European Union

European Council meeting will take place on 17-18 December 2015 in Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. 

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General : Recent events in Europe have brought the issues of marginalisation and extremism to the forefront of public debate. On 7 December Parliament's culture committee adopted a report on the role of intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and education in promoting EU fundamental values. Ahead of the vote, we spoke to report author Julie Ward, a UK member of the S&D: "We have one world and we have to find some way of being mutually respectful and tolerant of each other."

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : Recent events in Europe have brought the issues of marginalisation and extremism to the forefront of public debate. On 7 December Parliament's culture committee adopted a report on the role of intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and education in promoting EU fundamental values. Ahead of the vote, we spoke to report author Julie Ward, a UK member of the S&D: "We have one world and we have to find some way of being mutually respectful and tolerant of each other."

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The Council: 

1. RECALLS its determination to combat tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning at EU and global level;
2. RECALLS the adoption by the Council and the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, in December 1997 of a resolution on a Code of conduct for business taxation (hereafter "the Code");
3. RECALLS the subsequent establishment in March 1998 of a Code of Conduct Group (hereafter "the Group") to assess the tax measures falling within the scope of the Code and oversee the provision of information on these measures;
4. UNDERLINES that the May 2013 European Council conclusions noted that “it is important to continue work within the EU on the elimination of harmful tax measures. To that end, work should be carried out on the strengthening of the Code of Conduct on business taxation on the basis of its existing mandate”;
5. RECALLS  the usefulness and the efficiency of the work done under the Code of Conduct so far to assess Member States individual tax measures;
6. CONFIRMS that work on the future of the Code of Conduct and its reinforcement should focus on making better use of the existing mandate of the Code; on examining the possibilities and modalities to extend the mandate and to update the criteria and on the possible need to adjust the governance of the Code accordingly;
7. ENDORSES the Group's new Work Package, and ENCOURAGES the Group to continue its work on that basis;
8. CONFIRMS its invitation to the Group to develop general guidance to prevent tax avoidance, base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS);
9. INVITES the High Level Working Party on Taxation (HLWP) to discuss a revision to the mandate in relation to the concept that profits are subject, as appropriate, to an effective level of tax within the EU, notwithstanding the competencies of Member States in the area of taxation;
10. AGREES that the rollback and standstill procedures foreseen in paragraphs C and D of the Code should cover existing and future general guidance notes developed by the Group;
11. INVITES in this respect the Group to ensure through such general guidance an effective implementation at the EU level of the relevant OECD BEPS Project conclusions when not covered by the EU legislation, and in accordance with the Group's new Work Program;
12. AGREES that the Code Group should clarify the third criterion by developing guidance on the basis of the OECD BEPS conclusion on  Action 5;
13. AGREES that the Code Group should clarify the fourth criterion by developing guidance  in the light of OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, as amended by OECD BEPS conclusions on Actions 8-9-10;
14. INVITES the Group to further develop, where appropriate, guidance notes on the interpretation of the criteria of the Code, including the gateway criterion, and their application;
15. CONFIRMS the importance that the principles of the Code of Conduct are applied on as broad geographical basis as possible, WELCOMES in this respect the recent Joint Statement with Switzerland and ongoing dialogue with Liechtenstein and INVITES the Group to open dialogues with relevant third countries, as well as to monitor the implementation of past agreements;
16. EXPRESSES the wish to improve the visibility of the work of the Code of Conduct Group and AGREES therefore that its results, in particular its 6-monthly reports, are systematically made available to the public;
17. INSISTS however on the confidentiality of the Group's deliberations with a view to protect the public interest as regards the economic policy of Member States, maintain the efficiency of the assessment process and counter related risks of aggressive tax planning;
18. INVITES the High Level Working Party on Taxation (HLWP) to conclude on the need to enhance the overall governance, transparency and working methods and to finalise the reform of the Group during the Dutch Presidency.

Luxembourg's Pierre Gramegna, chair of Tuesday's meeting, calls the session to order

With the festive season comes all kinds of traditions in Brussels: mulled wine, Saint Nicholas, and another deadline for nations to strike a deal on a financial transactions tax.

But while last year ministers found themselves empty handed when a December deadline for an agreement rolled around, this year it’s different. Sort of.

As Bruxellois bought their sapins de noel (Christmas trees) on the pavement outside the EU summit building, inside another Sapin (Michel), the French finance minister who has been one of the tax’s biggest champions, was full of holiday cheer.

During a meeting of EU finance ministers, Sapin (the minister) hailed a breakthrough moment in the nearly three-year slog for an FTT, which would issue a levy on all stock and a derivative trades in the ten EU countries who are part of the scheme.

Could this Christmas miracle really be true? Could there really be a deal?

In practice, it’s more like half of a deal. Pierre Moscovici, the EU commissioner in charge of tax issues, found a convoluted combination of tenses to sum it up: “We have now the main parameters of what this FTT should be, and hopefully will be.”

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The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk received the letters of credentials of the following Ambassadors:

H. E. Mr Haymandoyal DILLUM, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Mauritius to the European Union
H.E. Mrs Oda Helen SLETNES, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Kingdom of Norway to the European Union
H.E. Mr Jawad Khadim Jawad AL-CHLAIHAWI, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the European Union

Refugees crossing Greece's border with Macedonia wait to enter a camp earlier this week

The EU’s debate over how to deal with the ongoing refugee crisis has been so full of jargon and euphemisms that in can be nearly impossible for anyone outside the Brussels bubble to know what, exactly, leaders are actually discussing.

Such is the case with a draft communiqué for next week’s EU summit, circulated to national capitals on Monday. The document (which Brussels Blog got its hands on and has posted here) includes seven measures leaders would agree, if the draft is adopted. But all seven may be impossible to understand to those not following every twist and turn in the debate.

As a public service, Brussels Blog hereby offers a translation from eurocrat-ese into English of the migration section of the draft communiqué.

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The establishment of official relations between the Republic of San Marino and the European Community dates back to February 1983. The European Community and San Marino signed an  Agreement on monetary relations in 2000. It entitles San Marino, inter alia to use the Euro as its official currency.

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On Monday 7 December, the European Commission (EC) released its long-term strategy for the European aviation sector. The document touches on many elements including connectivity, competitiveness, safety and security.

The package is wide-ranging, despite the fact that the only legislative proposal contained is a revision of the Regulation on the powers of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It would in fact seem to be less a “package” of legislative measures, as the Commission had originally announced in December 2014, but rather a ‘roadmap’ for the next ten to fifteen years. This change of direction may be due to the fact that many of the actions needed for the European aviation sector are already under way with the focus being on proper implementation rather than new legislative proposals, especially on the internal market front. Alternatively, the Commission may be using the strategy to set the stage for stronger competitiveness measures in the future, responding to the rising nervousness of EU airlines towards competition from non-EU airlines.

Why does it matter to business?

The strategy does not, on first viewing, put forward concrete proposals to address some of the urgently identified needs from industry. For example, for the cost of infrastructure and the fragmentation national taxes, the Commission only proposes to work on an inventory and does not provide a timeline. The strategy might be described as a collection of good intentions and soft approaches, rather than a legislative hammer to resolve the challenges faced by European aviation. However, there are elements of significant business impact, the most notable perhaps being:

• The strategy brings forward significant proposals regarding external aviation policy, such as relaxing of ownership rules, and defensive measures against perceived unfair competition. These policy shifts will be taken step-by-step, and would seemingly indicate an effort to respond to the particular priorities of certain European airlines.
• The revision of the basic EASA regulation will impact both equipment manufacturers and their airline customers. For manufacturers, the revision should streamline some parts of the airworthiness and certification process, expanding and clarifying EASA’s competencies. However, there are areas of concern: any change to rules on environmental protection could result in stronger rules for aircraft in Europe compared to other regions of the world. For customers, the airlines who need access to certified equipment, it should result in more efficient processes and systems that result in higher safety levels.
• More flexible and proportionate safety rules can give more space to entrepreneurship and recognise the difference between various aviation sectors. In addition, with the shift towards a risk and performance-based approach, both Member State authorities and EASA itself will need to be on top of technological developments. The new regulation will interestingly give the possibility for national authorities to delegate “responsibility on implementation of EU legislation” to EASA on a voluntary basis.
• EASA looks set to acquire competence for the regulation of drones, which will be embedded in a new regulatory framework. This could represent a positive opportunity for the manufacturing sector, especially small and medium enterprises as well as for non-aviation businesses, which may be able to integrate drones in their activities.

What comes next?

• 2015: Council’s decision on mandates to the EC for negotiating bilateral agreements with third-countries.
• 2015: Revision of basic aviation safety regulation N° 216/2008 amending the powers of EASA, including introduction of provisions on drones
• 2016: Revision of Slots Regulation 549/2009
• 2016: Potential non-binding own-initiative report by the European Parliament’s Transport committee
• 2016/7: Evaluation of the Airport Charges Directive 2009/12/EC
• 2017: Evaluation of Groundhandling services Directive 96/67/EC
• 2017: Revision (Implementing act) of the air traffic management network functions, including the selection of the Network Manager
• 2019: Revision of performance scheme (gate-to-gate)

Stakeholders will likely be active in the coming months seeking to engage with the European institutions on potential future initiatives in the framework of the present strategy.

Download our assessment and summary here.

 

The Paris climate change agreement should not leave out aviation and shipping, two sectors whose emissions are rocketing and, if left unregulated, could account for up to 40% of all global emissions by 2050, (according to a European Parliament study), said the EP delegation on Tuesday. MEPs also advocate earmarking carbon market revenues as a possible solution for financing climate efforts.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The Paris climate change agreement should not leave out aviation and shipping, two sectors whose emissions are rocketing and, if left unregulated, could account for up to 40% of all global emissions by 2050, (according to a European Parliament study), said the EP delegation on Tuesday. MEPs also advocate earmarking carbon market revenues as a possible solution for financing climate efforts.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

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EU Ministers of Finance meet in Brussels on 8 December 2015 to discuss a proposed European deposit insurance scheme, implementation of the banking union, the prevention of terrorist financing, taxation and the European Semester.

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Ever been hit by a computer virus? You are not the only one. More than one million people are affected by cybercrime every day. Cybercrime costs the global economy more than $400 billion (about €368 billion) a year. Find out about the different types of cyber threats out there in our infographic.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP