Brussels briefing, July 9

 European Central Bank President and European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) Chair Mario Draghi will discuss perspectives on economic and monetary developments, as well as virtual currencies and the central banks' monetary policy with the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday.

The EU-Ukraine summit will be organized in Brussels on Monday in which EU and Ukraine leaders will exchange views on the next steps in the implementation of the association agreement and its free trade area. The agreement has been applied since 2016 and has delivered positive results on EU-Ukraine trade as well as on the country's economy. They will also discuss progress on the Ukrainian reform agenda and the EU's support for this process. The summit will reaffirm the EU's support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity amid ongoing Russian aggression and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. At the summit, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will represent the EU while President Petro Poroshenko will represent Ukraine.

 A meeting of NATO heads of state and government will be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend his first major international summit since his reelection. At the meeting, Erdogan will meet and hold meetings with a number of world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Theresa May.  Erdogan is also expected to meet Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Juncker and European Parliament President Antonio Tajani.

An EU-Japan summit will be held in Brussels on Wednesday. EU and Japan leaders are expected to reaffirm their commitment to the rules-based international order and to free trade. On this occasion, leaders will sign the EU-Japan economic partnership agreement and the EU-Japan strategic partnership agreement.

The free trade agreement will remove most of the duties that EU companies pay annually to export to Japan as well as several regulatory barriers.

The strategic partnership agreement will take the EU's longstanding partnership with Japan to a new level with deeper and more strategic cooperation. Tusk and Juncker will represent the EU and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe will represent Japan. High Representative Federica Mogherini and EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom are also expected to attend.

Employment and Social Affairs Committee will vote on an update of EU legislation on paternity, parental and carers leave on Wednesday in Brussels. The amount that a worker would be entitled to during leave and the right to request flexible working arrangements are among the issues up for proposal. 

The Internal Market Committee will propose measures to tackle dual quality of products on Thursday in Brussels. Tests in several EU member states have found quality differences between products sold under the same brand and packaging in different EU countries (e.g. fish fingers, soft drinks, coffee, cosmetics and laundry detergents).

The Eurogroup will meet in Brussels on Thursday. Eurogroup President Mario Centeno will inform ministers of the outcome of the June Euro summit. He will also briefly outline the issues related to the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union on which the Eurogroup will be expected to work until the next Euro summit meeting scheduled for this December.

 Economic and Financial Affairs Council will meet in Brussels on Friday. Ministers will discuss the so-called VAT reverse charge mechanism proposal, which would allow member states to temporarily apply a generalized reversal of VAT liability. They will also discuss a proposal to allow member states to apply non-standard VAT rates to electronic publications. Ministers are expected to exchange views on the follow-up to the European Council of June 28-29, 2018.

The Austrian presidency will present its work program on economic and financial matters.

The Council is also expected to approve the terms of reference for the G20 meeting of finance ministers on July 21-22, 2018.