12/05/2017

What next for Digital Single Market? – cybersecurity, free data flow and platforms

The European Commission has identified three key areas for further action to support a Digital Single Market in the EU – the free flow of non-personal data, cybersecurity and fair contractual practices by online platforms towards businesses that use them.

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EC forecasts steady GDP growth in EU and euro area

EU GDP growth is expected to remain constant at 1.9 % in 2017 and 2018, with euro area growth at 1.7% in 2017 and 1.8% in 2018. The European Commission published its spring 2017 economic forecast on 11 May.

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Better access to books for blind and other disabled people

European Parliament, Council and Commission negotiators reached a compromise on 10 May on draft legislation to implement the Marrakesh Treaty in the EU. The objective is to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, have other visual impairments or are otherwise print disabled. The deal will now be subject to formal approval by the two EU co-legislators.

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Commission launches reflection on harnessing globalisation

Following the Commission's White Paper on the future of Europe presented on 1 March, the Commission published its reflection paper on harnessing globalisation on 10 May. The paper aims to launch a debate on how the EU and its member states can shape globalisation in a way that anticipates the future and improves the lives of Europeans.

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All this week's key European Commission announcements can be found here

EU steps up its support to Somalia with €200m at London conference

The European Commission announced new support worth €200 million (£169m) at the London Conference on Somalia, on 11 May, where partners agreed on a pact for Somalia's long-term security.

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Federica Mogherini's speech at the opening session of the 2017 London Conference on Somalia

Michel Barnier in Dublin

The EU Chief Negotiator for the Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom, Michel Barnier, spoke on 11 May to the Irish Parliament. He said that he understood the EU's role in strengthening dialogue in Northern Ireland and supporting the Good Friday Agreement and said: "I will work with you to avoid a hard border". He also met Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny and visited the Northern Ireland border.

Michel Barnier's full speech

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Every week, we pick out one of the week's most interesting stories or comment pieces….which does not mean we agree with everything it says:

Brexit: Media coverage of EU referendum ‘acrimonious and divisive’, finds report by May Bulman in the Independent

Europe Day

Europe Day is held on 9 May every year to celebrate peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historic 'Schuman declaration'. In Paris in 1950, Robert Schuman, then French foreign minister, set out his idea for a new form of cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable. His vision was to create a European institution that would pool and manage coal and steel production. A treaty creating such a body was signed just under a year later. Schuman’s proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union.

"If we put things in the right order, if we negotiate with mutual respect, without any aggression and naivety, and if we are open to finding solutions, there is no reason why our strong Europe cannot maintain a strong relationship with the UK," Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator for the Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom.

EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini and Mike Penning, UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces