European Union

I am delighted to attend the opening ceremony of the thirteenth European Film Days in Tokyo. When I talk with people about Europe, they often stress our power as a trading bloc, our special role on the world stage or and staying united in these difficult times as 28 Member States. But the Film Days reminds us that Europe is also known for its culture and creativity. In fact, culture is more important than politics. We hope that, thanks to the 29 films screened here in Tokyo, and the 19 shown in Kyoto in July, Japanese audiences will feel closer to Europe.

It is a special pleasure this evening to be joined by Signe Baumane, Director of the Latvian film many of you have just watched. An impressive movie ("Rocks in my Pockets"), which is about one of the most important themes of our time - also here in Japan - that is women's empowerment.

Gender equality is the most important fundamental value of the European Union. The Treaty of the European Union obliges Member States to promote equality between women and men but there is still a lot of work to be done. It is also a condition to build modern, efficient and prosperous societies. I have no doubts that none understands me better than Mrs. Abe, when I talk about women's empowerment.

I would like to thank the National Film Centre for hosting this event, and would also like to express my appreciation to all the European Union Member States Embassies and Cultural Institutes in Japan. They are our partners in organising this festival. I hope you will enjoy yourselves, and will watch many of the films. Thank you.

The Latvian presidency of the Council and the European Parliament on 28 May 2015 reached a provisional agreement on a European fund for strategic investments (EFSI) aimed at stimulating the economy.

The agreement still has to be confirmed by the Council once the full text of the regulation is finalised at technical level. The regulation will then be submitted to the European Parliament for a vote at first reading, and to the Council for final adoption. 

"Today's positive outcome will enable us to finalise an overall agreement in June and will pave the way for new investments to begin this summer," said Jānis Reirs, minister for finance of Latvia and president of the Council. 

The agreement was reached during a trilogue meeting in Brussels. Presidency and Parliament met in eight trilogues since 23 April 2015, having agreed their respective negotiating stances in March and April. 

A broad range of projects 

The EFSI will be established within the European Investment Bank by an agreement between the Commission and the EIB. For an initial investment period of three years, the fund will support projects in a broad range of areas, including transport, energy and broadband infrastructure, education, health, research and risk finance for SMEs. It will target socially and economically viable projects without any sectoral or regional pre-allocation, in particular to address market failures. The EFSI will complement and be additional to ongoing EU programmes and traditional EIB activities. 

Lifetime of the fund 

Before the end of the initial investment period, the Commission will submit an independent evaluation which will assess whether the EFSI has achieved the objectives of the regulation. Based on the conclusions of its report, the Commission will, as appropriate, present a proposal to either set a new investment period or terminate the EFSI. 

Funding 

The fund will be built on €16 billion in guarantees from the EU budget and €5 billion from the EIB. To facilitate the payment of potential guarantee calls, a guarantee fund will be established so as to gradually reach €8 billion (i.e. 50% of total EU guarantee obligations) by 2020. 

EU funding will come from redeploying grants from the Connecting Europe facility (transport, energy and digital networks) and the Horizon 2020 programme (research and innovation), as well as unused margins in the EU's annual budget. However the Council presidency and the European Parliament agreed to increase the share of financing coming from unused margins, in comparison with what the Commission proposed, in order toreduce contributions from Horizon 2020 and Connecting Europe facility (CEF). 

The agreement reached on funding is as follows: 

• Redeployment will amount to €5bn, of which €2.8bn from CEF and €2.2bn from Horizon 2020;
• Funding from unused margins will amount to €3bn over the period 2016-2020. The source of this financing includes €543 million and €457 million specifically earmarked from the global margin for commitments for the 2014 and 2015 budgets respectively.
• Extension of payments until 2023 to provision the EFSI guarantee fund. 

 Furthermore, it was agreed that €500 million of CEF-transport financial instruments will be redeployed for CEF-transport grants. 

The EFSI will have an enhanced risk-bearing capacity. By taking on part of the risk of new projects through a first-loss liability, the fund will enable private investors to participate under more favourable conditions. Thereby the EFSI is estimated to reach an overall multiplier effect of 1:15 in real investment. Such leverage will eventually allow more than €300bn of additional investment to be mobilised during the three-year investment period. 

Governance of the fund 

The EFSI would have a two-tier governance structure:

-                     A steering board will set the overall strategy, investment policy and risk profile of the fund. To ensure an impartial steering board and avoid political influence over the selection of projects, the board members will come from the Commission and the EIB only. Their numbers will reflect the institutions' size of contributions in the form of cash or guarantees. The steering board will take decisions by consensus. It will regularly consult stakeholders. 

-                     An independent investment committee will select projects to receive EFSI support. Accountable to the steering board, it will consist of eight independent experts and a managing director. The managing director will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the EFSI and the preparation and chairing of meetings of the investment committee. The committee will take decisions by simple majority. Any project supported by the EFSI will require approval by the EIB. 

Contributions to the fund 

Member states can contribute to the EFSI in guarantees or cash, while third parties can contribute in cash. However, contributions will not entail any influence over the fund's governance.  

Third parties, including member states' national promotional banks, will be able to co-finance projects together with the EFSI, either on a project-by-project basis or through investment platforms. 

Identifying new projects 

The regulation will also set up a "European investment advisory hub" to provide advisory support for the identification, preparation and development of projects across the EU. It will further establish a "European investment project portal" to improve investors' knowledge of existing and future projects. 

On 28 May 2015 the Council confirmed a political agreement on the reform of the Travel Package Directive.  

The new directive will update current EU rules on package holidays by aiming to adapt to travel market developments in order to meet the needs of consumers and businesses in the digital era. 

It will extend the protection for traditional packages to combinations of separate travel services, in particular if sold online.  

Latvian Minister for Economics, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, made the following comments: "This piece of legislation will provide travellers and industry with the long-awaited framework which is fit for purpose and future-proof for the ever growing and evolving tourism industry. In particular, it will strengthen the rights of travellers when booking online and take into account new ways of booking. Beside strengthened consumer rights, businesses, in particular small and medium sized enterprises, will also benefit from this Directive".  

The new conditions will promote a level playing field for businesses by harmonising rules and removing obstacles to cross-border trade.  This will generate a broader choice for booking holiday products and may therefore lead to cheaper prices for consumers.  

Next steps 

The European Parliament is expected to confirm the text of the Council's political agreement with a vote in second reading at an upcoming plenary session.  

The text will undergo a legal-linguist revision before the Council can formally approve it. It should be published in the Official Journal of the EU before end 2015.

The new provisions will apply 30 months after the entry into force of the directive.

As the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, the Council has extended EU restrictive measures against the Syrian regime by one year. 

One additional person has been targeted with a travel ban and an EU asset freeze. This person is a high-ranking military deemed responsible for repression and violence against the civilian population in Damascus and Damascus countryside. Over 200 persons and 70 entities are now targeted by EU sanctions over the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria. 

The decision also extended the existing sanctions including the oil embargo and the restrictions on certain investments until 1 June 2016.  

In December 2014, the Council reiterated that the EU would continue imposing and enforcing sanctions that target the regime and its supporters as long as repression continues. For the EU, a lasting solution to the conflict can only come through a Syrian-led political process that leads to a transition. The EU continues to encourage all efforts to this end. 

The legal acts, including detail regarding the person added to the list, are available in the EU Official Journal of 29 May 2015.

On 28 May the EU signed short-stay visa waiver agreements with St Lucia, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Republic of Vanuatu, the independent State of Samoa and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, at a ceremony that took place in Brussels. On behalf of the EU, the agreements were signed by Ms. Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, and by Mr. Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. On the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) side, representatives from the 7 countries signed the agreements.

The new visa regime provides for visa-free travel for EU citizens when travelling to the territory of these countries and for citizens of these countries when travelling to the EU, for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period. "Today's agreements will encourage people-to-people contacts, boost  tourism, and invigorate business between the EU and these seven ACP countries",  said Ms. Zanda Kalniņa -Lukaševica, Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Latvia.

In order to benefit from visa-free travel, citizens from the EU and the signatory countries must be in possession of a valid ordinary, diplomatic, service/official or special passport. Visa-free travel applies to all categories of persons and for any kind of purposes of travel (for instance tourism, cultural visits, scientific activities, family visits, business etc.), except to persons travelling for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity.

The decisions on the conclusion of the agreements will now be sent to the European Parliament with a view to obtaining its consent before they can be concluded. However, they will apply on a provisional basis as from 28 May 2015.

Ireland and the United Kingdom will not be subject to the application of the agreement, in accordance with the protocols annexed to the EU treaties. The visa regime to these member states remains subject to their national legislation.

1. The Council welcomes the publication by the Commission of preliminary information on 2014 EU Official Development Assistance(ODA), analysing the trends with regard to EU collective and individual ODA commitments. The Council stresses that ODA is an important and catalytic element in the overall financing available for developing countries most in need.
   
   
2. On 17 June 2010 the European Council requested the Council to make an annual report on the EU and Member States' commitments and delivery on ODA. This is the fifth such report to be submitted to the European Council.

 

1. 2015 is a pivotal year for gender equality, human rights and the empowerment of women and girls in the global context with the inter-governmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda. In that context, particular focus must be put on promoting and fulfilling the rights of women and girls, notably in light of the 15th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Council reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Programme of Action, and the outcomes of their review conferences, and the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It further welcomes the Political Declaration adopted at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the calls for the full realisation of women's and girls' full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the achievement of  gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls throughout their life cycle.
   
   
2. The High Level Event on 'Women's Empowerment and Sustainable Development', hosted by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Riga on 2 March 2015 in the context of the European Year of Development, provided an opportunity to renew political momentum and to reaffirm the strong EU commitment on gender equality, social justice, non-discrimination and human rights.
   
   
3. The EU and its Member States remain committed to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of all human rights for all. The Council welcomes the leading role that the EU and its Member States are playing in supporting international initiatives to promote women's and girls' rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and calls for continued cooperation and coordination with UN bodies, notably UN Women, as well as with other relevant international fora and actors. Women's organisations are crucial partners of the EU with respect to the full realisation of women's and girls' rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

 

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

On Thursday, 28 May, the Minister for Economic Affairs, Dana Reizniece-Ozola chaired the meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council (COMPET) in Brussels. During the meeting, the EU Member States expressed their views on the Digital single market, reached agreement on travel packages and Single-member private limited liability company.

On Thursday, 28 May, the Minister for Economic Affairs, Dana Reizniece-Ozola chaired the meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council (COMPET) in Brussels. During the meeting, the EU Member States expressed their views on the Digital single market, reached agreement on travel packages and Single-member private limited liability company.

An EU-US trade deal should deepen EU access to the US market, but must not undermine EU standards or the right to regulate in the public interest, say Trade Committee MEPs in draft recommendations voted on Thursday. Tools for resolving disputes between investors and states should be reformed and improved, they add.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

An EU-US trade deal should deepen EU access to the US market, but must not undermine EU standards or the right to regulate in the public interest, say Trade Committee MEPs in draft recommendations voted on Thursday. Tools for resolving disputes between investors and states should be reformed and improved, they add.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP