European Union

Efforts to set up a better transparency register for lobbyists have collapsed after two years of talks. The impasse revolves around the European Commission's insistence that the register also become mandatory for the European Parliament and Council.

The eurozone finance ministers approved on Friday (5 April) the disbursement of €970 million to Greece, following the country's successful implementation of outstanding measures agreed as part of its post-bailout monitoring.

The European Commission, backed by 11 EU member states, refused to sign a declaration on “sustainable and smart gas infrastructure” tabled by the Romanian Presidency earlier this week because the text wasn’t ambitious enough on climate change, EURACTIV has learned.

Recycling, reuse and all things circular are taking on more and more importance in Europe. Sustainability will remain high on the agenda of the next EU legislative cycle but what tools are in place to help the industry get it across the line?

Last week, a kick-off meeting was held at EDA to launch the contractual work on the Cyber Defence Situation Awareness Package Rapid Research Prototype (CySAP-RRP) project, in the presence of representatives of the three contributing Member States:  Spain (lead country), Germany and Italy. The industry consortium in charge of the project provided Member States with an overview of the project management plan describing tasks, milestones and project deliverables. 

The project was conceived as the first step of a spiral development in order to set up a full Cyber Situation Awareness operational capability. The CySAP-RRP will be built upon previous work done by EDA to develop a Target Architecture and System Requirements for an enhanced Cyber Defence Situation Awareness Capability. 

The core objectives of the project include essential research challenges to assist military decision-makers in cyberspace and to set the basis for a fully-fledged Command and Control (C2) system for cyber operations. 

CySAP is at the forefront of technology development with the aim of obtaining a common and standardized cyber defence planning and management functional area service. The research challenges are to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cyber defence elements in the planning and conduct phase of military operations in which cyberspace is now recognised and treated as any other domain such as land, air or maritime. 

Under the framework of EDA, the three Member States participating in CySAP agreed a common set of requirements and a Target Architecture for the capability. CySAP follows a modular approach allowing  to have a flexible set of functionalities by exercising a system engineering process. Current market available solutions for cyber situational awareness do not meet the entire spectrum of military requirements such as risk analysis, cyber related Courses of Action (CoA) development and assessment as well as support to decision-making. CySAP will provide situational analysis that can be integrated into the overall common operational picture of a mission, as a cyber information layer able to provide timely and accurate situational awareness. CySAP is set to obtain innovative solutions by joining efforts of leading defence industries and researchers in Europe.

The architectural design comprises several spirals to be completed in the next years subject to future investments. The possibility to introduce CySAP follow-on activities into PESCO or the EDIDP are currently explored and assessed. The next progress review meeting is scheduled for September 2019 in Spain. 

Background

The updated EU Capability Development Plan (CDP) endorsed by the EDA Steering Board in June 2018 reconfirmed cyber defence as a priority for capability development in the EU. The CDP recognises the need for defensive cyber operations in any operational context, based on sophisticated current and predictive cyberspace situational awareness. This includes the ability to combine large amounts of data and intelligence from numerous sources in support of rapid decision making and increased automation of the data gathering, analysis and decision-support process. 

In November 2018, the European Council adopted an updated version of the EU cyber defence policy framework (CDPF).  Supporting the development of Member States’ cyber defence capabilities is a priority area where the now established CySAP project serves as a core to guide future research and operational capabilities.

Written by Maria Diaz Crego (1st edition),

© Jonathan Stutz / Fotolia

The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament is considering the 654 amendments, tabled in February 2019, to the European Commission’s September 2018 proposal to recast the Return Directive. The Directive is the main piece of EU legislation governing the procedures and criteria to be applied by Member States when returning irregularly staying third-country nationals, and a cornerstone of the EU return policy. Taking into account the decrease in the EU return rate (45.8 % in 2016 and 36.6 % in 2017), and following European Council and Council calls to review the 2008 legal text to enhance the effectiveness of the EU return policy, the Commission has proposed a targeted recast of the directive aiming to ‘reduce the length of return procedures, secure a better link between asylum and return procedures and ensure a more effective use of measures to prevent absconding’.

Versions

• April 2019: ‘Recasting the Return Directive‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on disclosures relating to sustainable investments and sustainability risks and amending Directive (EU) 2016/2341 Committee responsible: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) COM(2018) 634 final of 12.9.2018 Rapporteur: Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA, The Netherlands) 2018/0329(COD) Shadow rapporteurs: Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (EPP, Sweden) Sylvie Guillaume (S&D, France) Jussi Halla-aho (ECR, Finland) Sophia in ‘t Veld (ALDE, The Netherlands) Barbara Spinelli (GUE/NGL, Italy) Laura Ferrara (EFDD, Italy) Giancarlo Scottà (ENF, Italy) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Vote in committee

The Spitzenkandidat system has become an instrument of the promotion of MEPs (often German), and was supposed to make Europe more democratic. Reality has revealed the opposite.

Written by Katarzyna Sochacka and Clare Ferguson,

© European Union 2019 – Source : EP

Highlights of the April I plenary session included debates on the Future of Europe with Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, and on UK withdrawal from the EU. Important debates also took place on several legislative proposals, and Members voted on proposals including the mobility package files debated during the March II plenary session on rules for posted road transport workers and on working conditions for drivers. Parliament also adopted first-reading positions on three further proposed funding programmes for the 2021-2027 period.

Common rules for the internal market for natural gas

Parliament debated and adopted a text agreed in trilogue on applying internal market rules to gas pipelines entering the EU from countries outside the EU. Tighter rules will ensure that, while the EU Member State in which a pipeline arrives is responsible for applying EU law, the Commission must authorise negotiations on such projects, be kept informed of progress, and must authorise the signature of any such agreement.

Multiannual plan for western Mediterranean fisheries

Parliament approved (461 to 62, 101 abstentions) the multiannual plan for the fisheries exploiting demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean to protect stocks from over-exploitation.

EU citizens’ identity and residence documents

Members approved a proposal to curb the fraudulent use of EU citizens’ identity and residence documents. The strengthened proposal should make it harder for criminals and terrorists to use EU identity papers, through clear rules on validity, recognition by Member States, and authorisation to handle biometric data.

Road infrastructure and safety management

Members held a debate and voted on the agreed text of a directive on road infrastructure safety management, addressing shortcomings in the existing legislation to reduce both road fatalities and serious injuries by improving road infrastructure safety performance. It proposes key changes to strengthen safety management procedures and extends the scope beyond the trans-European transport network (TEN-T).

Pan-European personal pension product

Members debated and adopted a provisional agreement on the proposal to create a pan-European personal pension product (PEPP) – a new framework for voluntary pension contributions aiming to tackle the shortfall in pension provision in our ageing society. PEPPs are expected to offer greater choice in savings plans, including a switching service and a default option with a guaranteed return.

Work-life balance for parents and carers

Parliament adopted (490 to 82, 48 abstentions) the text of a new directive on work-life balance for parents and carers which proposes to redress the gender balance in the workplace. Introducing a right to two weeks paternity leave, while maintaining current maternity leave arrangements, the work-life balance package should give parents and carers more flexibility to care for their family by affording greater choice in who takes a break.

Opening of trilogue negotiations

No decisions to enter into negotiations were announced.

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘Plenary round-up – Brussels, April I 2019‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops Thursday (4 April) to "advance" on Tripoli, seat of the internationally-recognised unity government, as world powers warned of consequences for military action.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has asked the EU to delay the Brexit date further to 30 June, admitting that the UK will have to hold European elections and is ready to do so if it has not ratified a Brexit deal by 23 May.

Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson wants to build Europe’s largest battery cell plant – in the middle of the Swedish countryside. In an interview, he explained how this should work and gave his thoughts on his new partner Volkswagen’s electromobility offensive.

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

The Ukrainian presidential candidate Zelensky wants a televised debate with incumbent Poroshenko in Kiev's Olympic Stadium. The winner of the first round challenged his rival in a video announcement. Poroshenko agreed - also in a video address. Is the election campaign turning into a spectacle? And if so who's upstaging whom?

Theresa May has asked the EU for Brexit to be delayed until 30 June after the House of Commons fast-tracked the approval of a law that obliges the government to seek a further extension. In the meantime May hopes to negotiate a deal with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn that would presumably result in closer ties to the EU than her current deal. What options are on the table now?