EU
EU, Ukraine together on Europe Day, but Kyiv remains outside
For the first time, Ukraine and the European Union are marking Europe Day, that celebration of “peace and unity,” together. Don’t let anyone be fooled too much, though.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU's executive branch, made a special trip to Kyiv on Tuesday to deliver the warm words of common destiny after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his nation would from now on “celebrate Europe Day together with all of free Europe."
More than a year into the war with invading Russia, Ukraine wants to badly join the bloc as an essential part to anchor its future in the Western world. “Europe Day,” when the 27 current members celebrate their bond as one, also shows how far that moment is still off.
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Next month, it will be one year already since the EU nations granted Ukraine candidate status, lavished the nation with praise, boosted it with aid and military support and sanctioned Kyiv’s enemy Russia with ever more sanctions. Some leaders often dress in the blue and yellow of Ukraine’s national flag and “Slava Ukraini,” which means Glory to Ukraine, ends all so many EU speeches.
Yet, frustration on the Ukraine side is evident, because the beginning of membership negotiations is still out of sight. Weary and hoarse, dressed in army olive-drab, Zelenskyy visited the Netherlands last week with a heartfelt plea for a “positive assessment” to start the talks.
“We do all our best during the war. We do all the reforms what we have to do,” he told the host, one of the original six EU members dating back to 1958.
Time, however, is an extremely flexible concept in the EU, and patience an essential one.
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“I am absolutely impressed by what the president’s team is doing,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, with Zelenskyy standing beside him. “Fighting a war against Russia and at the same time making concrete steps in terms of clearing the way in terms of this whole process towards EU accession.”
Then he fell back on the time-set mechanics of the EU, which foresees the next assessment in about a half-year, in October. All this to a leader who is counting in weeks and months when his nation might be on the road to victory — or ruin.
The best advice, though, is for Ukraine to stay the course.
“A promise has been made and in essence it is now in the hands of Ukraine. The EU cannot postpone things forever,” said Ghent University Professor Hendrik Vos, an expert on EU decision making.
But unexpected things can happen, as suddenly overflowing cereal silos in several eastern EU nations proved early this spring. To help Ukraine export its grain, sunflower and other farm produce after Russia closed off the Black Sea route, the EU lifted trade restrictions to give a free passage through the bloc and hopefully on to needy world markets.
Yet in neighboring nations like Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, stocks built up, prices plummeted and that extremely vocal and influential group of voters — the EU’s 10 million farmers — started grumbling, indicating that membership promises are about much more than just sentimental shows of support.
“Of course we have solidarity with Ukraine,” said Christine Lambert, the president of the COPA EU farmers union, “but there are also significant economic aspects to this,” adding that “it’s sort of creating a hole in our budget. It will result in problems and farmers can’t bear these problems alone.”
Apart from making sure that France and Germany never go to war again, the founding principles of the EU also included avoiding hunger in the bloc in the wake of World War II. It allowed farming to take on an exceptionally important role in EU policies and even now it takes up almost a third of the EU’s designated budget.
The war and climate change have put EU farmers increasingly in a squeeze and taking in — and on — a nation like Ukraine, which is historically seen as the breadbasket of Europe, would be especially challenging.
Before the war, Ukraine still had a major stake in the global market of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil. Farming accounted for more than 40% of exports.
Opening up to such competition strikes fear in the hearts of many farmers, especially if it comes within a few years. Lambert pointed out how EU farmers need to meet tough environmental and social rules, which Ukrainians so far don't have to comply with.
Once Ukraine joins, it will in principle have the whole market of the current 27 nations at its disposal, but it will also need to abide by EU rules. And Vos said that goes right down to the size of chicken battery cages to meet animal welfare standards.
“Farmers will be saying they don’t want unfair competition from big Ukraine chicken farms that don’t have to play by the rules,” Vos said.
And Ukraine will only be able to join if it gets major financial aid from the current members to rebuild its nation and upgrade to EU standards. It will turn many of the EU nations that now get money from EU coffers into net contributors. Little wonder many in the EU push any membership date into the unspecified future yonder.
“Many years. We’ll need that time to see that obligations are satisfied,” Lambert said.
Such considerations from a small group of stakeholders won’t stop the groundswell of history though. In the EU’s successive sweeps of expansion, short-term financial losses never stood in the way in the end.
When the Iberian Peninsula wrested itself free from dictatorship during the 1970s, poor and needy Spain and Portugal were embraced in the EU a decade later despite the cost.
When the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, the EU took in eight eastern nations in 2004, also at a major cost to the existing members.
Each time, talks on nitty gritty issues went on deep into countless nights but eventually compromises were found — more money was given to grumbling members, sometimes long transition times imposed.
Russia's war in Ukraine could well be an equal watershed in EU history.
“At a certain point there is no way back. The groundbreaking decision has been taken. There can be incremental talks about money until the end. But they won’t stop it,” Vos said.
Ukraine welcomes EU deal on continued farm exports
Ukraine on Saturday welcomed the European Union’s hard-fought deal to keep farm exports flowing into and through the bloc to world markets, saying that the Middle East and Africa would specifically stand to benefit from it.
Late Friday, the 27-nation EU ended a damaging internal standoff over a destabilizing glut of Ukraine farm imports by granting five eastern member countries the right to temporarily ban the most problematic produce while allowing all farm products to transit onward.
Resolving the issue allows the EU to maintain a unified stance in the face of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. “We welcome that we resolved this issue,” Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Stockholm.
Under the deal, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania can keep four farm products that make up the overwhelming mass of exports from Ukraine out of their local markets but must guarantee unfettered access to the rest of the bloc.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine hampered Black Sea shipments of Ukrainian agricultural products, using the 27-nation bloc as a transportation route has been essential to getting the nation's prized cereal production on to the world.
"We found a wise decision that would help Ukraine to export necessary commodities, food commodities towards African countries, which is so necessary for them,” Marchenko said, adding Middle East nations would equally profit.
Under the deal, the bloc would basically accept the national bans on four of the five main products — wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds — that account for most imports. The EU would also assess whether other products, including sunflower oil, should also be included.
As an added sweetener, the EU provided 100 million euros ($113 million) more in special aid on top of on an initial support package of 56.3 million euros to help farmers in the affected countries.
On Friday, EU nations also tentatively agreed to lift tariffs on Ukraine's grains for another year. The EU lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to facilitate its transport to Africa and the Middle East by other routes after a Russian blockade kept cargo from leaving Ukraine's ports.
Overall, there was acceptance that the lifting of import tariffs had seriously skewed the local markets in nations closest to Ukraine. In Poland, wheat imports went from 2,375 tons in 2021 to 500,008 tons last year. Maize went from 5,863 tons to more than 1.8 million over the same period.
Similar huge increases were also evident in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
Russia’s Lavrov warns EU becoming militarized now, like NATO
Russia’s top diplomat warned Tuesday that the European Union “is becoming militarized at a record rate” and aggressive in its goal of containing Russia.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference he has no doubts that there is now “very little difference” between the EU and NATO.
Lavrov said they recently signed a declaration, which he said essentially states that the 31-member NATO military alliance will ensure the security of the 27-member EU political and economic organization.
He was apparently referring to a Jan. 19 EU-NATO declaration on their “strategic partnership” which calls Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine “the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades.”
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It calls the present moment “a key juncture for Euro-Atlantic security and stability” and urges closer EU-NATO cooperation to confront evolving security threats, saying this will contribute to strengthening security in Europe and beyond. And it encourages the fullest possible involvement of NATO members that don’t belong to the EU and EU members that aren’t part of NATO, but it does not state that NATO will ensure the security of the EU.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long complained about NATO’s expansion, especially toward his country, and partly used that as a justification for invading Ukraine.
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The Russian attack, however, sent fear through its other neighbors, and Finland joined NATO earlier this month, seeking protection under its security umbrella after decades of neutrality following its defeat by the former Soviet Union in World War II.
While NATO says it poses no threat to Russia, the Nordic country’s accession dealt a major political blow to Putin.
Finland's membership doubles Russia’s border with NATO, the world’s largest security alliance. Sweden, an EU member, is also seeking NATO membership and is hoping for final approval soon.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg defiantly declared last week that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in the military alliance and pledged more support for the country on his first visit to Kyiv since the invasion. The Kremlin responded by repeating that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO is still a key goal of its invasion, arguing that Kyiv’s membership in the alliance would pose an existential threat to Russia.
Ukraine is also seeking EU membership and in February its leaders pledged they would do all it takes to back Ukraine. But they offered no firm timetable for talks on joining the EU to begin, as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had hoped.
Russia’s Lavrov was asked whether the war in Ukraine was a miscalculation since Moscow strongly opposed NATO’s expansion and the invasion sparked Finland’s membership, with Sweden next and Ukraine hoping for a road map to join.
“NATO never had any intention of stopping,” the Russian minister replied, pointing to the recent EU-NATO declaration and actions in recent years that saw non-NATO members Sweden and Finland “increasingly taking part in NATO military exercises and other actions that were meant to synchronize the military programs of NATO members and neutral states.”
Lavrov said Russia was promised on several occasions that NATO would not expand, but said “those were lies.”
“Unbiased assessments that our political scientists as well as those abroad made is that NATO sought to break Russia apart," he said, "but in the end it only made it stronger, brought it closer together. So, let’s not make any hasty conclusions now as to what this will all end in.”
Big Tech crackdown looms as EU, UK ready new rules
TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and other Big Tech companies are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules Tuesday to curb the power of digital companies.
The U.K. government unveiled draft legislation that would give regulators more power to protect consumers from online scams and fake reviews and boost digital competition.
Meanwhile, the European Union was set to release a list of the 19 biggest online platforms and search engines that face extra scrutiny and obligations under the 27-nation bloc's landmark digital rules taking effect later this year.
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The updates help solidify Europe’s reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms.
Britain's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill proposes giving watchdogs more teeth to draw down the dominance of tech companies, backed by the threat of fines worth up to 10% of their annual revenue.
Under the proposals, online platforms and search engines can be required to give rivals access to their data or be more transparent about how their app stores and marketplaces work.
The rules would make it illegal to hire someone to write a fake review or allow the posting of online consumer reviews “without taking reasonable steps" to verify they're genuine. They also would make it easier for consumers get out of online subscriptions.
The new rules, which still need go through the legislative process and secure parliamentary approval, would apply only to companies with 25 million pounds in global revenue or 1 billion pounds in U.K. revenue.
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Also Tuesday, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is set to designate 19 of the biggest online platforms or search engines that will have to take extra steps to clean up illegal content and disinformation and keep users safe online.
Violations of the bloc’s new Digital Services Act could result in fines worth up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue — amounting to billions of dollars — or even a ban on operating in the EU.
Google, Twitter, TikTok, Apple, Facebook and Instagram have already disclosed that they have more than 45 million users in Europe, putting them over the bloc's threshold.
Dip in US market fails to dent apparel sector's growth momentum
Bangladesh’s apparel exports in the first nine months of the current fiscal, i.e. July 2022-March 2023, jumped by around 12 percent - an impressive clip by anybody's standards. It is even more impressive when you consider that apparel exports to the US, which has been its largest single market, actually declined 5%.
On the other hand, exports to the European Union overall, kept up with the pace of the industry. Apparel exports to the European Union during July-March of the 2022-23 fiscal also jumped by almost 12 percent (11.8% to be more precise), to $17.61 billion, compared to the $15.75 billion recorded in July-March of the 2021-22 fiscal, according to BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel.
The overall growth in apparel export has been an impressive 12.2%, from $31.43 billion in the first 9 months of FY 2021-22, to $35.25 billion in the first 9 months of FY 2022-23.
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This highly impressive growth figure has been achieved despite the industry's exports to the US having actually declined by 5 percent - to $6.25 billion in the first 9 months of the current fiscal, from the $6.6 billion recorded last year.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the UK and Canada reached $3.84 billion and $1.08 billion with 14.04 percent and 17.68 percent growth respectively.
Among the major markets in the EU, apparel exports to Germany declined by 4.16% year-over-year while exports to France and Spain grew by 25.23% and 18.82% year-over-year respectively. On the other hand, exports to Poland declined by 14.86%.
Read More: BGMEA writes to US policymakers for duty-free access for US cotton-made apparel.
The most significant growth was reported in the nontraditional sector. The apparel export to nontraditional market increased by 34.74% to US$6.44 billion in July-March period of FY 2022-23 from US$ 4.78 billion in the same period.
Mohiuddin Rubel, BGMEA director, said: “BGMEA is working to facilitate the exploration of new markets, as well as working on policy reforms to facilitate and simplify business.”
“Our efforts will be continued, and it’s time for all of us in the industry to promote and highlight our strengths in new products and new markets before the global customers (existing and new ones) to explore new opportunities. That will help sustain our growth in the longer term,” he added.
Read More: Apparel exports to EU grew 35.69% in 2022.
Italy wants to punish use of English in official correspondence with up to €100k fines
Italians who use English or other foreign words in official correspondence might face fines of up to EUR 100,000 (USD 108,705) under new law proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party.
The legislation was introduced by Fabio Rampelli, a member of the lower chamber of deputies, and is backed by the Italian PM, reports CNN.
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While the legislation applies to all foreign languages, it is aimed especifically against "Anglomania", or the usage of English phrases, which the draft argues "demeans" the Italian language, and is made worse because the UK is no longer a member of the EU, the report said.
The bill, which was yet to be debated in the Italian parliament, requires anybody holding a public administration position to have “written and oral knowledge and mastery of the Italian language.” It also forbids the use of English in official paperwork, including "acronyms and names" of employment functions in domestic firms.
According to a draft of the legislation, foreign firms would be required to have Italian language versions of all internal regulations and employment contracts.
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The proposed law would create a body whose mandate would include “correct use of the Italian language and its pronunciation” in schools, media, commerce, and advertising, said the CNN report.
EU proposes digitalizing Schengen visa application process: Here’s what this means
The European Union (EU) member states’ ambassadors on March 29 agreed the Council’s negotiating mandate for a proposal to digitalize the Schengen visa procedure.
The proposal includes the ability to apply for Schengen visa online, as well as the replacement of the present visa sticker with a digital visa, according to a press release of the European Council.
The move intends to enhance the efficiency of the visa application process as well as the security of the Schengen area, it said.
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“A digital Schengen visa will make it easier for legitimate travellers to apply and will at the same time help make the Schengen area safer. Online applications will reduce the number of trips to the consulate for travellers and make the process smoother for national administrations. At the same time, the digital visa will put an end to the risk of falsification and theft of the visa sticker,” said Maria Malmer Stenergard, Swedish minister for migration.
The proposed new guidelines will establish a platform for visa applications. All Schengen visa applications will be made through this platform – a single website that will forward them to the applicable country visa systems.
Schengen visa applicants will be able to enter all required data, submit electronic copies of their travel and supporting papers, and pay their visa fees on the website, it said.
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Travellers will also be informed of any decisions made regarding their Schengen visa.
First-time applicants, those whose biometric data is no longer valid, and those with a new travel document, will be required to be present in-person at the consulate, said the press release.
When a person wishes to visit several Schengen countries, the platform will automatically decide which one is in charge of evaluating the application based on the length of stay.
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Nevertheless, the applicant will be able to choose whether the application should be handled by a certain member state based on the purpose of travel, the release also said.
Schengen visas will be issued in digital format, as a 2D barcode that is cryptographically signed, under the proposed new guidelines. This would reduce the security threats associated with counterfeit and stolen visa stickers.
Background and next steps for Schengen visa process
Current migration and security issues have dramatically altered the setting of the EU’s visa policy. Furthermore, the Covid-19 outbreak hindered Schengen visa processing and generated a demand for additional digital procedures.
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Simultaneously, technology advancements give additional security features and potential to make procedures more efficient and effective for both visa applicants and national authorities, the release said.
In this regard, the Commission proposed a legislative proposal aiming at digitalizing the Schengen visa procedure on April 27, 2022.
The Council presidency will begin discussions with the European Parliament to agree on the final text based on the negotiating mandate agreed upon on March 29 meeting.
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Apparel export to EU up 14.3% during July-February of FY23
The European Union's (EU) apparel imports from Bangladesh saw 14.29 percent growth during the first eight months of fiscal 2022-23, $15.72 billion from $13.75 billion in July-February FY22, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Germany being the largest European market fetched $4.62 billion, marking a 1.03 percent negative growth compared to the same period of the previous year.
Apparel exports to France and Spain rose by 27.65 percent ($1.89 billion) and 18.79 percent (2.35 billion), respectively.
However, exports to Bulgaria and Poland showed 51.21 percent and 15.06 percent year-on-year negative growth.
"During the mentioned period, our exports to the US fell by 2.87 percent year-on-year. However, apparel exports to Canada and the UK saw 20.05 percent and 14.52 percent year-on-year growth, respectively," Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Director Md Mohiuddin Rubel said.
"During the first eight months of FY23, our exports to the US, the UK and Canada were $5.68 billion, $3.36 billion, and $980 million, respectively," he added.
"At the same time, exports to the non-traditional markets increased by 35.02 percent to $5.69 billion. Among the major non-traditional markets, our exports to Japan, Australia, India and South Korea reached $1.07 billion, $767.75 million, $753.92 million and $387.63 million, respectively," Rubel said.
Also read: 2022 was a year of turning around: BGMEA
In the EU’s inflation crisis, the humble egg takes the cake
The humble egg has become a star performer for all the wrong reasons as inflation has hit households across the European Union extremely hard over the year.
The EU's statistical agency Eurostat announced Friday that the average price of an egg — that important staple for poor families and gourmet cooks alike — had risen by 30% over the year to January 2023, becoming a symbol of how the cost of living has hit everyone in the 27-nation bloc.
Even if the latest inflation figures show that annual inflation in the 20-nation eurozone has started to decline to 8.5% in February, the sector of food, alcohol and tobacco continued to rise and stood at 15%.
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And then, eggs outperform just about all. Two years ago, egg inflation still stood at a lean 1%, rising to 7% the year after before reaching 30% in February.
Egg prices were whipped up the most in the Czech Republic, rising 85% over the year, followed closely by two other central European nations — Hungary (80%) and Slovakia (79%). Germany and Luxembourg stood at the other end, with both experiencing a relatively lower increase of 18%.
In the United States, egg prices have surged over the past year because of the ongoing bird flu outbreak and the highest inflation in decades. The national average retail price of a dozen eggs hit $4.25 in December, up from $1.79 a year earlier, according to the latest government data.
Rohingya crisis not forgotten: EU high representative
High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has assured of the international organisation's continuous humanitarian support to deal with the needs of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
"This crisis is not forgotten. The EU remains one of the largest humanitarian donors, with €287 million since 2017," he said after his meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam in New Delhi on Friday.
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They discussed today's global crises – climate change and vulnerabilities of the LDCs as well as the Rohingya refugees hosted by Bangladesh.
"Great to meet Josep Borrell, high representative of foreign affairs of the EU, to talk about the bilateral relationship and world affairs, including the Rohingya crisis," said Shahriar.