European Union

A 7 Members-delegation of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, led by SEDE Chair Mrs A. Fotyga is travelling to Georgia on 17-20 May. The main objective of the SEDE mission is to visit the EU Monitoring Mission and scrutinise its activities and main challenges. The programme will also include meetings with Georgian authorities – President and Prime Minister, governmental representatives (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Interior) and related parliamentary committees.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Welcome to Thursday’s edition of our daily Brussels Briefing. To receive it every morning in your email in-box, sign up here.

So she finally got to say no. Every EU competition chief blocks a handful of mergers; Margarethe Vestager’s first veto was on Wednesday and it was delivered with some relish, stopping a £10.5bn tie-up between the UK mobile arms of Telefónica and CK Hutchison. The FT’s Lombard column has the Dane dispatching the deal to Valhalla. But this was more than routine deal-killing – it arguably marked the start of Vestager 2.0.

First the deal. The consolidation-obsessed telecoms sector tried desperately to ignore the signals, but for more than a year Ms Vestager was all but breathing fire on mobile deals, making plain her fears that they can raise prices while not really helping investment. In part to draw a line under the more accommodating approach of her predecessor Joaquin Almunia, she wanted to make a stand over a Danish telecoms tie-up, but the parties pulled out and stole her thunder. Wednesday’s decision was no surprise, but it has left the sector in a tizzy.

More broadly this was a milestone for Ms Vestager’s term in office: a threat carried through, a final decision taken, and a distinct approach set on merger control. Now her challenge is to make her mark in the biggest antitrust and state aid cases. There she has set many hares running. But issuing charges is the easy part. She has to show she can close tough cases too, including on Google, Gazprom and the blockbuster tax fight over Apple.

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AMENDMENTS 1 - 257 - Draft report on corporate liability for serious human rights abuses in third countries
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

REPORT with a proposal for a European Parliament recommendation to the Council on the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Andrey Kovatchev

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The Court of Justice of the European Union launches its first application for smartphones and tablets

The Court of Justice of the European Union launches its first application for smartphones and tablets

The Court of Justice of the European Union launches its first application for smartphones and tablets

DRAFT OPINION on an EU strategy for liquefied natural gas and gas storage
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Takis Hadjigeorgiou

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP