What happened in the EU in December 2019?

Brexit
The British PM won the election. His promise of a quick Brexit took many voters away from more extreme political parties. Plus, the main opposition (Labour) wasn't very clear. Only one party (LibDem) was in favour of staying in the EU.

But what does it change? The PM did not have a majority in Parliament. Now he has one, so his Brexit deal will very likely be accepted. However, this doesn't mean the end of Brexit. The deal was only about how the EU and the UK would negotiate, and just a bit about the content. For instance, they have only one year left to find a trade agreement. To be continued...
The EU and the EU countries
The EU and its countries sometimes clash. Two examples, one from Malta and one from Luxembourg. In Malta, a journalist was murdered and the Prime Minister did not react well, according to members of the European Parliament. They asked him to resign.
In an effort to improve tax transparency, the Commission wants to force big multinationals to publish where and how much taxes they pay. Some countries, including Luxembourg, have many of those multinationals in their countries and opposed the proposition and argued it's not the EU's task to do this.
Migrants in Croatia
Christmas may have been nice for refugees in Israel 2000 years ago, but not if you're a migrant in Croatia nowadays. Croatian police is reported to have tortured many migrants. It is sadly the same story as in Hungary. Other EU countries don't really care, because it means less migrants in their own country.
Recommended readings:

• Politico: tax transparency
• The Journal.ie: Brexit
• The Guardian: Malta PM asked to quit
• BBC: Poland out of the EU?
• Foreign Policy: migrant abuse in Croatia

EU news - november 2019

What happened in the EU in November 2019

New CommissionThe new European Commission was voted for in the European Parliament. The three big groups in the Parliament voted in favour of the new Commission. Tomorrow, the new Commission will start working. The main priority will be climate change. But some priorities aren't predictable, like Brexit.


The new President of the Commission (in red)© European Union 2019 - Source : EP / Christian CREUTZ
Brexit
Brits are going to vote on 12 December. The current Prime Minister is likely to win. Which means his deal for leaving the EU will be used. Also, each EU country sends a Commissioner to the Commission, but the UK didn't because of the elections.

Farming subsidiesThe EU gives farmers a lot of help. 65 000 000 000 euro each year. Why? Because when the EU started, hunger was a big problem. So the European leaders gave lots of money to help with the food production. Nowadays, this isn't really a problem anymore.

To make matters even worse, a lot of money goes to people who actually don't need it, according to an investigation of the New York Times. Even some EU leaders often criticising the EU take money in secret ways. It's a shame because the money doesn't go where it belongs.

Fundamental rightsThe EU guarantees fundamental rights to its citizens. This is especially important for minorities. It's been 10 years since the Charter guaranteeing those rights became legal.

Recommended readings:Politico: the new European Commission
New York Times: corruption with farm subsidiesEuropean Commission: 10 years of fundamental rightsPolitico: power in the EU's institutions

EU news October 2019

What happened in the EU in October 2019?

Brexit
Brexit... didn't happen. The deadline is now 31 January next year. Before the deadline, the Brits will vote again in new elections on 12 December. How did this happen?
First, the British PM found a new deal with the EU to leave. However, the Parliament forced him to ask for a delay. Which the EU agreed with. The PM doesn't have a majority in Parliament, so that's why he had to ask for a delay. But with the new elections, the PM might win a majority in Parliament...
Schengen
Schengen will get bigger. What's Schengen? It's an agreement between many, but not all, EU countries. It means the countries won't check their borders between each other too much. For example, if you travel from France to Germany, no one will stop you at the border. This was very difficult during the migration crisis. Now Croatia will join. (more)

©EU washing machines will last longer from 2021 on
Washing machines
No spare parts for your washing machine? In the EU, shops will have to make those spare parts available for up to 10 years. Machines like fridges will also have to last longer. (more)

EU news in September 2019

What happened in the EU in September 2019?

Brexit

The next deadline for the UK to leave the EU is by the end of next month. The UK's Prime Minister tried to limit the UK's Parliament, but he failed. The Parliament wants to avoid a Brexit without a deal. So the Parliament wants to force the PM to ask for delay if there is no deal. (more)

©The British Parliament

A new European Commission

After the elections, a new 'government' is formed. In this case, the European Commission. So the President choose her team from the candidates proposed by the EU countries. Now the candidates are being put on the test in the Parliament. (more)

The European Parliament's resolutions

Resolutions from the European Parliament aren't laws. No one has to obey to what is in resolutions. However, sometimes they can have an impact, even internationally. For example, in one resolution, the Parliament asked Turkey to give Kurdish mayors their job back. (more)

EU news in August 2019

What happened in the EU in August 2019?

Well, Brexit was in all the headlines this month. August is usually a quiet month because many people working in the administration are on vacation. So all the attention went to Brexit. If nothing happens, the United Kingdom will leave the EU at the end of October...

But many things happened in August. The UK's Prime Minister started his tour of the European Union's capitals. Why? Because he'd like to negotiate a better deal to get out of the EU with the other Prime Ministers and Presidents. They didn't want to re-negotiate (article). The thing is, the UK's PM doesn't have much to bargain.


©
His government suggested two things though: not paying the Brexit bill or making it difficult for EU citizens to go to the UK. However, the EU will probably retaliate by making it more difficult for UK citizens in the EU. And by refusing a trade agreement.

Also, the British PM delayed the start of the Parliament's year. So he will have more liberty to deal with Brexit, and to avoid any influence from the Parliament. To be continued...

Despite the struggles between the UK's PM and the EU, both are getting more popular. Trust in the EU is almost back at the levels before the economic crisis (2008). And the British PM is the most popular politician in the UK (article, poll).

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EU news in July 2019

What happened in the EU in July 2019?

The European Union agreed on the top posts. There is a new President of the European Commission, a new President of the European Parliament and a new President of the Council, representing the EU countries.

However, it isn't over yet. The whole Commission will have to be formed with one Commissioner per EU country, proposed by their government.

The President asked for one male and one female candidate per EU country, which is new. So the President will pick one of the two.


The new Commission's President - with journalists © European Union 2019 - Source : EP

Once all the candidates are found, they will be questioned in the Parliament. Afterwards, the Parliament will have to agree by majority for the whole Commission.

So this is what you'll see in the news in the coming months, together with Brexit. (article) (article)

Ah, Brexit. A new Prime Minister was elected in the UK. Meaning more instability. He will most probably go to the capitals of the EU to ask for concessions. Which he probably won't get - why would he? (article)

And at the end of October, the deadline for Brexit, we'll be back at square one. Either no-deal, or extra delay. Or another deal?

Also, even if some people think the EU isn't doing so well, here's an article with some counter-arguments.

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EU news in June 2019

What happened in the EU in June 2019?

After the elections in May, June is the time to form alliances. This means: a new European Commission and a new European Parliament. First stop for the Commission: choose a new president. The EU's Presidents and Prime Ministers have to propose him or her. The candidate will form a new Commission with candidates proposed by the EU countries. It's a delicate exercise, because many balances have to be respected. Enough women. Enough candidates from every political family. And enough winners from the elections. The European Parliament will have to agree with the new European Commission. This process will be happening in the next months (more).

Two of the candidates to become president © European Union 2019 - Source : EP / Alexis HAULOT

In the Parliament, political fractions are formed. This is a routine job for the biggest ones: the conservatives, socialists, liberals and green fractions stay more or less the same. However, for smaller parties this can be very difficult. Not being in a fraction means a lot less power, so some have to make compromises. For example, one fraction has people who want a Spanish region to be independent, and in the same fraction people who want exactly the opposite. However, even the big families have people with different ideas: the government's Hungarian party in the conservatives is just one example.

And Brexit? Well, European leaders are losing their patience. Not much progress is made, despite the change of Prime Minister after the lost European elections (more).

Remember all the big fines Google and other tech giants are paying? There might come an end to it, because of legal troubles (more).

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EU news in May 2019

What happened in the EU in May 2019?

Elections! Europeans voted for the European Parliament. What happened? The anti-EU political parties won a bit. Some, like in Italy, won a lot. Others lost votes. The traditionally pro-EU-parties lost a bit. Some, like in the Netherlands, won a lot (more).

And good news: many Europeans went to vote. More than half voted, compared to only 42,6% in the election in 2014.

But EU citizens can do more than just vote. If you make a petition that gets at least a million votes from at least 7 EU countries, the Commission will have to reply. And there might be an interesting one coming up. Airplane companies don't pay tax on airplane fuel, and citizens made a petition to tax it (more).

One couldn't be against the environment, right? Well, yes you can. Some lobbyists don't want too strong laws on clean water (more). About the same topic: a few EU countries want to make strong decisions on climate change in June. But they will probably fail (more).

And we end with good news: five banks got huge fines from the Commission. They were manipulating financial markets before and during the last economic crisis that started in 2009 (more).

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EU news in April 2019

What happened in the EU in April 2019?

Brexit... is delayed. The next deadline: 31 October. Will anything change by then? Probably not much. So why was Brexit delayed? The UK couldn't agree on anything, and the EU countries agreed because some are hoping the UK will stay. Others are hoping the EU will have a better deal with the UK.
The delay means the UK will participate in the EU elections by the end of this month. Which will be strange: the newly elected Brits will get out in possibly a few months. But wasn't Brexit strange already?

©Soon, with a speed limiter in the EU?
In the meantime, the EU is banning the UK's most-used pesticide (article), the Parliament is thinking about speed limiters in cars (article) and the EU also agreed on a controversial internet copyright law (article). Yes, voting for the Parliament matters, because those people decide on topics that affect EU citizens directly.
Some areas in politics are very difficult to agree on at the EU level. Taxes, foreign affairs and migration are typical examples. But exceptions happen. The US President said Israel can keep a part of Syria it conquered in 1967, and all the EU countries said together it can't (article). The EU will also create a gigantic database of fingerprints and face scans of over 350 million people to track migrants and criminals (article).

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EU news in March 2019

What happened in the EU in March 2019?

Well, the United Kingdom is still part of the EU... at least until 12 April. The EU gave the British Parliament an extra week to vote for the deal it negotiated with the British Prime Minister. If the Parliament doesn't agree, the UK is out of the EU by 12 April. If it does agree, the EU gave the deadline of 22 May to prepare for Brexit.


Yes, same image as last time... But still relevant.

However, in politics, things change. Because it's the first time a country leaves the EU (except Greenland), people improvise. There are still many options on the table. Some want another referendum. Others want another Prime Minister. The current one said that, if the deal goes through and the UK leaves the EU by 22 May, she'll quit. But who knows what will happen?

The historic reason why the Brits don't know what they want with the EU is because Napoleon, the Roman Empire, Nazi-Germany and others tried to conquer the UK. So it is not an easy thing to have a relationship with a European power. Do you participate to weaken the EU? Or do you isolate yourself?

Three things are sure though: time is running out. All EU countries all have to agree with extending the deadline, every time. And no one knows how it's going to end (read more).

The EU is creating an organism to check and fight fraud and corruption in the EU. One of the candidates is a Romanian, who has fought corruption so heavily in her own country that Romania doesn't support her (read more).

Companies can be banned from lobbying. Exxon Mobil might be the next one... because they didn't show up at the European Parliament for answering questions (more).

Also check out this highly rated online course on international politics (ad): International Politics Mastery: Levels of Analysis.

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EU news in February 2019

What happened in the EU in February 2019?

So Brexit will definitely be in the headlines next month: the deadline to find a deal is by the end of March. So what happened this month? The British Prime Minister still believes her deal is the best deal, and wants to negotiate further with the EU. But the EU probably won't be giving in a lot... (article)


© Choices...

One of the possibilities is to extend the deadline, which the EU would be willing to do. But every EU country needs to agree with this... (article and article). The no-deal scenario is also possible, but this will have many consequences (article).

Some good news: the European Parliament will publish its meetings with lobbyists, previously secret. It is something the Commission already does (article). And a climate activist tells the EU it should do way more for the climate (article). It's always good to be politically active.

In the battle between liberals and 'illiberals', read up on developments in Poland (article) and an interesting opinion. An 'illiberal'-minded news agency, Breitbart, pointed out the politicians of the European Commission will be allowed to campaign in the elections for the European Parliament in May (article).

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EU news in January 2019

What happened in the EU in January 2019?

Ah, Brexit. It will remain in the newspapers' headlines until the UK is out of the EU. So in January, the British Prime Minister presented her deal to leave the EU to the UK's Parliament... and the Parliament said a big fat no (article).

So what's going to happen next? No one really knows, and time is ticking...


Celebration of Romania's presidency © EU 2019   /  Source: EC - Audiovisual Service   /   Photo: Etienne Ansotte​

Romania took over the presidency of the Council for six months, despite the ongoing corruption according to this article. The Parliament wants them to focus on the budget and on the future of the European Union (article). Because it's not going well nowadays? Yes, according to this long article.

One of the secret words to scare all the political leaders of the EU countries, is the t-word: taxes. It's a very sensitive topic because it's one of the few things the EU countries have almost complete power, and the EU doesn't. If one EU country says no, no action is taken on taxes. The Commission wants to end this (article).

By the way, it was the 20th anniversary of the Euro. Happy birthday, said the European Commission!

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