.
• It’s because of the Conservatives, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, that the Single Market of Europe came into existence.
• It was the Conservative government in the 2016 referendum that officially supported the UK’s continued membership of the European Union.
• Most Conservative MPs voted for Remain in the referendum.
• Since the European Community was founded in 1957, with just two exceptions, the passionate resolve of ALL past Conservative Prime Ministers was that Britain should join the European Community and remain in it.

Yes, the party’s over for the Tories. Now, watch another bout of blue-on-blue battles as the party tries to sort itself out.

• Follow my journalism page on Facebook: Jon Danzig writes
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The post The party’s over appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

At the initiative of the FEMM Committee, the European Parliament held its second European Gender Equality Week during the last week of October 2021.

Following the success of the first European Gender Equality Week organised in October 2020, the European Parliament continued this important initiative and held the second European Gender Equality Week during the last week of October 2021. All parliamentary committees and delegations were invited to hold events addressing gender inequality issues in their areas of competence.

Below you will find more details of the events which took place during the European Gender Equality Week.

Location : European Parliament Brussels & remotely
Gender Equality Week 2020
Draft programme
EPRS: "Exploring gender equality across policy areas"
Communication
     Video presentation
     Twitter
Press release
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

At the initiative of the FEMM Committee, the European Parliament held its second European Gender Equality Week during the last week of October 2021.

Following the success of the first European Gender Equality Week organised in October 2020, the European Parliament continued this important initiative and held the second European Gender Equality Week during the last week of October 2021. All parliamentary committees and delegations were invited to hold events addressing gender inequality issues in their areas of competence.

Below you will find more details of the events which took place during the European Gender Equality Week.

Location : European Parliament Brussels & remotely
Gender Equality Week 2020
Draft programme
EPRS: "Exploring gender equality across policy areas"
Communication
     Video presentation
     Twitter
Press release
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

During the next ordinary meeting on 8-9 November, Members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs will discuss the situation in Sudan and Kenya following recent events in these countries. The Committee will also hold a presentation of the European Court of Auditor's report on the fight against corruption in Ukraine and vote on a report "Challenges and prospects for multilateral Weapons of Mass Destruction arms control and disarmament regimes".
Committee meeting agenda - 9 November 2021
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Today sees a meeting between British and French ministers to discuss the vexed question of fishing licences for Jersey waters. This event is important for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it’s the pathway that got opened up earlier in the week by the French decision not to move to unilateral sanctions over the issue, so that’s a positive development for talking through problems rather than laying down more harsh rhetoric (as both countries have been doing of late).

Secondly, it’s a reflection of the outsized importance that this issue has acquired over the past weeks, compared to its economic (or even its symbolic) value. This is a reflection of the wider low-trust environment that the UK operates in with both France and the EU.

But finally, it’s also the first time that the UK will have secured a bilateral meeting with an EU member state to discuss provisions of the Trade & Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The rigour of keeping to the Commission as the interlocutor on such matters has been exceptional and even the very particular nature of the matter might give others some pause for thought, not least Ireland.

In this context, Jersey might turn out to be an important demonstrator of things to come, even if the practicalities involved are somewhat mundane. Given that this is all a sideshow to the looming return of Article 16 – which is a very much bigger problem – we might loose sight of this rather quickly, especially if a deal can be worked out.

However the entire episode has also underlined a number of issues with the TCA that are likely to be repeated down the line.

Most obviously, the situation seems to have stemmed from different interpretations of Art.502(1), which requires that historical access to Jersey waters ‘can be demonstrated’. The necessary level of proof is not specified and this appears not to be a practice that can draw on any significant international law: littoral states that break-up and that divide their waters between successors tend not to offer on-going access at all.

The UK government took a rather firm line on all this, asking for GSM traces and the like, something that smaller French boats couldn’t provide because they don’t carry that kind of equipment. As have been pointed out elsewhere, this was a technical issue that was allowed to escape into chancelleries, with all the additional costs that’s incurred.

The vagueness of the provision is only underlined by Art.502(4) which allows for the entire arrangement to be changed without a full ratification process, suggesting this was at best a stop-gap. Perhaps this also explains the noticeably more constrained and proportional range of remedial measures that can be applied in the event of alleged non-compliance (Art. 506(2)) which means that even if the French had been able to convince the Commission to start on this – already a very big uncertainty – then remedies wouldn’t have stacked up to much.

Again, given the more general reading of the TCA – with its multiple dispute settlement mechanisms, regular reviews and termination clauses – this argues that this set of provisions wasn’t fully nailed down, so minimising contagion made more sense.

We can rehearse the reasons for the hurried nature of the TCA’s negotiation, formulation and ratification and who’s at fault for what, but ultimately none of this changes the situation as the parties find it now.

Indeed, it is this aspect that more forcefully comes back to Northern Ireland and the Protocol.

The UK narrative of late has been one of negotiating the TCA during a period of ‘extreme weakness‘, a bold claim given that ratification only came after the landslide of the December 2019 general election. That aside, the Jersey issue has risked playing into that narrative framing, even if it is within the current text and very much smaller. France does have a presidential election on the way, but it also doesn’t want to be the one to crash the already-beleaguered relationship. Hence the Commission’s refusal to accede to French demands to launch measures under Art.506.

If there is a silver lining, then it was the British protestation that French actions would result in the UK bringing proceedings under the TCA’s dispute settlement mechanism. The rhetoric of the need to stick to the provisions of the treaty raised some hollow laughs elsewhere, after the Internal Market Bill and the suggested use of Art.16 to remove the CJEU from the Protocol, but it does show that there is a logic available to working with what you have.

Unfortunately, it has also underlined very clearly that there is a very long road to travel before relations across the Channel can get back to the level they more usually enjoy.

PDF: https://bit.ly/UshGraphic94

 

The post What the Jersey fish tale tells us about the TCA appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

DRAFT REPORT Towards an EU strategy to promote education for children in the world: mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Committee on Foreign Affairs
David Lega

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

EP’s Bureau decided that the request to present an EU Digital COVID Certificate to access Parliament's buildings will be extended to all people wishing to enter.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

EP’s Bureau decided that the request to present an EU Digital COVID Certificate to access Parliament's buildings will be extended to all people wishing to enter.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Agricultural productivity could decline if several studies on Farm to Fork policy impact are to be believed. But critics say the studies do not paint the whole picture and the EU's flagship food policy is on the right track.

Abenante and Others v Parliament and Council
SANT
Certificats Covid numériques de l’Union européenne : le président du Tribunal rejette la demande de sursis à l’exécution du règlement établissant un cadre commun pour la délivrance, la vérification et l’acceptation des certificats

EU–UK talks aimed at overhauling the Northern Ireland Protocol are far from resolved, officials conceded, as the UK prepares for the fallout from suspending it.

EU lawmakers from the Greens/EFA group have filed a case application to the European Court of Justice stating "implicit refusal" from the Commission to provide access to information in the context of vaccine contracts between the European Commission and vaccine manufacturers.

With a British trawler seized by France, and Royal Navy boats poised to enter the Channel, we could be in 1805, not 2021. Who needs Nelson and Napoleon when you can have Brexit?

In total 50 financial centres around the world were targeted on Friday to usher in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, also known as COP26, with Greta Thunberg in the City of London.

After two US biotech companies, Illumina and GRAIL, defied the EU’s competition authority by closing a merger without waiting for the results of the EU’s investigation, the European Commission adopted on Friday (29 October) interim measures to ensure that the companies continue to be run as separate entities.

With the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the European Commission wants to make the policy more performance oriented. However, non-binding targets and national leeway might hinder the Commission’s quest to keep track of results.