09-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
Over
the last few years, Europe has seen a significant increase in the
number of migrants arriving at its borders. The European Commission's
2016 action plan on the integration of third-country nationals has
highlighted the resources that are available from the European
structural and investment funds to support the integration process, with
potential measures covering education, housing, health, social
inclusion and labour market related investments. Although migration is
predominantly an urban phenomenon, opportunities are available within
the framework of the European Union's rural development policy to assist
local rural communities with the new situation. Several rural
communities have launched projects to support migrants arriving in rural
areas, illustrating the role that civil society and local
municipalities, associations and bodies can play in the migrant
integration process. A number of rural development organisations have
pointed out the potential assistance that rural areas can offer
migrants, whose arrival could play a role in revitalising areas
suffering from under-population and/or economic decline. The European
Parliament has emphasised the importance of providing support for
migrants' social inclusion and integration into the labour market.
Addressing migration is also included in the European Commission's work
programme for 2017.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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09-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
Alongside
closer integration of the single market in financial services on the
one hand and the more general globalisation of the sector on the other,
the issue of access for third-country institutions has become
increasingly important – not least recently in relation to the question
of access to the continent for City of London-based financial services
firms in the context of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the
European Union (Brexit). Companies established in any European Economic
Area (EEA) Member State have access to the single market for financial
services under single passport rights. This means that they can
establish branches in other EEA countries or provide financial services
across the EEA without the need for further authorisation. The debate on
access for third countries has intensified since the 2008 financial
crisis, resulting in an increasing number of legal acts in recent years
containing 'equivalence provisions'. These allow third countries to ask
for an assessment of equivalence of their regulatory system with that of
the European Union. Equivalence, if granted, offers in most cases a
much more piecemeal access to the single market than passport rights.
Quite often, equivalence concerns more technical matters and does not
significantly alter third-country access terms. Only in some instances
can access under equivalence be considered 'passport-like', and in the
most significant cases, this concerns legislation which is not yet in
force.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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10-02-2017 12:12 PM CET
Plenary
sessions : Negotiated for nearly five years and four months, the
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada is now
ready for the final vote by the European Parliament. If MEPs approve it
during next week's plenary, the agreement could already provisionally
enter into force in March. In 2015 EU-Canada trade accounted for more
than €60 billion and Ceta is expected to boost this. Read on and watch
our video to find out more about the difference the trade deal could
make.
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10-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
The
Maltese capital, Valletta, hosted an informal European Council meeting,
as well as an informal meeting of EU-27 leaders on 3 February 2017. The
first meeting concentrated on migration on the Central Mediterranean
route, while the second looked at the future of the EU and preparations
for the approaching 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties on 25 March
2017. EU leaders also discussed the challenges for Europe in the wider
global context. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and
the Maltese Prime Minister and President-in-office of the Council,
Joseph Muscat, stressed that the Members of the European Council agreed
that ‘transatlantic cooperation remains an absolute priority for the
EU’. On the eve of the informal European Council, President Tusk met
with Prime Minister Muscat, the European Parliament President Antonio
Tajani and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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10-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
The
last comprehensive EU treaty reform ended with the 2007 Lisbon Treaty.
With the EU facing multiple challenges since then, the European
Parliament's own-initiative report, due to be discussed in February, on
possible evolutions of and adjustments to the EU institutional set-up
invites a broad reflection on the future of the Union. It suggests a
range of reforms, including in the areas of economic governance, foreign
policy, fundamental rights, transparency, accountability and others.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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10-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
The
EU Treaties were last time amended by the Treaty of Lisbon, which
entered into force on 1 December 2009. However, some of its provisions
are not (yet) being exploited to the fullest. The own-initiative report
on improving the functioning of the EU building on the potential of the
Lisbon Treaty aims to identify this potential and ways to better exploit
it. The plenary is due to discuss the report, jointly with two related
reports, during the February II part-session.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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10-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
At
their meeting in Malta on 3 February, 2017, EU heads of states and
government endorsed further objectives to ease the migratory challenge,
with a view to stemming irregular migration flows through the central
Mediterranean route. The plan foresees ‘immediate operational measures’
focused on training and supporting the Libyan coastguard in an effort to
interrupt people-smuggling and to increase the number of search and
rescue missions. As regards returns, the EU wants to ensure adequate
reception conditions for migrants in Libya, with help from UNHCR and the
International Organisation for Migration. This note offers links to
recent commentaries and studies on migration from major international
think-tanks and research institutes. Earlier papers on the same topic
can be found in a previous edition of 'What Think Tanks are thinking',
published in September 2016.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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10-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
Double
taxation happens when two (or more) tax jurisdictions impose comparable
taxes on the same cross-border taxable event. This can happen since
taxation is a sovereign right for individual countries. The proposal for
a directive on double taxation dispute resolution mechanisms in the
European Union is instrumental to reducing compliance costs and
administrative burdens. It contributes to the broader objective of
building a deeper and fairer internal market as well as a fair and
efficient corporate tax system in the European Union. The proposal
builds on the Union Arbitration Convention, which needs to be updated to
improve the existing mechanisms and make them fit the current global
tax environment better. This will be done by adding a limited number of
rules, and ensuring coordination within the European Union. First
edition. The ‘EU Legislation in Progress’ briefings are updated at key
stages throughout the legislative procedure.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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10-02-2017 12:00 AM CET
EU-Canada
negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
began in May 2009 and concluded in September 2014. Signed in October
2016, the agreement's overall aim is to increase flows of goods,
services and investment. This publication analyses the extent to which
public services are protected in CETA. The trade agreement takes the
public sector into account by means of a (general) public sector
carve-out and specific reservations introduced by the EU and the Member
States in the annexes to the agreement. These reservations apply
specifically to health services, education services, social services,
and environmental, energy and transport services. National reservations
introduced by the EU Member States to complement EU-wide reservations
vary greatly. To a large extent this is the result of the widely varying
levels of liberalisation of certain services among Member States,
leading some of them to see a greater need to protect particular sectors
from foreign competition than others.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
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