EU-US Trade: European Commission endorses rebalancing duties on US products
Brussels, 6 June 2018
The College of Commissioners endorsed today the decision to impose additional duties on the full list of US products notified to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as part of the EU's response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium products.
Following today's decision to apply additional duties to selected imports from the United States, the Commission expects to conclude the relevant procedure in coordination with Member States before the end of June so that the new duties start applying in July.
The application of the rebalancing duties is fully in line with WTO rules, and corresponds to a list of products previously notified to the WTO. The WTO Safeguards Agreement allows for a rebalancing corresponding to the damage caused by the US measures with EU exports worth €6.4 billion (2017) being affected. The EU will therefore exercise its rights immediately on US products valued at up to €2.8 billion of trade. The remaining rebalancing on trade valued at €3.6 billion will take place at a later stage – in three years' time or after a positive finding in WTO dispute settlement if that should come sooner.
Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said: "This is a measured and proportionate response to the unilateral and illegal decision taken by the United States to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports. What's more, the EU's reaction is fully in line with international trade law. We regret that the United States left us with no other option than to safeguard EU interests."
The imposition of rebalancing duties on a list of selected US products is part of the three-pronged response outlined by the European Commission, that includes the launch of legal proceedings against the US in the WTO (on 1 June) and the possible triggering of safeguard action to protect the European market from disruptions caused by the diversion of steel from the United States market. On this, an investigation was launched on 26 March and the Commission has nine months to decide whether safeguard measures would be necessary. If the investigation confirms the necessity for swift action, such a decision could be taken by summer. As regards aluminium, the Commission has put in place a surveillance system for imports of aluminium to be prepared in case action is required in that sector.
On 7 March, the College of Commissioners decided that the Commission should continue engaging with the US on other trade-related processes. A trilateral meeting with the US and Japan took place on 31 May in Paris, during which progress was made to address some of the root causes of the current tensions in the trading system, including China's trade distorting practices.
For More Information
List of products for rebalancing
IP/18/4083 Copyright European Union
EU budget: Commission proposes most ambitious Research and Innovation programme yet
Brussels, 7 June 2018
For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the Commission is proposing €100 billion for research and innovation.
A new programme – Horizon Europe – will build on the achievements and success of the previous research and innovation programme (Horizon 2020) and keep the EU at the forefront of global research and innovation. Horizon Europe is the most ambitious research and innovation programme ever.
Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said “Investing in research and innovation is investing in Europe's future. EU funding has allowed teams across countries and scientific disciplines to work together and make unthinkable discoveries, making Europe a world-class leader in research and innovation. With Horizon Europe, we want to build on this success and continue to make a real difference in the lives of citizens and society as a whole.”
Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, added: "Horizon 2020 is one of Europe's biggest success stories. The new Horizon Europe programme aims even higher. As part of this, we want to increase funding for the European Research Council to strengthen the EU's global scientific leadership, and reengage citizens by setting ambitious new missions for EU research. We are also proposing a new European Innovation Council to modernise funding for ground-breaking innovation in Europe".
While continuing to drive scientific excellence through the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships and exchanges, Horizon Europe will introduce the following main new features:
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A European Innovation Council (EIC) to help the EU become a frontrunner in market-creating innovation:The Commission's proposal will establish a one-stop shop to bring the most promising high potential and breakthrough technologies from lab to market application, and help the most innovative start-ups and companies scale up their ideas. The new EIC will help identify and fund fast-moving, high-risk innovations with strong potential to create entirely new markets. It will provide direct support to innovators through two main funding instruments, one for early stages and the other for development and market deployment. It will complement the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
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New EU-wide research and innovation missions focusing on societal challenges and industrial competitiveness:Under Horizon Europe, the Commission will launch new missions with bold, ambitious goals and strong European added valueto tackle issues that affect our daily lives. Examples could range from the fight against cancer, to clean transport or plastic-free oceans. These missions will be co-designed with citizens, stakeholders, the European Parliament and Member States.
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Maximising the innovation potential across the EU: Support will be doubled for Member States lagging behind in their efforts to make the most of their national research and innovation potential. Moreover, new synergies with Structural and Cohesion Funds will make it easy to coordinate and combine funding and help regions embrace innovation.
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More openness: The principle of 'open science' will become the modus operandi of Horizon Europe, requiring open access to publications and data. This will assist market uptake and increase the innovation potential of results generated by EU funding.
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A new generation of European Partnerships and increased collaboration with other EU programmes: Horizon Europewill streamline the number of partnershipsthat the EU co-programmes or co-funds with partners like industry, civil society and funding foundations, in order to increase their effectiveness and impact in achieving Europe's policy priorities.Horizon Europe will promote effective and operational links with other future EU programmes, like Cohesion Policy, the European Defence Fund, the Digital Europe Programme and the Connecting Europe Facility, as well as with the international fusion energy project ITER.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Commission's science and knowledge service, will continue to contribute with scientific advice, technical support and dedicated research.
The proposed budget allocation of €100 billion for 2021-2027 includes €97.6 bn under Horizon Europe (€3.5 bn of which will be allocated under the InvestEU Fund) and €2.4 bn for the Euratom Research and Training Programme. The Euratom programme, which funds research and training on nuclear safety, security and radiation protection, will have an increased focus on non-power applications such as healthcare and medical equipment, and will also support the mobility of nuclear researchers under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
Next steps
A swift agreement on the overall long-term EU budget and its sectoral proposals is essential to ensure that EU funds start delivering results on the ground as soon as possible. Delays would force Europe's brightest minds to look for opportunities elsewhere. This would imply the loss of thousands of research jobs and harm Europe's competitiveness. From fundamental research to market-creating innovation, key advances in e.g. healthcare, climate action, green transport and sustainable agriculture would slow down; solutions for cancer treatments, greenhouse gas emissions, smart cars, and healthy diets would be delayed.
An agreement on the next long-term budget in 2019 would provide for a seamless transition between the current long-term budget (2014-2020) and the new one and would ensure predictability and continuity of funding to the benefit of all.
Background
The Horizon Europe proposal builds on the success of the current programme, Horizon 2020. The interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 showed that the programme is on track to help create jobs and growth, tackle our biggest societal challenges and improve people's lives. It shows that the programme has clear European added value, producing demonstrable benefits compared to national or regional-level support. As of May 2018, it has supported over 18,000 projects with over €31 billion awarded.
Today's proposal also builds on the Commission's contribution to the EU Leaders' meeting on 16 May in Sofia "A renewed European Agenda for Research and Innovation - Europe's chance to shape its future", which highlighted the needed steps to ensure Europe's global competitiveness.
About two-thirds of Europe's economic growth over the last decades has been driven by innovation. Horizon Europe is expected to generate new and more knowledge and technologies, promoting scientific excellence, and to have positive effects on growth, trade and investment and significant social and environmental impact.Each euro invested by the programme can potentially generate a return of up to 11 euro of GDP over 25 years. Union investments in R&I are expected to directly generate an estimated gain of up to 100 000 jobs in R&I activities in the ‘investment phase' (2021-2027).
For more information
Legal texts and factsheets:
Independent high-level reports:
Horizon Europe webpage
More information on the EU budget for the future can be found here
IP/18/4041 Copyright European Union
Tougher rules re money laundering and terrorist financing
Brussels, 7 June 2018
The Commission welcomes the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the EU Member States on strengthened criminal law measures to counter money laundering. The new rules, proposed by the Commission in December 2016, will harmonise offences and sanctions for money laundering, ensuring that dangerous criminals and terrorists face equally severe penalties for their crimes across the whole EU.
Welcoming the agreement, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “Over the past three years we have done our utmost to close down the space in which terrorists operate. With stronger and uniform rules on money-laundering across the European Union, we have tightened those screws even harder, making it more difficult for terrorists and criminals to get away with the profits of crime. Following the money of criminals and terrorists is an essential part of a Europe that protects and we will continue to deliver its building blocks, including this agreement, which I very much welcome."
Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King added: "We need to hit terrorists and criminals in their pockets – cutting off their access to money is a vital part of preventing their crimes. The new rules agreed today are an important step in the fight against the financing of terrorism, helping to pave the way towards an effective and genuine Security Union."
Currently, all Member States criminalise money laundering. However, definitions of criminal offences and sanctions related to money laundering vary across Member States. Those differences leave existing national rules open to exploitation by terrorists and criminals, who are more likely to commit crimes where penalties are less stringent. The newly agreed rules harmonise the definition of criminal offences and sanctions related to money laundering, including the proceeds of cybercrime, and remove obstacles to cross-border judicial and police cooperation. At the same time, the new rules bring EU norms in line with international obligations in this area.
Next steps
The provisional agreement was reached on 30 May during the final trilogue, and endorsed by the Council today. It must now be formally approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. Following approval, the Directive will be published in the EU's Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later.
Background
Each year an estimated €110 billion is generated from criminal activity within the EU, corresponding to 1% of the EU GDP. Depending on the Member State, between 10% and 70% of criminal investigations involving money laundering have a cross-border dimension. Terrorists often finance their activities through crime and use money laundering schemes to convert, conceal or acquire the proceeds of criminal activities.
Security is a top priority of the Juncker Commission. In the past 3 years, the Commission has taken decisive action to deny terrorists and criminals the means to commit their crimes. Building on the European Agenda on Security, in February 2016 the European Commission set out an Action Plan against terrorist financing to ensure that Member States have the necessary tools at their disposal to address new threats. In this context, on 21 December 2016, the Commission presented three measures, a Regulation on cash controls, a Regulation on mutual recognition of criminal asset freezing and confiscation orders and a Directive to criminalise money laundering. On 23 May, EU Member States and the European Parliament reached an agreement on key measures to control illicit cash flows in and out of the EU.
For More Information
Press Release – Security Union: Commission adopts stronger rules to fight terrorism financing
Press Release – Security Union: Commission welcomes agreement on its proposal to tackle illicit cash flows
STATEMENT/18/4092 Copyright European Union
EU budget: New Single Market programme to empower and protect Europeans
Brussels, 7 June 2018
For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the Commission is proposing a new, dedicated €4 billion programme to empower and protect consumers and enable Europe's many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take full advantage of a well-functioning Single Market.
The new programme will strengthen the governance of the EU's internal market. It will support businesses' – and in particular SMEs' – competitiveness and will promote human, animal and plant health and animal welfare, as well as establish the framework for financing European statistics.
Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: "The Single Market is the beating heart of the EU. In the 25 years of its existence it has brought enormous benefits to EU citizens and businesses. For the Single Market to stay fit for purpose, we need to look after it properly. Today we are proposing a new programme to further increase the positive impact on Europeans".
Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, added: "We need to ensure that consumers are able to benefit from their rights. This means providing them with practical advice on consumer issues and removing dangerous products from the market. This is what the new Single Market Programme will achieve. For the first time, we will also fund collective redress procedures, as we announced in the New Deal for Consumers."
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, added: "I am pleased that the food safety pillar is one of the main beneficiaries of the New Single Market Programme. This is the recognition of the importance of securing the smooth functioning of the internal market in food products, by preventing and when necessary combating animal and plant diseases that can have major consequences for public health and the EU economy. It allows us to strengthen further our efforts in the areas of animal welfare, food waste and the fight against fraud."
The new Single Market Programme will support:
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Consumer protection and empowerment: The new programme will guarantee the enforcement of consumer rights, ensure a high level of consumer protection and product safety and assist consumers when they encounter problems, for example when shopping online. It will also facilitate consumers' access to redress, as proposed in the New Deal for Consumers.
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Competitiveness of businesses, in particular SMEs: Building on the success of the current programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), the Commission is proposing to strengthen the support given to small business to scale up and expand across borders;
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A high level of human, animal and plant health: EU citizens will continue to have access to safe and high quality food in the integrated European Single Market. Under the new programme, funding will support the safe production of food, the prevention and eradication of animal diseases and plant pests, and the improvement of animal welfare in the EU. It will also promote market access for EU food producers, contribute to exports to third-countries, and significantly support the agri-food industry as a leading sector of the EU economy;
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Effective enforcement and first class standards: The programme will strengthen cooperation between Member States and the Commission to ensure that EU rules are properly implemented and enforced. The programme will also support European standardisation organisations in developing up-to-date and future-proof standards.
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Fair competition in the digital age: The programme will help the Commission to further enhance its IT tools and expertise that it uses to effectively enforce competition rules in the digital economy (i.e. to respond to market developments such as the use of big data and algorithms) as well as to strengthen cooperation between the Commission and Member State authorities and courts.
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High quality European statistics: The programme will provide funding to national statistics institutes for the production and dissemination of European statistics which are indispensable for decision-making in all policy areas.
Next steps
A swift agreement on the overall long-term EU budget and its sectoral proposals is essential to ensure that EU funds start delivering results as soon as possible. Delays similar to the ones experienced at the beginning of the current 2014-2020 budgetary period would reduce the financial assistance and technical support provided to SMEs, disturb actions to guarantee food or product safety and disrupt the development of new standards.
An agreement on the next long-term budget in 2019 would provide for a seamless transition between the current long-term budget (2014-2020) and the new one and would ensure predictability and continuity of activities to the benefit of all.
Background
The Commission is proposing a budget of €4 billion for the Single Market Programme. In addition, €2 billion allocated under the InvestEU Fund, in particular through its Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Window, will significantly contribute to the objectives of programme.
The Single Market allows Europeans to travel freely, study, work, live and fall in love across borders. They can buy what they want, where they want, and benefit from greater choice and lower prices. European businesses – large and small – can expand their customer base and exchange products and services more easily across the EU. Simply put, the Single Market is Europe's best asset to generate growth and foster competitiveness of European companies in globalised markets.
The new Single Market Programme follows the Commission's vision for the next long-term budget proposed on 2 May 2018. It is a modern, simple and flexible programme which consolidates a large range of activities that were previously financed separately, into one coherent programme. This will reduce overlaps and improve cooperation. Ultimately, it will ensure continuity in the efficient delivery of the Single Market on the ground, while providing better value for money for EU citizens.
More information
Legal texts and factsheets:
Factsheet with success examples – 25 Years of the Single Market
Joint statement on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the European Single Market
More information on the EU budget for the future can be found here
IP/18/4049
Copyright European Union
Changes to the system of European Parliament elections
The Council (at ambassadors' level) reached agreement on new measures to update EU electoral law.
On 7 June 2018 it approved a draft decision amending the 1976 Electoral Act which lays down a number of common rules concerning elections to the European Parliament.
Once the text has been finalised in all official languages, it will be submitted to the European Parliament, which will be asked to give its consent to the package as it stands.
The new rules seek to enhance citizens' participation in the EP elections, raise awareness of their European character and prevent irregular voting, while respecting the constitutional and electoral traditions of the member states.
Among a series of measures, the Council suggests setting an obligatory threshold of 2% to 5% for constituencies with more than 35 seats. This rule would also apply to single-constituency member states. Member states would have to comply with this obligation at the latest in time for the EP elections in 2024.
This is a welcome agreement after two and a half years of negotiations within the Council on a list of reform proposals. Member states considered it appropriate to modernise certain aspects of the EU electoral law and establish a minimum threshold at EU level, while ensuring that this will be carefully targeted.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, deputy prime minister for judicial reform and minister of foreign affairs of Bulgaria
Other changes to the EU electoral law include new provisions on 'double voting', voting in third countries, different voting methods, and the visibility of European political parties in the member states.
According to the text agreed in the Council, member states will in future have an obligation to put in place effective penalties in cases where an EU citizen votes in more than one member state. They will also have to designate contact authorities for exchanging data on citizens who are seeking to vote or stand as candidates in member states of which they are not nationals. This exchange of information will need to start at least six weeks before the EP elections.
Member states will also be encouraged to take measures to allow their citizens residing in third countries to vote in elections to the European Parliament. However, they will remain free to decide on this issue in accordance with their national law.
The new rules also recognise the right of member states to allow different forms of voting, including internet voting, provided that certain strict conditions are respected, as well as allow for the display of the name or logo of European political parties on ballot papers.
Background
The discussions within the Council have been based on a proposal adopted by the European Parliament in November 2015.
The treaties give the European Parliament a right to draw up a proposal for its electoral procedure. The necessary provisions are to be decided by the Council acting unanimously after obtaining the Parliament's consent. They enter into force after ratification in the member states.
Any changes to the 1976 Electoral Act would have to be adopted by mid-2018 at the latest for member states to be able to apply them for the 2019 EP elections.
Copyright European Union
