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Meetings Thursday 9 June 2022

● Council of the EU   09/06/2022 21:12 | MEETING | Competitiveness Council, 9-10 June 2022   Ministers responsible for the internal market and industry met in Luxembourg to adopt a general approach on the consumer credit directive and to discuss the European regulation on semiconductors and strategic European industrial ecosystems.

ONGOING
Council of the EU
Competitiveness Council, 9-10 June 2022

Main results
Internal market and industry, 9 June 2022
Consumer credit directive

The Council unanimously approved a general approach on the proposed revision of the consumer credit directive. The revised directive repeals and replaces the current 2008 directive on credit agreements.

The proposal, presented by the European Commission on 30 June 2021, aims to modernise and ensure a higher level of consumer protection, reduce the current fragmentation of the market and deepen the cross-border market for consumer credit.

In their interventions, ministers stressed the importance of consumer credit legislation and highlighted the need for consumers to be protected in an increasingly digitalised environment.

The directive covers new products and credit actors that have emerged through the development of e-commerce. It simplifies the information provided to consumers in order for them make informed decisions and aims to make this information readable on digital devices.

To combat irresponsible lending practices that could lead to over-indebtedness, the directive requires member states to protect consumers against excessive rates and to promote financial education and debt advice. It also regulates the assessment whether or not a consumer will be able to repay their credit.

Ministers broadly agreed that the proposal presents a fair and balanced compromise that establishes a strong mandate for negotiations, which are scheduled to start this year with the European Parliament.Watch the recording of the public debate
Council’s general approach
Consumer protection: Council adopts its position on new rules for consumer credit (press release, 9 June 2022)
Regulation on semiconductors (Chips Act)

The Council also reviewed the progress made so far on the Chips Act. Ministers welcomed the Chips Act, which is intended to guarantee the EU's future technological sovereignty, and emphasised its urgency given the current worldwide shortage of chips.

Ministers stressed the need for coordinated action at EU level to resolve the current semiconductor supply crisis. They supported the direction proposed by the European Commission, which offer relevant levers to strengthen short- and long-term production capacities in Europe.

Lastly, ministers noted the importance of developing international partnerships to strengthen the resilience and strategic autonomy of the European Union. To do this, it will be important to attract investment in innovative production facilities and to have a skilled workforce.Watch the recording of the public debate
Presidency note
The resilience of Europe’s strategic industrial ecosystems

The Council held a policy debate on the resilience of strategic industrial ecosystems, during which the ministers stressed the importance of strengthening the resilience of these ecosystems.

In the light of recent developments, the ministers stressed that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine highlighted the need to make Europe’s economic base more resilient and more competitive. Accordingly, the ministers stated their willingness to continue to work on these aspect.

The Council discussed specific actions to reduce strategic dependencies, in particular concerning critical raw materials. In the context of the Commission’s preparation of a legislative initiative on raw materials, ministers stressed the importance of securing the EU’s supplies of these materials, which are essential for the success of the green and digital transitions. They highlighted various levers, such as the development of strategic partnerships with third countries, the development of the circular economy, and the creation of a fair and sustainable investment framework, including from an environmental point of view.Watch the recording of the public debate
Industrial policy (background information)
Presidency note
Other topics on the agendaThe presidency briefed delegations on the state of play on the proposal for a directive on consumer rights in the green transition.
The Czech delegation presented its work programme for the upcoming Czech presidency.
The Council also adopted without discussion the items that figured in the lists of non-legislative A items.
Live streaming
Live streaming


10 JuneTBC Arrivals (Research and space)
10:05 Public session (Research)
14:30 Press conference (Research)
15:30 Public session (Space)
17:45 Press conference (Space)

Estimated schedule
Agenda highlights
Research and space, 10 June 2022
Research

Ministers responsible for research will have a policy debate on supporting young researchers in times of crisis. More specifically, they will discuss how to coordinate EU action to overcome current challenges faced by researchers and how to help researchers build a sustainable career.

The ministers are expected to adopt three sets of conclusions, namely on principles and values for international cooperation in research and innovation, on open science, and on European missions.European research area (background information)
Horizon Europe (background information)
Space

Ministers responsible for space will have a policy debate on the resilience and competitiveness of the EU space programme. They will discuss what measures can be taken to strengthen the EU space programme, taking into account current challenges. Ministers are also expected to adopt conclusions on Space Traffic Management (STM) and on Copernicus by 2035.EU space policy (background information)


Meeting information

Meeting n°3877
Luxembourg
9 June 2022
10:00
Preparatory documentsProvisional agenda
List of A items, non-legislative activities
Background brief

Press material Thursday 9 June 2022

● European Council   09/06/2022 17:40 | Press release | Brussels Declaration on Actions towards Empowering Women in Conflicts   Following the 'Women in Conflicts' event on 9 June 2022, its co-hosts, European Council President Charles Michel, UN Women, Nadia's Initiative and the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation issued a joint declaration: Given the growing number of violent conflicts across the world, with recurring breaches of international law, including the UN Charter and international humanitarian law, as well as widespread human rights violations and abuses, we reaffirm our commitment to protect and empower women and girls in conflict-related situations. We recall that women not only contribute substantially to conflict prevention and resolution, as well as long-term peacebuilding, but also continue to be particularly affected by conflict situations, whether as civilians in directly affected areas, as refugees and internally displaced persons, or as persons directly targeted in the context of conflict. We strongly condemn all violations of international law committed against women and girls in conflict-related situations and demand that all parties to conflicts ensure that such acts cease immediately. In this respect, we are horrified by the testimonies and reports of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence and rape, perpetrated against women and girls in Ukraine as well as in different conflict and post-conflict situations including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, DRC, Ethiopia, Iraq, Mali, Sudan, Syria and elsewhere. We emphasise that all States have the responsibility to ensure the availability of holistic care for the survivors, to end impunity and to prosecute those responsible for violence against women and girls in conflicts-related situations, including rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. All States must prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence, protect and support survivors, and bring perpetrators to justice. We support the full implementation of the international legal frameworks and initiatives to strengthen legal procedures to address conflict-related sexual violence, notably through the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court. We are committed to the full, effective, and accelerated implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, which consists of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and all its follow-up resolutions. We will ensure that the WPS Agenda is fully integrated into all our efforts in support of sustainable peace, security, human rights, justice, and development, in the context of our cooperation with other regional and international organisations, including active signatories to the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action. We will support the empowerment of women and girls as critical agents for conflict prevention, crisis management, conflict resolution, relief and recovery, and long-term peacebuilding. We will continue to integrate a gender perspective into all policies, including foreign and security policy. Equally, we will promote initiatives to address structural obstacles to women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation and contribution to conflict resolution and long-term peacebuilding. We will support strengthening the role of women at all decision-making levels in all relevant national, regional, and international institutions working on matters related to peace and security, including peace-keeping and crisis-management, preventive diplomacy and related activities and in all stages of peace-mediation and negotiation. We will stimulate the participation and leadership of civil society, especially local, grassroots, women-led, feminist organisations, girls- and youth-led organisations, women peacebuilders and mediators, and women human rights defenders in all prevention and response efforts, including through the provision of sustained and reliable funding to these actors. We are committed to investing in security and protection with a survivor-centred approach in order to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence and post-conflict situations, and ensure accessible and quality assistance for the survivors of sexual violence, as well as their children, family members and other witnesses, including access to psychosocial and legal services, socioeconomic services as well as to sexual and reproductive health and rights, with sufficient and expeditious provision of relief and reintegration support. We commit to putting in place risk mitigation measures to combat the crime of trafficking in persons, in particular of women and girls, including for purposes of sexual exploitation or involving other forms of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. We will support States in conflict and post-conflict situations in designing and implementing transitional justice strategies to ensure access to justice for survivors and victims and their access to adequate, effective, prompt and appropriate remedies, including reparation. We welcome survivors-led initiatives like the Kinshasa Declaration or the Murad Code for the ethical gathering and using of information about conflict-related sexual violence. We are committed to keep working with survivors and victims, local communities, the international community and international organizations to strengthen joint efforts to protect and promote the rights of women and girls in conflict-related situations and ensure their empowerment.

The Council today adopted conclusions on the EU strategy on the rights of the child, with a particular focus on the protection of children’s rights i… Press material Thursday 9 June 2022   ● Council of the EU   09/06/2022 17:12 | Press release | Council adopts conclusions on the rights of the child   The Council today adopted conclusions on the EU strategy on the rights of the child, with a particular focus on the protection of children’s rights in crisis or emergency situations. Against the background of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Council notes the need to protect children facing armed conflicts and their consequences, in particular to protect them from recruitment by armed forces, trafficking in human beings, illegal adoption, sexual exploitation and separation from their families. The Council calls on member states to improve the protection of children in emergency situations, including by: setting up reception procedures which ensure protective accommodation adapted to the needs of the child, guarantee their physical and mental health and provide them access to basic services providing assistance for unaccompanied children, including through the rapid appointment of a legal guardian or appropriate representation reinforcing policies to fight against trafficking of children, defining strategies for identifying victims of trafficking and raising awareness of the risk of exploitation among children and their families ensuring that emergencies are not instrumentalised in terms of guardianship of children and, in particular, that no adoption should take place during armed conflicts The conclusions also cover the EU strategy on the rights of the child more broadly. In particular, the Council calls on member states to develop comprehensive policies to fulfil the rights of all children without any discrimination, to increase efforts to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, to strengthen justice systems so that they are compliant with the rights of children, and to increase opportunities for children to be responsible and resilient members of the digital society. Council conclusions on the EU strategy on the rights of the child The EU strategy on the rights of the child (European Commission) Υλικό για τον Τύπο Πέμπτη 9 Ιουνίου 2022   ● Συμβούλιο της ΕΕ   09/06/2022 17:13 | Δελτίο τύπου | Το Συμβούλιο εγκρίνει συμπεράσματα για τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού   Το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε σήμερα συμπεράσματα σχετικά με τη στρατηγική της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης για τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού, στα οποία δίνεται ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στην προστασία των δικαιωμάτων του παιδιού σε καταστάσεις κρίσης ή έκτακτης ανάγκης. Εν μέσω του επιθετικού πολέμου της Ρωσίας κατά της Ουκρανίας, το Συμβούλιο επισημαίνει την ανάγκη προστασίας των παιδιών που βιώνουν ένοπλες συγκρούσεις και τις συνέπειες αυτών, ιδίως την ανάγκη προστασίας τους από τη στρατολόγηση από τις ένοπλες δυνάμεις, την εμπορία ανθρώπων, την παράνομη υιοθεσία, τη σεξουαλική εκμετάλλευση και τον χωρισμό από τις οικογένειές τους. Το Συμβούλιο καλεί τα κράτη μέλη να βελτιώσουν την προστασία των παιδιών σε καταστάσεις έκτακτης ανάγκης, μεταξύ άλλων με: θέσπιση διαδικασιών υποδοχής που εξασφαλίζουν προστατευτικό κατάλυμα προσαρμοσμένο στις ανάγκες των παιδιών, εγγυώνται τη σωματική και ψυχική υγεία τους και τους παρέχουν πρόσβαση σε βασικές υπηρεσίες παροχή βοήθειας σε ασυνόδευτα παιδιά, μεταξύ άλλων μέσω ταχέος διορισμού νόμιμου κηδεμόνα ή της κατάλληλης εκπροσώπησης ενίσχυση των πολιτικών για την καταπολέμηση της εμπορίας παιδιών, χάραξη στρατηγικών για τον εντοπισμό των θυμάτων εμπορίας και ευαισθητοποίηση των παιδιών και των οικογενειών τους σχετικά με τον κίνδυνο εκμετάλλευσης διασφάλιση ότι οι καταστάσεις έκτακτης ανάγκης δεν εργαλειοποιούνται για κηδεμονία παιδιών και, ειδικότερα, ότι δεν θα γίνονται υιοθεσίες κατά τη διάρκεια ένοπλων συγκρούσεων Τα συμπεράσματα καλύπτουν επίσης τη στρατηγική της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης για τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού γενικότερα. Ειδικότερα, το Συμβούλιο καλεί τα κράτη μέλη να αναπτύξουν ολοκληρωμένες πολιτικές για τον σεβασμό των δικαιωμάτων όλων των παιδιών χωρίς διακρίσεις, να εντείνουν τις προσπάθειες για την πρόληψη και την καταπολέμηση όλων των μορφών βίας κατά των παιδιών, να ενισχύσουν τα συστήματα δικαιοσύνης ώστε να σέβονται τα δικαιώματα των παιδιών και να αυξήσουν τις ευκαιρίες που προσφέρονται στα παιδιά ώστε να γίνουν υπεύθυνα και ανθεκτικά μέλη της ψηφιακής κοινωνίας. Συμπεράσματα του Συμβουλίου σχετικά με τη στρατηγική της ΕΕ για τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού Η στρατηγική της ΕΕ για τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού (Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή) The Council today adopted conclusions on achievements and next steps in protecting Europeans from terrorism.The Council invites member states to cont… Press material Thursday 9 June 2022   ● Council of the EU   09/06/2022 15:50 | Press release | Terrorism: Council adopts conclusions intended to promote further actions to protect Europeans   The Council today adopted conclusions on achievements and next steps in protecting Europeans from terrorism. The Council invites member states to continue discussions on the effective sharing of information on foreign terrorist fighters who constitute a serious threat. It calls on authorities to issue entry bans on third-country nationals who constitute a threat to national security and to continue entering these bans into the Schengen Information System. The Council encourages further cooperation between counter-terrorism authorities and authorities responsible for granting the right to reside, in order to ensure maximum coordination. The Council also asks member states to explore ways to limit the means of action of those promoting radicalisation and calls for vigilance to ensure that organisations promoting violence and hatred cannot benefit from public funds. It invites member states to coordinate further on restrictive measures and measures to prohibit entry into the EU and asks the Commission to consider the need for legal developments allowing for mutual recognition of entry bans on terrorist suspects. The Council highlights the need to continue exchanges regarding access to digital data, including in areas such as data retention, encryption or artificial intelligence. It also invites the Commission to assess whether a legislative initiative would be appropriate to establish minimum rules on crime definitions and sanctions in illicit arms trafficking. Council conclusions on protecting Europeans from terrorism: achievements and next steps The EU's response to terrorism (background information)

Υλικό για τον Τύπο Πέμπτη 9 Ιουνίου 2022

● Συμβούλιο της ΕΕ   09/06/2022 15:50 | Δελτίο τύπου | Τρομοκρατία: Έγκριση συμπερασμάτων του Συμβουλίου για την προώθηση νέων μέτρων για την προστασία των Ευρωπαίων   Το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε σήμερα συμπεράσματα σχετικά με τα επιτεύγματα και τα επόμενα βήματα στον τομέα της προστασίας των Ευρωπαίων από την τρομοκρατία. Το Συμβούλιο καλεί τα κράτη μέλη να συνεχίσουν τις συζητήσεις για την αποτελεσματική ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών σε σχέση με τους αλλοδαπούς τρομοκράτες μαχητές που συνιστούν σοβαρή απειλή. Καλεί τις αρχές να εκδίδουν απαγορεύσεις εισόδου για υπηκόους τρίτων χωρών οι οποίοι συνιστούν απειλή για την εθνική ασφάλεια και να συνεχίσουν να καταχωρούν τις απαγορεύσεις αυτές στο Σύστημα Πληροφοριών Σένγκεν. Το Συμβούλιο ενθαρρύνει τη συνεργασία μεταξύ των αντιτρομοκρατικών αρχών και των αρχών που είναι αρμόδιες για τη χορήγηση δικαιώματος διαμονής, προκειμένου να εξασφαλιστεί ο καλύτερος δυνατός συντονισμός. Το Συμβούλιο καλεί επίσης τα κράτη μέλη να διερευνήσουν τρόπους περιορισμού των μέσων δράσης ατόμων και οργανώσεων που προωθούν τη ριζοσπαστικοποίηση, και ζητεί επαγρύπνηση ώστε να εξασφαλιστεί ότι οι οργανώσεις που προωθούν τη βία και το μίσος δεν μπορούν να επωφεληθούν από δημόσιους πόρους. Καλεί τα κράτη μέλη να συντονίσουν περαιτέρω τα περιοριστικά μέτρα και τα μέτρα απαγόρευσης της εισόδου στην ΕΕ, και ζητεί από την Επιτροπή να εξετάσει την αναγκαιότητα ανάπτυξης δικαίου που θα επιτρέπει την αμοιβαία αναγνώριση των απαγορεύσεων εισόδου υπόπτων για τρομοκρατία. Το Συμβούλιο τονίζει την ανάγκη να συνεχιστούν οι ανταλλαγές για την πρόσβαση σε ψηφιακά δεδομένα, μεταξύ άλλων σε τομείς όπως η διατήρηση δεδομένων, η κρυπτογράφηση ή η τεχνητή νοημοσύνη. Καλεί επίσης την Επιτροπή να αξιολογήσει την ευκαιρία ανάληψης νομοθετικής πρωτοβουλίας για τη θέσπιση ελάχιστων κανόνων σχετικά με τον ορισμό των ποινικών αδικημάτων και των κυρώσεων στον τομέα της παράνομης διακίνησης όπλων. Συμπεράσματα του Συμβουλίου με τίτλο: «Προστασία των Ευρωπαίων από την τρομοκρατία: Επιτεύγματα και επόμενα βήματα» Η αντίδραση της ΕΕ στην τρομοκρατία (γενικές πληροφορίες)