COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,update

Press material Friday 24 March 2023

● Euro Summit   24/03/2023 13:53 | Statements and remarks | Statement of the Euro Summit   The Euro Summit, meeting in inclusive format, adopted a statement on 24 March 2023 Statement of the Euro Summit, 24 March 2023

 

Υλικό για τον Τύπο Παρασκευή 24 Μαρτίου 2023

● Σύνοδος κορυφής της ευρωζώνης   24/03/2023 15:13 | Δηλώσεις και παρατηρήσεις | Δήλωση της συνόδου κορυφής για το ευρώ, 24 Μαρτίου 2023   Η σύνοδος κορυφής για το ευρώ σε διευρυμένη σύνθεση εξέδωσε δήλωση στις 24 Μαρτίου 2023. Δήλωση της συνόδου κορυφής για το ευρώ, 24 Μαρτίου 2023

Press material Thursday 23 March 2023

● European Council   23/03/2023 17:38 | Conclusions | European Council conclusions on Ukraine   The European Council held an exchange of views with United Nations Secretary-General Guterres. * * * I. UKRAINE 1. The European Council reiterates its resolute condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of the UN Charter, and recalls the European Union’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and its inherent right of self-defence against the Russian aggression. 2. The European Council welcomes the UN General Assembly Resolution on ‘Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine’, which was adopted with broad support from the international community. It reiterates its support for President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula. The European Union will continue to work with Ukraine on the 10-point peace plan. 3. Russia must stop its aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces and proxies from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. International humanitarian law, including on the treatment of prisoners of war, must be respected. The European Council condemns in the strongest terms sexual and gender-based violence. Russia must immediately ensure the safe return of Ukrainians forcibly transferred or deported to Russia, in particular children. In this context, the European Council takes note of the arrest warrants recently issued by the International Criminal Court, against Russia’s President and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. 4. Russia must immediately cease actions endangering the safety and security of civilian nuclear facilities in Ukraine. The European Union fully supports the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 5. The European Union is firmly committed to ensuring full accountability for war crimes and the other most serious crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including through the establishment of an appropriate mechanism for the prosecution of the crime of aggression, which is of concern to the international community as a whole. In this context, the European Council welcomes the agreement to create the new International Centre for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague, which will be linked to the existing Joint Investigation Team supported by Eurojust. It reiterates its support for the investigations of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The European Council welcomes the upcoming negotiations on a new Convention on international cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other international crimes. 6. The European Union remains committed to maintaining and increasing collective pressure on Russia, including through possible further restrictive measures, and to continue working on the oil price cap together with partners. The European Council underlines the importance and urgency of stepping up efforts to ensure effective implementation of sanctions at European and national level and is firmly committed to effectively preventing and countering circumvention in and by third countries. The European Council invites the Council and the Commission to strengthen all necessary enforcement instruments and to develop, together with Member States, a fully coordinated approach to that effect. The European Union will intensify its work with partners to counter false Russian narratives and disinformation about the war. 7. The European Union stands firmly and fully with Ukraine and will continue to provide strong political, economic, military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes. The European Union and Member States are increasing their efforts to help meet Ukraine’s pressing military and defence needs. Taking into account the security and defence interests of all Member States, the European Council welcomes the agreement in the Council to urgently deliver ground-to-ground and artillery ammunition to Ukraine and, if requested, missiles, including through joint procurement and the mobilisation of appropriate funding including through the European Peace Facility, aiming at providing 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition in a joint effort within the next twelve months, without prejudice to the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States. 8. The European Union remains committed to supporting Ukraine’s repair, recovery, and reconstruction, in coordination with international partners. In this context, the European Council reiterates the EU’s full support for establishing an international mechanism to register the damages Russia has inflicted. Together with partners, the European Union will continue to step up work towards the use of Russia’s frozen and immobilised assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction and for the purposes of reparation, in accordance with EU and international law. 9. The European Council welcomes Ukraine’s commitment and reform efforts, and underlines the importance of Ukraine’s EU accession process, in line with its earlier conclusions, notably those of 23-24 June 2022. 10. The European Union will continue to provide all relevant support to the Republic of Moldova, including to strengthen the country’s resilience, security, stability, economy and energy supply in the face of destabilising activities by external actors, as well as support on its accession path to the European Union. The European Council invites the Commission to present a support package ahead of its next meeting. 11. The European Council condemns the continued military support for Russia’s war of aggression provided by Iran and Belarus. It urges all countries not to provide material or other support for Russia’s war of aggression. 12. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its weaponisation of food have undermined global food security. In that context, the European Council takes note of the extension of the UN Black Sea Grain Initiative. This initiative, the EU’s Solidarity Lanes and the Ukrainian ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative are instrumental in bolstering global food security. It stresses the need to ensure the continued availability and affordability of agricultural products for the countries most in need

Press material Thursday 23 March 2023

● Council of the EU   23/03/2023 05:29 | Press release | FuelEU Maritime initiative: Provisional agreement to decarbonise the maritime sector   More renewable and low-carbon fuels will reduce the carbon footprint of the maritime sector in the EU following today’s provisional political agreement between the Council and the European Parliament. "Today we managed to agree another part of the Fit for 55 package. The agreement will ensure a level playing field and make sure that fuel suppliers, ships and maritime operators will have sufficient time to adapt for the new conditions so the maritime sector will deliver on the climate targets." Andreas Carlson, Swedish minister of infrastructure and housing The main objective of the FuelEU Maritime initiative, as a key part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package, is to increase the demand for and consistent use of renewable and low-carbon fuels and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector, while ensuring the smooth operation of maritime traffic and avoiding distortions in the internal market. The proposal aims to put maritime transport on the trajectory of the EU’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050 and should play a fundamental role in delivering on the European climate law.

Press material Friday 24 March 2023

● Council of the EU   24/03/2023 19:42 | Press release | Data act: member states agree common position on fair access to and use of data   With a view to making the EU a leader in our data-driven society, member states’ representatives (Coreper) reached a common position (“negotiating mandate”) allowing the Council to enter negotiations with the European Parliament on the proposed legislation regarding harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (data act). "Today’s agreement will facilitate the digital transformation of our societies and economies. The data act will unlock the economic and societal potential of data and technologies in line with EU rules and values. It will contribute to creating a single market to allow data to flow freely within the EU and across sectors for the benefit of businesses, researchers, public administrations, and society at large." Erik Slottner, Swedish minister for public administration The data act will give both individuals and businesses more control over their data through a reinforced portability right, copying or transferring data easily from across different services, where the data are generated through smart objects, machines, and devices. The new legislation will empower consumers and companies by giving them a say on what can be done with the data generated by their connected products. Main issues maintaining the general thrust of Commission’s proposal The regulation proposes new rules on who can use and access data generated in the EU across all economic sectors. It aims to ensure fairness in the digital environment, stimulate a competitive data market, open opportunities for data-driven innovation and make data more accessible to all. The proposal also aims to ease the switching of providers of data processing services, puts in place safeguards against unlawful data transfer by cloud service providers and provides for the development of interoperability standards for data to be reused between sectors. The Council’s common position maintains the general thrust of the Commission’s proposal, namely as regards: measures to allow users of connected devices, ranging from smart home appliances to smart industrial machinery, to gain access to data generated by them, which is often exclusively harvested by manufacturers measures to prevent abuse of contractual imbalances in data sharing contracts due to unfair contractual terms imposed by a party with significantly stronger bargaining position means for public sector bodies to access and use data held by the private sector that is necessary in exceptional circumstances, particularly in case of a public emergency, such as floods and wildfires, or to implement a legal mandate if data are not otherwise available new rules allowing customers to effectively switch between different cloud data-processing service providers and putting in place safeguards against unlawful data transfer Main amendments to the Commission’s proposal The Council’s text amends various parts of the Commission’s proposal, including on the following aspects: a clearer definition of the scope of the regulation, especially with regard to Internet of Things (IoT) data, where focus was moved to the functionalities of the data collected by connected products instead of the products themselves some clarifications on the interplay between the data act and existing horizontal and sectoral legislation, such as the data governance act and the general data protection regulation (GDPR) the protection of trade secrets and intellectual property rights, accompanied by appropriate safeguards against abusive behaviour additional guidance with regard to reasonable compensation for making the data available and dispute settlement mechanisms some fine-tuning on data sharing requests by public sector bodies based on exceptional needs clearer and more widely applicable provisions with regard to effective switching between data processing services

Press material Wednesday 22 March 2023

● European Council   22/03/2023 17:42 | Press release | Main messages from the Tripartite Social Summit, 22 March 2023   EU leaders and social partners met at the tripartite social summit. The main theme of the summit was: Giving the right answers to Europe’s competitiveness challenges - how to make Europe the place to be for industrial investments creating growth and quality jobs. The summit participants intervened on the following issues: restoring a level playing field, ensuring a necessary competitive transformation in all industrial sectors and delivering an economically sound and just transition the Skills Agenda: mobilising the European Year of Skills to address recruitment problems and bridge the gap in access to skills and skills training making the Single Market more resilient and pursuing an ambitious trade agenda to build a highly competitive social market economy that delivers for all The President of the European Council Charles Michel commented: “Today our European competitiveness is a major priority. The European Council has called for a swift, ambitious, and comprehensive European industrial policy response. Working in close cooperation with social partners, we need to bolster our competitiveness and growth through our twin climate and digital transitions, while generating quality jobs, making sure no one is left behind. Furthermore, the Single Market’s deep economic integration boosts the EU’s export competitiveness and free trade agreements remain a key way of opening new markets and maximising investment in innovation. At the same time, a skilled labour force must become the engine of our European competitiveness. The European Year of Skills is an opportunity to give skills development the prominence it deserves.” The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: “We need to boost Europe’s competitiveness and support businesses and workers to drive our transition to climate neutrality. This is not only essential to ensure future prosperity and growth, but also quality jobs. We put forward the Green Deal Industrial Plan and the Net-Zero Industry Act to create an enabling environment for businesses to manufacture key technologies in the EU. At the same time, the best technology is only as good as the skilled workers who can install and operate it. This is why skills are a key pillar of our plan. The European Year of Skills will put a focus on skills development and the involvement of social partners is key to succeed.” From the side of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, added: “To support Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion is the single most important task for the EU. Russia's war has also broad-ranging consequences for the rest of the world. Europe is currently hit by high energy prices and inflation, leaving many businesses and citizens struggling. The Swedish Presidency seeks to make Europe Greener, Safer and Freer. We must build on the strengths of our economies to increase European quality of life, global clout and security. Increasing Europe's competitiveness is key. Responsible social partners and effective social dialogue can contribute by absorbing labour market shocks and supporting up-and reskilling, thereby easing transition on changing labour markets.” The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Esther Lynch, noted: “European workers are currently suffering a huge cut in their purchasing power and living standards as a result of an inflation crisis caused by excess corporate profits, so there should be no race to the bottom in the name of competitiveness. Instead, the best way to support European industry and its workers to increase productivity is by investing in technology and training and not through lowering wages or standards. Productivity of European companies is primarily hampered by the fact that public investment is lagging far behind what is needed and that private investment as a share of GDP is currently half of what it was in 2000, while 50-60% of the workforce do not have the skills that our industries require and they are not given the opportunity to get training to acquire those skills. The EU should follow the win-win approach to competitiveness being taken by the Biden administration in the US by investing in industry to ensure it is fit for the future while using social conditions to creating quality jobs and raising living standards.” BusinessEurope's President Fredrik Persson, representing employers (BusinessEurope, SGI Europe, SMEunited), commented: “European leaders urgently need to improve investment conditions in the European Union to strengthen the competitiveness of European enterprises. The answer to Europe's competitiveness challenges cannot be to engage in a subsidy race. The EU must address the pressing need to provide regulatory breathing space to enterprises, in particular to SMEs. It must support the transition to a green economy through targeted EU programmes, an effective and impactful spending of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the NextGenerationEU and a more flexible and simpler temporary state-aid framework, while ensuring a level-playing field. It must address long-term challenges such as high taxes, underdeveloped capital markets, and a lack of investment in R&D and critical infrastructures. The European Year of Skills is a golden opportunity to address skills gaps and improve training systems’ response to changing labour market needs.” The views cited in this text are those of the individual / organisation concerned and do not collectively constitute the point of view of the Council or the European Council.