COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,update

 

Press material Thursday 14 March 2024

● Council of the EU   14/03/2024 09:54 | Media advisory | Press briefing - General Affairs Council of 19 March 2024   The press briefing ahead of the General Affairs Council will take place on Friday, 15 March 2024 at 13.00. This briefing will be "off the record". The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person at the Europa building press room. To attend the event remotely, please use this link to register and have the possibility to ask questions. Those who already registered for previous press events of the General Affairs Council do not need to do it again. Deadline for registration: Friday, 15 March 2024 at 12.00 Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants shortly after the deadline.​

Press material Thursday 14 March 2024

● Council of the EU   14/03/2024 08:58 | Press release | Council and Parliament strike deal on safer firearms trading   The Council and the European Parliament today reached a provisional agreement on updated EU rules on the import, export and transit of firearms into and from the EU. The new rules aim to close the loopholes for firearms trafficking, while facilitating trade and movement of firearms used for legitimate purposes. The revised firearms regulation aims to limit firearms trafficking by having common rules and licencing and authorisation procedures, coordinated controls and better traceability of firearms for civilian use. This will prevent legally manufactured and exported civilian firearms from being diverted into the illegal market.

Press material Thursday 14 March 2024

● Council of the EU   14/03/2024 08:13 | Media advisory | Press briefing - Foreign Affairs Council of 18 March 2024   The press briefing ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council will take place on Friday, 15 March 2024 at 14.30. Following the session, there will be a technical briefing ahead of the release of the second annual progress report on the implementation of the Strategic Compass, covering the latest developments of the EU security and defence agenda. This press briefing will be "off the record" and given by senior EEAS officials in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person at the Europa building press room. To attend the event remotely, please use this link to register and have the possibility to ask questions. Those who already registered for previous press events of the Foreign Affairs Council do not need to do it again. Deadline for registration: Friday, 15 March 2024, 13.30 Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants shortly after the deadline.

Press material Wednesday 13 March 2024

● Council of the EU   13/03/2024 18:06 | Press release | Council and Parliament strike a deal to expand the use of digital tools in EU company law   The Council and the European Parliament reached today a provisional deal on the amending directive to further expand and upgrade the use of digital tools and processes in company law. The new rules will make company’s data more easily available, enhance trust and transparency in companies across member states, create more connected public administrations and reduce red tape for companies and other stakeholders in cross-border situations. It will thereby contribute to a more integrated and digitalised single market for companies. "The digital transformation should reach all areas of economic activity. In company law, digital solutions will dramatically cut red-tape and help companies to focus more on their core business and less in their paperwork." Paul Van Tigchelt, Belgian deputy prime minister and minister of Justice and the North Sea Commission proposal The Commission’s proposal is intended to ensure that company data in business registers is accurate, reliable, and up-to-date by making publicly available more information about companies at EU level through the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS). The proposal also aims to cut red tape when companies use company information from business registers in cross-border situations. For instance, the proposal removes formalities such as the need for an apostille on company documents through a common digital template (the Digital EU Power of Attorney) and encourages the use of the “once-only principle” when companies set up subsidiaries and branches in another member state. It also introduces a multilingual EU company certificate to be used in cross-border situations. Main elements of the agreement The provisional agreement reached today between the two co-legislators shares the main objectives of the proposal but introduces some improvements to simplify certain procedures and reduce the administrative burden for companies and national authorities. Co-legislators have agreed that the EU Company Certificate should also include the object of the company, with the use of NACE codes, where national law allow the use of these codes and where the object of the company is recorded in the national register (NACE code is a 6 digit code that records the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (in French: Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques dans la Communauté européenne). The provisional agreement clarifies the elements that should be included in the Digital EU Power of Attorney, a multilingual standard model based on a common European template, that will reduce formalities like apostille or translation, in cross-border procedures. The agreement reached today makes possible the disclosure of the particulars of limited partners through the system of interconnection of registers (BRIS), where this information is publicly available in the national registers. Co-legislators have agreed that certain types of companies, such as partnerships or limited liability companies, can obtain their EU Company Certificate in electronic form free of charge, unless this causes serious prejudice to the financing of the national register, in which case the price cannot exceed the administrative costs. The agreement introduces a revision clause to consider the possibility to include cooperatives in the Company Law Directive in the future. Next steps The provisional agreement reached with the European Parliament now needs to be endorsed and formally adopted by both institutions. Background On 29 March 2023, the Commission (Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders) published a proposal for a Directive to further expand and upgrade the use of digital tools and processes in company law. The Council adopted its negotiating mandate on 14th February 2024. This proposal will contribute to the objectives set out in the following communications: ‘2030 Digital Compass and Digitalisation of Justice in the European Union’, ‘Updating the 2020 New Industrial Strategy’ and ‘SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe’. The directive also updates and supplements the 2019 Directive on the use of digital tools and processes in company law. Commission’s proposal Council’s negotiating mandate

Press material Wednesday 13 March 2024

● Council of the EU   13/03/2024 15:17 | Press release | Council takes first step towards new EU rules on suspending visa-free travel for third countries   EU member states’ ambassadors (Coreper) have agreed their position on a draft regulation which updates a mechanism that allows the EU to suspend visa-free travel for third countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa obligation when travelling to the Schengen area. This new law, when adopted, will boost the EU’s toolbox to counter situations when visa-free travel is being abused or works against the interests of the EU. New grounds to suspend visa-free regime Under the updated mechanism, the EU will be given the following new grounds to suspend the visa-free regime: lack of alignment of a visa-free third country with the EU’s visa policy, in cases where this may lead to increased arrivals to the EU e.g. because of this country’s geographical proximity to the EU the operation of an investor citizenship scheme, whereby citizenship is granted without any genuine link to the third country concerned, in exchange for pre-determined payments or investments hybrid threats and deficiencies in document security legislation or procedures Member states have decided to also include the possibility to suspend the visa-free regime in case of a significant and abrupt deterioration in the EU’s external relations with a third country, in particular when it relates to human rights and fundamental freedoms. The following existing grounds remain in place: a substantial increase in the number of third-country nationals who are refused entry or found overstaying; a substantial increase in the number of unfounded asylum applications from the nationals of a third country for which the recognition rate is low; a decrease in cooperation with the EU on readmission of people that have been asked to leave the EU territory and a risk or imminent threat to public policy or internal security (e.g. because of an increase in criminal offences). Another ground which already forms part of the current mechanism i.e. the failure to meet the visa liberalisation benchmarks by partners that have been through a visa liberalisation dialogue to become visa free is now spelled out more clearly in the new regulation. Suspension thresholds The Council negotiating mandate also details the thresholds to trigger the mechanism. These thresholds quantify increases in: cases of refused entry and overstay; unfounded asylum applications; and serious criminal offences. Member states have set this number at 30% (contrary to 50% in the Commission proposal). On the other hand, the threshold to assess if an asylum recognition rate should be considered as low has been fixed at 20% (instead of the proposed 4%). Duration of the temporary suspension The duration of temporary suspension of the visa exemption has been increased from 9 to 12 months and can be extended by another 24 months (instead of 18 months under the current system). During this suspension phase, the European Commission will engage in a dialogue with the third country in order to take steps to remedy the circumstances that led to the suspension. If no solution is found to remedy the situation, the EU can decide to permanently revoke the visa-free travel regime. Reference period The reference period for identifying the existence of circumstances which may lead to a suspension has been amended to cover at least two months. This will make it possible to take longer reference periods (e.g. annual trends) into consideration, not just sudden changes in the relevant circumstances. Next steps Today’s agreement on a common position will allow the Council to enter into negotiations with the European Parliament, once it has settled on its own position, in order to agree on a final legal text. Background While visa-free travel offers important gains for our economies as well as the tourism and travel sectors and is the cornerstone of social and cultural exchanges, it can also be a source of significant migration and security challenges. Overstays by visa-free travellers, for instance, lead to an increase in irregular migration. This also happens when high numbers of unfounded asylum applications are made by nationals from visa-free countries. Such an increase in asylum applications can also happen when people use countries that are close to the EU, and whose visa policy is not aligned with that of the EU, as a stepping stone for travelling irregularly into the EU. The suspension mechanism – in place in its current form since 2018 – works as a safeguard against the abuse of visa-free travel. It allows for the EU to temporarily suspend the visa exemption under certain conditions. However, the current rules did not take into account some recent developments affecting the EU. The EU currently has a visa-free regime in place with 61 third countries. Nationals from these countries can enter the Schengen area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. EU visa policy (background information)