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EPP Group conditions for EU budget green light

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by the EPP

Following the agreement in the Council on the EU’s long-term budget and the Recovery Fund, the European Parliament will vote its political response tomorrow, 23 July, in the plenary session.

Five political groups in the European Parliament, EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens and GUE-NGL, agreed on a common response to the Council’s deal. The EPP Group Vice-Chair Siegfried Muresan, responsible for budgetary issues said ahead of the plenary vote:  

“I take note of the agreement reached in the Council on the EU’s budget and the recovery fund however, the ball is in the European Parliament’s court now. Simply put, we does accept the EU budget proposal in its current form. The 27 national leaders secured their national interest, now it’s up to the EP to secure the interest of Europe as a whole.

Five political groups in the EP hold a broad majority to enter the negotiations with the Council in order to deliver an EU budget that serves our citizens.

Five key points are difficult to accept for the EPP Group.

Firstly, the EPP Group does not accept the EU budget as it stands. We demand increases, especially in the areas that have suffered the biggest cuts, like Erasmus, Horizon, Just Transition Fund, Defence Fund or the Healthcare. Secondly, it is unacceptable that the rule of law clause has been considerably weakened. It is a priority that this mechanism is strengthened and allowed to be activated by “reversed qualified majority”. Thirdly, more commitment is needed to put in place new own resources as soon as possible in order to pay for the interest rates and start the repayment of NGEU. Fourthly, the EP must be involved in the decision on the recovery facility through delegated acts. And finally, should there be no agreement between the Council and the EP by the end of October, a ‘Plan B’ budget must be available to ensure continuity of the current programmes.

One thing is clear, the European Parliament will have the last word on the EU budget and there will be no agreement in the EP without negotiation and improvements.”

MEPs debate recovery fund, condemn major cuts to long-term EU budget | News | European Parliament

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In the debate with Council and Commission Presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, the deal reached at the recent European Council meeting on the recovery fund was qualified as “historic” by many MEPs as for the first time, member states have agreed to issue €750 billion of joint debt. With cuts made to the long-term budget (multiannual financial framework, MFF) however, most were “not happy”.

“We are not ready to swallow the MFF pill”, said Manfred Weber (EPP). Also, S&D leader Iratxe García would not accept the cuts, “not at a time when we need to strengthen our strategic autonomy and reduce disparities between Member states”.

Many highlighted that the question of reimbursing the debt was not resolved. MEPs insisted that the burden must not fall on the citizens, and that a robust system of new own resources including a digital tax or levies on carbon for the repayment must be guaranteed, with a binding calendar. Furthermore, many underlined that “the EU is not a cash machine for national budgets”, deploring that “frugal” countries do not want to pay the price for benefiting from the single market, and insisting that no funds should go to “pseudo-democratic” governments which do not respect the rule of law and EU values.

Others were more sceptical about new own resources generating enough to repay all the debt and warned that the crisis should not be used as a pretext for further EU integration. Most however stressed that Parliament is ready for swift negotiations to make the necessary improvements to the Council’s common position.

MEPs now vote on a resolution to wind up the debate, which will serve as a mandate for the upcoming negotiations with the German Presidency of the Council of the EU. The result of the final vote will be announced in plenary today at 17.30.


Click on links to view individual statements

Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

Manfred Weber (EPP, DE), Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, ES), Dacian Cioloș (RE, RO), Nicolas Bay (ID, FR), Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, BE)

Robert Zīle (ECR, LV), Martin Schirdewan (GUE/NGL, DE)

Closing remarks by Charles Michel, President of the European Council

‘Temporary Basic Income’ could slow COVID surge, provide lifeline for world’s poorest

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Temporary Basic Income: Protecting Poor and Vulnerable People in Developing Countries, estimates that it would cost governments upwards of $199 billion per month, to provide what UNDP describes as “a time-bound, guaranteed basic income, to the 2.7 billion people living below or just above the poverty line in 132 developing countries.”

The agency describes it as a “feasible” measure, that is urgently needed, with the pandemic continuing to infect more than 1.5 million per week, particularly in developing countries, where seven out of ten workers make a living through informal markets, and cannot earn money if they are stuck at home.

“Many of the huge numbers of people not covered by social insurance programmes are informal workers, low-waged, women and young people, refugees and migrants, and people with disabilities – and they are the ones hardest hit by this crisis”, said UNDP in a press release issued along with the report.

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented social and economic measures…This might have seemed impossible just a few months ago – UNDP chief, Achim Steiner

UNDP has carried out assessments on the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 in more than 60 countries since the pandemic began, with data confirming that workers who lack benefits, have no choice but to venture outdoors, putting themselves and their families at risk.

Providing essentials

A Temporary Basic Income would give them the means to buy food and pay for health and education expenses, said UNDP.

It is also a realistic fiscal move: a six-month Temporary Basic Income, for example, would require just 12 percent of the total financial response to COVID-19 expected in 2020, said UNDP, which is the equivalent of just one-third of what developing countries owe, in external debt payments through 2020.

‘Unprecedented times’

“Unprecedented times call for unprecedented social and economic measures. Introducing a Temporary Basic Income for the world’s poorest people has emerged as one option. This might have seemed impossible just a few months ago”, said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

“Bailouts and recovery plans cannot only focus on big markets and big business. A Temporary Basic Income might enable governments to give people in lockdown a financial lifeline, inject cash back into local economies to help keep small businesses afloat, and slow the devastating spread of COVID-19”, he said.

No ‘silver bullet’

UNDP said that a Temporary Basic Income should not, however, be viewed as a “silver bullet solution”. Protecting jobs, expanding support to micro, small and medium enterprises, and using digital solutions to identify and access people who are excluded, are all measures that countries can take.

The agency suggests that some countries could pay for the radical measure by repurposing funds they would have used to service their national debt. Developing and emerging economies will spend $3.1 trillion in debt repayment this year, according to official data.

Debt standstill

A comprehensive debt standstill for all developing countries, as called for by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, would allow countries to temporarily repurpose these funds into emergency measures.

Several countries have already begun to embrace the concept. The West African State of Togo has distributed over $19.5 million in monthly financial aid to over 12 percent of the population through its cash transfer programme, mostly to women who work in the informal sector.

Spain recently approved a monthly budget of €250 million to top up the incomes of 850,000 vulnerable families and 2.3 million individuals, up to a minimum threshold.

UNDP is leading the UN’s socio-economic response to COVID-19 recovery and implementing recovery strategies in countries across the world.

Covid-19: 10 things the EU is doing to ensure economic recovery

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1. Slowing the spread of the virus

To help limit the transmission of the virus in Europe and beyond, the EU has closed its external borders to non-essential travel, while ensuring essential goods keep moving across the EU through the introduction of green lanes. Additional resources are foreseen for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which provides rapid risk assessments and epidemiological updates on the outbreak.

2. Supporting EU health systems and infrastructures

With several experts mentioning the possibility of a second wave or future pandemics, buttressing the EU’s response capacity to health crises is key. To help Europe cope with future outbreaks, the EU launched the new EU4Health programme, which will bolster member states’ healthcare systems as well as fostering innovation and investment in the sector. EU4Health is part of the Next Generation EU recovery plan. The Parliament had insisted on the creation of a new stand-alone European health programme.

3. Protecting small and medium-sized businesses

Small and medium-sized enterprises represent 99% of all businesses in the EU, making their survival crucial to the EU’s economic recovery. The EU unlocked €1 billion from its European Fund for Strategic Investments to incentivise banks and lenders to provide liquidity to more than 100,000 European small businesses.

4. Mitigating unemployment risks

Jobs have been hard hit by the pandemic, with unemployment figures rising dramatically. To help workers in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the EU’s Support mitigating Unemployment Risks in Emergency (Sure) initiative will provide financial assistance of up to €100 billion to member states in the form of loans granted on favourable terms to help cover the costs of national short-time work schemes.

5. Supporting the tourism industry

Another sector badly affected by the pandemic is tourism. Europe is the world’s number one tourist destination and the EU introduced a series of measures designed to help the industry cope during the crisis, as well as a package to reboot Europe’s tourism in 2020 and beyond. Relief measures for the transport sector were also introduced, to minimise the effects of the pandemic on airlines, railways, road and shipping companies. To help people travel in Europe as various countries gradually lift lockdown measures, the Re-open EU interactive tool provides travellers with the information they need to confidently plan their travel and holidays in the EU while staying healthy.

6. Banking package to support households and businesses

To ensure banks continue providing loans to businesses and households to mitigate the economic fallout from the crisis, the Parliament approved a temporary relaxation of prudential rules for European banks. Changes to the capital requirements regulation will enable pensioners or employees with a permanent contract to get loans under more favorable conditions, ensure credit flows to small and medium-sized enterprises, and support infrastructure investment.

7. Supporting agriculture and fisheries

In order to avoid disruption to food supplies and prevent food shortages, the Parliament approved emergency measures to help farmers and fishermen affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Measures include supporting fishermen and aquafarmers who have had to stop their activity during the crisis and increasing the support EU countries can give to small firms dealing with farm food. Exceptional market measures were also introduced to support EU wine, fruit, and vegetable producers.

8. Helping countries fund their crisis response

To help member states fund their coronavirus crisis response, the EU launched a new initiative, the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative. It will channel some €37 billion from EU structural funds to provide immediate financial support to EU countries trying to help people and regions face the current crisis.

9. Relaxing state aid rules

As the pandemic was beginning to spread throughout Europe, the EU launched a Temporary Framework on State Aid rules to ensure sufficient liquidity remains available to businesses of all types and help maintain economic activity during and after the Covid-19 outbreak. Member states will be able to grant up to €800,000 to a company to address urgent liquidity needs or grant loans with favorable interest rates.

10. Protecting weakened European businesses from foreign competitors

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has left many European companies vulnerable to subsidized foreign competitors. To help protect businesses, the Parliament called for a level-playing field for all businesses, to avoid distortions to the single market stemming from unfair competition from foreign companies. The Commission also launched a public consultation on how to deal with the negative effects caused by foreign subsidies. In parallel, the EU issued guidelines for member states on foreign direct investment, urging them to thoroughly screen investments from outside the EU to avoid risks to the EU’s security and public order.

Find out 10 things the EU is doing to fight the coronavirus

Buddhist Times News – Nepal to Restart Domestic and International Flight Services

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Shyamal Sinha
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Buddhist Times News – Nepal to Restart Domestic and International Flight Services

By  —  Shyamal Sinha

The Nepal government has decided to resume domestic and international flight operations starting from August 17, nearly four months after they were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension of the flights came on March 22 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, reported Xinhua news agency.

During the months, only chartered flights for humanitarian purpose or delivery of medical goods were allowed.

Yogesh Bhattarai, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told Xinhua on Monday evening that the decision was taken during a cabinet meeting earlier in the day. “My ministry will prepare detailed health protocols to resume the operation of the flights,” he said.

The government’s move follows the decreasing rate of COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan country in recent days.

With new 186 cases on Monday, total COVID-19 cases in Nepal reached 17,844, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. Monday’s decision was welcomed by tourism entrepreneurs.

Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of Buddha Air, welcomed the government’s decision, saying that they are all prepared for “new normal flights” with all passengers, airports and crew’s safety protocols in place.

Kishor Raj Pandey, chairman of Sathi Travel Agency, told Xinhua on Monday that the move would not help lead to a significant jump in international travels but some business travels could take place.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also severely hit the domestic flight operators as their aircraft have been grounded for months and their expenses continue to rise, especially because of insurance and payment of employees salaries, despite the government deciding to waive the airport ground charges and other fees.

“We are not expecting tourists coming to Nepal at least for next 3-4 months but people associated with travel agencies abroad are willing to come to Nepal if the flight resumes,” he said. On June 10, the country relaxed the COVID-19 lockdown, allowing some economic activities to resume.

Future EU financing and recovery: MEPs to assess summit outcome | News | European Parliament

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Future EU financing and recovery: MEPs to assess summit outcome | News | European Parliament

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Future EU financing and recovery: MEPs to assess summit outcome | News | European Parliament

To wind up the extraordinary plenary debate, scheduled from 9:30-12:30, MEPs will adopt, on the same day, a resolution on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), an Own Resources system and a Recovery Plan for Europe.

Commenting on the outcome of the European Council meeting of Heads of States or Governments from 17-21 July in Brussels, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli said on Tuesday: “After days of discussions, European citizens expect an agreement that lives up to this historical moment. We are worried about a future where European solidarity and the Community method are lost. The European Parliament has set out its priorities and it expects them to be met. The multiannual financial framework must be able to address the main challenges facing Europe in the medium term, such as the Green Deal, digitalisation, economic resilience, and the fight against inequalities.”

“New own resources are needed immediately. We also need measures to ensure the effective defence of the rule of law. Furthermore, Parliament has repeatedly called for the end of rebates. If these conditions are not sufficiently met, the European Parliament will not give its consent. COVID-19 is still here and we are seeing new outbreaks in Europe. More than ever it is necessary to act quickly and courageously.”


Follow the plenary live on EbS or the European Parliament’s webstream.


Next steps

The Council will now finalise its mandate to enter negotiations with Parliament on the planned MFF for 2021-2027, own resources reform and the recovery plan. Parliament will have a final say on the MFF before it can enter into force. The current multiannual budget runs out on 31 December 2020.

MEPs will set out their conditions in Thursday’s plenary resolution. The EP’s negotiating team will take up negotiations with the German Presidency of the Council of the EU as soon as possible.

Europe’s Pandemic Sales Slide Quantified

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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Europe's Pandemic Sales Slide Quantified

A new report by the Federation of European Publishers aims to quantify the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on European publishers. According to the report, the impact began to be felt the moment bookstores closed across much of Europe in March. “The chilling effect on demand was unmistakable: sales in bookstores dropped anywhere between 75% and 95% in most countries where a lockdown was in place,” the report states. Just looking at the second half of March, sales were down as much as 80% in Spain and 75% in Italy, two of the hardest hit countries; Germany, by comparison, saw a drop of just 30% for the same period. April was even worse, with sales at France’s larger stores dropping by 96% and German stores saw a drop of 47%.

As a result of these lost sales, publishers revenue plunged proportionally. “Overall sales were down 66% in France between mid-March and mid-April, and one of the largest publishing groups recorded a [decline of] 90% in sales in early April,” according to the report. “In Italy, close to one-third of publishers estimated a loss of more than 70% of their turnover for March.” Germany’s publishing sector lost €500 million, while Spain‘s lost €200 million.

Like in the U.S., publishers across Europe began delaying or even cancelling the publication of titles, with many facing liquidity challenges. Italy may have had the most dramatic result of all, with the cancellation or postponement of 23,200 titles, representing about a third of annual output.

Book fairs, including those in Bologna and London, were closed and the rights trade, as well as other ancillary businesses, halted.

Also as in the U.S., the online sales of books spiked in Europe. “They were up 52% in March and 180% in April in Flanders; many online platforms doubled or tripled their sales in France in early April; in the year up to mid-April, online sales in Italy for the first time ever overtook sales in stores, reaching a 47% share, and by June they had become 40% of total book sales in Romania. In the U.K, in April, WH Smith’s in-store sales dropped 85%, whereas online sales went up 400%.”

E-book sales also rose and, in France for example, digital downloads from French libraries rose five-fold. Students also shifted from physical textbooks to online learning materials. One downside of this shift was, according to the report, a sharp increase in digital piracy. The report noted, “For example, Spanish reproduction rights’ organisation CEDRO recorded a tripling of the level of digital book piracy in Spain in April.”

Perhaps the only silver lining to be found in the report is the news that 33% of people worldwide read more books or listened to more audiobooks while at home during the crisis.

In conclusion, the Federation states, “At this stage, the only thing certain is that the book sector has suffered a serious blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, of which the precise dimensions are not yet clear – not least because of lingering and dynamic effects and delayed impacts.” The Federation then makes a plea for “public authorities to take appropriate measures to repair the damages and rebuild the future.”

“Baha’i World” articles examine migration, existential stress

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“Baha’i World” articles examine migration, existential stress | BWNS

BAHA’I WORLD CENTRE — Two new articles have been published today in the online publication The Baha’i World, which is releasing, in the context of the current pandemic, a series of articles on migration and themes relevant to the well-being and progress of humanity.

“Rethinking Migration from a Global Perspective” explores the relationship between social transformation and the movement of human populations within and across borders. The article highlights insights from the Baha’i teachings and the social sciences in pursuit of greater understanding of a global phenomenon that affects virtually every society.

The concept of transformation is approached from another perspective in “The Light Was in the Darkness: Reflections on the Growth that Hides in the Pain of Suffering.” This article looks at existential stress, a form of suffering that is unique to the human experience, and probes its relationship to individual growth and development, drawing on the rich spiritual and philosophical heritage of humanity.

The Baha’i World website makes available a selection of thoughtful essays and long-form articles on a range of subjects of interest to the wider public, conveying advancements in Baha’i thought and action and reflecting the Faith’s purpose in the world.

An email subscription service is available, allowing subscribers to be informed when new articles are published.

Religion and government in the United States – eight facts from Pew

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Religion and government in the United States – eight facts from Pew

Many Americans believe in the separation of church and state, but others, often conservative evangelicals often argue that the notion is nowhere to be found in the U.S. Constitution.

Dalia Fahmy wrote for Pew Research on July that separation of church and state has come under scrutiny again this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with religious conservatives in a series of rulings.


One of the rulings allows states to fund religious schools indirectly, while another protects religious schools from federal employment discrimination lawsuits.

Fahmy wrote that Americans have been debating where to draw the line between religion and government since the founding of the United States.

She notes that even as the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans rises, church and state remain intertwined in many ways – often with the public’s support.

She outlined eight facts about the connections between religion and government in the United States, based on previously published Pew Research Center analyses.

  1. Every state constitution references either God or the divine, but the U.S. Constitution does not mention God,

“God also appears in the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and on U.S. currency,” write Fahmy.

  1. The U.S. Congress has always been overwhelmingly Christian, and roughly nine-in-ten representatives (88 percent) in the current Congress identify as Christian, 2019 analysis finds.

PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS OVERREPRESENTED

While the number of self-identified Christians in Congress slipped down in the 2016 election, Christians as a whole – and especially Protestants and Catholics – are still overrepresented on Capitol Hill relative to their share of the U.S. population.

The religious makeup of the 116th Congress

  1. Almost all U.S. presidents, including Donald Trump, have been Christian, and many have identified as either Episcopalian or Presbyterian.

Still, two of the most celebrated presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, had no formal religious affiliation. Most U.S. presidents have been sworn in with a Bible, and they traditionally seal their oath of office with “so help me God.”

  1. Roughly half of Americans feel it is either very (20 percent) or somewhat (32 percent) important for a president to have strong religious beliefs, according to a survey in February.

But only around four-in-ten (39 percent) say it is important for a president to share their religious beliefs. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it is at least somewhat important for a president to have strong religious beliefs (65 percent vs 41 percent).

  1. Americans are divided on the extent to which the country’s laws should reflect Bible teachings.

Nearly 50 percent of U.S. adults say the Bible should influence the country’s laws either a great deal (23 percent) or some (26 percent), and more than a quarter (28 percent) say the Bible should prevail over the will of the people if the two are at odds, the February survey found. Half of Americans, meanwhile, say the Bible shouldn’t influence U.S. laws much (19 percent) or at all (31 percent).

Half of Americans say Bible should influence U.S. laws; and 28 percent favor it over the will of the people

  1. A total of 63 percent of Americans say churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics.

An even higher, more than three quarters (76 percent) say these houses of worship should not endorse political candidates during elections, according to a 2019 survey. But, more than a third of Americans (36%) say churches and other houses of worship should express their views on social and political matters. (The Johnson Amendment, enacted in 1954, prohibits tax-exempt institutions like churches from involvement in political campaigns on behalf of any candidate.)

  1. Only about a third of Americans (32 percent) say government policies should support religious values. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) say religion should be kept out of government policies, a 2017 Pew Research Center survey found.

  1. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that it is unconstitutional for a teacher to lead a class in prayer at a public school, yet 8 percent of public school students ages 13 to 17 say they have experienced this, according to a 2019 survey.

(It is, however, possible that some teens who spoke of the experience, could have previously attended religious private schools where teacher-led prayer is constitutional.) This experience is more common in the South (12 percent) than in the Northeast (2 percent). Forty-one percent of U.S. teens in public schools feel it’s fitting for a teacher to lead a class in prayer, including 29 percent of teens who know that this practice is banned but say it is acceptable nevertheless.

Deforestation has slowed down but still remains a concern, new UN report reveals

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Deforestation: The finding comes in its latest Global Forest Resources Assessment report (FRA 2020), which aims to turn the tide on deforestation, or the conversion of forest to other uses such as agriculture.

“The wealth of information on the world’s forests is a valuable public good for the global community to help facilitate evidence-based policy formulation, decision-making and sound investments in the forest sector,” said Maria Helena Semedo, the FAO Deputy Director-General.

Forest area decreasing

The global total forest area stands at some 4.06 billion hectares but continues to decrease, according to the report.

FAO estimates that deforestation has robbed the world of roughly 420 million hectares since 1990, mainly in Africa and South America.

The top countries for average annual net losses of forest area over the last 10 years, are Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Angola, Tanzania, Paraguay, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bolivia and Mozambique.

Sustainability at risk

However, there is good news as the rate of forest loss has declined substantially over the past three decades. The annual rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares between 2015-2020, compared with 12 million during 2010-2015.

The area of forest under protection has also reached roughly 726 million hectares: nearly 200 million more than in 1990.

Still, there is cause for great concern, according to FAO.

Senior Forestry Officer Anssi Pekkarinen, the report’s Coordinator, warned that global targets related to sustainable forest management are at risk.

“We need to step up efforts to halt deforestation in order to unlock the full potential of forests in contributing to sustainable food production, poverty alleviation, food security, biodiversity conservation and climate change while sustaining the production of all the other goods and services they provide”, he said.

Forests: for people and the planet

The FRA report has been published every five years since 1990. For the first time ever, it contains an online interactive platform with detailed regional and global analyses for nearly 240 countries and territories.

“These newly released tools will enable us to better respond to deforestation and forest degradation, prevent biodiversity loss and improve sustainable forest management,” said Ms. Semedo, the FAO deputy chief.

The UN agency believes forests are at the heart of global efforts to achieve sustainable development that benefits both people and the planet.

Protecting forests is critical as millions worldwide depend on them for their livelihoods or for food.

Forests also contain thousands of different tree, mammal and bird species, among other life forms, and they help mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Therefore, information about forests, such as the report, play a vital role in conservation.

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