Feed aggregator

A krakkói International Cultural Centre 2015 szeptemberében európai nyári kurzust szervez A kreatív város címmel.

General : The European Parliament has honoured 47 people from across the EU with this year's Citizen's Prize for their contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values. The list of the winners was published on 3 June, after a consultation of the 74 proposals that made it through to the national juries.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : The European Parliament has honoured 47 people from across the EU with this year's Citizen's Prize for their contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values. The list of the winners was published on 3 June, after a consultation of the 74 proposals that made it through to the national juries.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Group of Friends on Counter-terrorism Meeting 4 June 2015: Violent Extremism and Crisis Management

So here we are, about a month into the new government. How’s it shaping up with the EU referendum thing? For me, four things stick out so far.

Firstly, David Cameron has conformed to type in his approach to the matter. Assuming that he was a surprised as the next man (that next man being Ed Miliband) to win the election, he has set about things in as pragmatic a manner as possible. That has meant some dashing between continental capitals to sound out/reassure/lobby (in that order) key interlocutors; tying in key sceptics into the negotiation team (most obviously Hammond, May and Osborne) and generally trying to keep a lid on things. The unexpected nature of his electoral victory has given Cameron a (very) brief window of opportunity with his party, and he’s using that to full effect, not dawdling on negotiations.

The obvious trade-off is that Cameron still doesn’t have a good idea of what he can achieve or ‘win’. The continued absence of a clear agenda of policy points strongly reinforces the impression that he’s biddable on most things. As the useful Cicero Group summary showed, much of what has been discussed is actually a matter for HMG itself to do, rather than any change in EU treaties or legislation: likewise, the continuing muddle about the ECHR doesn’t give great confidence that anyone in Number 10 is building a constructive agenda of work. This despite the arrival of Mats Persson of Open Europe as Cameron’s special advisor, a level-headed if critical voice.

This feeds into the second point, namely that the UK continues to navel-gaze. The debate so far has been very largely about getting something for the UK out of this, and how ‘Europe’ might try to stifle (or, more rarely, help) that. Almost completely absent have been frames of making things better for the whole EU: Cameron’s comments in Riga a couple of weeks ago suggest the tone. For Cameron, his negotiation team and most of his party, this will be not only presented as ‘us’ against ‘them’, but pursued as such.

Where the more constructive/engaged frame has emerged (as here) it has come from the few pro-EU voices to have put their head above the parapet. This is, in of itself, something to note, since there was a widespread assumption that it would take an actual referendum for the pro campaign to stir itself. Fair to say that neither side has really got going yet (this, this, this, this and this as a small sample) in part because of the uncertainty about what’s happening with the renegotiation element and in part because of the obvious personality politics involved.

The third observation is that the election itself continues to exert an influence on matters. Labour and the LibDems are busy regrouping and lack leadership to challenge Cameron’s plan; Cameron’s enhanced position vis-a-vis his backbench has already been noted; and the SNP are finding that more MPs doesn’t really help when they have little to leverage against the government. Most interesting (for me, at least) has been the winding in of UKIP in the aftermath of the Farage (un)resignation: without his presence in public, the party has lost a lot of the profile it had in the media pre-election. A quick check of their website shows they are still pumped out content and comment, but without much pick up. the Blatter/Farage comparisons also suggest that the latter has suffered at least some damage to his teflon reputation.

And so, finally, to the continuing apathy of most people, something that has been deeply palpable. There’s some evidence of a recent upswing of interest, as the chart from Google Trends (below) shows, but only back to the sort of level seen in the aftermath of the Constitutional Treaty a decade ago: far from the burning, predominant issue it sometimes is presented as. More anecdotally, there isn’t a sense of febrile political debate on the subject in the street and in the pubs of the country: it’s certainly more AV referendum than Scottish independence referendum  to date.

 Added to this, we have more polling evidence (insert witty observation about reliability issues here) that the British public is increasingly supportive of EU membership, and it’s as clear as ever that this referendum – when it does come and pretty much regardless of its content – will solve little of the underlying problems. Already, critical voices talk of a second vote, or of a set-up. Unless the renegotiation agenda firms up, and a more meaningful public debate develops, this is unlikely to be anything more than a costly diversion from the serious issues facing both the EU and the UK.

The post The coming referendum appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Déplacements forcés, morts par milliers, émissions de CO2 : « l'Atlas du charbon 2015 », publié par la fondation Heinrich Böll taille un costume à l'énergie fossile. Un article d'EurActiv Allemagne.

L'exécutif européen ne changera pas d'avis sur ses propositions pour répartir plus équitablement les demandeurs d'asile en UE, malgré l'opposition de certains États membres, a prévenu Jean-Claude Juncker lors des Journées européennes du développement.  

Un accord cadre d'achat d'électricité a été signé, le mercredi 3 juin, entre la Côte d'Ivoire et l'entreprise marocaine Platinum Power qui va pouvoir poursuivre son plan de construction de trois barrages hydroelectriques d'une capacité globale de 300 mégawatts dans le pays.

Read more ...

La Commission européenne a présenté le 2 juin le contexte définissant les futures possibilités de pêche pour 2016. Si l’état des ressources halieutiques s’est amélioré dans l’Atlantique Nord-Est, la mer Baltique et la mer du Nord, la surpêche bat toujours son plein en Méditerranée.

Garcia-Nieto u.a.
Soziale Sicherheit der Wanderarbeitnehmer
Nach Ansicht von Generalanwalt Wathelet dürfen Unionsbürger, die sich in einen Mitgliedstaat begeben, deren Staatsangehörigkeit sie nicht besitzen, während der ersten drei Monate vom Bezug bestimmter Sozialleistungen ausgeschlossen werden

Garcia-Nieto and Others
Social security for migrant workers
According to Advocate General Wathelet, EU citizens who move to a Member State of which they are not nationals may be excluded from entitlement to certain social benefits during the first three months

Garcia-Nieto és társai
Migráns munkavállalók szociális biztonsága
According to Advocate General Wathelet, EU citizens who move to a Member State of which they are not nationals may be excluded from entitlement to certain social benefits during the first three months

Garcia-Nieto e.a.
Sécurité sociale des travailleurs migrants
Selon l’avocat général Wathelet, les citoyens de l’Union qui se déplacent dans un État membre dont ils n’ont pas la nationalité peuvent être exclus du bénéfice de certaines prestations sociales pendant les trois premiers mois

Les leaders des organisations syndicales allemandes et américaines appellent à refuser tout système d’arbitrage au sein du futur traité transatlantique. Ils estiment que la justice offre une protection suffisante aux investisseurs.

Des chefs d’œuvre de Caravage, de Giotto, un rare Masaccio, mais aussi des primitifs italiens… L’exposition « De Giotto à Caravage » au musée Jacquemart-André montre l’exceptionnel travail d’identification de l’historien de l’art Roberto Longhi à Florence dans la première moitié du 20e siècle.

Kommission / Vereinigtes Königreich
Steuerrecht
Das Vereinigte Königreich darf nicht bei allen Wohnungen einen ermäßigten Mehrwertsteuersatz für die Lieferung und den Einbau von energieeffizienten Materialien anwenden, denn dieser Satz ist allein Umsätzen im Rahmen des sozialen Wohnungsbaus vorbehalten

Commission v United Kingdom
Taxation
The United Kingdom cannot apply, with respect to all housing, a reduced rate of VAT to the supply and installation of energy-saving materials, since that rate is reserved solely to transactions relating to social housing

Bizottság kontra Egyesült Királyság
Adózás
Az Egyesült Királyság nem alkalmazhat kedvezményes héamértéket minden lakás tekintetében az energiahatékony anyagok értékesítésére és beépítésére, mivel ez az adómérték kizárólag a szociális lakásokkal kapcsolatos ügyletek számára van fenntartva

Commission / Royaume-Uni
Fiscalité
Le Royaume-Uni ne peut pas appliquer, pour tous les logements, un taux réduit de TVA à la livraison et à l’installation de matériaux économes en énergie, ce taux étant uniquement réservé aux opérations qui concernent le logement social

Il fut un temps où il était question de doter la Marine nationale de 23 frégates de premier rang, c’est à dire des navires ayant des moyens anti-sous-marins et anti-aériens. Une nécessité, compte tenu du fait que la France dispose du dispose du deuxième domaine maritime mondial, derrière les États-Unis. Seulement, faute de se donner […]

Cet article La Marine nationale n’aura seulement 15 frégates de premier rang qu’en 2029 est apparu en premier sur Zone Militaire.