, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210422IPR02607/
EU blasts Turkey about provocations against Greece and Cyprus in report
In a report adopted yesterday by the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, MEPs called on Turkey to credibly prove the sincerity of its commitment to closer relations with the European Union.
The sand provocative statements against the EU and its Member States, as well as its hostile foreign policy, especially towards Greece and Cyprus, have brought EU-Turkey relations to a historic low, the report said.
Despite the fact that Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership, in recent years the Turkish government has moved away from European values and standards, it is noted.
The report calls on Turkey to credibly demonstrate the sincerity of its commitment to closer relations with the EU. If the current negative trend is not reversed urgently and consistently, the Commission should recommend a formal suspension of accession negotiations, MEPs insist.
At the same time, MEPs are concerned about the ongoing mass imprisonment of civilians, including journalists, human rights defenders, and political opponents, while acknowledging the EU’s ongoing diplomatic efforts for a genuine and effective dialogue with Turkey on a stable basis.
The report also states that Turkey has played and continues to play an important role in migration, hosting almost 4 million refugees, of whom about 3.6 million are Syrians, noting that the challenges in dealing with this crisis have increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It welcomes these efforts and encourages the EU to continue to provide the necessary support to Syrian refugees and host communities in Turkey.
The report was approved yesterday Thursday with 49 votes in favor, 4 against, and 14 abstentions.
The report will be submitted to the plenary for a vote by Parliament as a whole. Once adopted in plenary, this text will be Parliament’s official position on the EU’s relations with Turkey.
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Albania’s EU dream is on hold. Its leaders may like it that way
It is fair to say that there is little love lost between Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his main opponent in this Sunday’s election, Lulzim Basha.
Basha has long called for Rama to resign over corruption claims while his MPs even withdrew from parliament in 2019 over allegations of vote-rigging. Meanwhile, opposition demonstrations got so out of control that at one point protesters tried to break into Rama’s office.
Polls see the two men neck-and-neck ahead of the election on Sunday, although Rama is confident that his Socialist Party will secure a landslide win. That would see Rama, a former painter and basketball player, serve an unprecedented third term as leader of Albania.
But if there is one thing that Basha and Rama agree on – at least in public – it is Europe and forging ahead with Albania’s much-stalled negotiations to join the European bloc. Albania’s European future has been a key election issue in 2021, as it has been at every other national poll in recent years.
It is a no-brainer, politically, to put Europe at the forefront of debate in a country where a February 2020 poll found as many as 97% of Albanians in favour of EU accession.
“We might be the only country where you cannot find any political force, be it local or even in the margins of the political spectrum to be against the EU,” Gledis Gjipali, executive director of the European Movement in Albania, told Euronews.
But like elsewhere in the Western Balkans, Albania’s road to Europe has been long, winding, and studded with potholes. Achingly slow, it has been frustrated at every turn by both changing political realities in the region and, more recently, changes of heart in Brussels.
France’s Emmanuel Macron and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte have epitomised Europe’s reluctance to open the books in recent years. In 2019, Macron blocked Albania and North Macedonia from moving forward with their membership bids.
Macron has his eye on his own re-election in 2022, and the challenge from the anti-EU extreme right under Marine Le Pen. He said reforming the EU was more important than enlarging it, and complained about the number of asylum seekers coming from Albania to France.
“How do I explain to my constituents that the country where most asylum seekers are coming from is Albania, yet many EU ministers believe that Albania is improving and that we should launch EU accession talks?” Macron said.
Albania’s message to Europe: Send more carrots
The French president’s argument is that Europe needs to reform itself before admitting new members, and despite the singling out of Albania there are those in the country that agree. Not least, the EU needs to figure out how to deal with member states that ticked the democratic boxes when they joined only to gradually backslide once they were in, Gjipali said.
But backtracking by the EU when it comes to Albania and the wider Western Balkans is not a solution, Gjipali added. For all its failings and its slow pace, the path towards European integration has often been the sole driving force behind reform in the Western Balkans.
Without the EU carrot, political elites and authoritarian forces would only be emboldened.
“Unfinished business would not bring the so crucial stability and strong democratic values for the country. The EU power of attraction is the greatest driving force behind the reforms pursued in Albania and motivation to bear the costs of this process,” he said.
Indeed, politically the current malaise in Brussels has already benefited political elites, allowing them to blame Europe for Albania’s problems rather than the failure of successive governments in Tirana to pass sufficient reforms to tackle corruption, crime and the rule of law, analysts say.
Rama, speaking to Euronews Albania this week, that the country had fulfilled its duty when it comes to readiness for European Union membership and blamed the European Council and European Commission for the fact that it hasn’t been achieved during his eight years in power.
Privately, critics say, Albanian politicians may prefer the situation as it is. Opening negotiations would involve detailed, public inspection of every facet of Albania’s economy, government and institutions and could reveal skeletons that many would prefer remain hidden.
“Hiding behind the political issues and blockages keeping enlargement on hold takes the pressure off the government to deliver on reforms,” said Donika Emini, PhD candidate at the University of Westminster and a member of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group.
The result of this has been that Albanians – and particularly the youth – have grown increasingly despondent about Europe and apathetic about politics in general, Alfonc Rakaj, an analyst, told Euronews. As elsewhere in the Western Balkans, it is Albania’s youth that – sick of waiting for life to improve at home – flock overseas to seek opportunity in Europe and beyond.
One of the reasons that the election on Sunday is still too close to call, he added, is because so many voters are tired of the same old faces: Rama has been in politics since 1998, Basha since 2005, and neither are considered to have brought the change that voters want to see, he said.
Meanwhile, Albanians look to their neighbours and see faster progress towards integration in increasingly anti-democratic countries like Serbia, while the prospects of Kosovo, Bosnia and Albania remain at a stalemate. It has not gone unnoticed that it is the countries of the Western Balkans with Muslim majorities – or at least sizable minorities – that have languished, he said.
“For some, the EU’s inability to absorb the region has anti-Islamic undertones […], Rakaj said, “Albania has done more than Serbia, but is not even allowed to open negotiation talks.”
Is it because we’re Muslims, Albania wonders
That has been particularly acute as far-right forces in countries such as France, the Netherlands and Germany have directly linked opposition to Albania joining the EU to fears of an influx of Muslim immigrants to European countries, as well as suggestions that Albania – being a Muslim-majority nation – has links to Turkey or other Muslim states.
“The main fear of the public elite in Tirana is the identification of Albania with the religious belief of the majority of its population, and, consequently, of being prejudiced as a bearer of Turkish influence or something similar,” Afrim Krasniqi, a former MP and executive director of the Institute for Political Studies, told Euronews.
“We do not see ourselves as an extension of whomever. We do not feel as such and we do not want to identify as such.”
As full membership of the European Union looks increasingly remote, at least in the short term, some have suggested that France and other nations opposed to enlargement could suggest a two-tier EU, with select countries given some of the benefits of membership and not others. This would not be a first choice, Krasniqi said, but it would be better than nothing.
“In essence, citizens see integration as access to free movement, to study, to work, to trade, and to the same standard of living and democracy – and if these are achieved in alternative formulas, it would be an acceptable solution for us,” he said.
Others believe that for the European Union to go back on what was promised as far back as 2003, when Albania was first identified as a potential candidate, and negate all the work that has been done in the country since could be another nail in the coffin for the EU.
Even if it takes several years, full membership is the only way forward for Albania.
“The EU backtracking on a promise and commitment made to Western Balkan countries – where most of them have made painful compromises even because of the prospect of joining EU – is damaging for our countries and for EU in itself,” said Gjipali, at the European Movement.
“In an every day more globalised world, the EU needs to be stronger, decided and less ambiguous to face the increasingly known and unknown challenges.”
EU chief, Hungary’s Orban discuss COVID-19 recovery spending
By Gabriela Baczynska and Marton Dunai
BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will discuss on Friday Budapest’s plans for spending its share of the EU’s post-COVID-19 economic stimulus – for which Hungary has yet to give final consent.
Hungary is among 10 European Union countries that have not yet approved the plan for the EU executive to borrow an unprecedented 750 billion euros and then disburse money to the 27 member states to help them revive economic growth.
Orban, who has long been at loggerheads with the EU over squeezing out independent media, academics, courts and NGOs, as well as his restrictive approach to migration, has passed the decision whether to approve onto Hungary’s parliament.
Under the EU plan, national capitals must submit for approval by the Commission and other member states their programmes for spending the recovery aid, about 8.2 billion euros of which should go to Hungary.
Opposition politicians have criticised Orban for having planned spending they say will enrich his allies rather than hitting the bloc’s prescribed targets for green and digital investment. Hungary is due to hold national elections next year.
“I am fighting for European decision-makers to accept only a plan that serves the future of Hungarian society, not the power-plays of Orban and his oligarchs,” said Istvan Ujhelyi, a Hungarian socialist member of the European Parliament.
The Commission wants Hungary to reform its public procurement laws to improve transparency, competition between bidders and accountability, to curb “systemic irregularities”, overpricing and avoid mis-spending of aid.
Brussels has also called on national government to cooperate closely with local authorities when designing and implementing their recovery plans.
But Budapest’s opposition mayor Gergely Karacsony, who is widely tipped to challenge Orban in 2022, has said the government failed to consult with municipalities.
With no green light yet from Budapest for the Commission to borrow, Orban could hold the entire EU plan hostage.
Budapest has offered Brussels an apparent olive branch this month, however, by proposing to scrap a contentious NGO law and amending higher education regulations. The bloc’s top court had ruled that both violate EU norms.
Orban rejects criticism from the EU, rights groups and democracy watchdogs over his track record on the rule of law, and says Hungary is no more corrupt than other countries.
(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Catherine Evans)
EU imposes sanctions 10 individuals and two military-controlled companies in Myanmar
19 April 2021 The EU approves sanctions targeting individuals and military-controlled entities, announced in the European Council’s press statement.
The EU Council on 19 April 2021 decided to sanction 10 individuals and two military-controlled companies in Myanmar in relation to the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the ensuing military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators. The decision was taken by written procedure.
The individuals targeted by sanctions are all responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma, and for repressive decisions and serious human rights violations. The two sanctioned entities are large conglomerates that operate in many sectors of Myanmar’s economy and are owned and controlled by the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw), and provide revenue for it. The adopted sanctions specifically target the economic interests of Myanmar’s military regime, which is responsible for the overthrow of Burma’s democratically elected government. Sanctions are crafted in such a way to avoid undue harm to the people of Myanmar.
Today’s decision is a sign of the EU’s unity and determination in condemning the brutal actions of the military junta, and aims at effecting change in the junta’s leadership. Today’s decision also sends a clear message to the military leadership: continuing on the current path will only bring further suffering and will never grant any legitimacy.
Restrictive measures, which now apply to a total of 35 individuals and two companies, include a travel ban and an asset freeze. In addition, EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities.
Pre-existing EU restrictive measures also remain in place. These include an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression, and a prohibition on military training for and military cooperation with the Tatmadaw.
EU restrictive measures add to the withholding of financial assistance directly going to the government and the freezing of all assistance to government bodies that may be seen as legitimising the junta.
The EU remains a steadfast supporter of Myanmar/Burma’s people and of the country’s democratic transition. As a tangible sign of this support, the European Commission has recently allocated a further EUR 9 million in emergency humanitarian aid to assist those in need. Since 1994, the EU has provided €287 million in humanitarian aid to Myanmar, with €20.5 million allocated in 2021 so far. The EU works with trusted and independent humanitarian partners to address the protection, food, nutrition and health needs of the most vulnerable people, particularly in Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Shan states.
The relevant legal acts, including the names of the persons and entities concerned, have been published in the Official Journal.
- Council decision and implementing regulation implementing Regulation (EU) No 401/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Myanmar/Burma
- Myanmar/Burma: EU sanctions 11 people over the recent military coup and ensuing repression (press release, 22 March 2021)
- Myanmar/Burma: Council adopts conclusions (press release, 22 February 2021)
- Myanmar: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union, 2 February 2021
EU cross-border healthcare
One truth is certain for all rare diseases, but especially for severe genetic ones: the faster patients get the right treatment, the better their chances of living a full life or potentially even being cured.
Time can be a precious luxury to someone diagnosed with a rare genetic disease, so getting timely access to new innovative therapies is critical.
Rare Disease Day, an annual event that is marked each year on the last day in February, is a unique occasion to increase awareness of rare diseases that affect an estimated 30 million people in the EU. But it is also an occasion to shine a light on the transformative scientific achievements of gene and cell therapies that are bringing new hope to patients who previously had few, if any, treatment options.
However, although the EU’s approach to cross- border healthcare is a critical patient access pathway for patients with rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases, it is not fit for purpose, and this is becoming increasingly clear as more and more gene therapies come to market.
Cross-border healthcare – a vital path for rare and ultra-rare disease patients
The reality for many patients and their families is sobering. Gene therapies and other Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) require specialist treatment processes. They cannot be administered in an average hospital setting. Instead, highly specialised, accredited treatment centres are needed, staffed by specialist doctors and nurses who need dedicated training.
Furthermore, the disease expertise and specialist skills that are required may not be widely available in every European country. This makes a functioning cross-border healthcare framework at the EU level essential to provide patients with access to life-saving therapies. The European Commission’s evaluation of the Directive provides an opportunity to examine the current and future needs of patients in cross- border healthcare with both pathways in mind.
A complex and little-known framework that fails to address the specificities of gene and cell therapies
Patients whose very survival depends on therapies that can only be delivered abroad must face a flurry of challenges to access the treatment that will hopefully change their lives forever. The current EU framework is composed of two pieces of legislation which each lay out a different, but equally complex, patient journey: The ‘Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare’ and the ‘Regulation on the Coordination of Social Security Systems’.
In addition to the limited awareness among clinicians and patients of these two pathways, and of the Regulation especially, the journey from diagnosis to treatment is marked by a labyrinth of burdensome and time-consuming processes. These negatively affect patient mobility and could ultimately affect their outcomes.
Furthermore, both pathways are impacted by several challenges that systematically prevent patient access to treatment. The current design of the Directive requires upfront payment by the patient, an unrealistic expectation highlighted by the European Court of Auditors, which is exacerbated in the case of high value, one-time gene therapies.
In effect, this has made the so-called ‘S2 pathway’, provided by the Regulation, the only viable route for patients seeking access to gene and cell therapies in another EU member state.
However, the S2 pathway is not without flaws. Patients using it to seek planned treatment abroad will face a complex approval process with several hurdles to overcome. Moreover, approval timelines vary by country, ranging from a few weeks to several months, presenting an obstacle to accessing urgent, potentially life-saving treatment.
The approval process if the treatment is not directly covered in the patient’s home country is discretionary and extremely opaque. This leads to unequal patient access across the EU. In addition, innovative payment and risk-share models are challenging to implement in a cross- border healthcare context.
What can be done?
In the short- to medium-term, to increase awareness among patients and healthcare professionals, it is critical that a unified single source of reliable, user-friendly and accessible information is established, to navigate the cross- border healthcare framework for all stakeholders (ie, a dedicated EU website).
The current challenges patients face when seeking access to an approved gene therapy or other ATMP could be partially addressed by a
set of practical changes to improve the current framework. This includes removing the burden of upfront payment from patients by enabling direct billing between health institutions.
The development of Commission guidelines that set harmonised review and approval timelines that will expedite time-to-treatment in the EU
will help address, in part, the shortcomings of the S2 pathway. Furthermore, to make more rapid and transparent approval decisions around this, national health authorities could draw on existing joint Health Technology Assessment initiatives, such as EUnetHTA.
It’s time for action
Rare Disease Day gives us the opportunity to look at the achievements of science, but it’s also important to look at what still needs to be done to help patients get access to new and innovative treatments.
There’s a real opportunity for the European Union to act as a ‘one-stop shop’ to increase process transparency and help patients, clinicians and national health decision-makers navigate the current complexity of the cross-border healthcare system.
In the last few years, the promise of gene and cell therapies has finally become tangible for certain patients and their families with a severe genetic and rare disease. But this promise will only become a reality if patients can gain rapid access before their disease progresses to a point of no return.
The clock is ticking for all stakeholders, from patient associations and clinicians to policymakers and industry, to work together to overcome today’s hurdles of cross-border access for rare and ultra-rare diseases. Only then can we ensure that rare disease patients in Europe can benefit – regardless of where they live.
Longer term, the EU should consider new, more ambitious policies, such as the establishment of a pan-EU solidarity fund from which member states could draw to fund access to gene therapies for rare and ultra-rare disease patients. This would be in keeping with the vision of the European Commission to create a healthier EU as announced in the EU4Health plans in May 2020.
WHO, FAO, and OIE call for stronger coordination in mitigating health threats
In a joint statement released today, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and WHO, committed to strengthening multisectoral coordination and efforts to combat health threats associated with interactions between humans, animals and the environment across Europe and central Asia.
This message was reiterated at a virtual event of the regional Tripartite members, represented by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Mr Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, and Dr Budimir Plavsic, OIE Regional Representative for Europe.
They committed to establishing and supporting a regional coordination mechanism for the One Health approach to foster its implementation at both the executive leadership and technical expert levels.
As part of the regional coordination mechanism, the Tripartite will also establish a Regional One Health Partner Platform that will bring together policy-makers, partners and experts to provide strategic advice and foster the implementation of the One Health agenda in Europe and central Asia.
“The sudden outbreak and amplitude of the current COVID-19 pandemic, a human health crisis potentially caused by a virus passed down from animals, highlights the need for coordinated action across sectors to protect health and prevent food systems disruptions,” said Mr Rakhmanin.
Dr Kluge welcomed the formation of the Tripartite, saying: “The Tripartite has long recognized One Health as ‘the way of working’ to address various health issues originating at the animal-human-environment interface. WHO does not take its role and contribution to One Health lightly. However, despite years of collaboration within the Tripartite and with regional partners, we can do better.
“That is why we warmly welcome the formation of the One Health Coordination Mechanism for Europe and central Asia. The Mechanism will allow us to engage with Member States at a political and technical level, providing a platform to convene international and national stakeholders to jointly view needs and challenges through a One Health lens – and collectively mount a response to avoid duplicating efforts and wasting resources.”
Dr Plavsic said: “Today we want to send a strong message on our commitment to implement our joint One Health vision throughout the whole of Europe, in its 53 Member States, with their national health systems engaged in multisectoral partnerships and capable of preventing, detecting, containing and eliminating animal and public health risks with zoonotic potential and huge impact on food security and overall stability”. He added that the One Health mechanism, established today, will facilitate functional collaboration with other partners in Europe and increase capacities for prevention and control, not only for the current pandemics of COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but also for those which will come, from spillover events at the animal-human-environment interface.
One Health is an integrated global initiative for ensuring a holistic approach to tackle health threats to animals, humans, plants and their shared environment.
The regional coordination mechanism was established to identify the regional One Health priorities, facilitate operationalization of activities in those areas, and support joint engagements and partnership at the animal-human-environment interface for coordinated support to countries and maximized country impact.
The involvement of all relevant decision-makers and experts of the Tripartite organizations, combined with the Partner Platform, will ensure a strong, high-level coordination of support and a high political profile across the One Health areas, combined with a dedicated, synchronized technical delivery in the countries.
Zoonotic diseases with pandemic potential, foodborne diseases, and endemic zoonosis, such as rabies and brucellosis, are causing many infections and deaths across the globe, while, at the same time, incurring serious socioeconomic costs.
The current pandemic, as well as the continuous emergence of health threats originating at the animal-human-environment interface, urges the 3 organizations to reassess, renew and increase assistance to countries to prevent, detect, assess and manage potential health threats, with the aim of protecting health, avoiding economic disruptions and sustaining livelihoods.
In the joint statement, the Tripartite in Europe and central Asia acknowledges the importance of close collaboration and communication among all sectors responsible for health, under the One Health approach. The approach is particularly relevant to address health issues associated with AMR, zoonotic diseases, food safety and health security.
Conference on the Future of Europe: preparations continue
After the successful launch of the multilingual digital platform, the Executive Board continues to fine-tune arrangements prior to the inaugural hybrid event on 9 May.
At their third meeting on Thursday (22 April), the Executive Board endorsed the event’s draft programme, which will take place on Europe Day. It will be broadcast live, and will feature remote citizen participation and interventions by the Presidents of the three EU institutions.
The representatives of the European Parliament, Council and Commission also endorsed the Conference’s Rules of Procedure regarding the European citizens’ panels, and in relation to the Principles and the Scope of the Conference. Each panel will comprise 200 citizens and will ensure that at least one female and one male citizen per Member State is included. Citizens will be chosen randomly to set up panels that are representative of the EU’s diversity, in terms of geographic origin, gender, age, socioeconomic background and level of education. Young people between 16 and 25 will make up one-third of each panel.
They also held an exchange of views on the rules of the Conference Plenary, aiming to reach an agreement at their next meeting.
Parliament’s Co-Chair of the Executive Board, Guy Verhofstadt, said: “We are preparing the ground to get as much interaction as possible between the two starting tracks of the Conference – the platform and the citizens’ panels. The next step is to set up the Plenary to reflect Europe’s diversity of opinion and take up the ideas and suggestions from citizens, on which the success of the Conference depends.”
The Portuguese Secretary of State for EU Affairs, and Co-Chair from the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Ana Paula Zacarias, said: “The level of participation in the Conference’s digital platform over the last days had been truly impressive. Citizens are answering our call for participation and it’s time to move a step further and set the Conference in motion.”
Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, and Co-Chair, Dubravka Šuica, said: “This Conference is all about engaging and empowering citizens. We keep them at the forefront of all our thinking on the Conference. Whether they are pro-Europe or sceptical, we want to hear from them, so we can respond to their concerns.”
Next steps
The next meeting of the Executive Board is scheduled to take place on 9 May in Strasbourg. Nevertheless, additional meetings might still be scheduled in the weeks before.
Background
The Executive Board is composed of representatives from the three institutions (European Parliament, Council and Commission), on equal footing. It oversees the work, process and organisation of the Conference. COSAC representatives participate as observers to all Board meetings. Representatives from the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and social partners are also invited as observers.
The multilingual digital platform is fully interactive: people can engage with one another and discuss their proposals with fellow citizens from all Member States, in the EU’s 24 official languages. People from all walks of life and in numbers as large as possible are encouraged to contribute, via the platform, in shaping their future – and also to promote the platform on social media channels, with the hashtag #TheFutureIsYours
EU urges ‘flexibility’ to seal Swiss deal
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen called for “flexibility” as Switzerland’s president visited Brussels Friday for talks aimed at breaking the logjam over a long-delayed cooperation agreement.
Brussels has made no secret of its growing impatience to nail down a “framework agreement” to unify a patchwork of accords with Bern, 13 years in the making.
“In a negotiation, the final metres are the most difficult,” European Commission president von der Leyen said at the start of the meeting.
“I do, however, think that it should be possible to find compromises and conclude our institutional framework agreement. We just need some flexibility on both sides.”
For the EU, negotiations on the deal concluded in 2018 — but the Swiss have continued to press for changes and have so far balked at signing.
The agreement would rejig five major agreements within 120 bilateral accords that govern non-EU member Switzerland’s relations with the bloc.
Among other points, they touch on access to the single market and fine-tuning applicable Swiss and EU laws.
“Over the past months, our chief negotiators have conducted very intense negotiations on the items which remain outstanding,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin said.
“These discussions have been far from easy, however, but I think I can say that both sides have shown their commitment to make a success of these negotiations today.”
Fears abound that failing to secure the framework deal could jeopardise Switzerland’s relationship with its largest trading partner at a time when more than half of all Swiss exports go to the bloc, which all but surrounds the landlocked country.
- ‘Prerequisite’ –
Declarations that the deal was nearly dead have multiplied in recent months.
Some hope of a comeback was restored with a report in Switzerland’s Blick newspaper this week suggesting Bern would offer easier access to Swiss residence permits for people from newer EU member states in eastern Europe in exchange for a fresh revision of the deal.
While not really comparable to Brexit, Switzerland would face significant consequences if the framework agreement falls through.
Since 2008, the EU has insisted Switzerland must sign the agreement before concluding any new bilateral deals.
Brussels reiterated that position last week, with European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer insisting the agreement was “necessary to develop good relations between the European Union and Switzerland”.
“It is a prerequisite for these relations to continue,” he said.
Switzerland’s leader meets von der Leyen with this warning in mind, while facing pressure from the economic and financial sectors to save the deal — and demands from opponents to not cave in to the EU.
Parmelin is from the populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party. Switzerland’s largest political party has for years led efforts to resist closer ties with the EU, and has described the framework agreement as a “Diktat from Brussels”.
There are also calls for the agreement to be put to a referendum, in keeping with the direct democracy system in the small, Alpine country.
The overarching accord would require revising five existing bilateral agreements on free movement, industrial standards, agriculture, air and land transport — and the creation of a joint arbitration court that could enable compensation for breaches.
It would also require the creation of an arbitration court to settle differences between the two sides.
Bern has continued to ask for clarifications on three points: Swiss wage protection, state subsidies and a directive that would give EU citizens in Switzerland the same right to social security as Swiss citizens.
So far, Brussels has said it is willing to provide clarifications on certain points, but has ruled out any renegotiations.
no-interest loans from EU to support country
(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, APRIL 23 - European Union ambassador to
Tunisia, Marcus Cornaro, has expressed the EU’s full support to
efforts made by the Tunisian government with its national
program of economic reform.During a meeting with Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi at the
government palace, Cornaro added that the EU has mechanisms of
support and cooperation that will be made available to the
Tunisian government, according to a statement released by
Tunisia’s cabinet. The EU – Cornaro also said – “will be the
first to defend Tunisia with member countries through ambitious
programs in the field of investments and employment”.
The Union will give Tunisia loans and subsidies without
interests in 2021, with the objective of supporting efforts by
the country to mobilize financial resources and will work to
coordinate and further unify efforts with Tunisia on European
programs for the reconstruction of Libya, in particular in the
sectors of transport, trade, logistics and immigration.
For his part, the Tunisian prime minister said that Tunisia
is working to strengthen cooperation with the EU, especially
because relations between the two sides are strategic and
constructive. Mechichi added that Tunisia, now experiencing a
difficult financial situation, will conduct negotiations with
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through a consensual
economic program with all national organizations and stressed
the Union’s efforts and continued support to the success of the
democratic process in Tunisia.
Mechichi’s government plans to start negotiations with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the start of May in
Washington to obtain a new funding plan. (ANSAmed)
