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Étiquette : EU Commission

  • Jourová: Commission looking at Hungary’s emergency changes to labour code and GDPR – euractiv.com

    Jourová: Commission looking at Hungary’s emergency changes to labour code and GDPR – euractiv.com

    By  Vlagyiszlav Makszimov 

    The European Commission is examining Hungary’s emergency regime, including government decrees affecting the country’s labour code and the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Vera Jourová told the European Parliament on Thursday (14 May).

    “The Commission is monitoring the situation in all states, but in case of Hungary, I can reveal to you today that I have daily reports,” Commission Vice-President Jourová told MEPs, adding that she is aware of the “two people who were detained in relation to spreading so-called fake news.”

    “On a daily basis we are assessing whether we can take legal action,” said the Commissioner, who added that the Commission had decided not to open infringement procedure yet,

    On 4 May, the Hungarian government announced plans to suspend its obligation to certain protections laid out in EU data protection law until the current ‘state of emergency’ period has been declared over.

    A communications official of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which is responsible for GDPR’s application, said that it is developing further guidance on Art 23. of the regulation, which allows national authorities to restrict data rights “by way of a legislative measure.”

    After several interactions with the Hungarian supervisory authority, the EDPB said that “further discussion is necessary. At the moment, we cannot say what the outcome of these discussions will be.”

    Civil society organisations voiced their concern in a letter on Monday (11 May) addressed to the EDPB.

    “We believe that this modification was not necessary to maintain quarantine rules,” Máté Szabó of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union told EURACTIV, “as the amendment does not make possible the collection or monitoring of data but concerns the restriction of rights to information, rectification, erasure and the right to protest, as well as the postponement of enforcement.”

    Jourová said that the Commission expects Hungary “to come along with the other member states, to release confinement measures and to come back to at least the old normal.”

    The debate followed Parliament’s resolution last month that described the Hungarian government actions during the coronavirus outbreak as “totally incompatible with European values.”

    Jourová also supported the call of several MEPs for the conditionality of EU funds, which she said must remain part of the next long-term budget negotiations and “keep its teeth.”

    However, many parliamentarians have questioned the executive’s hesitation to launch infringement proceedings against Hungary.

    “Why is the Commission, guardian of the treaties, so reluctant to act in defence of European values?” asked Luxembourgish MEP Christophe Hansen (EPP). “And why is the Council so afraid of its own shadow to act on member states that are persistently corrupting treaties and our EU values?”

    Others said that the debate is a continuation of the old row between Brussels and Budapest on migration.

    “The reason for these attacks we know are the refusal of Hungary to adopt the EU migratory policy,” said French MEP Nicolas Bay of the far-right Identity and Democracy group. “This is being instrumentalised, it’s being used to attack the government against the will of the people.”

    The Hungarian government was not present at the session after PM Viktor Orbán instead asked justice minister Judit Varga to represent the country.

    Varga was not allowed to speak in Orbán’s stead because, according to the letter of Parliament President David Sassoli, “the established practice for such kind of debates, the appropriate level of participation is that of the head of state or government.”

    “The stubborn refusal by the socialist President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli puts him at odds with principles of fair trial, impartiality and free speech,” the ruling Fidesz party said in a statement yesterday (13 May).

    “If it hasn’t been clear already, we will need a deep review of the EU when the coronavirus situation will be under control.”

  • EU Commission will propose ‘borrowing’ to finance recovery plan: Dombrovskis – euractiv.com

    EU Commission will propose ‘borrowing’ to finance recovery plan: Dombrovskis – euractiv.com

    EU Commission will propose ‘borrowing’ to finance recovery plan: Dombrovskis

    Beatriz Rios

    The EU executive will propose borrowing from the markets in order to finance a recovery plan that will come on top of the EU budget, the European Commission’s vice-president for the economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, told EU lawmakers on Monday (20 April). 

    “We want to reinforce the financing capacity of the next MFF beyond what we have now,” Dombrovskis told MEPs, referring to the EU’s next seven-year budget, the so-called Multi-annual Financial Framework.

    “For this, we will be setting up an additional fund and indeed, it would be financed from borrowing in the markets,” Dombrovskis told lawmakers on the European Parliament’s committee on regional development. 

    “How exactly we call the borrowing remains to be discussed,” he admitted. But whatever the name, “we will use borrowing to finance the recovery,” he added. 

    The comments by Dombrovskis confirm the Commission’s backing for common EU debt to finance an EU-wide recovery plan after the COVID-19 crisis.

    Merkel signals openness to bigger EU budget

    On Monday, GermanChancellor Angela Merkel signalled openness to additional EU debt instruments during a press conference, insisting however that this must be done in line with the existing EU treaties.

    Questioned about the possibility of using the bloc’s budget to issue EU bonds in order to finance the recovery, Merkel said she could imagine “such instruments further down the line.”

    “We’ll need quick answers to address this pandemic and Germany will participate in answers of solidarity that go beyond the €500 billion that we already have,” said Merkel in reference to the €540 billion package agreed by EU finance ministers on 9 April.

    Germany is still opposed to Eurobonds – or joint pooling of old EU debt – and remains reluctant to agree on a bigger EU budget. But the coronavirus crisis has shifted the debate in Germany.

    In particular, Merkel referred to the solidarity clause contained in article 122 of the EU treaty that was used during the financial crisis to set up the European Stability Mechanism, the EU’s bailout fund.

    It is the same article in the EU treaty that served as the basis for the Commission’s temporary ‘Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency’ (SURE). SURE will provide financial assistance in the form of loans in favourable terms for countries to set up temporary unemployment schemes for workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, based on guarantees provided by member states. 

    Spain’s plan for recovery 

    Merkel’s openness to look into further solidarity mechanisms does not mean Germany will  suddenly agree to issue common EU debt, an idea supported by a group of nine EU countries led by Italy, Spain and France. 

    And Berlin is not alone in this. The idea has been strongly rejected in the north, particularly by the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark. 

    Nonetheless, Spain circulated a non-paper on Monday in view of the upcoming European Council meeting this week. Madrid’s idea for a recovery fund is far from what some capitals have in mind. 

    Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will argue that tools to counter the crisis “should not be limited to measures increasing national debt,” as it is the case right now, and calls on the establishment of a fund based on grants and worth €1 to 1.5 trillion, to be financed through EU debt. 

    This is what the Commission has calculated would be needed to counter the crisis, the EU’s economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in a recent interview.

    Spain will also advocate increasing national contributions to the EU budget, up to 1.114% of Gross National Income. Allocations to the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policies should be maintained, the paper argues, but with more flexibility to allow for transfers in case of an acute crisis such as the COVID-19. 

    Madrid also supports reintroducing the stabilisation function in the Eurozone budgetary instrument – which still has to be finalised – and establishing a permanent European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme.

    A stronger EU budget

    According to Dombrovskis, “a recession is unavoidable this year” but the extent and depth of the crisis will depend on measures taken to mitigate the impact and restart the economy. 

    So far, the European Union has taken the unprecedented step of temporarily suspending the bloc’s budget deficit rules in order to allow countries more leeway to battle the economic consequences of the pandemic. It has also relaxed state rules and re-channelled existing EU funds while agreeing on a €540 billion economic support package. 

    EU leaders will meet on Thursday (23 April) for a teleconference to discuss how to fund the bloc’s recovery once the crisis is over. 

    In a letter addressed to the Council president Charles Michel, Mario Centeno, the Eurogroup’s chairman, noted the divisions among EU member states regarding the financing of the post-crisis plan. 

    “Some Members were of the view that it should be based on common debt issuance, while others advocated alternative solutions, in particular in the context of the multi-annual financial framework,” Centeno stated in reference to the EU’s next seven-year budget. 

    However, some of the countries opposing joint debt instruments were also reluctant to increase their national contributions to the common budget. And in a context of recession, reaching an agreement could be even more challenging. 

    “We need an ambitious MFF whose size and investment capacity exceed the current one,” Dombrovskis told MEPs.

    The European Commission is expected to come up with a revised version of the EU’s long-term budget on 29 April. Although it won’t be ready by Thursday, “the exchange of views at the Council will be important in this regard,” he said.  

    Dombrovskis also assured lawmakers that the role of the EU’s regional funds will be “reinforced” in the new proposal. The recovery, he added, cannot be done “at the expenses of the poorer regions and member states.”

    In spite of the differences among member states, even before the COVID-19 outbreak, Dombrovskis said the Commission is working to have a functioning budget by January next year and therefore doesn’t contemplate any transition plan. 

    “In 2020, we will not be able to have business as usual programming for EU funds,” Dombrovskis said. “We’re working already now on ad hoc solutions so that, as of 2021, money can flow to the real economy.”

  • EU set to modify member accession method to placate France – euractiv.com

    EU set to modify member accession method to placate France

    The EU is set to propose ways to modify the accession procedures for countries entering the bloc in a bid to placate France, but Brussels cautioned Tuesday (4 February) that any changes won’t be major ones.

    On Wednesday the European Commission is set to unveil proposals to modify the accession process, a project set in motion after Paris blocked the opening of membership negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania, angering many of its EU partners.

    But an EU spokeswoman said there would be no major changes to the conditions of accession, ruling out any alteration of the relevant EU treaty.

    France unleashed a wave of disappointment throughout the Balkans by leading a small group of member states opposing the opening of talks, despite a decision by the commission that the countries were ready.

    “What we are going to propose tomorrow is to make the negotiating process more credible,” EU spokeswoman Ana Pisonero told reporters.

    “We are not going to propose changing the conditions to join the EU. These conditions are very clear, they’re set out in the treaties,” she added

    The proposals on Wednesday will attempt to make the process “more predictable” and “dynamic” without changing the rules, she said.

    French European Affairs Minister Amélie  de Montchalin on Monday said Paris was seeking a more “gradual process” for accession, including a system that was “reversible”.

    The minister said that Wednesday’s announcement “will show that we have a change of methodology and paradigm in all these areas.”

    ‘Achievements’ 

    EU leaders in June failed to greenlight the accession talks, with France alone in rejecting North Macedonia but joined by Denmark and the Netherlands in refusing Albania.

    Most of the shock involved North Macedonia, which underwent a painful process of changing its name to end a row with Greece on the belief that the move would open up the EU accession negotiations.

    Germany has led efforts to get the Balkan accession process back on track.

    On a visit to Brussels, German European Affairs Minister Michael Roth said he hoped the countries would get the long-frustrated greenlight in March to begin accession talks, given their “achievements”.

    That is when the European Commission is due to publish an individual report for each of the six Western Balkan candidate countries — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia.

    These will assess the state of reforms needed to launch the talks: respect for the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and fundamental rights.

    ‘Rules should not be changed’ 

    Roth said that the EU states had already “significantly changed” the accession procedure.

    Recent changes stipulated that official talks must start with the “most difficult files such as the rule of law, democracy, the fight against corruption and an independent judiciary,” Roth said.

    Roth also underlined the possibility of suspending accession negotiations through a unanimous decision by member states. This had been done in the case of Turkey, for example.

    EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, in January made it clear that her teams did not want to create new hurdles for the two Western Balkan countries.

    For Albania and Northern Macedonia “the conditions or rules should not be changed now”, she said.

    Asked if Wednesday’s proposal would be enough to turn the French around, an EU diplomat said:

    “The commission has built France a solid bridge. We are counting on Paris to join the EU consensus now and pave the way for the start of accession talks.”