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EU contributes €7.5 million towards UNICEF supporting most vulnerable children and families in Syria

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Newsdesk
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More than one million people to benefit from access to life-saving services across the country

DAMASCUS, 29 December 2020 – The European Union has contributed €7.5 million towards UNICEF’s support for the most vulnerable children and families in Syria. This funding will help provide over one million conflict-affected people, mainly children and women, with access to protection, health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene services. This comes in addition to an earlier contribution of €1.5 million to support preparedness and response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic in both Northwest and East Syria.

“With the crisis in Syria approaching its tenth year, UNICEF remains committed to supporting the humanitarian needs of more than 5 million children in Syria,” said UNICEF Representative in Syria, Mr. Bo Viktor Nylund. “Our partnership with the European Union has been substantial to ensuring the most vulnerable children, including those with disabilities, are protected, reached with quality education, health and nutrition and have access to water and sanitation services.”

Since 2016, the European Union has provided more than €34 million in humanitarian funding for UNICEF’s support to children in Syria.

“After almost a decade of conflict, the most vulnerable children in Syria need our support more than ever,” said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič. “Providing them with emergency assistance, protection and access to safe water and sanitation is essential, especially during the ongoing pandemic. But EU humanitarian aid also extends to ensuring Syrian children have access to an education, which represent the hope of a better and more inclusive future.”

The 2020 multi-donor humanitarian action, supported by the European Union, will help UNICEF reach:

  • 310,000 people with emergency water and sanitation services, and 80,000 with access to lifesaving emergency WASH facilities and services.
  • 50,000 children and mothers with life-saving curative and preventive nutrition services, and 80,000 children as well as women of childbearing age with primary health care consultations.
  • 7,000 children through access to education and learning materials.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org.

Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook

Media contacts
Salam Abdulmunem
Communication Specialist
UNICEF
Tel: +963931471840
Email: [email protected]

Europe’s push for an animal welfare label risks an epic trade dispute

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Europe's push for an animal welfare label risks an epic trade dispute

On December 7, the Council of the European Union (EU) concluded that it’s time for a label on animal welfare, setting up what could become an epic trade dispute between Brussels and much of the world. 

Brussels has a long history of legislating minimum animal welfare standards. Europe has a mandatory label on table eggs, and a patchwork of voluntary labels on meat products. Animal welfare is also a part of Europe’s organic farming rules. Now Brussels wants an EU-wide label to help consumers identify, and reward, farmers who invest more in animal husbandry.

What would such a label look like? Consider France’s Étiquette Bien-Être Animal, a label adopted by Carrefour and other retailers. It assigns a letter A (“superior”) through E (“minimal”) based on 230 criteria. These criteria build upon the EU’s “Five Freedoms” for farm-kept animals, including that they be raised without hunger or distress. Since 2018, there has also been talk of considering the animal’s emotional state. All told, the label’s creators say that it clearly conveys the information that consumers want, all in an intuitive way. An EU-wide label will be marketed in much the same way.

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Farmers exporting to Europe will see things differently. They’ll argue that an EU-wide label is a “disguised” restriction on trade. They’ll say the record-keeping and verification requirements are onerous and disproportionate to the amount of information on the label. They’ll insist that the criteria vetted by the label are based on how European farmers do things, not science. And they’ll claim that the letters, numbers or colors on the label will be mistaken for a quality or health standard. What’s more, they’ll probably be right.

Mere conjecture? Not really. All of these arguments have been made countless times in trade disputes over labels, often with success. For example, in United States — Certain Country of Origin Labelling, the World Trade Organization (WTO) found the record-keeping and verification costs to be far in excess of what consumers could learn from the label. Few consumers understood what the letters meant, and most, if not all, mistook them for quality rankings. Moreover, there was no evidence consumers were willing to pay for this information, even if they fully understood the label.

The U.S. country of origin label was mandatory. Imagine that, instead, the EU makes its label voluntary. That’s where things get really interesting. 

Back in 2012, the WTO convened a meeting on how to define voluntary standards in the case of health standards. This was no easy feat. But many developing countries had an example in mind: GlobalGAP. GlobalGAP, originally called EUREGAP, was launched in 1997 to incentivize “good agricultural practice,” including animal husbandry. The key was that retailers would take the lead, not governments. Compliance with GlobalGAP is necessary to get shelf space in many retailers around the world. The presented developing countries with a problem: the WTO has a lesser grasp of voluntary, as opposed to mandatory, standards. Brazil wasn’t buying it.

Brazil argued there is nothing voluntary about GlobalGAP. It’s de facto mandatory. How so? Brazil explained that retailers who adopted GlobalGAP represent too much market share to treat it as voluntary. In other words, GlobalGAP has the effect of being mandatory because it is virtually impossible to get shelf space from a retailer for food that is not compliant. An EU-wide animal welfare label, even if voluntary, will be open to the same charge.

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There will be fights over an EU-wide label within Europe as well. The Council’s decision is breathtaking in its scope and, not surprisingly, anticipates frictions. For example, there’s the call not to punish countries with higher animal husbandry standards, but also a plea to write criteria that are “achievable by all” EU members. The Council expects that the label will cover all livestock at each stage of its life, transport and slaughter, yet also wants different geographical and climatic conditions across Europe to be taken into consideration. Finally, the Council wants the label to account for rules on organic farming, its “interplay” with national labels and the financial cost of doing all this.

To manage these and other frictions, look for a variety of exceptions to bridge intra-EU differences. Because these derogations are likely to be available to domestic farmers, but not foreign ones, they’ll be the low hanging fruit if (when?) the EU-wide label is challenged at the WTO. 

Animal welfare is an important and legitimate public policy goal. The trick is to pursue it without creating a disguised restriction on trade. Has the EU Council asked for the impossible?

Marc L. Busch is the Karl F. Landegger Professor of International Business Diplomacy at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and host of the podcast TradeCraft.

Opinion: European Union free at last

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Newsdesk
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Opinion: European Union free at last

Blaming the victims is never a good look. As Britain finally leaves the European Union, more than 1,600 days days after the Brexit referendum of 2016, we should try to remember that 48 per cent of the turkeys didn’t vote for Christmas.

Brexit was not exactly a national act of self-harm; it was really an attack by the nostalgic and nationalist old on the young. 60 per cent of British over-65s voted to leave the EU, but 61 per cent of the under-35s voted to remain. Having had four years to think it over, most British now think it was a mistake – by a 48-39 majority, according to a YouGov poll in October.

Too late. Boris Johnson is prime minister and he dares not anger the English ultra-nationalists on the right of his own Conservative party. After months of the amateur dramatics that accompany any Johnson decision, on Christmas Day the United Kingdom concluded a pathetically thin ‘free trade’ deal that reflects the real balance of power between the EU and the UK.

Johnson will smear lipstick all over this pig of a deal and declare it a triumph. Those who want to believe it will do so, and the only early evidence of the huge defeat that it really is will be some delays at the ports as customs officers learn their new jobs. The real bill will come in later and almost invisibly, in lost trade, investment and opportunities.

The last official British government estimate was that fifteen years from now the British economy will be between five per cent and seven per cent smaller than it would have been as an EU member (but still a bit bigger than it is now).

That’s not the raw material for a counter-revolution – and besides, any projection about the economic situation in 2035 is really pure guesstimate. One Covid more or less could make just as much difference as Brexit.

All one can say is that the British economy will not “prosper mightily” outside the EU, as Johnson promised, but it won’t collapse either. And then, in due course, the younger, pro-EU Brits will become the majority thanks to the magic of generational turnover. But until then, if Britain comes knocking at the EU’s door asking to be allowed back in, Brussels should say ‘no.’

What really happens on 31 December is that the European Union is finally freed to develop in the way that its other major members clearly want. The goal of ‘ever closer union,’ anathema to English exceptionalists, is back on the agenda.

There is ambivalence in every member country about the idea of creating a semi-federal European super-state, but in a world where democracy and the rule of law are under siege most people can see the need to strengthen the European Union. Last July the EU’s leaders took a huge step in that direction: for the first time they agreed to borrow collectively on the financial markets.

France and Germany were all for it, and Italy and Spain needed the money to finance a trillion-euro aid programme to help them through the coronavirus crisis. Those four countries now contain more than half the EU’s population, and they outvoted the ‘frugal four’ (the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark) that opposed taking on debt to support ‘feckless’ Mediterranean members.

If Britain had still been a member, it would have vetoed the measure because it infringed on the UK’s sacred ‘sovereignty.’ French President Charles de Gaulle, who vetoed British membership applications twice in the 1960s, was right: England does not have a ‘European vocation’, and it should not be allowed in.

The financial precedent that was set in July opens the door to a future EU that acts much more like a state. Even a common defence budget is now within reach – not something vital in military terms, but a European army would be a hugely important symbol of unity.

The United States may be back soon, but the world could certainly use a second powerful advocate for democracy and the rule of law. Brexit may be giving us just that by freeing the EU to move on, and we should be grateful.

Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work).’

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EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Council adopts decision on the signing

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Council of the EU and European Council
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EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Council adopts decision on the signing

The Council has today adopted, by written procedure, the decision on the signing of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and its provisional application as of 1 January 2021, pending the consent of the European Parliament and conclusion by the Council decision next year.

The agreement will now be signed by the two parties on 30 December 2020. European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will sign in Brussels on behalf of the European Union while Prime Minister Boris Johnson will sign in London on behalf of the United Kingdom.

After the formal signing, the decision adopted today on the signature and provisional application and the agreement itself will be published in the Official Journal of the EU in all languages and will be provisionally applied from 1 January 2021.

Table of Contents

Next steps

Next year, the Council will adopt the decision on the conclusion of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, once the European Parliament has given its consent and once all procedures necessary for the entry into force have been completed.

Background

On 23 June 2016, UK citizens voted to leave the EU. On 29 March 2017, the UK formally notified the European Council of its intention to leave the EU. On 17 October 2019, the European Council (Article 50) endorsed the Withdrawal Agreement as agreed by the negotiators of both sides. It also endorsed the revised Political Declaration on the framework of the future EU-UK relationship.

The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020 at midnight (CET) and the withdrawal agreement entered into force on 1 February 2020.

Negotiations on the future partnership between the EU and the UK started on 2 March 2020.

In June 2020, the UK decided not to seek an extension to the transition period. The transition period will therefore end on 31 December 2020.

MP cabinet approves Freedom to Religion Bill 2020 as ordinance

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Newsdesk
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MP cabinet approves Freedom to Religion Bill 2020 as ordinance

The Madhya Pradesh government Tuesday approved the Freedom to Religion Bill 2020 as an ordinance in a special cabinet session, after which it was sent to the Governor for her nod.

The state government has taken the ordinance route much like the Uttar Pradesh government to clear its stringent law prohibiting forced religious conversion under its Freedom to Religion Bill 2020. This comes after the three-day session of the assembly was cancelled owing to high cases of COVID-19 being reported.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister @drnarottammisra responding to question on demolition of house in #Ujjain after #clashes between @BJYMMP & residents of Muslim dominated Begum bagh says, ‘Pathar jaha se aaenge, wahi se toh nikale jaenge.’ @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/PBr1Exhcnm

— Iram Siddique (@Scribbly_Scribe) December 29, 2020

The three-day assembly session was cancelled by a joint committee of all leaders on Sunday night after about 60 people including officials, employees and five MLAs had tested positive for COVID-19.

Claiming to curb religious conversions using misrepresentation, allurement, force, threat, undue influence, coercion, marriage or any other “fraudulent means”, the MP Bill stipulates jail terms of one to five years, with a fine of Rs 25,000, in such cases. The penalty in case of a person using “misrepresentation” or “impersonation” for religious conversion will be higher, including a jail term of 3-10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000.

In contrast, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, passed last month, says religious conversion using any of the above means, including misrepresentation and impersonation, would entail a jail term of one to five years and a fine of Rs 15,000.

In a significant departure from the UP ordinance though on registration of FIRs in such cases, the MP Bill says these can be dealt with only by police personnel not less than the rank of a sub-inspector, and that solely parents and siblings of the affected individual can file a complaint directly. In case a guardian or a custodian wants to register an offence, they must approach a Sessions Court authorised to deal in these matters and get a court order.

The other big departure between the MP Bill and UP law is the provision for maintenance to women and rights to the property to children in the marriage under question in the legislation planned by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. The matter of maintenance will be dealt with as per Section 125 of the CrPC.

In both states, marriages proved to have been undertaken for the sole purpose of a religious conversion or conducted without appropriate notice to the district administration can be declared null and void by family courts.

Return to one’s original religion — as in the religion one is born into or that practiced by one’s father — will not be counted as a conversion.

While both UP law and MP Bill envisage a jail term of two to ten years in case a person being converted is a minor, or belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the MP legislation talks of a penalty of Rs 50,000 against Rs 25,000 in UP.

Both the legislations talk of three to five years of prison terms for religious organisations or individuals seen as carrying out mass conversions, but again the penalty in MP is higher (Rs 1 lakh) than UP (Rs 50,000).

In both states, organisations or priests carrying out conversions have to inform the district administration about 60 days before the date of conversion, failing which the organisation can have its registration cancelled and the priest or facilitator face a jail term. But the MP Bill stipulates a higher penalty again (of Rs 50,000, and 3-5 years’ jail term) in such cases, compared to one year extended up to five years and Rs 25,000 in UP.

Brexit ends the right of Britons to live and work in the European Union

By
Esmond Barker
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London (AP) – Until now, the vast majority of British and European Union citizens have not felt the reality of Brexit. Although the UK leaves the European Union on January 31, it follows the bloc rules until the end of this year as part of a transition period for the new economic relationship.

This is all about to change.

On January 1, Britain embarked on its new, more distant relationship with the European Union after nearly five decades of close economic, cultural and social integration.

The change in Britain’s economy and people is the most dramatic since World War II, and certainly more than what happened when the country joined what was then the European Economic Community in 1973.

“It’s a much bigger shock to our economic system and it will happen immediately,” said Anand Menon, UK director at a changing European think tank and professor of European policy and foreign affairs at Kings College London.

“Suddenly you wake up in a new world at the beginning of January.”

Here are some of the changes to movement that people will start feeling overnight.

What will change?

Although the coronavirus pandemic has led to a collapse in the number of travelers between Britain and the European Union, the end of freedom of movement from January 1 will be the most realistic outcome of Brexit yet.

Under the divorce agreement that the two sides agreed to on December 24, nearly a million British citizens legally residing in the European Union would have the same rights they now enjoy. The same applies to the more than 3 million European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom

But British citizens will no longer have the automatic right to live and work in the European Union, and vice versa. People wishing to cross borders to settle will have to follow immigration rules and face other routine procedures such as ensuring that their qualifications are recognized.

The exception is people traveling between the United Kingdom and Ireland, where there is a separate common travel area.

For many in the European Union, the freedom to travel, study and live anywhere in the bloc of 27 countries is among the most attractive aspects of European integration.

However, some in Britain and other parts of Western Europe have become more skeptical of freedom of movement after many ex-communist countries in Eastern Europe joined the European Union in 2004 and many of their citizens moved to the United Kingdom and other wealthier countries for work. Concerns about immigration were a major factor in Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016. On January 1, the consequences of this decision will be felt for British citizens and Europeans alike.

What are the new travel rules?

Although holiday travel will remain visa-free, British citizens will only be allowed to spend 90 days out of every 180 in the European Union, while the UK will allow European citizens to stay for up to six consecutive months.

For retired British citizens who used to spend more than three months in their second homes on Spain’s sunny Costa del Sol, the change could come as a shock. British travelers in Europe will also have to leave at least six months in their passports and purchase their travel insurance. The British will no longer be issued with the European Health Insurance Card, which guarantees access to medical care across the bloc, but the UK says it is creating an alternative system so that UK visitors to the bloc and EU citizens visiting Britain still enjoy medical coverage.

What about pets?

For British citizens who used to take their dogs or cats or ferrets on vacation in Europe every summer, the situation will be further complicated because Britain will not be part of the pet passport scheme in the European Union – although the agreement avoids the cumbersome procedures that take months to some. Feared. Pet owners in the UK will need to obtain a microchip and vaccination against rabies at least 21 days before travel, and will need to obtain an animal health certificate from a veterinarian at least 10 days before departure.

Will driving be difficult?

The deal means that British drivers will not need an International Driving Permit once they cross the canal. British motorists can travel in the European Union on their licenses and insurance in the UK, as long as they carry proof that they are insured in the form of a “green card”.

what about work?

The end of freedom of movement will have a major impact on employment on all sides of the labor market.

A newly graduated British citizen on vacation in the Greek islands, for example, will not be able to walk to a beach bar and search for part-time work without the necessary visa. The same goes for European citizens who arrive in the UK, and will not be able to come to a sandwich shop like Pret a Manger and look for work without the necessary documents.

Large companies will also find it much more difficult and costly to hire people from the other side. The deal includes provisions to allow contractors and business travelers to take short-term business trips without visas.

Follow all AP stories about Brexit and British policy at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit

Inertia in the European integration of the Western Balkans in 2020

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Inertia in the European integration of the Western Balkans in 2020

In early 2020, Croatia’s EU presidency managed to renew its policy of integrating the Western Balkans. This happened after the acceptance of the French conditions for the negotiations to be reversible, with the candidate countries meeting the standards for the rule of law from the very beginning. The European Commission announced as a priority the start of membership talks with the Republic of Northern Macedonia and Albania. Bulgaria welcomed this and linked the process to the achievement of tangible results by North Macedonia on the implementation of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation between the two countries from 2017. It was stated that Albania wwas to monitor the rights of the Bulgarian national minority in the country.

The German presidency called for negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia to begin by the end of 2020. The EU warned in June that it would not mediate the dialogue between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, that good neighbourly relations and regional co-operation remained essential elements of the enlargement process. There were high hopes that the joint Bulgarian-Macedonian presidency of the Berlin Process would create a positive atmosphere for resolving the case. ()

Yet the forum’s leadership meeting in Sofia in November ended with the signing of a declaration on the creation of a Common Regional Market in the Western Balkans and a Declaration on the Green Agenda. A breakthrough in Bulgarian-Macedonian relations was not achieved and in December Bulgaria vetoed the technical beginning of North Macedonia’s EU integration. More on the conclusions of the European integration of the Western Balkans in 2020 in the interview with Assoc. Prof. Spas Tashev*:

“Candidate countries must also meet certain membership criteria. It is obvious that they are quite far from meeting them”, comments the researcher and expert on the Balkan region in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. “Even Serbia which has been negotiating with the EU for more than 8 years does not open new chapters. Others, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo are even further behind. We need to prepare for a long process, first to prepare for the start of negotiations, and then for conducting the negotiations themselves”.

In the outgoing year, under the pretext that elections were to take place in the Republic of North Macedonia, the Joint Commission on Historical Affairs 

<p>from the side of North Macedonia came out with the  argument that it was waiting for a mandate to continue the negotiations. One  year was lost. The upcoming elections in Bulgaria are yet another straw that might  be grabbed by Skopje to postpone the resumption of talks. It is a fact that there  are still violations of the human rights of the citizens in the Republic of  North Macedonia, who, despite the repressions, have preserved their Bulgarian  self-consciousness. I think that when these facts reach our partners, they will  think twice whether they will lightly support Skopje."</p>  <p><b>Is there a useful move?</b> Bulgaria should look for an ally in the presentation  of its thesis on the case with the European integration of North Macedonia and  in the first place these are the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia,  according to Assoc. Prof. Tashev:</p>  <p>"I have lived in Skopje for 4 years. There is a  multi-layered self-consciousness in North Macedonia, even an identity crisis.  Many people are wondering what the messages from Bulgaria are, which will be,  if not well received, then at least received with interest. <b>In any case,  Bulgaria must strengthen its work among the Bulgarian community in the Republic  of North Macedonia and the descendants of the old Bulgarian-Macedonian  emigration to the United States and Canada</b>. It should also promote the  creation of objective, civil society-controlled media in the country without  fake news”.</p>  <p><b><i>In negotiations with the EU,  Albania is bound to the Republic of North Macedonia. Can this change?</i></b></p>  <p>"I think the first signal came from Sofia, when  our authorities said that Albania was meeting the criteria whereas Skopje had  not met them, which is why we are saying yes to Albania, and we are saying 'no'  to North Macedonia start negotiations. Attention must be paid to the Albanian  factor in the Balkans, which is not united. There is a great difference in  political influence from Tirana and from former Yugoslavia. The key to  stability in the region is the integration of Bulgaria, North Macedonia and  Albania /i.e. of the countries of the European Corridor 8, but with mutual  respect for our common interests."</p>        <p><b><i>Does the lack of reforms or the Kosovo issue determine the course of  Serbia’s European integration?</i></b></p>  <p>"The Kosovo issue is  like a millstone around the neck of Serbian politicians," says Assoc.  Prof. Tashev. “It will be very difficult for Serbs to break their emotional  strands with Kosovo. From this point of view, the processes in Serbia and  Macedonia, as successor states to the post-Yugoslav space, are similar. In both  countries, we have seen political elites say they want EU membership, but in  practice they were working in a completely different direction”.</p>  <p><b><i>What is the worst-case  scenario for the Western Balkans in 2021?</i></b></p>        <p>"The worst-case scenario is a passive Bulgarian  policy that runs after the events and does not generate political  knowledge," the analyst concludes. "The goal of the Bulgarian foreign  policy should not be to isolate North Macedonia from such a negotiating  integration process, but rather to create such conditions under which the  negotiation process could start while Bulgaria’s national interests are also  achieved."</p>      <p><i>* Assoc. Dr. Spas Tashev  graduated from the Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and  the University of National and World Economy. He is the founder and first  director of the Bulgarian Cultural Information Center in Skopje and a former  deputy chairman of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad. He has a doctorate  in statistics and demographics from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He has  defended a dissertation on "Demographic perspectives of Bulgaria and  immigration policy." He has participated in the updates of the Strategy  for Demographic Development of Bulgaria. He is the author of a number of books  and scientific articles.</i></p>      <p>English Rossitsa Petcova
            </span>

Bosnia and Herzegovina: EIB provides €340 million to advance works on northern part of Corridor Vc

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Newsroom
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Bosnia and Herzegovina: EIB provides €340 million to advance works on northern part of Corridor Vc
©WBIF

  • €340 million to accelerate the construction works on Corridor Vc and boost socioeconomic recovery in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

  • The EIB has committed more than €1 billion for the construction of Corridor Vc.

  • Modern motorway will improve road safety, functionality and mobility for 1.5 million people.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has unlocked €340 million for the construction of the 36-kilometre section of road between Poprikuše and Medakovo on Corridor Vc, key connectivity infrastructure in the country that is also supported by European Union grants and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). This investment creates new employment and business opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and contributes to regional integration.

With €340 million of new financing allocated to Corridor Vc, the EIB continues to support this pivotal route on the pan-European network connecting the port of Ploče in Croatia with Hungary via Bosnia and Herzegovina. To date, the EU bank has provided €1 billion for the construction of a 155-kilometre motorway along the Bosnia and Herzegovina section of the corridor. This modern transport network is expected to ease commuting for 1.5 million people, contribute to road safety and promote regional cooperation.

As part of exceptional measures adopted in response to COVID-19, the EIB will increase its financing to cover 90% of the total costs to advance project implementation.

EIB Vice-President Lilyana Pavlova, who is responsible for the Western Balkans, said: “The EIB provides continuous support for the development of modern motorways on Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Modern, safer roads and better transport connections are vital for economic development, fluent trade and regional cohesion and can help attract new foreign investments. This transaction will help create new job opportunities and support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s post-COVID-19 recovery and integration with the regional and EU market.”

Head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador Johann Sattler said: “I am glad that a new section of Corridor Vc is now financially secured thanks to the efforts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EIB, the investment bank of the European Union. The EIB’s investment will help to bring us closer to the objective of the Western Balkans Economic Investment Plan to complete 75% of Corridor Vc by 2024. As the largest donor for Corridor Vc, the European Union has allocated over €200 million for the construction of 11 sub-sections of Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina to complement the EIB loans. As a result, BiH citizens will be better connected not only within the country but to the rest of Europe as well.”

The Minister of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina Vjekoslav Bevanda emphasised the importance of this agreement for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its state and regional significance in terms of development of modern infrastructure, increased safety and motorway capacity. “Each project related to construction of the motorway on Corridor Vc is of great importance and each kilometre represents a step closer to Europe for us. This is why this agreement, in addition to its financial value, will have a positive impact for the public, who will have access to 35 kilometres of new motorway on the Poprikuše-Medakovo section,” said Minister Bevanda.

Background information

About the EIB in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

The EU bank has been active in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1977.

About the EIB in the Balkans:

The EIB is one of the leading international financiers in the Western Balkans. Since 2009, the Bank has financed projects totalling over €8 billion in the region.

The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) provides financing and technical assistance to strategic investments in the energy, environment, social, transport, and digital infrastructure sectors. It also supports private sector development initiatives.

EU airlines remove non-EU voter rights as per new Brexit rules

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Newsdesk
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EU airlines remove non-EU voter rights as per new Brexit rules

London — Ryanair Holdings and Wizz Air Holdings will take away the voting rights of shareholders outside the EU to ensure they comply with the bloc’s airline ownership rules after the Brexit transition.

All non-EU nationals will lose their voting rights from January 1, Irish discounter Ryanair said on Tuesday in a statement. Hungarian rival Wizz said separately it would take the same step, disenfranchising a majority of its shareholders.

Airlines with a large constituency of British shareholders risk falling out of compliance with EU ownership rules at year-end. The bloc requires airlines that operate routes between two destinations within its borders to be majority controlled by EU nationals. UK citizens will no longer count as EU-based with the end of the Brexit transition.

Without any action, London-traded Wizz said that more than 80% of its ownership would reside outside the EU. It said about 60% of its shareholder base would receive restricted-share notices barring them from voting or attending shareholder meetings.

Ryanair said Britons would join other non-EU nationals in not being able to buy its shares, a policy in place since 2002.

The issue also affects the rights of airlines such as British Airways (BA) owner IAG and easyJet to operate within the bloc.

In the Brexit accord reached last week, the sides agreed to explore a liberalisation of the ownership rules over the next 12 months, potentially insulating carriers from challenges based on their ownership structure.

IAG, which also owns Iberia and Vueling, is incorporated in Spain but has significant UK, US and Qatari ownership. It has said it will modify the ownership of its Spanish airlines as required to comply with the rules. Under the current set-up, their status as EU-controlled could be tested.

UK-based easyJet said on December 23 that it would suspend voting rights of some holders on a “last in, first out” basis if necessary to lift its EU voting base above 50%. At the time, it was at 47%, excluding the UK.

Ryanair was little changed as of 8.35am in Dublin. Wizz rose 1.4%, easyJet was up 3.3% and IAG gained 4.1% in London, in their first trading session since the Brexit deal was announced.

Bloomberg

Call Between Charles Michel And Boris Johnson

By
Council of the EU and European Council
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Read Out Of The Phone Call Between European Council President Charles Michel And UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

European Council Press release 28 December 2020

Both leaders welcomed the fair and balanced greement reached on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union with a view to the upcoming signature, which is scheduled for 30 December. The agreement is essential as it creates stability and predictability for citizens and companies.

In the fight against climate change, both leaders agreed to intensify the future cooperation between the UK and the EU. They agreed to take work forward with a view to the COP 26 in Glasgow. The recent EU decision to adapt its 2030 target was welcomed.

Both leaders agreed to intensify work on the global response to pandemics.  In this regard, the idea of a possible treaty on pandemics, which could help to strengthen  global preparedness and response was discussed, notably in the framework of the UK presidency of the G7. 

On foreign affairs, President Michel and Prime Minister Johnson stated their common interest to continue exchanging views and seek cooperation on specific issues based on shared values and interests.

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