Main news from Brussels this week
date: 01/06/2018
New EU rules to reduce marine litter
On 28 May, the European Commission proposed new EU-wide rules to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe's beaches and in its seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear. Together these constitute 70% of all marine litter items. Where alternatives are readily available and affordable, single-use plastic products will be banned from the market. For products without straightforward alternatives, the focus is on limiting their use through: reductions in national consumption; design and labelling requirements; and waste management/clean-up obligations for producers.
European Commission reaction to the US restrictions on steel and aluminium affecting the EU
As of today (1 June), the United States is imposing additional duties of 25% and 10% respectively on imports of steel and aluminium from the EU. European Commission, President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "This is protectionism, pure and simple. By targeting those who are not responsible for overcapacities, the US is playing into the hands of those who are responsible for the problem. The US now leaves us with no choice but to proceed with a WTO dispute settlement case and with the imposition of additional duties on a number of imports from the US. We will defend the Union's interests, in full compliance with international trade law." The EU is launching today legal proceedings against the US in the WTO and has started preparations to trigger its rebalancing measures targeting a number of US products with extra duties. The EU notified its potential rebalancing to the WTO on 18 May and, in line with WTO rules, could trigger them 30 days later. An investigation towards possible imposition of safeguard measures on steel launched on 26 March is ongoing. The US measures affect EU exports worth €6.4 billion in 2017.
Long-term EU budget
This week, the European Commission set out more detail on its long term EU budget (multi-annual financial framework for 2021-2027 – MFF) for certain sectors. The Commission proposed to:
- modernise cohesion policy;
- boost programmes for skills and social inclusion, by establishing a renewed European Social Fund (ESF+) and a strengthened and more effective European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). For the period 2021-2027, ESF+ would be worth €101.2 billion, and the Globalisation Adjustment Fund €1.6 billion;
- set up a new Justice, Rights and Values Fund;
- double the funding for the EU's education programme, Erasmus+ to €30 billion;
- increase the budget for the EU's cultural funding programme, Creative Europe to €1.85 billion;
- create a Reform Support Programme to provide co-funding to underpin priority reforms in all EU member states, with an overall budget of €25 billion;
- set up a European Investment Stabilisation Function to help stabilise public investment levels and facilitate rapid recovery from economic shocks in the euro area;
- modernise and simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with a budget of €365 billion;
- increase funding by almost 60% for LIFE, the EU programme for the environment and climate action.
More detail here
There will be further announcements in the weeks to come on other sectors.
Commission refines intellectual property rules
The Commission proposed on 28 May a targeted adjustment to intellectual property rules – a so-called 'export manufacturing waiver' to Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) – to help Europe's pharmaceutical companies tap into fast-growing global markets and foster jobs, growth and investments in the EU. Supplementary Protection Certificates extend patent protection for medicinal products, which must undergo lengthy testing and clinical trials prior to obtaining regulatory marketing approval. Thanks to the waiver, in the future EU-based companies will be entitled to manufacture a generic or biosimilar version of an SPC-protected medicine during the term of the certificate, if done exclusively for the purpose of exporting to a non-EU market where protection has expired or never existed.
All this week's key European Commission announcements can be found here