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Joint press statement following the 12th meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Council between the EU and Albania.

A visegrádi országcsoporton (V4) belüli együttműködés megújulására fejezte ki reményét Mateusz Morawiecki lengyel kormányfő pénteken Varsóban, Petr Pavel cseh elnökkel tartott találkozójának elején nyilatkozva.

On 20 March, SEDE and ITRE Members will consider amendments to the proposal on the Joint Defence Procurement instrument, known as "EDIRPA". By incentivising Member States to procure defence products jointly, the instrument will facilitate the procurement of the most urgent and critical defence capability gaps whilst also strengthening the European defence industrial base.
Two in camera debates will also take place with SEDE Members on the same day: the Holistic Strategic Review of CSDP support to Somalia and a debrief on the outcome of the Informal Meeting of European Defence Ministers that took place on 7-8 March in Stockholm.
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EU Fact Sheets: Security and defence
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Dans le cadre de négociations sur le Chips Act vendredi, les représentants des principales institutions de l’UE devraient débattre d’un mécanisme de surveillance et de réponse pour faire face à la pénurie de semi-conducteurs qui frappe l’Europe, selon un document interne qu’EURACTIV a pu consulter.

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Nach einer Reihe von Irrungen und Wirrungen hat die Kommission nun die Kernenergie in ihren Vorschlag für eine dekarbonisierte und autonome europäische Industrie aufgenommen - ein "positives politisches Signal" für die Befürworter der Kernenergie, auch wenn sie dem Inhalt des Textes nach wie vor recht skeptisch gegenüberstehen.

"Lengyel barátainkkal együtt mi is jól döntöttünk. A Kijevbe küldött vadászgépek nem orosz gyerekeket fognak megölni, hanem ukrajnai kisgyerekeket fognak megvédeni" - reagált Rigó Konrád, a Szövetség Híd-platformjának elnöke a kormány mai döntésére.

Die Verwendung neuartiger Tabak- und Nikotinprodukte sollte nur starken Rauchern empfohlen werden, die alles andere versucht haben und immer noch herkömmliche Zigaretten rauchen, erklärte Professor Andrzej Fal in einem Interview mit EURACTIV.com.

In his famous experiment, Nobel Prize-winning Erwin Schrödinger theorised that if you placed a cat in an unobserved, closed box with something that has the potential to kill it, it can be considered simultaneously both dead and alive.

Depuis février 2022, les systèmes de navigation des vols commerciaux sont de plus en plus souvent brouillés, signale l’Office fédéral de l’aviation civile.

Az SaS helyesli a MiG-29-es vadászgépek átadását Ukrajnának. Juraj Krúpa (SaS), a parlament védelmi bizottságának elnöke rámutatott, Ukrajna agresszióval szemben védekezik, és megvédése Szlovákia számára is rendkívüli fontosságú.

Written by Ralf Drachenberg.

‘This is Europe’ – an initiative proposed by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola – consists of a series of debates with EU leaders to discuss their visions for the future of the European Union. In his address to the European Parliament on 14 March 2023, the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, emphasised three topics: i) support for Ukraine and that country’s place in Europe (i.e. enlargement); ii) the importance of historical memory; and iii) the challenges facing Europe today. Among the greatest challenges is maintaining an independent posture in EU relations with authoritarian regimes.

We have seen time and again serious crises give impetus to European renewal. There is something remarkable about the ability of all of us Europeans to adjust and move forward with unfaltering optimism whatever happens.

Gitanas Nausėda Background

Roberta Metsola launched the ‘This is Europe’ initiative soon after her election as president of the European Parliament in January 2022. Gitanas Nausėda is the seventh EU leader to have addressed the Parliament since its Conference of Presidents endorsed the initiative on 28 April 2022. These debates will continue during subsequent sessions. The next leader to have confirmed their participation is the prime minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, who will speak during the April 2023 plenary session; he is due to be followed by the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, during the May session. A similar initiative by the Parliament, ahead of the 2019 European elections, saw a number of EU leaders speak in the Parliament’s plenary sessions about their views on the future of Europe. An EPRS analysis of the future of Europe debates pinpointed the similarities and differences in EU leaders’ views.

Figure 1 – Time devoted by Gitanas Nausėda to various topics in his speech

The ‘This is Europe’ initiative is particularly relevant in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), a bottom-up exercise that allowed EU citizens to express their opinions on the EU’s future policies and functioning. On 30 April 2022, the CoFoE plenary adopted 49 proposals (see an EPRS overview), including more than 300 measures by which they might be achieved. As a follow-up, Parliament adopted a resolution, by a large majority, calling for a convention in accordance with Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union. This call was backed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her State of the Union speech on 14 September 2022. At the June 2022 European Council meeting, the Heads of State or Government ‘took note’ of the CoFoE proposals. While calling for ‘an effective follow-up’, they did not provide specific guidelines in this respect. Instead, they merely stated that each EU institution should do so ‘within their own sphere of competences’, rather than jointly among the EU institutions. EPRS research has shown that there is significant convergence between the results of the CoFoE and the priorities of the European Council as expressed in its 2019‑2024 strategic agenda and its conclusions over the past 3 years. The current Swedish Presidency of the Council indicated that it will follow up on the CoFoE’s work, and push to achieve broad consensus on how to proceed with its proposals.

Main focus of Gitanas Nausėda’s speech

Gitanas Nausėda addressed a wide range of topics in his speech to Parliament (see Figure 1). In terms of words, he devoted most attention to three issues: i) Russia’s war on Ukraine; ii) history; and iii) enlargement.

Russia’s war on Ukraine

The main topic of Nausėda’s address was Russia’s war on Ukraine. He notably praised the EU’s response to Russia’s aggression, as it stood ‘united and extended a helping hand to Ukrainians when they needed it the most’. He stressed the importance of European civil society’s and European citizens’ strong support and determination in enabling this united European response. The Lithuanian President called for continued support for Ukraine and strengthened sanctions against Russia, ‘until it stops the brutal war against Ukraine and ensures that those responsible for the crimes of aggression are held accountable’.

History

Nausėda underlined that Lithuania had been an integral part of Europe for centuries. He warned that some purposely distorted historical memories to meet their political aims, and stressed that it was necessary to remember the crimes committed to avoid repeating old mistakes. In his view, ‘ignor[ing] the past is never an option’, and by ‘commemorating the crimes of the two totalitarian regimes, we can respond more decisively and more accurately to today’s challenges’. He called for a stronger EU focus on European historical memory, notably through educational programmes for schoolchildren, and by providing EU funding to investigate and evaluate the crimes of Communist regimes at the international level.

Enlargement

Nausėda reiterated his support for the enlargement process of both Ukraine and Moldova, and for giving such a perspective to Georgia. He argued that ‘historical experience shows that the most effective way to expand the space of peace, stability and prosperity in Europe has been and will continue to be EU enlargement’. With the aim of launching negotiations with Ukraine before the end of the year, he said it was crucial to ensure continued EU financial and technical support for Ukraine’s European reforms.

Specific proposals and positions

The Lithuanian President used the opportunity to present his views on how the European Union should advance in specific policy areas. He also made some new proposals, summarised below.

Policy issuePriority action and proposals (quotes)Energy and climate‘Invest increasingly more in green energy to become truly independent and, which is no less important, to safeguard our planet’s climate.’Competitiveness, economy and trade‘A long-term strategy for European competitiveness should include strengthening the single market and the technological and industrial base, removing the existing excessive barriers to the movement of goods, services and private capital, promoting international partnerships and rules-based trade.’Migration‘The issue of irregular migration certainly deserves our joint focus. We therefore support the targeted use of EU funds, the smooth return of irregular migrants, stronger focus on countering disinformation in third countries, combatting human smuggling and eliminating the root causes of illegitimate migration in countries of origin.’Democracy‘If we are serious about maintaining the rules-based international order, we must not only take on responsibility but also continue to deepen and expand the transatlantic bond. We must cooperate to the fullest extent with like-minded countries in strengthening democracy, developing rules-based global economic relations, promoting fair competition, and countering economic coercion.’Table – Specific proposals made by Gitanas Nausėda, by policy area

Read this ‘at a glance’ on ‘‘This is Europe’ debate in the European Parliament: Speech by Gitanas Nausėda, President of Lithuania, 14 March 2023‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Grâce à un tressage ingénieux, les femmes asservies ont créé des cartes sur leur tête pour guider les fugitifs vers les lieux de liberté.

Cyclone Freddy is one of the world's longest-lasting storms - why was it so bad?

Két ember meghalt egy Tatabányán kigyulladt faházban pénteken - tájékoztatta az Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság helyettes szóvivője az MTI-t. A közlemény szerint az 1-es út közelében lévő Szőlőhegy úton álló 16 négyzetméteres faház péntek délelőtt kapott lángra. A város hivatásos tűzoltói rövid időn belül a helyszínre érkeztek, ők találtak rá oltás közben két emberre, akiknek az életét már nem lehetett megmenteni.

539135 Munira Shoinbekova, OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe Farhod Nabiyulloev

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe completed a capacity-building training course on avalanche safety for 20 representatives of Tajikistan’s Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence on 17 March 2023. The two-week course aimed at enhancing the rescuers’ skills and capacities in the area of search and rescue operations in an avalanche area as well as the recovery of victims after an avalanche in challenging winter conditions.

The training course covered topics such as identification of snow properties, causes of avalanche formation, factors affecting the degree of avalanche danger, methods for determining the degree of avalanche danger, search and rescue operations in an avalanche area, and first aid for an avalanche victim.  

Theoretical sessions were held in the training facility of the Committee in the Varzob district and practical sessions were conducted in the avalanche danger zones at the Ushtur and Maikhura passes of the Varzob district. Local experts from the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and the Committee delivered the course.

“On behalf of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, I would like to express my appreciation to all the participants for their active participation and valuable contributions to the avalanche safety course. Your commitment and enthusiasm ensured the success of our training,” said Ilgar Ibrahimli, Senior Executive Officer at the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe. “I extend my sincere gratitude to the European Union for their financial support and fruitful co-operation with the Programme Office in organizing this training course for Tajik rescuers.”

The event was conducted as part of the OSCE’s project on the Stabilization of Tajikistan’s southern borders with Afghanistan, funded by the European Union. The project aims to strengthen the professional capacities of both Tajikistan’s Border Troops and the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense to tackle illicit activities in border regions and respond to natural disasters.

After months of back and forth, EU ministers finally settled on their negotiating position on a proposal to see the EU’s industrial emissions slashed, but their final agreement has not gone down well with farming stakeholders.

PODGORICA, 17 March 2023 – International election observers will hold a press conference to present their findings following the presidential election in Montenegro.

What:

• A press conference of the international election observation mission to the presidential election in Montenegro
• The press conference can be attended in person or via Zoom (details below)
• You can also follow the livestream on www.facebook.com/osce.odihr

Who:

• Tamás Meszerics, Head of the ODIHR election observation mission
• Joe O’Reilly, Head of the PACE delegation
• Tonino Picula, Head of the EP delegation

When:

• 14:30 local time (GMT +1) on 20 March 2023

Where:

• Lesendro Conference room, Ramada hotel, 74 Bulevar Save Kovačevića, Podgorica

Registration:

• To take part via Zoom, please register by 11:00 local time on 20 March using the following link.       

The international election observation is a joint mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the European Parliament (EP). The observation mission totals 187 observers, made up of 149 ODIHR-deployed experts, long-term, and short-term observers, 24 from PACE, and 14 from the EP.

For more information, please contact:

Katya Andrusz, ODIHR: +48 609 522 266 or katya.andrusz@odihr.pl

Bogdan Torcătoriu, PACE: +382 63230913 or Bogdan.TORCATORIU@coe.int

Gonzalo de Mendoza Asensi, EP: + 32 460 76 44 16 or gonzalo.demendoza@europarl.europa.eu

VFS Global, le centre de demande de visa pour la France à Alger, a annoncé dans un communiqué publié le jeudi 16 mars 2023, la […]

L’article Rendez-vous visa France pour les Algériens : VFS Global lance un nouveau service est apparu en premier sur .

A bid by German publishers to split the European Media Freedom Act into a directive appears to have stalled amid broader opposition to the watering down of the proposal.