CommuniqEU

Corporate DispatchPro

KEITH ZAHRA

CommuniqEU

Foreign affairs

The European Council extended the mandates until 30 June 2021 of three of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) civilian missions: the European Border Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya), the European Border Assistance Mission in the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah), and the European Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS).

The COVID-19 pandemic has put on hold the implementation of some activities foreseen as part of the mandate of the missions.

EUBAM Libya is tasked with contributing to the Libyan authorities’ efforts to disrupt organised criminal networks involved in smuggling of migrants, human trafficking and terrorism. The mission coordinates and implements projects with international partners in the fields of border management, law enforcement and criminal justice.

EUBAM Rafah is tasked with providing a third party presence at the Rafah Crossing Point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and contributing to strengthening Palestinian Authority’s border capacities.

EUPOL COPPS is tasked with contributing to the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to establish effective and sustainable policing and wider criminal justice arrangements, in cooperation with the other institution building programmes.

Corporate DispatchPro

KEITH ZAHRA

CommuniqEU

Agriculture

The European Council and Parliament agreed to extend support European farmers under the current legal framework until the end of 2022 when the new Common Agricultural Policy will enter into force.

Extending the current rules for two more years and until the new CAP is agreed and enforced, gives much needed predictability and certainty to all farmers across Europe during the COVID-19 crisis. The EU will continue to fund rural development programmes and to grant support to European farmers through direct payments while ensuring a smooth transition to the next CAP period.

Given the current state of play of the CAP reform discussions in the European Parliament and Council as well as of the ongoing MFF negotiations, it became clear that the legislative procedure would not be concluded in time to apply the new rules and the CAP Strategic Plans as of 1 January 2021. It was therefore necessary to plan for a transitional period.

The extension will allow for uninterrupted payments to farmers and other beneficiaries. Moreover, within these two years, member states will have time to prepare their strategic plans under the new CAP legislation and to plan for their implementation after approval by the Commission.

Corporate DispatchPro

KEITH ZAHRA

CommuniqEU

Financial services

The European Banking Authority has launched a discussion paper exploring ways on how to enhance the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) framework on early intervention measures. The objective is to further enhance crisis management tools available for competent authorities in addition to well-established and widely used supervisory powers laid down in the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) and in the Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation (SSMR).

The BRRD introduced early intervention measures (EIMs) to expand the existing set of powers available to supervisors towards institutions in difficulties. While monitoring the application of EIMs in 2015-2018, the EBA observed a limited use of EIMs across the European Union (EU) during that period. Instead of EIMs, the competent authorities often preferred to apply other pre-BRRD supervisory powers available to them.

The EBA investigated the reasons for these supervisory practices. While recognising that EIMs could be successfully implemented under the existing regulatory framework, the EBA identified some challenges in their application, and is now putting for discussion potential solutions aimed at enhancing the framework.

Corporate DispatchPro

KEITH ZAHRA

CommuniqEU

Competition

The European Commission has launched a process to ensure that the EU competition rules do not stand in the way of collective bargaining for those who need it. The initiative seeks to ensure that working conditions can be improved through collective agreements not only for employees, but also for those self-employed who need protection.

Stakeholders from the public and private sector as well as legal and economic practitioners trade unions and employers organisations are invited to participate to the on-going public consultation on the Digital Services Act Package. The Court of Justice of the European Union has long recognised that collective bargaining with workers falls outside the scope of the application of EU competition rules. Concerns arise, however, when attempts are made to extend collective bargaining to groups of professionals who, at least formally, are not employees, such as the self-employed.

According to EU competition law, such professionals are considered “undertakings” and agreements they enter into (such as collective bargaining) may therefore be captured by the EU competition rules. To define the scope of the self-employed who need to participate in collective bargaining is a challenge. Self-employed activities are very diverse, they can cover a wide range of activities and their situation varies during time.

The European Commission is therefore now assessing whether it is necessary to adopt measures at EU level in order to address the issues raised by this situation and improve the conditions of these individuals.