European Union

Associação Sindical dos Juízes Portugueses
DFON
The salary reductions applied to the judges of the Tribunal de Contas in Portugal do not infringe the principle of judicial independence

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Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The Good Friday Agreement was a landmark achievement that completely opened all the borders between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This remarkable initiative brought peace at last at the turn of the millennium.

That peace is now threatened by Brexit.

The Tory government is hellbent on a hard Brexit, meaning the UK will leave the EU and its Single Market and customs union.

If that happens, it will be impossible to avoid the return of hard borders on the island of Ireland.

And that will mean undoing years of delicate and intricate work to create the Good Friday Agreement, that ended decades of terrible and intransigent sectarian violence.

There is talk of vague technological solutions to create semi-transparent borders, but nobody has been able to explain exactly how they would work, and nobody with any sense or understanding of the situation has any belief that such fanciful ideas could ever work, let alone be accepted or acceptable.

So hellbent (yes, the word has been used twice on purpose) are some Brexit politicians in their ideological desperation for Brexit, that they have now proposed scrapping the Good Friday agreement, as it is getting in their way.

They can have no idea of the Pandora’s box they are willing to prise open to the detriment of everyone.

Labour is about to announce that it will support staying in the EU customs union, which would allow the open borders between Northern Ireland and Ireland to remain. This weekend an alliance of over 80 senior figures in the Labour Party also called on the party to go one step further, and to support the UK staying in the EU Single Market too.

This is called a ‘soft Brexit’. But a soft Brexit means that we would be, like Norway, a member of the European Union in all but name: yes, enjoying the benefits of membership, but not having any say or vote in the rules, regulations and laws of the EU that we would have to follow.

Absolutely none of this makes sense.

The only rational resolution is for Britain to scrap Brexit and to remain a full member of the European Union. There is no agreement that will be as good as the one we have now, as an EU member.

And the sooner the country realises that, the sooner we can get back to where we were before this madness all started on 23 June 2016.

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Hard Brexit = Hard border

→ Brexit threatens peace – Please shareHARD BREXIT = HARD BORDERThe Good Friday Agreement was a landmark achievement that completely opened all the borders between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This remarkable initiative brought peace at last at the turn of the millennium. That peace is now threatened by Brexit.The Tory government is hellbent on a hard Brexit, meaning the UK will leave the EU and its Single Market and customs union.If that happens, it will be impossible to avoid the return of hard borders on the island of Ireland. And that will mean undoing years of delicate and intricate work to create the Good Friday Agreement, that ended decades of terrible and intransigent sectarian violence. There is talk of vague technological solutions to create semi-transparent borders, but nobody has been able to explain exactly how they would work, and nobody with any sense or understanding of the situation has any belief that such fanciful ideas could ever work, let alone be accepted or acceptable.So hellbent (yes, the word has been used twice on purpose) are some Brexit politicians in their ideological desperation for Brexit, that they have now proposed scrapping the Good Friday agreement, as it is getting in their way. They can have no idea of the Pandora’s box they are willing to prise open to the detriment of everyone.Labour is about to announce that it will support staying in the EU customs union, which would allow the open borders between Northern Ireland and Ireland to remain. This weekend an alliance of over 80 senior figures in the Labour Party also called on the party to go one step further, and to support the UK staying in the EU Single Market too.This is called a ‘soft Brexit’. But a soft Brexit means that we would be, like Norway, a member of the European Union in all but name: yes, enjoying the benefits of membership, but not having any say or vote in the rules, regulations and laws of the EU that we would have to follow.Absolutely none of this makes sense. The only rational resolution is for Britain to scrap Brexit and to remain a full member of the European Union. There is no agreement that will be as good as the one we have now, as an EU member. And the sooner the country realises that, the sooner we can get back to where we were before this madness all started on 23 June 2016.• Words by Jon Danzig. Video by the European Parliament (reproduced with kind permission).• This video is now on YouTube. Please share: youtu.be/ejnljAIbuv8• Please re-Tweet: twitter.com/Reasons2Remain/status/967873784714809344********************************************► Watch Jon Danzig's video on YouTube: 'Can Britain Stop Brexit?' Go to CanBritainStopBrexit.com► Read Jon Danzig's article: 'Why Brexit is madness' jondanzig.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/why-brexit-is-madness.html********************************************• To follow and support Reasons2Remain just ‘like’ the page, and please invite all your friends to like the page. Instructions to ensure you get notifications of all our stories:1. Click on the ‘Following’ button under the Reasons2Remain banner2. Change the ‘Default’ setting by clicking ‘See first’.********************************************• Please rate Reasons2Remain out of 5 stars. Here's the link: facebook.com/Reasons2Remain/reviews/********************************************• Follow Reasons2Remain on Twitter: twitter.com/reasons2remain and Instagram: instagram.com/reasons2remain/********************************************• Explore our unique Reasons2Remain gallery of over 1,000 graphics and articles: reasons2remain.co.uk********************************************• Reasons2Remain is an entirely unfunded community campaign, unaffiliated with any other group or political party, and is run entirely by volunteers. If you'd like to help, please send us a private message.********************************************• © Reasons2Remain 2018. All our articles and graphics are the copyright of Reasons2Remain. We only allow sharing using the Facebook share button. Any other use requires our advance permission in writing.#STOPBREXIT #EXITBREXIT

Posted by Reasons2Remain on Sunday, 25 February 2018

The post Hard Brexit = Hard border on Ireland appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

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EU-Kazakhstan relations are based in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of energy. Kazakhstan is also part of the EU and Central Asia Strategy for a New Partnership.

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DRAFT REPORT on EU-NATO relations
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Ioan Mircea Paşcu

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

REPORT on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on cutting the sources of income for jihadists – targeting the financing of terrorism
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Javier Nart

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

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EU Foreign Affairs ministers meet on 26 February 2018 in Brussels to debate and adopt conclusions on the Republic of Moldova. Foreign ministers discuss Venezuela, review prospects for the Middle East Peace Process, and prepare for a lunch with representatives of the League of Arab States (LAS). The lunch is an opportunity to discuss how to pursue further options aimed at achieving a two-state solution jointly with the LAS.

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EU negotiators beware. At least some of those on the other side of the table from you don’t just want Britain to leave the EU. They want to see the end of the EU altogether.

That’s been the aim of prominent Brexit campaigners from the start. And it’s certainly the aim of the guy who started Brexit: UKIP MEP and their former leader, Nigel Farage.

Last September, Mr Farage received a standing ovation at a far-right rally in Berlin when he addressed Germany’s anti-EU party, Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Mr Farage was applauded after urging the AfD to fight for German independence from the EU.

This is nothing new. On the morning of the referendum, with his and his party’s dreams realised, Mr Farage made clear that there was unfinished business with the EU.

“I hope this victory brings down this failed project … let’s get rid of the flag, the anthem, Brussels, and all that has gone wrong,” he said in his 4am victory speech.

On Talk Radio in Spain four years ago, Mr Farage said that he not only wanted Britain to leave the European Union, he also wanted to see “Europe out of the European Union” – in other words, the complete disintegration of the European Single Market.

Some ardent Tory Brexiters also share UKIP’s goal to see the end of the European Union altogether.

Conservative Steve Baker MP, Wycombe, one of Britain’s Brexit negotiators, said in 2010 that he wanted to see the European Union “wholly torn down.”

In a speech to a right-wing think tank he branded the EU as an “obstacle” to world peace and “incompatible” with a free society.

In his 2010 speech Mr Baker also told the cheering audience: “I think UKIP and the ‘Better Off Out’ campaign lack ambition. I think the European Union needs to be wholly torn down.”

In a keynote speech for Vote Leave during the referendum campaign, Michael Gove, MP, then Justice Secretary and now Secretary of State for the Environment, made similar comments about bringing down the EU.

Mr Gove said:

“Britain voting to leave will be the beginning of something potentially even more exciting – the democratic liberation of a whole continent.”

He described Britain’s departure from the EU as “a contagion” that could spread across Europe.

Reporting on Mr Gove’s speech, the BBC stated: “Leaving the EU could also encourage others to follow suit, said Mr Gove.”

Commenting after the speech, a senior aide for the Leave campaign indicated to HeraldScotland that Mr Gove would be, “happy if Britain’s in-out referendum sparked similar polls across Europe.”

The Herald Scotland reporter asked if Brexit would lead to the break-up of the EU as we knew it and the aide replied, “Yes.”

When asked if the Out campaign hoped that it would trigger “the end of the Brussels block” the aide replied, “Certainly.”

In his speech, Mr Gove suggested that far from being the exception if Britain left the EU, it would become the norm as most other EU member states would choose to govern themselves. It was membership of the EU that was the anomaly, argued Mr Gove.

The Guardian headline was:

‘Brexit could spark democratic liberation of continent, says Gove’

The Telegraph headline:

‘Michael Gove urges EU referendum voters to trigger ‘the democratic liberation of a whole continent’

The Express headline:

‘BREXIT WILL BREAK-UP EU: Leave vote to spark domino effect across bloc, says Gove’

The Bloomberg headline:

‘U.K. Brexit Vote Would Be End of EU as We Know It, Gove Says’

The Irish Times headline:

‘Michael Gove says other EU states may leave EU’

Britain’s EU referendum was not just about whether Britain should remain in the European Union. For some leading Brexit campaigners, it was a referendum about whether the European Union itself should continue to exist.

Leading Brexit supporters hope that what happened in Britain on 23 June 2016 could result in the end of the EU. This is no doubt a wake-up call for pro-EU supporters across the continent.

Britain chose not to be one of the founding members of the Union back in 1957 but joined later, in 1973.

Now Britain is destined to be the only member ever to leave the Union, with the open aspiration of at least some ‘Leave’ campaigners that other EU members will also follow Britain in exiting the EU.

EU leaders are no doubt aware, and alarmed, that the downfall of the EU is the aim of at least two of Theresa May’s ministers.

For all of us who cherish the European Union as one of the most successful post-war projects, this is no longer just a battle about Brexit.

This is a campaign to ensure that Brexit politicians don’t succeed in inflicting grievous damage to the EU, with their stated aim to destroy the European Union entirely.

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Many Brexiteers still do not understand the difference between “after the referendum” and “after Brexit”. If there was an increase in British exports as a result of the value of the pound falling following the EU referendum in June 2016, then people need to remember that the UK’s economy at that time was still acting according to its membership of the European Union. Tariff free access to the EU’s customs union and single market will apply until the UK leaves the EU, likewise trade agreements with the rest of the world are already in place, which allow the UK as an EU member state to trade with non EU countries. The negative economic consequences of Brexit will only be fully felt when the UK leaves the EU.

China is in the process of improving its trade links with the EU. On 25th January 2018 an article entitled “Die Seidenstraße endet in Duisburg”, which translates as “The silk road ends in Duisburg” appeared on the website of the German news programme “tagesschau”. The article was about the goods trains, which run on a 10,000 kilometre stretch of railway track between the cities of Duisburg in Germany and Chongqing in China. According to the article 25 trains a week arrive in Duisburg from China, which take around 12 days to reach their destination compared to around 40 days if the freight was sent by sea. Although a freight train cannot compete with a cargo ship on the quantity of goods it can carry – one train can transport a maximum of 60 containers whereas a containership can transport around 10,000 containers – the freight train has the advantage that it brings goods to a central logistics destination in mainland Europe.

The rail link from China through Russia to the European Union could become more significant, after the UK leaves the EU. Once the UK has left the EU’s customs union and single market, then Chinese exporters will be less likely to use British ports, because the UK will no longer have privileged access to the EU’s consumer market of 27 member states. Nobody knows what percentage of tariffs the EU will put on goods arriving from the UK, once the UK becomes a third country. If it takes 49.6 days for a container ship to travel from Shanghai to Felixstowe, and goods cannot easily be distributed from the UK to other parts of Europe, then Chinese exporters will use ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg as well as Duisburg which will remain in the EU rather than a British port.

Brexiteers often say that the UK does not need the EU, because the UK can export to the rest of the world. On the other hand, is it a good idea for the rest of the world to know, that the UK is voluntarily excluding itself from privileged access to Europe’s consumer market as a result of leaving the EU? Would any other country in the modern world seriously consider leaving an important economic market, because that country dislikes regulations to protect the environment, health and safety, and workers rights?

Sources

http://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/seidenstrasse-107.html

http://ports.com/sea-route/port-of-shanghai,china/port-of-felixstowe,united-kingdom/

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/brexit-%E2%80%93-guidance-stakeholders-impact-field-industrial-products_en

©Jolyon Gumbrell 2018

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If you take the wrong job, you can resign. If you choose the wrong partner, you can leave. If you go on the wrong journey, you can turn back.

In our personal lives, second thoughts are allowed.

Thinking again, with the benefit of more information, knowledge and experience, often provides a superior result. As the saying goes, ‘Second thoughts are best’.Why should it be any different in politics?

Britain desperately needs a chance to have second thoughts about Brexit.

After all, nobody gave an informed decision for the UK to leave the EU in the referendum, because we were not adequately informed.

On the contrary, the country was misinformed, in a referendum that was profoundly flawed.

The Leave campaign had to rely entirely on lies, mistruths and false promises to win the referendum.

Furthermore, their win was only by the tiniest of margins.

Many people directly affected by the outcome of the referendum were denied a vote.

And only a minority of registered voters voted for Leave – just 37% of the electorate.

That proportion would not even be sufficient to change the constitution of the Conservative Party, or UKIP.

Nobody knew in the referendum what Brexit meant, and we still don’t know.

Except that we now know just how painful Brexit will be for Britain.

With higher food prices (they are higher already); the loss of a say in the running of our continent; the loss of free movement for Britons across our continent, as well as the loss of free movement for our European neighbours coming here.

Not to mention key industries leaving us, our economy suffering, and years, probably decades, of disruption ahead.

All to get back our country that we never lost; all to gain sovereignty that we always had; and all to reduce migration when we’ll still need just as many migrants as before to do all the jobs we simply don’t have enough Britons to do.

With the benefit of hindsight, many people in Britain can now see and understand that the Brexit decision was wrong.

How often in our own personal lives have we wished we could have reversed a decision with the benefit of hindsight, but alas, it was too late?

But the thing about Brexit is that it isn’t too late. We have not yet left the EU. Britain can #StopBrexit, if that’s what Britain wants.

Increasingly, polls indicate that’s exactly what most Britons now want. A U-turn on Brexit.

Across the country, voters are having second thoughts about Brexit, and it’s time our politicians took notice.
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Plenary session and committee meetings in Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

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EU leaders meet informally in Brussels on 23 February 2018 to discuss institutional issues, including the European Parliament's composition after the 2019 elections and possible transnational lists, and how the EU appoints top positions, including the so called 'Spitzenkandidaten'. The heads of state or government also debate on the political priorities of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) after 2020.  The meeting takes place under the Leader's Agenda. As the discussions are future-oriented, the meeting is held in an EU27 format.

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The International High Level Conference on the Sahel takes place on 23 February 2018 in Brussels.

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Tens of thousands of EU citizens have decided to leave Britain since the referendum. The latest figures reveal the highest outflow of EU migrants for a decade, and a huge reduction in the number of EU migrants moving to the UK.

130,000 citizens from the EU decided to leave Britain in the year to September 2017. And around 47,000 fewer migrants from other EU countries moved here compared to the previous year.

The latest figures also show that more British people are emigrating than Britons returning to live here.

It means that net EU migration – the difference between arrivals and departures – was only 90,000, the lowest for five years.

Commented the BBC home affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw:

‘What explanation could there be for the decline in EU migration other than Brexit?’

He added:

‘Whether it’s a feeling that EU citizens aren’t wanted in the UK, uncertainty about their future or the growing relative strength of other EU economies, there has been a notable shift away from Britain’s shores.’

The NHS as a result is at crisis point. NHS England has nearly 100,000 unfilled jobs, a situation described as “dangerously” understaffed. That’s one in 11 posts unfilled, according to the latest figures.

Most EU doctors working for the NHS have indicated that they plan to leave, according to a survey by the British Medical Journal.

Record numbers of nurses from the EU have left the NHS since the Brexit vote, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

Around 10,000 EU health workers have left since the referendum, according to the National Health Executive.

And the number of nurses from the EU registering to work in the UK has dropped by 96% since the EU referendum, according to statistics by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

We’ve made them feel unwelcome, so who can blame them for leaving us? But believe me, we’ll miss them when they’ve gone.

Who will give us medical treatment in hospital? Who will take care of our parents and grandparents in care homes? Who will do the millions of jobs that we simply don’t have enough Britons to do?

There’s a host of reasons to want citizens here from the rest of the EU to stay, and to want to stay. But the opposite is happening since the Brexit vote.

EU citizens living here are not stupid (far from it; on average, they’re more educated than most of us, and their command of English puts some of us to shame.)

They know that one of the main reasons, if not the number one reason, that people opted for Brexit in the referendum is because they perceived that we have too many EU migrants.

Too many? Oh, heaven help us. If anything, we don’t have enough. We’ll soon see.

Britain has far more vacancies than Britons to fill them. Around 750,000 job vacancies last month alone. We don’t have enough Britons to do the jobs that EU citizens are (or were) happy to do for us.

They’re mostly young, fit, healthy and clever; they took the initiative to come here and they came here for one primary reason. Not to sponge off our welfare system. Not to cause havoc. Not to undermine our democracy or our culture. They came to work.

And that is mostly what they do. Work.

Very few indeed are taking benefits; indeed, they pay far more into the Treasury than they take out. And if there is no work, they mostly either don’t come here, or mostly don’t stay.

Our loss. There are 27 other EU countries willing to not just accept, but to embrace, the concept of free movement of people across our continent, so that their countries can be enriched by mostly young migrants willing to work, pay taxes, and contribute.

Our loss, in more ways than one. Because this isn’t just about Brexit, is it?

This is about what kind of country Britain is going to be.

Are we to become an insular, isolated, xenophobic country that doesn’t like migrants; that makes them feel unwelcome, so that they don’t want to be here anymore?

The governent’s own economic analyses (that they didn’t want us to see) predict that every Brexit scenario will leave the UK economically worse off than it would be if we stayed in the EU.

EU citizens leaving the UK will not solve or help this. (On the contrary).

But now, many are leaving.

Sure, Brexiters will say, they can come back, if we need them.

But the thing is, they got the message; they know we need them. The problem is, they no longer feel we want them.

Is it too late to say, ‘Please don’t go’?

Only if we can stop Brexit. That’s what we have to do.

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In this press kit you will find a selection of press releases from the European Parliament that show MEP’s priorities and what they have been pushing for in relation to the topics on the summit agenda, as well as contact details of the MEPs involved. All documents and resolutions printed in the press kit, plus additional information, can be found on the European Parliament’s website.

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

In this press kit you will find a selection of press releases from the European Parliament that show MEP’s priorities and what they have been pushing for in relation to the topics on the summit agenda, as well as contact details of the MEPs involved. All documents and resolutions printed in the press kit, plus additional information, can be found on the European Parliament’s website.

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

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Over the years, the EU has forged constructive political dialogue with members of the Cooperation Council for Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). These countries are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. The Cooperation Agreement, which was concluded in 1988, forms the basis for the relationship that aims at strengthening the stability in the strategically important region, facilitating the political and economic relations, broadening economic and technical cooperation, and further broadening cooperation on energy, industry, trade and services, agriculture, fisheries, investment, science, technology and environment.

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Recommendation to the Council, the Commission, and the EEAS on cutting the sources of income for Jihadists - targeting the financing of terrorism
Recommendation to the Council, the Commission, and the EEAS on cutting the sources of income for Jihadists - targeting the financing of terrorism, Amendment 32
Recommendation to the Council, the Commission, and the EEAS on cutting the sources of income for Jihadists - targeting the financing of terrorism
Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Length of video : 127'
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Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Commission v Grèce
Environment and consumers
Greece is ordered to pay a lump sum of €5 million and a sliding-scale periodic penalty payment of €3.28 million for each six-month period of delay for having delayed the implementation of EU law on urban waste water treatment,