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Les Chirurgiens-Dentistes de France and Others
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Dalli v Commission
Law governing the institutions
The Court confirms the dismissal of the action brought by the former European Commissioner John Dalli

Indecision Peak, apparently

Let’s call this the age of Gloomy Dawning Realisation.

Since the start of the year, every day has been filled with examples of How It’s All Going To Be, as various individuals and sectors click that what we have is what we’ve got.

This seems an odd way to put it, especially since those of us working in the field all talk about an era of permanent negotiation: surely this can’t be it?

But that negotiation will be within a framework, that of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade & Cooperation Agreement. That framework is here to stay, for the foreseeable future, and it imposes some hefty limits on what is even discussed.

Crucially, the two treaties will persist because they secure – as much as international treaties ever can [cough] – the key interests of the larger party, the EU.

The WA is very clearly about this, providing a schedule for resolving the financials, protecting citizens’ rights and creating a durable (and discrete) mechanism for Northern Ireland.

But the TCA also does something simply, giving legal footing to post-membership arrangements on trade and fish, as well as a single mechanism for future negotiations.

In short, if you want to talk to the EU, then this is how you’ll talk to it.

From a perspective of those days when we might well not have had a deal at all, this is all well and good, but we should remember that this deal still stands a long way closer to Not Much than to the Very Close Friendship that was seen as a viable/desirable outcome in 2016. In many ways it’s the bare minimum given the particularities of the UK’s situation.

But a deal is a deal and how it’s hard to see either side wanting to bin it in a hurry, given the pain of getting to even this.

Which creates something of a problem.

As Jon Worth rightly notes, most of our attention seems to be on the UK these days: lots of thought-pieces and blogs about the challenges that the country faces in making the relationship work (I’ve done just the same BTH). But the same is true, he argues, for the EU.

Having gotten through the crisis phase of Brexit, there’s now a need for a serious discussion about how best to manage relations with the UK, something that Jon discusses better than I will. And it speaks to a bigger point, namely that whatever the institutional arrangements, the EU also needs to consider its policy.

And here the successes (possibly ‘successes’) of the WA/TCA come into play.

The EU might well feel that it has secured its key defensive interests: it’s got legal commitments from the UK, plus enforcement mechanisms, so its back is covered.

But just as the UK has been driven by what it doesn’t want, so too is the EU at risk of simply avoiding the bear-traps. In neither case is there a constructive plan of engagement, or even of management.

And this can’t simply be put down to the UK’s vacillation about what it’s aiming for: the EU seems to be at risk of getting stuck in arch “well, this is the consequence of what you asked for: Brexit means Brexit, no?” rhetoric, rather than anything more.

For all the other priorities that EU leaders have, the absence of open conflict with the UK cannot be the sum total of their policy, not least when the UK can be a useful and significant partner in achieving other objectives. Climate change and security are just the two most obvious examples.

But there is no strategic vision on the EU side, just as there isn’t on the UK’s. No policy papers are circulated, no discussions are held, nothing more than a vague sense of “thank goodness that’s settled”.

If there is one thing that both sides might have learnt from the longer-term experience of EU-UK relations, then it would surely be that benign neglect doesn’t really work.

The UK seems intent on continuing to use the EU as a scapegoat, even as it (the UK) fails to appreciate that it’s now a third country and so much more liable to unfriendly retaliation.

The EU might well have succeeded in getting much of what they wanted in the WA/TCA, but they risk playing into the UK’s narrative of high-handedness and falling into future spirals of tit-for-tat.

In short, with neither side knowing where this is going, the field is clear for others to start plotting a course that neither wants to take, so it’s essential that one, the other, or both start to pick up the reins and lead.

To take back control, if you will.

The post What next? appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Find out how MEPs want to shape the EU's rules for non-personal data sharing to boost innovation and the economy while protecting privacy.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Find out how MEPs want to shape the EU's rules for non-personal data sharing to boost innovation and the economy while protecting privacy.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

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Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Following his address to heads of state or government during the EU summit, President Sassoli will hold a press conference today at 15.30.

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Following his address to heads of state or government during the EU summit, President Sassoli will hold a press conference today at 15.30.

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Committee on Regional Development

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Committee on Regional Development

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Silcompa
Approximation of laws
Lorsqu’un produit soumis à accise, tel que l’alcool, est exporté irrégulièrement au sein de l’Union, les décisions des autorités des États membres concernés ne peuvent pas aboutir à un double recouvrement des droits correspondants

Opinion on Guidelines for the 2022 Budget – Section III
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Urmas Paet

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In the context of the exponential growth of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the President of the European Parliament has announced a number of measures to contain the spread of epidemic and to safeguard Parliament's core activities.

The current precautionary measures adopted by the European Parliament to contain the spread of COVID-19 do not affect work on legislative priorities. Core activities are reduced, but maintained to ensure that the institution's legislative, budgetary, scrutiny functions are maintained.

The meetings will be with remote participation for Members (being able to view and listen to proceedings, ask for the floor and intervene in the meeting). Other participants are invited to follow the meeting through webstreaming.

Following these decisions, the next meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will take place on 24 and 25 February 2021 (online).

SEDE meetings' calendar 2021
EP calendar 2021
Press release: Instability in the Central African Republic - 24 February 2021
Press release: Chair of the Security and Defence Subcommittee welcomes extension of the New START Treaty - 5 February 2021
Press release: MEPs to discuss security and defence priorities with Minister Gomes Cravinho - 28 January 2021
Press release: MEPs call for unity in Common Security and Defence Policy - 4 December 2020
Press release: MEPS to examine prospects of the EU space defence sector - 27 November 2020
Common Security and Defence Policy: Disinformation targeting EU missions and operations - 16 November 2020
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The Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence will look into the on-going security crisis in the Central African Republic, on 24 February. The debate will focus on possible ways of enhancing international support and the role of the Common Security and Defence Policy in the region, the involvement of Russia, and the possible implementation of the European Peace Facility to equip the Central African Armed Forces (FACA).
Meeting agenda and documents
Live streaming
EU Fact Sheets: Security and defence
EU Fact Sheets: External relations policy
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On Wednesday, MEPs will discuss women’s rights and the rule of law in Poland with Commissioner Dalli and civil society representatives.
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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On Wednesday, MEPs will discuss women’s rights and the rule of law in Poland with Commissioner Dalli and civil society representatives.
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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MEPs will debate how to increase capacity and improve delivery of COVID-19 vaccines with pharmaceutical companies and Commissioners Breton and Kyriakides.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

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MEPs will debate how to increase capacity and improve delivery of COVID-19 vaccines with pharmaceutical companies and Commissioners Breton and Kyriakides.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP