COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,update

 

Press material Tuesday 19 September 2023

● Council of the EU   19/09/2023 10:28 | Press release | Council appoints Iliana Ivanova as new European Commissioner   The Council today appointed Iliana Ivanova (Bulgaria) as new European Commissioner, by common accord with the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The appointment follows the resignation of Mariya Gabriel as Commissioner and is for the remainder of the term of office of the Commission, which runs until 31 October 2024. Ms Ivanova has been assigned the portfolio of Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth by President von der Leyen. Background In accordance with Article 246 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a vacancy caused by the resignation of a member of the Commission is filled for the remainder of his or her term by a new member of the same nationality. The new member is appointed by the Council, by common accord with the President of the Commission, after consulting the European Parliament.

Press material Tuesday 19 September 2023

● Council of the EU   19/09/2023 07:49 | Press release | Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue: Statement of the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on expectations from Serbia and Kosovo*   Following the High-Level meeting of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue on 14 September in Brussels, the EU expresses its concern over the lack of implementation by the Parties of their commitments under the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation and its Implementation Annex, which both Parties agreed to earlier this year, and which are binding on them and play a role in the European path of the Parties. The EU urges the Parties to engage constructively and in good faith. This means starting the implementation based on the EU Proposal without further delay, which also includes the obligation on both parties to fully implement all past Dialogue Agreements. The work to establish the Association / Community of Serb Majority Municipalities needs to start without any further delay or pre-condition. The EU reminds the Parties of their responsibility to uphold the principle of confidentiality in the Dialogue, which is a key component of any politically sensitive negotiation process. The EU remains equally concerned over the lack of progress from both Parties in de-escalating the tensions in the north of Kosovo, several months after the latest flare up of violence which left citizens, KFOR troops, law enforcement and media representatives wounded, some with severe and permanent consequences. Despite repeated calls by the EU and other international partners, the steps taken so far remain insufficient and the security situation in the north remains tense. In this context, moves by Kosovo – including on expropriations of land in the north of Kosovo, eviction orders, on telecommunication, and on the use of Special Police forces for community policing duties – are not in accordance with the Rule of Law and risk contributing to further increase of tensions. The continuous small-scale attacks by criminal groups and intimidation of newly recruited Kosovo Serb police cadets / the local population are unacceptable and must stop immediately. Serbia’s blocking of the Energy roadmap, as well as other attempts inconsistent with the Agreement on the path to Normalisation and its Annex, run counter to the spirit of the Dialogue process. The requests made in the Statement on behalf of the EU of 3 June remain fully valid. The reversible measures that the EU has taken remain in place, including the suspension of high-level meetings with Kosovo. The EU stands ready to lift these measures in case of progress in fulfilling the existing requests, or assess further measures towards both parties, if needed. The EU recalls the importance of swiftly holding early local elections in the north of Kosovo to help defuse the tensions. The quickest solution to enable the calling of the elections is necessary. We encourage Kosovo Serbs to fully engage in the electoral process and publicly state their unconditional participation. The EU calls on all political actors, at all levels of governance, in both Kosovo and Serbia, to engage constructively in the process leading to early local elections in the north of Kosovo, avoid further escalatory steps and support progress in the EU-facilitated Dialogue. The EU expresses full support to the efforts of High Representative Josep Borrell in his capacity as Facilitator of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, as well as to EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajčák, and reminds the Parties that the European path of both Kosovo and Serbia goes through the EU-facilitated Dialogue and through the normalisation of their relations. Both risk losing opportunities for progressing on their European paths. * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence

Meetings Monday 18 September 2023

● Council of the EU   18/09/2023 21:53 | MEETING | Main results - Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 18 September 2023   Ministers focused on the agricultural aspects of the directive on soil health, agricultural issues related to trade, including linked to the latest developments related to Russia's war against Ukraine, the long-term vision for the EU's rural areas, as well as annual fisheries consultations for 2024.

Press material Monday 18 September 2023

● Council of the EU   18/09/2023 11:09 | Press release | Decent work for all: Council takes a step forward towards the adoption of the Council Decision on Violence and Harassment Convention   Today, the Council adopted its position on a draft decision inviting member states to ratify the Violence and Harassment Convention (Convention 190) adopted by the International Labour Organization. "This Council Decision paves the way for Member States to ratify Convention 190. Our commitment to real and effective equality and non-discrimination is unequivocal and enables the EU to push forward feminist protection policies and the rights of men and women." Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Acting Spanish Minister of Labour and Social Economy Violence and harassment at work is a widespread and persistent phenomenon around the world: more than one in five people have experienced violence and harassment at work, whether physical, psychological or sexual, with women being particularly at risk. The Violence and Harassment Convention is the first international instrument setting out minimum standards on tackling work-related harassment and violence. This Convention will help promote decent work for all, health and safety at work and gender equality, and will help to combat discrimination. With this draft decision, member states are invited to ratify the parts of the Convention that specifically concern the improvement of the working environment to protect workers’ health and safety and equality between men and women in matters of employment. Background and next steps In 2019, the International Labour Conference adopted the International Labour Organization’s Convention concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work. The Convention provides a common framework to prevent, remedy and eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment. For the first time in international law, the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment is specifically recognised, including the obligation to respect, promote and realise this right. It also provides the first international definition of violence and harassment in the world of work. All member states have supported the objectives of this Convention and have played a key role in its adoption in ILO. The Council decision inviting member states to ratify the Violence and Harassment Convention will be formally adopted once the European Parliament has given its consent. Proposal for a Council Decision authorising Member States to ratify, in the interest of the European Union, the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) of the International Labour Organization – General approach

Press material Monday 18 September 2023

● Council of the EU   18/09/2023 10:34 | Press release | Council adoption: new EU law to modernise judicial cooperation on terrorism cases   The Council today gave its final green light on a new EU law that will boost the digital information exchange in terrorism cases between national authorities and Eurojust. Thanks to a more efficient exchange on investigations and the prosecution of terrorist offences, member state authorities and EU agencies will all have access to the most complete and updated information on terrorism cases. "The adoption of this law represents a qualitative leap in terms of information sharing between the member states and Eurojust and will allow for significant progress in the prosecution of terrorism offences." Pilar Llop, Spain's acting minister for justice To date, member states share information with Eurojust on cases related to terrorism via different, sometimes unsecure, channels. Furthermore, the current judicial counter-terrorism register does not allow for proper cross-checking of information. The regulation adopted today will remedy these shortcomings and allow Eurojust to play a stronger role in supporting coordination and cooperation between national authorities investigating and prosecuting terrorist offences. Better information sharing Under the new rules, member states will need to provide Eurojust with information on any criminal investigations regarding terrorist offences as soon as such cases are referred to the judicial authorities. The proposal: creates a modern, digital case-management system which stores this information and allows it to be cross-checked empowers Eurojust to better detect links between transnational investigations and prosecutions in the field of terrorism and to proactively inform member states about the links found creates a secure digital communication channel between member states and Eurojust simplifies cooperation with third countries by granting liaison prosecutors seconded to Eurojust access to the case-management system

Press material Monday 18 September 2023

● Council of the EU   18/09/2023 10:17 | Press release | EU budget: Council agrees to €454.8 million in disaster relief aid for Romania, Italy and Türkiye   Today the Council agreed to the Commission’s proposal to provide a total of €454.8 million in disaster relief aid to Romania and Italy, to repair damage inflicted by natural disasters in 2022, and to Türkiye, in relation to the earthquakes in February 2023. The assistance will come from the EU’s 2023 budget. In practice, the EU will transfer money from the solidarity and emergency aid reserve in its 2023 budget to the so-called EU Solidarity Fund operational budget line, from where it can be paid to the countries that have applied for financial assistance from this fund after being struck by natural disasters. The EU Solidarity Fund is designed to provide financial assistance in the event of a major disaster in a member state or a country holding accession negotiations with the EU. The aid will be distributed as follows: €33.9 million to provide assistance to Romania further to a severe and broad drought with three main peaks, respectively, at the end of March, in mid-April and in July-August 2022 €20.9 million to provide assistance to Italy further to the intense rainfall resulting in fluvial and flash flood events affecting the central Italian regions in September 2022 €400 million to provide assistance to Türkiye further to the major earthquakes affecting southern Türkiye in the region of Kahramanmaraş and the region of Hatay in February 2023 Next steps The financial aid will be paid out once both proposals have been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. Decision on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Romania, Italy and Türkiye Transfer of appropriations of the general budget for 2023

Meetings Monday 18 September 2023

● Council of the EU   18/09/2023 09:26 | MEETING | General Affairs Council, 19 September 2023   Background brief - General Affairs Council, 19/09/2023

Press material Tuesday 19 September 2023

● Council of the EU   19/09/2023 10:39 | Press release | Recovery fund: Council greenlights Italy’s targeted amendment of its national plan   The Council today adopted an implementing decision approving the amended recovery and resilience plan of Italy. Italy’s amended plan affects 10 measures, including energy efficiency incentives under the so-called ‘Superbonus', the increase of childcare facilities, the development of the space industry and the film industry and sustainable transport, among other things. On 11 July 2023, Italy requested to amend its RRP on the grounds that the plan is partially no longer achievable because of objective circumstances. The decision is based on the Commission’s assessment that the modifications put forward by Italy are justified and do not affect the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of its recovery and resilience plan (RRP). The estimated total costs of the amended RRP remains unaltered, € 191.5 billion, comprised of € 68.8 billion in grants and € 122.6 billion in loans. Background The recovery and resilience facility (RRF) is the EU’s programme of large-scale financial support in response to the challenges the pandemic has posed to the European economy. It is the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, a temporary recovery instrument that allows the Commission to raise funds to help repair the immediate economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To benefit from the facility’s € 724 billion (in current prices), member states have submitted recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) to the Commission, setting out the reforms and investments they intend to implement by the end of 2026. To date, all RRPs have been approved, 31 payment requests have been received from 19 member states, and € 153 billion have been disbursed. Council implementing decision amending the recovery and resilience plan for Italy A recovery plan for Europe (background information)