European Union

On 11 June 2015, the Latvian Presidency deposited, on behalf of the European Union, the instrument of approval of the Hague Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements.

At the same time, the Latvian Presidency made, on behalf of the European Union, the declaration allowed under Article 21 excluding from the scope of the Convention insurance contracts in general, subject to certain well-defined exceptions, and a unilateral declaration stating that the European Union may, at a later stage in light of the experience acquired in the application of the Convention, reassess the need to maintain its declaration under Article 21.  

The Convention will enter into force on 1 October 2015. All Member States (except Denmark) will then be bound by the Convention.

The Convention makes a valuable contribution to promoting party autonomy in international commercial transactions and to increasing the predictability of judicial solutions in such transactions. In particular, the Convention ensures the necessary legal certainty for the parties that their choice of court agreement will be respected and that a judgment given by the chosen court will be capable of recognition and enforcement in international cases.

Today in Brussels, Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma addressed the meeting of the Heads of State of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Within the framework of the Summit, topical issues relating to cooperation between the two regions were discussed, and the Brussels Declaration was adopted.

The Council of the European Union has been paying close attention to the corruption scandal in the International Association of Football Federations (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA) with great concern, and this issue has come to the attention of officials at the EU Council, the Foreign Ministry’s Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica pointed out at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 10 June.    

The Heads of State and Government of Member States of the Central American Integration System (SICA) met with the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, with the purpose of reviewing the close cooperation between the two regions and adopted the following joint communique.

Indicative programme - Transport, Telecomunications and Energy Council meeting (telecommunications issues) - Luxembourg, 12 June 2015

Place:        KIRCHBERG building (KCC), Luxembourg
Chair(s):    Anrijs Matīss, Minister for Transport of Latvia 

All times are approximate and subject to change 

+/- 08.00     Doorstep by Minister Matīss

10.00          Beginning of Telecommunications Council meeting            

+/- 10.05     Digital Single Market Strategy
+/- 11.35     Interoperability programme ISA 2 (in public session)
+/- 11.55     AOB (in public session)
                    Telecommunications single market (TSM)
                    Network and information security (NIS)
+/- 13.25     Web Accessibility (in public session)
+/- 13.40     Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Council Conclusions
+/- 13.50     AOB
                     Work programme of the incoming Presidency

+/- 14.00     Press conference

Within the First Innovative Enterprise Week “Access to Finance for Research, Innovation and SMEs 2015” programme in Riga, Latvia, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will announce new financial instruments for the European Union science and research programme “Horizon 2020”.

Plenary sessions : The European Parliament regrets that recent corruption allegations against the international football federation FIFA have seriously damaged the credibility and the integrity of global football. In a resolution voted on Thursday, MEPs call for a zero-tolerance policy on corruption in football, underlining that in-depth structural reforms within the organisation are now urgently needed.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU must critically re-assess its relations with Russia, which are profoundly damaged by Russia's deliberate violation of democratic principles, fundamental values and international law with its violent action and destabilisation of its neighbours , MEPs said on Wednesday. The EU must now devise a soft-power contingency plan to counter Russia’s aggressive and divisive policies, they said.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

In Riga, a high-level seminar in statistics of Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian (EECCA) countries discussed the draft Generic Statistical Law. The law will strengthen the institutional independence of statistical offices of the EECCA countries, impartiality of official statistics, and conformity with the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the European Statistics Code of Practice. Representatives from the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the European Free Trade Association and the national statistical institutions of EECCAA countries took part in the drafting of the Law.

Plenary sessions : MEPs state their concern at the high number of child pregnancies in Paraguay, calling for "access to safe and legal abortion" when the health and life of women or girls are in danger, "where there is severe foetal impairment and in cases of rape and incest". In separate resolutions they also call for the protection of the Palmyra site and draw attention to the situation of children in Nepal.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

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EU Ministers for Transport, Infrastructure and Communications meet on 11 June 2015 in Luxembourg to discuss technical requirements for inland waterway vessels, the liberalisation of rail services, and air passenger rights.

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The Council on 11 June 2015 agreed a general approach on proposed technical requirements for inland waterway vessels. In the future, such technical standards will be developed in the European Committee for drawing up Standards in Inland Navigation (CESNI).  The standards drawn up by CESNI will automatically apply in their up-to-date version. 

 Streamlined procedures 

The reform will simplify and speed up procedures, in particular to adapt standards to technical progress. This should ensure a high level of safety, and encourage innovation and investment in new technologies. The new framework will provide legal certainty and be easier to use by member states' national administrations. The standards themselves are not changed by the proposal under discussion. 

Promoting safe and green transport 

Compared to land-based modes of transport, inland waterway transport is energy-efficient, safe and silent, and almost congestion-free. The draft directive is one of the measures aimed at making a better use of Europe's rivers and canals, and in particular getting more freight onto them (NAIADES II package). 

Working together with the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine (CCNR) 

There are currently two different inland navigation certificates operating in the EU: the EU certificate and the Rhine certificate. The system of two certificates will continue but it will be much easier to maintain the equivalence between them. 

The new committee CESNI was set up under the auspices of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine (CCNR) on 3 June. It will be open to experts from all EU member states. At the same time it will be able to draw on the expertise that the CCNR has built up over the years in developing and updating technical requirements. 

The draft directive will only apply to member states in which inland navigation is used to a significant extent. The following member states are not required to implement it: Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland. 

The draft act, which revises the existing directive from 2006, needs to be approved both by the Council and the European Parliament. The Parliament adopted its first-reading opinion in April 2014. 

Plenary sessions : The debate and vote on Parliament's recommendations on the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were postponed because of the high number of amendments tabled. What does this mean and what happens next?

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Berlington Hungary and Others
Approximation of laws
Hungarian legislation which prohibits the operation of slot machines outside casinos may be contrary to the principle of freedom to provide services

Base Company and Mobistar
Approximation of laws
The Universal Service Directive does not lay down a social pricing obligation for mobile communications and mobile Internet subscriptions

Fahnenbrock
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Legal proceedings brought in Germany against the Greek State by individuals following the forced exchange of their government bonds may be served on that State in accordance with the EU Regulation on service