European Union

Police arrested dozens of suspected mobsters in Europe and South America on Wednesday (5 December) in a huge international swoop targeting Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia clan, officials said.

Germany and France will welcome Spain as a full partner in their programme to develop a next-generation air combat system, and expect to sign an agreement finalising the move at the Paris Air Show in June, German government sources said on Wednesday (5 December).

China will always stick to "mutual respect" in its efforts to deal with global challenges, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday (5 December) in Lisbon, where he signed agreements to link Portugal to Beijing's One Belt - One Road initiative.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

European Council President Donald Tusk congratulated Xavier Bettel on his reappointment as Prime Minister of Luxembourg.

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the EU budget for 2019.

Social media platforms are told to tackle fake accounts and the spread of fake news more effectively before the European elections next May - or face regulation.

"We'll do the same," if the US deploys new medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, after America said it would walk away from a Cold War-era anti-missile pact, the so-called INF treaty, in 60 days. The US and Nato said Tuesday Russia was anyway violating the INF by building cruise missiles capable of hitting targets in Europe at short notice. Putin denies this.

The UK could be stuck in the EU customs union "indefinitely", pending "protracted and repeated rounds of negotiations" on a "superseding agreement", the British attorney general said in legal advice to prime minister Theresa May published Wednesday. "The resolution of such a stalemate would have to be political,", his six-page text said, fuelling anger by Brexiteers in parliament the same day, who accused May of trying to "steal" Brexit.

The euro should be the default currency for EU states' energy contracts with third countries and should be the basis for new benchmark prices on crude oil, the European Commission proposed Wednesday. Its bid to compete with the US dollar in the sector comes amid American plans to sanction EU energy firms that do business with Iran, which are liable to US penalties if they trade in dollars.

Prime minister Viorica Dancila told EUobserver that Romania's constitution guarantees freedom of expression for journalists - but insisted EU data protection rules must be respected. Her comments follow threats to impose a €20m fine on a group of investigative reporters.

The leader of the main Greek opposition party, New Democracy (EPP), called on Wednesday (5 December) on Greek political parties to block the name change deal recently reached between Athens and Skopje after almost thirty years of dispute.

The upcoming Romanian EU presidency is an important one. On Romania’s watch, the UK is supposed to leave the Union on 29 March and European elections will be held in the remaining 27 countries on 23-26 May. To top things...

Slovak President Andrej Kiska is taking “time to think” about Foreign Affairs Minister Lajčák's resignation. The long-serving pro-European career diplomat, Lajčák said he was stepping down after the Parliament’s refusal of the UN migration compact last week. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.

EU justice ministers are set to approve a regulation this Friday (5 December) that will require EU-based tech companies to turn over electronic evidence within hours of a court order. The regulation, however, could pose a threat to people’s fundamental rights.

In an almost surreal sequence of events, the Romanian government paid a visit to the European Commission on Wednesday (5 December) to discuss the country’s upcoming EU presidency, while the opposition in Bucharest mobilised to oust the ruling coalition.

The EU is modernising company law rules in order to make them fit for purpose in the digital era. Member state ambassadors meeting today in Coreper agreed on new rules which will facilitate the use of digital tools and online processes in a company's contacts with public authorities throughout its lifecycle.

EU ambassadors today endorsed an agreement reached with the European Parliament on a new framework of rules on how to prevent, prepare for and manage electricity crisis situation.

Written by James McEldowney and Patrick Kelly (1st edition),

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The Commission’s legislative proposals on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) were published on 1 June 2018. They comprise three proposals: a regulation setting out rules on support for CAP strategic plans; a regulation on the single common market organisation (CMO) and a horizontal regulation on financing, managing and monitoring the CAP.

The proposal for a regulation on CAP strategic plans introduces a new delivery model, described by the Commission as a fundamental shift in the CAP, involving a shift from compliance towards results and performance. It includes a new distribution of responsibilities between the EU and Member States. A new planning process is proposed which will cover both Pillar I (direct payments) and Pillar II (rural development) of the CAP.

• December 2018: ‘CAP strategic plans‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the Common agricultural policy (CAP strategic plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Committee responsible: Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) COM(2018) 392
1.6.2018 Rapporteur: Esther Herranz García (EPP, Spain) 2018/0216(COD) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

 

 

  Maria Noichl (S&D, Germany)
James Nicholson (ECR, UK)
Jan Huitema (ALDE, the Netherlands)
Luke Ming Flanagan (GUE/NGL, Ireland)
Maria Heubuch (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Bronis Ropė (Greens/EFA, Lithuania)
Marco Zullo (EFDD, Italy)
Angelo Ciocca (ENF, Italy) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Vote in committee

Work on revamping the EU’s electricity market could wrap up on Wednesday (5 December), when negotiators are set to finalise new rules that will help activate energy laws that have already been brokered. As part of the EU’s 2016 Clean...