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European Council     9/4/2019  Remarks by President Donald Tusk after the EU-China summit in Brussels Two weeks ago, the European Council discussed priorities for our summit with China and agreed an ambitious offer of cooperation that covers everything from trade and technology to international relations. This is what we discussed today, in an open and honest spirit. Negotiations have been difficult, but ultimately fruitful. We managed to agree a joint statement, which sets the direction for our partnership based on reciprocity. This was our common effort and it is our common success. In the current global context, it shouldn’t be a surprise that trade and economic issues were key topics at today's summit. As I have mentioned to the European Parliament, China and Europe both have a strong economic interest in maintaining significant trade flows, which are possible thanks to the rules-based trading system. However, for this system to continue to operate, it needs to be quickly updated. For the EU, this means serious reform of the WTO that would cover industrial subsidies, as a priority. Therefore, I am pleased that today we agreed with our Chinese partners to address the issue of industrial subsidies. Let me quote our common statement here: "The two sides reaffirm their joint commitment to cooperate on WTO reform to ensure its continued relevance, and allow it to address global trade challenges. To this end, both sides will intensify the discussions with the aim of strengthening international rules on industrial subsidies." It is a breakthrough. For the first time, China has agreed to engage with Europe on this key priority for WTO reform. We hope that these talks will progress speedily in view of the G20 summit in Osaka, so that we can defend the rules-based international trading system. The summit was devoted to our bilateral relations, as well as to global economic governance. But during our talks, we did not forget about human rights. As I have stressed many times before, human rights are – from our, European point of view – as important as economic interests. This is why today, just like in our previous meetings, I underlined the need to maintain the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue. I expressed again the EU's serious concerns as regards human rights, and raised a number of individual cases. Let me finish by thanking Premier Li for his personal engagement in our summit. Thank you. European Council     9/4/2019  Joint statement of the 21st EU-China summit European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, met in Brussels today for the 21st EU-China Summit and issued the following statement. EU-China summit - joint statement The EU and China reaffirm the strength of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, their resolve to work together for peace, prosperity and sustainable development and their commitment to multilateralism, and respect for international law and for fundamental norms governing international relations, with the United Nations (UN) at its core. The two sides commit to uphold the UN Charter and international law, and all three pillars of the UN system, namely peace and security, development and human rights. Council of the European Union     9/4/2019 More efficient rules for handling appeals before the EU Court of Justice In order to improve the functioning of the Court of Justice of the EU, which has seen a huge increase in the number of cases brought before it, the Council today adopted a new filtering mechanism for appeals by changing the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU. In order to implement the change in practice, the Council also approved a set of amendments to the Court's Rules of Procedure. "The improved rules will facilitate the work of the Court of Justice of the EU by introducing a filtering mechanism for identifying appeals that merit examination, thus allowing the court to concentrate on its core business. The Court of Justice is overburdened and must prioritise. This decision will increase efficiency and enhance legal protection in the EU." George Ciamba, Romanian Minister Delegate for European Affairs Συμβούλιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης     9/4/2019  Πιο αποτελεσματικοί κανόνες για την εξέταση αναιρέσεων ενώπιον του Δικαστηρίου της ΕΕ Προκειμένου να βελτιωθεί η λειτουργία του Δικαστηρίου της ΕΕ, δεδομένης της τεράστιας αύξησης του αριθμού των υποθέσεων που υποβάλλονται ενώπιόν του, το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε σήμερα νέο μηχανισμό φιλτραρίσματος των αναιρέσεων τροποποιώντας τον Οργανισμό του Δικαστηρίου της ΕΕ. Για να εφαρμοστεί η αλλαγή στην πράξη, το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε επίσης σειρά τροποποιήσεων του Κανονισμού του Δικαστηρίου. "Οι βελτιωμένοι κανόνες θα διευκολύνουν το έργο του Δικαστηρίου της ΕΕ με την εισαγωγή μηχανισμού φιλτραρίσματος για τον προσδιορισμό των αναιρέσεων που χρήζουν εξέτασης, επιτρέποντας έτσι στο δικαστήριο να επικεντρώνεται στην κύρια δραστηριότητά του. Το Δικαστήριο έχει υπερβολικό φόρτο εργασίας και πρέπει να θέτει προτεραιότητες. Η απόφαση αυτή θα αυξήσει την αποτελεσματικότητα και θα ενισχύσει τη νομική προστασία στην ΕΕ." κ. George Ciamba, αναπληρωτής υπουργός Ευρωπαϊκών Υποθέσεων της Ρουμανίας