Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Agenda

Summit reloaded and last Brexit round This WEEK

  • European Council president Charles Michel is out of quarantine after two negative corona tests - following the positive test by one of his security guards (Photo: Council of the European Union)

After European Council president Charles Michel postponed a special summit for a week due to a corona scare, EU leaders will gather this Thursday and Friday (1-2 October) in Brussels to talk about foreign affairs.

Deciding on Belarus sanctions and the relationship with Turkey will be front and centre on the agenda, and the leaders will also discuss internal market issues.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The next and final round of negotiations on a post-Brexit agreement also starts next week - a last chance for a breakthrough before time runs our for a deal.

On Monday, commissioner Maros Sefcovic will meet with British cabinet office minister Michael Gove to look at issues regarding the UK's internal market bill, which violates the already signed EU-UK withdrawal agreement.

Also on Monday, negotiators from the German EU presidency and the EU parliament will sit together again to find compromises on the long-term EU budget and recovery package.

The parliament wants to see a top-up for 15 "flagship" EU programmes and a tougher conditions on rule of law compliance.

Last Friday (25 September), Germany's EU ambassador put pressure on MEPs, saying "I am very concerned that the negotiations are currently progressing too slowly."

"We need to increase the pace of the negotiations significantly," ambassador Michael Clauß added.

The parliament, on the other hand, argues it is the council that is procrastinating on coming up with compromise proposals.

But there is little room for manoeuvre left for the German presidency on the EU leaders' July agreement.

The German EU presidency has yet to come up with the politically most-sensitive compromise, the rule of law conditionality, saying it would do so "soon".

On another rule of law front, it remains to be seen if the EU commission will unveil its rule of law annual report on Wednesday (30 September).

The EU executive was to roll out its first overview on the rule of law in all member states - yet another tool to police the respect for the rule of law without any teeth - but it might be delayed, with the final decision to be made on Monday.

Confirmations

MEPs will grill the two newly-appointed commissioners on Friday.

Mairead McGuinness, an Irish MEP appointed to take on the financial services and capital markets union portfolio in the commission, will be heard by the economic committee in the morning.

Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis will appear before the trade committee in the afternoon.

After the meetings, the party representatives in the committees will evaluate the candidates, and the plenary will vote in the first week of October on them.

Commission vice-president in charge of climate Frans Timmermans on Monday will debate with MEPs in the environment committee on the 2030 climate target plan, and the climate law which will be voted in the plenary at the beginning of October.

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde will meet MEPs in the economic committee on Monday (28 September), and will discuss developments in the eurozone.

The legal committee will on Thursday adopt its recommendations on how to ensure safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence in the EU, which will feed into common rules on ethics, civil liability and intellectual property.

On Monday, the nominees for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will be presented in a joint meeting with MEPs on the foreign affairs, and development committee and the subcommittee on human rights.

EU countries stuck on rule of law-budget link

Divisions among EU governments remain between those who want to suspend EU funds if rule of law is not respected, and those who want to narrow down conditionality.

Irish MEP picked as new finance commissioner

Mairead McGuinness's nomination will have to be signed off by the European Parliament, where the Irish MEP is a well-respected first vice-president of the assembly.

Belarus opposition leader urges EU to be 'braver'

The Belarus oppositon leader asked the EU not to support the Belarus authorities financially, and not to recognise Lukashenko as the country's president when his term ends in November.

Feature

The real story why 'bonkers Brussels' went bananas

For over two decades, British tabloids have blamed faceless EU bureaucrats for creating rules to ban bendy bits of fruit. The truth is far more outrageous - it probably was the French.

EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK

This week, EU leaders come together in Brussels for their usual two-day summit to discuss defence, enlargement, migration and foreign affairs. EU ministers for foreign affairs and EU affairs will meet earlier in the week to prepare the European Council.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us