Feed aggregator

Istituto nazionale della previdenza sociale
DISC
Le régime fiscal italien résultant de la convention italo-portugaise contre la double imposition sur les revenus n’enfreint pas les principes de libre circulation et de non-discrimination

Les parcs animaliers suisses ne comprennent pas pourquoi il est possible de rouvrir les musées à partir du 11 mai, mais pas les zoos.

Written by Ralf Drachenberg and Annastiina Papunen,

© Adobe Stock.

At the European Council’s video-conference meeting on 23 April, EU leaders demonstrated greater willingness to achieve a coordinated response at EU-level to face the coronavirus crisis than had previously been the case. Although concrete decisions were postponed, Heads of State or Government adopted a more united approach and took decisive steps towards collective action. Notably, they welcomed both the ‘Joint European Roadmap towards Lifting Covid-19 Containment Measures’ and the ‘Roadmap for Recovery’, but also agreed to ‘work towards establishing’ an urgently needed recovery fund ‘dedicated to dealing with this unprecedented crisis’. However, whilst asking the European Commission to shape the recovery strategy and to clarify the link between the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), EU leaders gave little guidance on specific details, such as the total amount, whether it would provide loans or grants, or on a precise timetable.

Furthermore, EU leaders called on Turkey to end its illegal drilling activities off Cyprus in the island’s Exclusive Economic Zone. They also announced a video-conference between EU Heads of State or Government and their counterparts from the Western Balkans, on 6 May 2020, date of the previously planned EU-Western Balkans Summit.

1. Video-conference of EU Heads of State or Government

On 23 April, the members of the European Council held their fourth video-conference meeting aimed at defining a coordinated EU response to the Covid-19 outbreak. EU Heads of State or Government stressed their ‘strong will to move forward together’. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in his invitation letter, called on EU leaders to ‘show even greater determination in overcoming our differences’. This call for unity was also shared by the President of the European Parliament, who, as at ordinary meetings of the European Council, addressed EU leaders at the start of the meeting, stressing that ‘the time has come to put blinkered self-interest to one side and to make the solidarity which is at the heart of the European project our guiding principle once again’. Other participants in the 23 April video-conference were the Presidents of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, and of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, as well as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP), Josep Borrell.

The video-conference working method, besides being rather challenging for discussions in the European Council, especially on technical issues, has another consequence, which is that there are in fact more people ‘in the room’ than just the members of the European Council and the above-mentioned guests. In contrast to normal ‘physical meetings’ in Brussels, some leaders had their advisors with them during the discussions.

2. Results of the video-conference

As was the case with the European Council video-conferences of 10 March and 17 March, the ‘Conclusions of the President’, rather than formal conclusions, outlined the results of the discussions. The video-conference of 26 March, on the other hand, concluded with a joint statement.

Table 1 gives an overview of the main points resulting from the video-conference, the type of action taken or answer given by the European Council as well as the envisaged follow up. The wording used in the conclusions is rather vague and less decisive, and is mostly of a reactive nature (i.e. welcoming actions of other players) rather than providing any concrete decisions.

Table 1: Overview of main elements of the European Council video-conference of 23 April 2020

Topic European Council action Tasks and follow up Various dimensions of the European response to the pandemic discussed The European Council will continue to follow the situation closely Joint European roadmap towards lifting of Covid-19 containment measures welcomed The European Council will coordinate as much as possible to ensure gradual and orderly lifting of restrictions Joint Roadmap for Recovery

welcomed

The European Council will monitor progress in close cooperation with other EU institutions

Eurogroup agreement on three important safety nets for workers, businesses and sovereigns endorsed The package should be operational by 1 June 2020 Recovery fund agreed to work towards establishing The Commission will analyse the exact needs and urgently come up with a proposal

MFF

mentioned The Commission will adjust its MFF proposal and clarify the link to the recovery fund

Recovery Fund and MFF

remains committed to

Give the necessary impetus to find a balanced agreement as soon as possible

Economic situation

tasked The Eurogroup, in an inclusive format, will continue to closely monitor and prepare the ground for a robust recovery 3. EU recovery strategy

As flagged up in the EPRS outlook, this video-conference focused on the recovery plan, which EU leaders had requested at their 26 March video-conference. EU leaders welcomed the joint roadmap for recovery presented on 21 April by Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. As previously announced by Charles Michel, it focuses on four areas for action:

1. The internal market,
2. an unprecedented investment strategy,
3. a global recovery strategy, and
4. EU resilience and governance.

The President of the European Council indicated that ‘this roadmap will be complemented by a more detailed Action Plan setting out the measures to be taken with the appropriate timings’. In this context, Charles Michel also stressed that producing ‘essential goods in Europe’ was a means of increasing the EU’s strategic autonomy.

4. EU recovery fund and the next Multiannual Financial Framework

One of the core topics of the video-conference meeting was the long term recovery of the EU. The leaders asked the Commission to submit urgently a proposal for the financing of the EU recovery strategy, possibly combining two instruments: 1) a recovery fund, based on Article 122 TFEU, and ‘dedicated to dealing with this unprecedented crisis’, and 2) a strengthened 2021-2027 MFF.

EU Heads of State or Government agreed ‘to work towards establishing a recovery fund’ which ‘shall be of a sufficient magnitude, targeted towards the sectors and geographical parts of Europe most affected, and be dedicated to dealing with this unprecedented crisis’. Yet, the mechanics and the size of the fund, questions which were left unresolved following the Eurogroup meeting of 7-9 April – as countries could not agree on the financing modalities – were again left open. Thus, the Commission was tasked with analysing the exact needs, and with clarifying the fund’s link with the EU’s long-term budget or MFF.

Ursula von der Leyen expressed her conviction that ‘there is only one instrument that can deliver this magnitude of tasks behind the recovery and that is the European budget clearly linked to the recovery fund’. Therefore she was glad that the Heads of State or Government had demonstrated unity and encouraged the Commission to explore innovative financial instruments in relation to the MFF. She announced that the Commission would propose to increase the headroom (i.e. the space between the existing ceiling in the MFF and the own resources ceiling). Based on ‘the legal guarantee of the Member States, the European Commission will be able to raise funds which will then be channelled through the European budget into the Member States’. The current estimates by the Commission assume that ‘an Own Resources ceiling of around 2 per cent of GNI for two or three years instead of the current 1.2 per cent will be required’. President von der Leyen announced that the money would be concentrated in four areas which would receive increased investment:

1. increased financial support for investment and reforms in Member States and cohesion;
2. modern policies: the European Green Deal, digital transition and increased strategic autonomy;
3. the EU’s common crisis response; and
4. strengthening the support to the EU’s neighbourhood and partners.

She indicated the investment should be front-loaded in the first years. According to some estimates, the new recovery fund and MFF package could amount to up to €2 trillion.

The Commission President indicated that her aim was to present the revised MFF proposal in the second or third week of May. However, many questions will need to be answered before the Commission can actually do so. Next to legal considerations linked to the strict rules applying to the MFF, consensus will need to be achieved on issues such as the required balance between loans and grants.

5. Main messages from the European Parliament President

When addressing the European Council, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, relayed Parliament’s recently adopted resolution to the Heads of State or Government. He stressed that Parliament supported the idea of a dedicated ‘recovery fund’, provided that certain key conditions be met, first and foremost, the embedding of the recovery fund in the MFF. For Parliament, this requires a significantly strengthened MFF, which draws on existing EU funds as well as on innovative financial instruments, such as recovery bonds backed by the EU budget. President Sassoli underlined that this fund needed to come quickly, and promised that ‘the European Parliament, as the democratic representative of EU citizens and one arm of the budgetary authority, will do its part, and it expects to be fully involved’.

6. Other items Turkey’s illegal drilling activities

EU leaders reaffirmed their ‘full solidarity’ with Cyprus, and recalled their previous conclusions condemning Turkey’s illegal drilling activities in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone and calling for their end.

Western Balkans

EU Heads of State or Government will hold a video-conference with their counterparts from the Western Balkans on 6 May 2020, the first day on which an informal EU-Western Balkans summit had initially been scheduled to take place in Zagreb. President Michel stressed that Albania and North Macedonia had recently been given the green light to open accession negotiations, and that the meeting would consider the EU’s priorities for the Western Balkans.

Secretary-General of the Council

Member States also agreed to renew the mandate of Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen as Secretary-General of the Council, to be formally confirmed subsequently by written procedure.

7. Next steps

Apart from the Western Balkans video-conference scheduled for 6 May, no date has been set for a follow-up meeting of the European Council on the roadmap for recovery. However, the European Council has announced that it would monitor progress on all the elements of the strategy in close cooperation with other EU institutions. And since a revised MFF proposal is expected early in May, another meeting of Heads of State or Government can be expected in mid- to late May. Charles Michel reported the political will of the EU leaders to work together on the MFF and the recovery fund, and take decisions in the coming weeks. In this context, EU Heads of State or Government have promised to complement the roadmap with ‘a more detailed Action Plan setting out the measures to be taken with the appropriate timings’. What form this roadmap takes remains to be seen.

Incidentally, as a result of this new crisis, Charles Michel will probably not be able to publish his own work programme for the European Council anytime soon, and is likely to find himself in a similar situation to his two predecessors, who could only present their own work programmes in their second mandates once the respective crises they had faced (i.e. the economic and financial, and the migration crises) had receded.

Read this briefing on ‘Outcome of the European Council video-conference of 23 April 2020‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Read all EPRS publications on the coronavirus outbreak

Zusammenfassung:

Bereits während der Finanzkrise in den Jahren 2008/2009 wurde diskutiert, ob klimapolitische Maßnahmen kurzfristig die Produktion und Nachfrage stimulieren und so auch Teil von Konjunkturpaketen sein können. Obwohl politische Entscheidungsträger in einer Krise dazu tendieren, auf bewährte Mittel zu setzen, wurden damals weltweit klimafreundliche Komponenten in die nationalen Konjunkturpakete integriert. Die Erfahrungen der vergangenen Krise zeigen, dass eine solche klimaorientierte Konjunkturpolitik nicht nur kurzfristig zu Wirtschaftswachstum und Arbeitsplätzen führt, sondern auch die Grundlage für langfristige Innovationen und eine klimafreundliche wirtschaftliche Entwicklung schafft. Etwa durch die Einführung von Differenzverträgen für CO2-arme Industrieprozesse und für erneuerbare Energien und Green Public Procurement können Regierungen sicherstellen, dass ihre klimapolitischen Impulse eine transformative Wirkung entfalten. Auch in der Corona-Krise können „grüne Stimuli“ einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Erholung der Wirtschaft leisten.

Blue Air - Airline Management Solutions
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A passenger’s denied boarding on the ground that he presented allegedly inadequate travel documentation does not, in itself, deprive the passenger from protection under the Regulation on compensation and assistance to air passengers

Blue Air - Airline Management Solutions
A szabadságon, a biztonságon és a jog érvényesülésén alapuló térség
A passenger’s denied boarding on the ground that he presented allegedly inadequate travel documentation does not, in itself, deprive the passenger from protection under the Regulation on compensation and assistance to air passengers

Blue Air - Airline Management Solutions
Espace de liberté, sécurité et justice
Le refus d’embarquement opposé à un passager au motif que celui-ci aurait présenté des documents de voyage prétendument inadéquats ne prive pas, en lui-même, le passager de la protection prévue par le règlement en matière d’indemnisation et d’assistance des passagers aériens

Depuis le début de l’épidémie déclarée le 10 mars 2020, le cumul est de 500 cas confirmés. Au total, il y a eu 31 décès et 65 personnes guéries ; • 279 cas suspects en cours d’investigation ; • 9 nouveaux cas confirmés à Kinshasa ; • 6 nouvelles personnes sorties guéries ; • 1 […]

L’article RDC : la barre des 500 cas de coronavirus atteinte est apparu en premier sur Afrik.com.

APO Group - L'assistance monétisée (en espèces) est une priorité pour le HCR et peut être utilisée pour obtenir d'importants résultats en...

Der Schweizer Detailhandel hat im März wegen der Coronakrise einen deutlichen Einbruch erlitten. Vor allem im Non-Food-Bereich mussten die Detailhändler massive Umsatzeinbussen hinnehmen. Äusserst gut lief es hingegen für die Lebensmittelläden.

Can the Lebanese protest withstand attempts of geopolitization?

Die italienische Regierung hat grünes Licht für den Einsatz einer App gegeben, die bei der Eindämmung des Corona-Virus helfen soll. Einen entsprechenden Beschluss fasste das Kabinett in Rom in der Nacht zum Donnerstag.

Heute u.a. mit dabei: Die portugiesische Regierung will mehr Mitspracherecht bei der nationalen Airline TAP, im Mordfall Lübcke wurde Anklage erhoben, und in Italien rebellieren die konservativ geführten Regionen.

Die Corona-Krise trifft die Schwachen am Arbeitsmarkt: Jugendliche finden keine Lehrstelle. Die Krise wird sich auch im nächsten Jahr noch auswirken.

He stood trial in South Africa alongside Nelson Mandela and was also imprisoned for his activism.

L'Union Démocratique pour un Bénin Nouveau (UDBN) prépare activement les campagnes électorales pour les prochaines élections municipales et communales 2020. Avec un programme élaboré est autour des préoccupations sociales des populations, l'Udbn entend mener ses actions politiques de commun accord avec les populations à la base pour un développement harmonieux.

De main ferme, l'Union Démocratique pour un Bénin Nouveau (UDBN) tient son rendez vous pour le scrutin du 17 mai prochain et fait la course de champion. Sur le support de son idéologie, le parti de Claudine Afiavi Prudencio compte miser au chapitre de la campagne électorale qui s'ouvrira dans moins d'une semaine, sur une stratégie de proximité fondée sur les attentes et les préoccupations des populations. Pour une quête efficace de l'adhésion populaire pouvant donner à ses représentants des les 546 arrondissements, des allures de candidats du peuple, l'UDBN a fondé son projet de société sur les besoins spécifiques de chacune des 77 communes du Bénin.

Toutes les communes ont enclenché leur processus de pleine urbanisation depuis que la décentralisation est en marche et les populations sont de plus en plus exigeantes. Contrairement aux autres partis politiques empêtrés dans la rengaine des habituels discours, l'UDBN a travaillé sur les leviers efficaces pour apporter des réponses majeures aux citoyens des localités qui seront conquises et des défis auxquels ces dernières sont confrontés. Insuffisance ou même défaut des services de base, insécurité rampante, insalubrité permanente, inflation de l'informel… Des déficits et des dysfonctionnements consécutifs parfois à une absence de vision et de planification stratégique.
Au cours des trois dernières mandatures de la décentralisation, la gouvernance des communes et des municipalités a broyé du noir.

Pour la nouvelle mandature, l'UDBN opte pour un nouveau paradigme de gestion des collectivités locales. Au-delà de bien planifier la gouvernance, les élus UDBN veulent faire des communes des portes d'entrée de croissance, d'inclusion sociale et économique, et de prospérité pour attirer les investissements, les talents, le commerce et l'innovation.
La maîtrise de la pollution et de la circulation, les transport en commun plus développés et les logements abordables, la gestion de la diversité économique et la sécurité foncière ; bref l'amélioration du cadre de vie figurent au fronton des priorités des candidats de l'UDBN.

À l'Union Démocratique pour un Bénin Nouveau, chaque localité dispose d'un projet de société spécifique même si de façon globale, l'ambition est de rendre plus dynamiques et attractives les villes ou de transformer ce qui a tout l'air encore de bourgades dans le souci de rééquilibrer et de diversifier le maillage urbain au Bénin. C'est tout simplement la preuve que le parti sous le leadership de Claudine Afiavi Prudencio en plus d'avoir le sens des préoccupations sociales, épouse le rythme du temps qui féconde ses ambitions.
En communion avec les électeurs du 17 mai prochain, elle n'attend que la récompense des urnes.

EU measures to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and ways the digital transformation can boost recovery will be discussed with Commission Executive Vice-President Vestager, on Monday.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

EU measures to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and ways the digital transformation can boost recovery will be discussed with Commission Executive Vice-President Vestager, on Monday.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

EU measures to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and ways the digital transformation can boost recovery will be discussed with Commission Executive Vice-President Vestager, on Monday.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP