A high-level delegation of the European Union will attend the ministerial week of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly, started on Sept. 18 in New York. U.S. President Donald Trump will make a debut at the United Nations, an organization that he heavily criticized his presidential candidate campaign. EU representatives will participate in a large number of events at the United Nations and meet with world leaders, reflecting the European Union's support of multilateralism and a rules-based global order.
European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans, High Representative Federica Mogherini and many EU commissioners will travel to the U.S. for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this week.
EU’s energy and transport ministers will meet for an informal meeting in Tallinn on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ministers will discuss the new design for electricity markets, ways to enhance energy efficiency and increase integration of renewable energy sources. Transport ministers will discuss the EU’s connectivity.
The European Parliament (EP) members will travel overseas during delegation week.
A delegation of MEPs from the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee will visit Tunisia to look into cooperation on migration management and border control policies between the EU and countries in the region, in particular, Libya. The delegation will also discuss search and rescue missions and the current situation in Libya, notably in detention centers and on human rights, as well as issues such as visa liberalization and readmission agreements.
A delegation from the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee will visit Washington from Sept. 19 to 21, 2017. E-commerce and the digital market, EU-U.S. cooperation in the field of services and in standards setting, market access, and public procurement, cybersecurity, economy sharing and consumer protection are among the topics to be discussed with the U.S. counterparts. MEPs will meet with trade officials, members of the U.S. Congress and Senate, the U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as with consumer organizations, think tanks, start-ups and the business community, amongst others.
Members of the Committee on Fisheries will meet with the President of the Fisheries Research and Education Agency and the Director-General of the Japan Fisheries Agency. They will visit the world’s largest fish market and also hold meetings with representatives of fishery cooperatives. They will meet representatives of the Japan Fisheries Association and experts from universities to discuss inter alia the issues of illegal and unreported fisheries.
The future of the multilateral trade system and the cooperation between the EU and Latin America in the fight against organized crime and terrorism will be some of the main topics addressed at the tenth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), taking place in El Salvador. Other issues on the agenda are food price volatility, informal and undeclared work, regulation of lobbies, and cooperation in the field of aviation and research.
In light of recent developments in Myanmar, the EP Committee on International Trade has decided to postpone indefinitely its planned visit to the country. The Parliament just adopted a resolution calling for “the killings, harassment and rape of the Rohingya people” to cease immediately.
Last week
EU aligned its lists of sanctioned people and entities of North Korea with the latest UN Security Council resolution.
The European Council prolonged the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until March 15, 2018. The measures consist of asset freezes and travel bans.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his 2017 State of the Union Address, before MEPs in Strasbourg, presenting his priorities for the year ahead and outlining his vision for how the EU could evolve by 2025. Juncker proposed the creation of a Euro-accession instrument to offer technical and financial assistance to non-euro area member states on their path towards full membership of the euro. All EU member states, except Denmark and the United Kingdom, are required by EU treaty to join the euro once they fulfill all membership conditions.
The Commission unveiled proposals to set up a European framework for screening foreign direct investment into the EU. In parallel, the Commission will start a detailed analysis of the foreign direct investment flows and set up a coordination group with member states to help identify joint strategic concerns and solutions in the area of foreign direct investment.
EP MEPs approved nearly €1.2 billion in EU aid to repair the damage caused by earthquakes in central Italy in 2016 and 2017.
In a resolution adopted last week, MEPs call on the Commission to withdraw a proposal that would reduce the number of foodstuffs from Japan to be checked for radioactive contamination.
MEPs approved EU job-search aid worth more than €3.5 million for 1,000 redundant workers in Western and Southern Finland.
MEPs passed an EU scheme to support free WIFI in public spaces. The funds will be used in a “geographically balanced manner” in more than six thousand communities across member states on a “first come, first served” basis to finance free wireless connections in centers of public life, including outdoor spaces accessible to the general public (libraries, public administrations, hospitals etc.
Belgium's appeal court on Thursday rejected a legal objection to an earlier ruling, which said PKK activities in Europe could not be classed as terrorism. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's office in 2016 appealed a Brussels court ruling that PKK activities could not be classed as terrorism but as an “armed campaign”. The court in November had refused the prosecutor’s request to send 36 alleged PKK members to a higher criminal court, saying an “armed campaign cannot be considered as terrorist acts”. The decision was made despite the group being listed as a terrorist organization by the EU, the U.S. and Turkey.
NATO on Thursday said its allies could decide on what equipment they purchase, stressing that the "interoperability" of its component armies is key. “It is up to Allies to decide what military equipment they buy. What matters for NATO is that the equipment that allies acquire is able to operate together," an emailed NATO statement to Anadolu Agency read. The NATO comments come after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement earlier this week that a first payment for the S-400 air defense system for NATO-member Turkey had been made to supplier Russia.