Union européenne

Le Haut Conseil des Biotechnologies a organisé une conférence internationale sur l'application de la directive de 2015 sur les OGM, qui accorde aux Etats-membres le droit d'autoriser ou d'interdire des OGM. La présidente du HCB, Christine Noiville, et Frans Brom, membre du Conseil scientifique du gouvernement aux Pays-Bas, répondent aux questions d'EurActiv.fr sur les enjeux de ce texte.

À l'approche du démantèlement de la Jungle de Calais, Bernard Cazeneuve a cherché à accentuer la pression sur les Britanniques, en appelant à leur « devoir moral » pour qu'ils ouvrent plus largement leurs portes aux jeunes migrants espérant rejoindre leurs familles au Royaume-Uni.

Le président russe Vladimir Poutine annule une visite en France à cause de la dispute entre les deux pays sur le rôle de Moscou dans le conflit syrien.

Alors que l’UE s’apprête à célébrer son 60ème anniversaire, le principe d’union toujours plus proche » qui soutient le projet européen est mis en suspens pour tout miser sur la survie à cette annus horribilis.

Le président de la Commission Jean-Claude Juncker souhaite doubler la mise du plan d’investissement de l’UE, appelé aussi Plan Juncker. Il fait toutefois face à l’opposition farouche de l’Allemagne. Un article de notre partenaire Der Tagesspiegel.

Berlin est en train de réfléchir à des sanctions contre la Russie par rapport à son implication en Syrie. De son côté, Paris envisage de demander à la Cour pénale internationale d’enquêter sur les crimes de guerre perpétrés par les forces russes et syriennes à l’est d’Alep.

L’avionneur européen Airbus va demander réparation à la Pologne. Quatre jours après avoir abandonné ses négociations pour l'achat de 50 hélicoptères Caracal, Varsovie annonce que la Pologne fera finalement affaire avec l'Américain Lockheed Martin.

Le président russe Vladimir Poutine a annulé, mardi 11 octobre, sa visite prévue en France, dans le contexte des tensions diplomatiques autour de la situation en Syrie. Un sujet que le président français François Hollande voulait aborder mais que le leader du Kremlin a préféré éviter. Un rafraîchissiment diplomatique qui indigne la droite parlementaire française et fait la Une des journaux russes.

REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen

Samedi, Marine Le Pen s’est une nouvelle fois lâchée sur l’Europe, son punching-ball favori avec l’immigration. « On sait très bien que la politique agricole commune (PAC) répond à des considérations idéologiques ultralibérales », a clamé la patronne du FN. Il faut donc « renationaliser la politique agricole », ce qui ne coutera strictement rien à la France, dixit la présidente du parti d’extrême droite, puisque la PAC est financée par « l’argent des Français qui transite par l’Union européenne ». Une accusation délirante, une apparence de solution, une ferme promesse de lendemain qui chante, l’immuable recette du succès électoral du FN.

Délirante, car accuser la PAC d’être « ultralibérale », c’est comme accuser les plans quinquennaux soviétiques d’avoir été inspirés par les « Chicago boys » de Milton Friedman. Car s’il y a une politique de l’Union qui n’est pas « ultralibérale », et même pas « libérale » du tout, c’est bien l’agriculture qui est l’exemple même du marché organisé et régulé par la puissance publique. Ce n’est pas un hasard si la PAC est une invention française, contrepartie négociée lors du traité de Rome de 1957 à l’abaissement des frontières douanières. Marine Le Pen semble ignorer que la Grande-Bretagne, le pays de « l’ultralibéralisme » depuis l’élection de Margareth Thatcher en 1979, a toujours eu en horreur cette PAC trop française. D’ailleurs, durant la campagne référendaire sur ce Brexit qui fait rêver la patronne du FN, la PAC a été brandie comme exemple même du dirigisme et du bureaucratisme de l’UE, ce « IVe Reich » dixit Boris Johnson.

Il faudrait que la députée européenne, dont les rares présences à Bruxelles expliquent sans doute autant d’ignorance, dise en quoi les 7 milliards d’euros de paiements directs versés aux agriculteurs français chaque année pour soutenir leur revenu sont « ultralibéraux » ? En quoi l’organisation des marchés agricoles est « ultralibérale » ? En quoi la protection du marché européen contre la concurrence internationale est « ultralibérale » ? En quoi les appellations d’origine destinées à protéger les produits européens sont « ultralibérales » ? En quoi le soutien à une agriculture de qualité est ultralibéral ? En quoi la protection des espèces de poissons en voie d’extinction est ultralibérale ? Etc., etc., etc..

La réalité, c’est que la PAC a contribué à protéger une agriculture française qui aurait disparu sans elle et à en faire un acteur mondial. Lors de sa création, l’Europe, encore affaiblie par la guerre, n’était absolument pas autosuffisante. Aujourd’hui, elle est non seulement devenue capable de se nourrir seule (y compris l’Allemagne pour la première fois de son histoire), mais elle est l’une des principales puissances agricoles du monde. Jacques Chirac avait coutume de parler de « l’arme verte » que représentent à la fois l’indépendance alimentaire et les exportations agricoles, une arme qui permet de peser dans le monde. Dans l’Union, la France est le premier producteur agricole européen, le premier exportateur vers les pays tiers (troisième intra UE) et affiche un excédent commercial de 10 milliards d’euros.

Renationaliser la PAC ? Pourquoi pas ? Ça serait égoïste, car, après avoir vu son agriculture financée pendant cinquante ans par l’Allemagne, elle claquerait la porte au nez des pays d’Europe de l’Est qu’elle doit aujourd’hui davantage aider qu’elle ne l’est. Mais après tout qu’importe, la solidarité avec des étrangers n’étant pas une valeur lepéniste. Le problème est que cela aura un prix : pourquoi la Pologne, qui aura moins les moyens d’aider ses agriculteurs que la France, accepterait-elle des produits français subventionnés qui feraient concurrence aux siens ? De même, la France pourra-t-elle demeurer sans réagir face aux aides allemandes, évidemment plus généreuses ? Le démantèlement du marché intérieur aura un coût énorme pour la puissance agricole hexagonale qui se retrouvera vite cantonnée dans ses frontières. Sans compter que, seule, la France ne pèsera plus grand-chose à l’OMC où elle devra faire face aux attaques en règle des États-Unis, de la Russie, de la Chine, du Brésil, etc., contre son système de subventions agricoles, ses protections aux frontières ou ses appellations d’origine contrôlées. Les paysans français regretteront vite « l’ultralibéralisme » de la PAC…

N.B. : version longue de mon éditorial paru dans Libération du 10 octobre

La commission des budgets a demandé plus de fonds, lors d'un vote mardi, pour aider les jeunes à trouver un emploi, stimuler la croissance économique et aider les pays tiers en vue d'atténuer la crise de la migration. Les députés avaient auparavant annulé toutes les réductions au projet de budget de l’UE pour 2017 proposées par le Conseil.
Commission des budgets

Source : © Union européenne, 2016 - PE

Can Dündar and fellow defenders of freedom of thought and expression in Turkey, the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzemilev, the Yazidi survivors and public advocates Nadia Murad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar are this year's finalists for the Sakharov Prize following a vote by the Foreign Affairs and Development committees on 11 October. The laureate will be selected by the EP President and the political group leaders on 27 October and the award ceremony will be held in Strasbourg on 14 December.

Full press release
Sakharov Prize web page
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Can Dündar and fellow defenders of freedom of thought and expression in Turkey, the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzemilev, the Yazidi survivors and public advocates Nadia Murad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar as well as Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti are this year's nominees for the Sakharov Prize. MEPs formally presented them at a meeting of the foreign affairs and development committees and the human rights subcommittee on Thursday 6 October. The laureate will be announced on 27 October
More details on the nominees.
Watch the presentation video
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Can Dündar and fellow defenders of freedom of thought and expression in Turkey, the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzemilev, the Yazidi survivors and public advocates Nadia Murad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar are this year's finalists for the Sakharov Prize following a vote by the Foreign Affairs and Development committees on 11 October. The laureate will be selected by the EP President and the political group leaders on 27 October and the award ceremony will be held in Strasbourg on 14 December.
Further information
Full Press Release
Sakharov Prize web page
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

 

This paper examines the progress made along the month of September on the refugee crisis affecting Europe. Despite the fact that 65 million people are displaced worldwide, of which one-third are refugees, the majority of political declarations and summits concerning the refugee crisis both at the European and international level constitute missed opportunities and are devoid of genuine and concrete propositions.

In spite of the recent EU-Turkey deal and the aggressive border control policy of Visegrad and Balkan states that result in the decrease of the number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, still 7,000 refugees and migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea in the last two years. In addition, there are currently 100,000 migrants stuck in the entry countries of Greece and Italy. Displacement of population worldwide is at its highest level ever achieved. UNHCR Global Trends report finds 65.3 million people, half of which are children, or one person in 113, were displaced from their homes by conflict, persecution and poverty in 2015.

In the last two years, the arrival of 1.5 million asylum seekers in European states resulted in greater anti-migration sentiment over EU populations and exacerbated nationalist and xenophobic movements, as well as populist discourses. Even in Nordic states, which have been at the forefront of welcoming refugees and host among the largest number of asylum seekers, there are increasing discontentment and demand for greater border controls. While EU governments agreed in 2015 to resettle 22,500 refugees in two years, only 7,272 people had been resettled by June 2016 due to the political character of the issue and flourishing nationalist sentiments (ECRE, 2016). The never-ending conflict in Syria is the largest driver of this refugee crisis: Syria is the world’s biggest producer of both internally displaced people (7.6 million) and refugees (3.88 million at the end of 2014). The recent worrying development in Aleppo call for greater cooperation and action both at the international and European level.

Actions at the EU level

The start of this academic year has been marked by crucial international summits and conferences and especially began with the G20, which took place in Hangzhou September 4th to 5th. Presidents Juncker and Tusk on the behalf of the EU, emphasised the need for the G20 to play an increasing role in tackling the international refugee crisis by developing a comprehensive global response and share the responsibility (Juncker, Tusk, 2016). In the Summit, the EU urged G20 leaders to support the United Nations’ action and emphasised the need for increasing humanitarian and development assistance, as well as reaching an agreement on resettlement of refugees worldwide.

Indeed, following the G20, on September 8th, the EU announced its Emergency Social Safety Net plan for Turkey and called the European community to greater collective response to the refugee crisis. The Plan for Turkey aims at benefiting one million refugees present in Turkey to meet their basic needs by providing monthly cash transfer through an electronic debit card (see European Commission, 2016). This plan of €350 million will be primarily financed by the EU and its Member States under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (which was itself raised from €1 billion to €2.1 billion by the European Commission), thus constituting the largest humanitarian aid project financed by the EU. The plan is part of the wider effort of the EU to raise its development assistance and humanitarian aid for the refugee crisis. Indeed, constitutive of the EU budget to the refugee crisis, €500 million have been allocated to the Trust Fund for Syria, €1 billion to the Facility for Refugees in Turkey and €1.8 billion to the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa that aims at addressing the root causes of migration (see: European Commission, 2016). Additionally, Member States agreed on an additional €3 billion for 2016 in order to help Syrian population present in neighbouring countries in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

The beginning of this academic year was also marked by the Bratislava informal Summit, which promised to overcome the challenges raised by the Brexit and enhance cooperation on the migration crisis. The Summit however made little advancement on the migration crisis and was even characterized by commentators to represent the ‘beginning of the end’ and a critical point of the EU. Indeed, European leaders’ views appeared to diverge greatly, especially on questions of migration. Matteo Renzi argued that Europe was at risk without a political change on migration and even stated after the conference: “We are doing our bit on migrants and we are ready to do so alone if necessary” (Euronews, 2016). The French President, Francois Hollande focused on border security and EU’s external borders and called for greater control of ‘irregular migration’ (Politico, 2016). Disagreements were especially visible among the Visegrad group concerning the migration crisis, who repeatedly refused to accept refugees under EU quotas. Bratislava Summit illustrated that agreeing on sharing the responsibility and the cost of hosting refugees remained a controversial and unresolved issue.

 

In his annual State of the Union speech on September 14th, Juncker repeatedly stated the need for more solidarity with refugees and called EU Member States to also demonstrate their solidarity and accept shared responsibility. Juncker argued solidarity cannot be imposed or forced, and that solidarity “must come from the heart” and has nothing to do with European Law. He also insisted Europe emerged and formed along migration and immigration waves.

In his speech, Juncker called for shared responsibility between EU Members and demanded states to resettle certain numbers of migrants according to their country size, population and economic situation. Also, Juncker importantly stated in his speech that EU funds could not be used to build fences and walls. Such statements respond to the recent controversy on the building of a wall of four-meter high in Calais to prevent migrants and refugees from the Jungle to enter British coasts. It further responded to criticisms concerning the coming €108 million EU-Bulgaria Deal for border protection. Juncker insisted the funds delivered will be used for the delivery of equipment and vehicles for border police, and not for building up fences and walls across the border.

This statement also pointed to the existing tensions between the EU and Eastern states such as Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic openly oppose the quotas for resettlement demanded by the EU. The Hungarian referendum on October 2nd concerning quotas for resettlement, which was nevertheless turned down, concerned the demand of the EU to resettle only 1,294 migrants (Faiola, 2016). Despite the rejection of the referendum, the fate of refugees and migrants in Hungary and the ones attempting to cross the country remains worrying. Indeed, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Obran who has build a wall across Hungary’s border, recently compared migration to “poison” and argued “every single migrant poses a public security and terror risk”, while he is now recruiting thousands ‘border hunters’ (see: Faiola, 2016).

The concept of ‘flexible solidarity’ has been used many times by President Juncker in his State of the Union speech, who argued solidarity has to ‘come from the heart, that it has to be voluntary’. He was in the aftermath of his speech highly criticized for using the formula, especially as commentators saw in the concept of flexibility a gateway term for Balkan states to continue their migration policies. Indeed, whether flexible solidarity could be an efficient strategy to solve the migration crisis is highly questionable. Crisp (2016) indeed argues that “flexible solidarity” illustrated the indecision of the EU and meant Member States would be able to refuse the quotas imposed by the EU on hosting refugees within their borders and “pick and choose when to stand together”. Despite Juncker’s response to criticism on ‘flexible solidarity’ arguing applicable community law was not optional, the speech appeared in line with the demand of Visegrad states (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic; Slovakia), who block movements of migrants within their borders. As Crisp (2016) argues, language matters when mentioning the fate of refugees, and the term ‘flexible solidarity’ paves the way for Visegrad countries freestyling.

The UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants

The first UN Summit focusing exclusively on migration was held on September 19th and 20th in New York. 193 worldwide leaders adopted a series of engagement and measures in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants to address the urgent migration crisis and the Syrian crisis that killed about 300,000 in five years and pushed four million Syrians in exile in neighbouring countries and European states.

In addition to the UN Summit, the American President Barack Obama organised a meeting aiming at tackling the refugee crisis and especially increase the international assistance provided to entry countries and major host countries. Indeed, 86 per cent of worldwide refugees are currently hosted by developing countries (especially Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Kenya, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Uganda, Thailand), while the six world’s wealthiest countries host 7 per cent of world’s total refugees (Courrier International, 2016). The major host countries of Syrian refugees, including Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon are now closing their borders and ask wealthier nations to share responsibility for the refugees among states.

Before the Summit even began, many commentators had already qualified the conference as a missed opportunity and it indeed proved disappointing. The Declaration primarily focused on the respect of fundamental rights of migrants and reiterated the commitment of the international community to fight against xenophobia and enhance access to education for displaced children. The Declaration also expresses the political will of UN Member States to protect the fundamental rights of refugees and migrants and share responsibilities. However, the Declaration does not articulate any quantifiable objectives, nor does it develops specific commitments concerning the resettlement of refugees worldwide.

The Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon saw in this “historic UN Summit”, a collective effort to tackle the challenge of migration and the commitment of the international community to begin a process of global compact on migration (see: UN, 2016). In fact, the Summit and the New York Declaration postponed the agreement of a vast plans for refugees and migration until 2018. The New York Declaration solely constrains Members to begin negotiations in perspective of another international summit that will adopt a global compact for migrants and refugees in 2018. Indeed, the “Concrete Plans for Making the New York Declaration work” are:

• Start negotiations leading to an international conference and the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018. The agreement to move toward this comprehensive framework is a momentous one. It means that migration, like other areas of international relations, will be guided by a set of common principles and approaches.
• Develop guidelines on the treatment of migrants in vulnerable situations. These guidelines will be particularly important for the increasing number of unaccompanied children on the move.
• Achieve a more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility for hosting and supporting the world’s refugees by adopting a global compact on refugees in 2018 (see: UN,2016).

In other words, the New York Declaration only entails the start of negotiations for an agreement to be reached by 2018, while the migration crisis is considered as one of the most urgent crisis worldwide. There is still a lack of concrete objectives and specific commitments regarding the shared distribution of refugees among states.

In 2015, Ban Ki-Moon announced that states would have to resettle 10 per cent of the total world’s refugees per year under a “Global Compact on Responsibility Sharing for Refugees”. This Compact aimed at greater coordination and cooperation between states, as well as balancing the fact developing countries still host 86 per cent of refugees while wealthy states have often proved reluctant to host more refugees. The plan was supposedly going to be included in the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants and the New York Declaration. The proposition was nevertheless removed from the draft declaration along the negotiations and taken out from the objectives of the Declaration. Following the Summit, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees now asks for the resettlement of 5 per cent of the total burden of refugees. Additionally, while the New York Declaration promised to protect children, little genuine solution has yet been found and agreed on for tackling the retention of children.

The only detailed and concrete decision adopted in the New York Declaration concerns the shift of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) under the auspice of the UN in order to strengthen the global approach to migration (UN,2016).

As the general secretary of Amnesty International, Salil Shetty concludes, instead of becoming an unprecedented agreement, the Declaration simply turns into another well-written text leading to inaction (see: Shetty, 2016). The postponement of the deal until 2018 represents another missed opportunity for the international community since the beginning of the crisis and maintains the status quo. As Human Rights Watch stated, the Summit was “filled with speeches that veered from vapid platitudes disconnected from real world challenges to get-tough pronouncements about securing borders and stopping irregular migration” (Frelick, 2016). Indeed, even EU Representatives in the Summit principally focused on the questions of irregular migration and focused on the need to further support countries of first arrival such as Greece and Italy. However, as Human Rights Watch points, 83 per cent of ‘irregular migrants’ who arrived on European coasts in 2015 originate from the top refugee-producing countries that are Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Eritrea (Frelick, 2016).

Commitments therefore remain minimal in the face of the challenge. The Summit missed the opportunity to bring great change to the current distribution of refugees worldwide and meet the demand of countries hosting the majority of refugees. Political statements and proposals articulated at the beginning of this year, remain way under what would be required for tackling the migration challenge and developing efficient solutions. While collective action would be highly required, the international community and the European Union do not express strong enough political commitment to tackle the problem and develop genuine solution. Despite the G20, the Bratislava Summit, the announcement made in the State of the Union speech of President Juncker and the UN Summit on Migration and Refugees, there are still little concrete plan for the resettlement of refugees and on the detention of children stuck in refugee camps. The refugee crisis is one that demand solidarity, while states are not doing enough.

The EU and more largely the UN must compel their Member States and especially the world’s wealthier states to share responsibility for the crisis and provide greater assistance to the major host and entry countries. Genuine commitments and concrete plans will be required before 2018 to tackle the challenge of refugees both in Europe and worldwide. It is time that the interests of states stop taking precedence over the development of genuine solutions for the 21 million refugees worldwide.

The European Union must prove it is able to put in place concrete solution for tackling the refugee crisis and encourage its Members to cooperate. While refugee quotas remain highly debated and controversial among Member States, the EU will have to take political initiatives among members refusing quotas. Especially, the EU has to find solutions to the increasing reluctance of Visegrad members and Balkan states to coordinate on border control, migration policy, and the EU demand for resettlement solutions. It might have to develop more stringent and vigorous response and sanctions towards governments policy like in Hungary, which is now accused of violation of the Geneva Conventions by the UNHCR for racist discourses and repeatedly using force with migrants. The European Union must formulate clear resettlement solutions and options, encourage coordination among its Members in order to formulate quantifiable and homogenous action plans and targets for the following year.

Kim Chardon

Bibliography

Courrier International, (19.09.2016), “Les dirigeants mondiaux se penchent sur le sort des migrants”, Accessed : http://www.courrierinternational.com/depeche/les-dirigeants-mondiaux-se-penchent-sur-le-sort-des-migrants.afp.com.20160919.doc.ga455.xml

Crisp J., (19.09.2016), “’Flexible solidarity’ is Europe à la carte”, The Brief, Euractiv, Accessed : https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/news/the-brief-flexible-solidarity-is-europe-a-la-carte/

ECRE, (09.09.2016), “Have all the tears dried up? One year after Alan Kurdi’s death”, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Accessed: http://www.ecre.org/have-all-the-tears-dried-up-one-year-after-alan-kurdis-death/

European Commission, (2016), “Did you know…? Facts and figures about the European Union and the G20”, G20 2016 China, Hangzhou, 4-5 September 2016, Accessed: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_AGENDA-16-2641_en.htm

European Commission (08.09.2016), “Questions and answers: Support for refugees in Turkey through the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN)”, European Commission – Fact Sheet

European Commission (2016), “YouTube Interview with President Juncker – French”, Accessed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PisoCZMjulo

European Commission, (19.09.2016), « LIVE EC Midday press briefing of 19/09/2016 », Accessed : http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I126018 Faiola (01.10.2016), “How do you stop migrants? In Hungary with ‘border hunters’”, The Washington Post, Accessed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/how-do-you-stop-migrants-in-hungary-with-border-hunters/2016/09/30/cd9736aa-818c-11e6-9578-558cc125c7ba_story.html

Frelick B., (20.09.2016), “World Refugee Summits Fail Refugees”, Human Rights Watch, Accessed : https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/20/world-refugee-summits-fail-refugees

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Shetty S., (28.07.2016), “Le pacte mondial concernant les refugiés risque d’être sacrifié sur l’autel d’intérêts nationaux égoïstes”, Amnesty International, Accessed : https://www.amnesty.org/fr/latest/news/2016/07/global-refugee-deal-risks-being-sacrificed-on-altar-of-selfish-national-interests/

Tempest M., Mogran S., (12.09.2016), “Bruxelles annonce la distribution de cartes bancaires aux réfugiés”, Euractiv.fr, Accessed : http://www.euractiv.fr/section/aide-au-developpement/news/stylianides-plan-to-give-refugees-debit-cards/?nl_ref=20592319

United Nations, (2016), “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants adopted by all Member States at historic UN Summit”, Accessed: https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/un_press_release_-_new_york_declaration_-_19_september_2016.pdf

Classé dans:Uncategorized

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Général : Can Dündar et d'autres défenseurs de la liberté d’expression en Turquie, Moustafa Djemilev, chef de file des Tatars de Crimée, et Nadia Murad Basee et Lamiya Aji Bashar, survivantes yézidies de Daesh, sont les finalistes du Prix Sakharov 2016. Ils ont été dévoilés suite à un vote en commissions des affaires étrangères et du développement ce mardi 11 octobre. Le lauréat sera sélectionné par le Président du Parlement européen et les Présidents des différents groupes politiques le 27 octobre.

Source : © Union européenne, 2016 - PE

At yesterday’s Eurogroup, ministers welcomed the implementation of Greece’s economic adjustment program. They also acknowledged future challenges Member States should meet regarding health care and long-term care as well as current fiscal issues.

The Eurogroup commended the achievements made by Greeks authorities regarding the 15 milestones implementation within the framework of the first review of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) program.

Those 15 milestones entail important reforms related to pensions, energy sector, bank governance measures and setting up of the privatization fund and revenue agency. Such reforms have facilitated the ESM approval of the €1.1 billion disbursement for Greece’s debt servicing.

Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup, emphasised the challenges posed  by long-term healthcare and long-term care due to the high government debt, the budgetary pressures posed by ageing and the sustainability of health systems.

Based on forecasts of expenditure and revenue, the ministers discussed future relevant challenges and risks in health systems. They also highlighted national good practices learned in this policy area.

The last point of the agenda was the assessment of current fiscal issues. The Eurogroup considered some changes in the member states’ draft budgetary plans for the next year. Those dialogues focused on the suspension of the European Structural and Investment Funds notably for Spain and Portugal.

Classé dans:BREVES

L’initiative « Pour des multinationales responsables », une coalition d’ONG suisses, a été déposée lundi 10 octobre auprès des autorités suisses qui doivent désormais examiner les 120 000 signatures avant de la valider et d'en faire une votation. Objectif de cette coalition : permettre à des citoyens partout dans le monde de porter plainte contre des multinationales suisses s'ils estiment que ces entreprises ont bafoué leurs droits fondamentaux à la santé ou à l'environnement.

L'Europe devrait continuer à soutenir la création et la distribution de films comme outils importants pour la diversité culturelle, ont souligné les députés et les cinéastes lundi soir lors d’un débat sur le 10e anniversaire du Prix LUX. La traduction et le sous-titrage contribuent à faire circuler les œuvres et promeuvent les valeurs de l’UE, en particulier en temps de crise, ont ajouté les réalisateurs Ken Loach, Céline Sciamma et Andrea Segre lors d’un débat animé en commission de la culture.
Commission de la culture et de l'éducation

Source : © Union européenne, 2016 - PE

Exclusif. L’Union européenne risque de perdre son avantage durement acquis sur les carburants à faible teneur en carbone face à la concurrence internationale, notamment celle des États-Unis, préviennent un groupe d’ONG, de grandes entreprises et de groupes de réflexion.