European Union

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Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, visits Cyprus on 15 March 2016, ahead of the European Council meeting on 17 and 18 March in Brussels.

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Over the past decade, the profile of EU-Nigeria cooperation has been steadily increasing. It is grounded in the "EU-Nigeria Joint Way Forward " agreed between the EU and Nigeria in 2009.

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EU Ministers of Foreign and European Affairs meet in Brussels on 15 March 2016 to prepare the March European Council and adopt the interinstitutional agreement on better law-making.

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This is Tuesday’s edition of our daily Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

Mr Anastasiades, right, chats with Britain's David Cameron at the EU refugee summit last week.

Donald Tusk, the European Council president who has been attempting to broker a deal to stop the influx of refugees into the EU, has flown to Nicosia for a meeting this morning with Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades. For a man who spent the week before the last EU migration summit travelling to seven different capitals in four days, the fact that Mr Tusk is making Cyprus his only stop ahead of the next two-day gathering beginning Thursday is telling: the small island nation may prove the most difficult needle to thread in Brussels’ nascent deal with Turkey to take back thousands of migrants now washing ashore in Greece. [UPDATE: Mr Tusk has tacked on an evening trip to Ankara at the last minute.]

Cyprus has long been one of the biggest complicating factors in EU-Turkey relations, so objections from Nicosia to the demands being made by Ankara– another €3bn in aid, a visa-free travel scheme, opening of new “chapters” in EU membership talks – may have been expected. But the small group of EU leaders who brokered last week’s deal, led by Germany’s Angela Merkel, seemed to have forgotten that Cypriot objections this time around are far more consequential: the country is in the middle of delicate talks that diplomats believe are the best (and perhaps last) chance to reunify an island divided since Turkey invaded and held its northern half in 1974. For Mr Anastasiades, making concessions to Ankara now without any compensation would not only cost him politically at home, but could wreck reunification talks altogether since the Greek Cypriot community he leads would likely abandon him. Like all other 27 EU heads of state, Mr Anastasiades can, on his own, veto the Turkey deal.

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The relations between the EU and the Republic of Moldova are based on the Association Agreement which was signed on the margins of the EU summit held on 27 June 2014. 

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Goslar is a central German town on the northern edge of the Harz Mountains. For a thousand years, its wealth was provided by the mineral deposits of the Rammelsberg Mountain, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site with many medium-sized businesses, year-round tourism and major industrial enterprises. But Goslar has been affected by demographic change and structural weakness.

The town’s population of approximately 50,000 is declining; in the ten years from 2003 to 2013, Goslar lost around 4,000 inhabitants. We have had to react to this demographic decline by exploring two possibilities. The first is to downsize administrations, which is something we have already done in Goslar. To further downsize would affect the town’s infrastructure – schools, museums and public swimming pools could no longer be well maintained by even fewer people. Furthermore, to continue downsizing would only lead to a greater population decline, and the downward spiral would accelerate – a bleak scenario indeed!

“It is economic nonsense to build container villages while flats and houses elsewhere lie vacant”

I therefore tend to favour the second alternative: to keep the number of inhabitants as stable as possible. We need people for our social activities, in voluntary work and in our clubs and associations. But we also need them for our economy. The Employment Agency in our area lists about 43,000 employed people, of which 14,500 are aged between 50-64. This means that over the next 20 years, 14,500 roles will become vacant. Who can we find to take these places?

When I talk with the entrepreneurs of this region, I often hear of their concerns that there will not be a sufficient workforce available in the coming years. Frequent questions are ‘Will I find enough staff?’, ‘Will I find enough young people that I can train?’ and ‘Should I invest in a shrinking town or should I relocate my business elsewhere?’. If the latter actually happens, it would mean that investment will no longer come to Goslar, and then this town’s history of more than a thousand years will come to an end. Goslar’s 1,700 timbered houses and 3,000 monuments will be little more than open-air museum pieces.

This is not just a problem for Goslar, or even just for Germany. The entire European community is facing a change. Statisticians think that today’s German population of 81 million people will grow slightly in the coming 5-7 years, but will then drop dramatically. In 2030, almost 5 million people more than today will be aged 65 or older. This group will represent around a third of the population, according to the Max Planck Institute. The United Nations has forecast a decline in Europe’s overall population of 8.3%, or approximately 50 million inhabitants, by 2050. The European Statistical Office Eurostat has the opinion that immigration will be the only solution for three-quarters of European regions.

“The big cities cannot by themselves provide either the accommodation or the integration of refugees”

I am of course aware that our society has some vastly differing opinions when it comes to refugees and migrants. But as early as the Autumn of 2014, I took a very clear position on the issue. I said that the big cities cannot by themselves provide either the accommodation or the integration of refugees, and I have also spoken of the big opportunity for the town of Goslar. Back then, I asked, ‘Why don’t we focus more intensively on the talents of those who come to our country?’

My basic idea was that it should be possible for regions with shrinking populations to take more refugees. The use of empty housing and lower rents, as is prescribed by the allocation formula, would help to alleviate pressure from big city hotspots. The aim is a decentralised accommodation for the people who come to us. This does not mean accommodating refugees together in a big hotel or a barracks that stands empty. It especially does not mean tents, containers or ghettos in big cities. It is economic nonsense to build container villages while flats and houses elsewhere lie vacant.

My statements in 2014 triggered quite a controversy, and the reality of today has more than outrun us. The problem now is that I do not know how many people will come in 2016 in need of social and economic care. But I am sure that solutions can and will be found. It is imperative that we not only accommodate refugees but that we offer them German language courses and provide them with everything they need to live in comfort. It is envisaged that they will stay here – in the medium-sized towns and in rural areas – for good, and will not leave us after a few months to head for the larger cities.

“Successful integration requires relationships between people and quick access to the local population and community”

However, I have not yet found a clear remedy, but if we succeed in keeping the refugees here and integrate them well, we will enrich our society and have at the same time the chance to oppose the prospect of demographic crisis. In 2015, the District of Goslar, which as a region has approximately 130,000 inhabitants, received approximately 1,540 refugees. This year, we are expecting about 1,600 new arrivals. All these people are to be accommodated in a ‘dispersed’ way. They will be accommodated in flats where there will be welcomed as neighbours, as successful integration requires relationships between people and quick access to the local population and community.

A brief look to the past tells us that integrating refugees can work. Historically, immigrants have always enriched their societies. The United States without the innovative power of immigrants would have no Silicon Valley; without its immigrant workers of the 19th century, there would be no American railways; and without the refugees and expelled persons taken in after the Second World War, there would have been no economic miracle.

The civil war in Syria has lasted for five years and yet everybody was completely astonished to find Syrian people knocking on Europe’s door as refugees. Europe is facing its first major performance test, and to pass, European policymakers have to stand together and introduce basic change. The continent will become a melting pot of cultures: younger, more intelligent and more vivid. The United States of America continues today to take their strength from this model. We too can achieve that. It is up to us whether we succeed in organising language and education, accommodation and work for the refugees and their children. As a result, Germany and Europe can only benefit, and will develop stronger than ever on a moral level, as well as economically and culturally.

Europeans must welcome and integrate refugees, accepting that they are not a burden but a great opportunity. We have to keep sight of the most essential issue: to support refugees is our most fundamental humanitarian duty.

IMAGE CREDIT: CC / FLICKR – Ralf Naegele

The post Goslar must integrate refugees or face decline appeared first on Europe’s World.

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EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meet on 14 March 2016 in Brussels to assess the current difficulties faced in several agricultural sectors, in particular the pig meat, dairy and fruit and vegetables sectors. They are also to adopt conclusions on the EU support to timber-producing countries and on fisheries partnership agreements with third countries.

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EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs meet on 14 March 2016 in Brussels to discuss Iran, in particular the areas of re-engagement and the bilateral agenda. They are also to address the Middle East peace process and examine the latest developments in Libya and relations with Russia.

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Stocktaking debates on progress in EU trade talks with two major partners – Canada and the USA – were discussed in the International Trade Committee on Monday afternoon. The recently updated investment rules in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal with Canada and latest developments on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), with the US, including the follow-up to Parliament’s requests, were the key topics of debate.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Stocktaking debates on progress in EU trade talks with two major partners – Canada and the USA – were discussed in the International Trade Committee on Monday afternoon. The recently updated investment rules in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal with Canada and latest developments on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), with the US, including the follow-up to Parliament’s requests, were the key topics of debate.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Parliament"s special committee on tax rulings discusses tax measures with representatives from multinationals and various tax authorities on Monday 14 March and Tuesday 15 March. Participants include Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and the Channel Islands as well as Apple, Google, IKEA and McDonald's. MEPs have the opportunity to question them, especially regarding the latest developments in the area of corporate taxation.
Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Parliament"s special committee on tax rulings discusses tax measures with representatives from multinationals and various tax authorities on Monday 14 March and Tuesday 15 March. Participants include Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and the Channel Islands as well as Apple, Google, IKEA and McDonald's. MEPs have the opportunity to question them, especially regarding the latest developments in the area of corporate taxation.
Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : While heads of state and governments will try to work out the details of the EU-Turkey migration deal during the European summit in Brussels on 17-18 March, parliamentary committees will also be dealing with migration issues. MEPs vote on proposals for relocation schemes for refugees and EU humanitarian visa and also asses the human rights situation in Turkey. Meanwhile the tax rulings committee discusses tax measures with representatives from multinationals.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : While heads of state and governments will try to work out the details of the EU-Turkey migration deal during the European summit in Brussels on 17-18 March, parliamentary committees will also be dealing with migration issues. MEPs vote on proposals for relocation schemes for refugees and EU humanitarian visa and also asses the human rights situation in Turkey. Meanwhile the tax rulings committee discusses tax measures with representatives from multinationals.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP