Eurogroup President report to the Euro Summit President ahead of the Euro Summit meeting of 22 March 2024

 

Press material Tuesday 19 March 2024

● Eurogroup   19/03/2024 10:29 | Press release | Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe's report to the Euro Summit President ahead of the Euro Summit meeting of 22 March 2024   The President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, has sent a letter to the President of the Euro Summit, Charles Michel, to report on the recent work of the Eurogroup. The letter will inform the discussion that Leaders will hold at the Euro Summit on 22 March 2024. The report highlights the agreement reached by all EU finance ministers within the Eurogroup in inclusive format on the future of the Capital Markets Union (CMU), in response to the call by the Euro Summit of March 2023 to step up efforts in taking forward the CMU. The Eurogroup statement includes a comprehensive set of actions and measures, which constitute a solid foundation for advancing the CMU agenda during the next institutional cycle. "Creating a well-functioning and effective single market for capital through advancing the CMU is a necessity for Europe. The CMU is one of the key components of our renewed focus on euro area competitiveness, which is imperative to respond to the profound shifts occurring in the global economic landscape. The Eurogroup in inclusive format will remain seized of this initiative and its follow-up." Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup The report highlights the close coordination of fiscal policies among euro area members in the context of the agreement on the new EU fiscal framework. Fiscal policy remains on a stable course during the transition to the new framework. To facilitate the transition, the Eurogroup has agreed broad fiscal policy orientations for 2025 of an overall slightly contractionary budgetary stance at the euro area level. The report also takes stock of reviewing the progress in convergence and efforts made by Bulgaria on the path towards adopting the euro. Letter of the President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, to the President of the Euro Summit, Charles Michel, of 18 March 2024

Press material Tuesday 19 March 2024

● Council of the EU   19/03/2024 09:51 | Press release | Reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice adopted   The Council today gave its final green light to the reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, aimed at ensuring more effective administration of justice by the Court of Justice and the General Court. The reform has been undertaken in the context of a steady increase in the number of cases brought before the Court of Justice. It takes advantage of the capacities of the General Court to deal with additional workload as a result of a previous reform, which led to an increase of the number of judges at the General Court. Main changes The amendments to Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice adopted today transfer jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice to the General Court in the following specific areas: the common system of value added tax excise duties the customs code the tariff classification of goods under the combined nomenclature compensation and assistance for passengers whose transport services are delayed or cancelled or who are denied boarding the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading The Court of Justice will retain competence over requests for a preliminary ruling that raise questions of principle, such as interpretation of the Treaties or the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The reform will also extend the current filtering mechanism for appeals against decisions of the General Court when they concern a decision of an Union body, office or agency with an independent board of appeal. Under that mechanism, if a case has been considered by an independent board of appeal and then by the General Court, it will be allowed to proceed to the Court of Justice only if it raises an issue that is significant with respect to the unity, consistency or development of EU law. In addition, the reform will increase the transparency of proceedings concerning requests for preliminary rulings. It provides that written observations submitted by an interested person pursuant to the Article 23 of the Protocol No 3 will be made public on the Court’s website within a reasonable time after the closing of the proceedings, unless that person raises objections to the publication of its own written submissions. Next steps In order for the transfer of jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings to the General Court to be workable in practice, it is necessary to modify the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and of the General Court. To this effect, both courts have submitted to the Council for its approval draft amendments of their respective Rules of Procedure, which are currently being examined. The publication of the Regulation amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice and of the amended Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and of the General Court will be coordinated, so that all three texts will enter into force at the same time. Background The Court of Justice submitted a proposal to amend Protocol No 3 on its Statute in December 2022. The changes were agreed under the ordinary legislative procedure in negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on 7 December 2023, with the participation of the Court of Justice and the Commission. Regulation amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union Reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice: Council and Parliament negotiators reach provisional agreement (press release, 7 December 2023)

Press material Tuesday 19 March 2024

● Council of the EU   19/03/2024 11:51 | Press release | Anti-SLAPP: Final green light for EU law protecting journalists and human rights defenders   Today the Council adopted a law to protect persons who speak out on matters of public interest against abusive lawsuits meant to silence them. Persons targeted by so called strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), typically journalists and human rights defenders, will benefit from a number of procedural safeguards and measures. These safeguards and measures will apply to manifestly unfounded claims or abusive court proceedings in civil matters with cross-border implications. Procedural safeguards Individuals targeted by SLAPP cases can ask the court to dismiss a manifestly unfounded claim at the earliest possible stage. If proceedings are found abusive, the court can decide that the claimant must bear the costs of the proceedings, including the costs of legal representation incurred by the SLAPP victim. To ensure that the defendant will be compensated, the court can also order the claimant to provide a financial security for the costs of the proceedings and, if provided by national law, the damages suffered by the defendant. Courts must take the decision on the early dismissal of a case and on the provision of a financial security in an accelerated manner. In order to discourage such abusive legal actions, the judge can also decide to subject the party who initiated the SLAPP case to penalties or other equally effective measures. Cross-border implications and third-country judgments According to the directive, a SLAPP case will be considered to have cross-border implications unless both parties are domiciled in the same member state as the court dealing with the matter and all other elements relevant to the situation concerned are located in that member state. If a person living in the EU is targeted by a SLAPP case in a third-country, EU member states must refuse the recognition and enforcement of this third-country judgment if it is considered manifestly unfounded or abusive in the member state in question. Other support measures Member states have to put in place rules that would allow associations, organisations and trade unions to support the defendant or to provide information in the proceedings. To further support SLAPP victims, member states will have to provide, in one single place, information on the procedural safeguards and remedies available to SLAPP victims. Next steps The directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Member states have two years thereafter to transpose the law into national legislation. Media freedom in the EU (background information) Directive on protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded claims or abusive court proceedings (anti-SLAPP), 7 March 2024

Meetings Tuesday 19 March 2024

● Council of the EU   19/03/2024 10:23 | MEETING | Background note - Environment Council, 25 March 2024   Background note - Environment Council, 25 March 2024