2020: A year of challenges for the EU
"My Commission will be a geopolitical Commission", stressed Commission President von der Leyen when she took office. The escalation of the US-Iran conflict in the first days of the new year shows that she has set the bar very high. The EU is struggling to be heard. Apart from de-escalating appeals, it has little to offer. It is torn between saving the Iranian nuclear agreement - the only visible success of European geopolitics in recent years - and trying not to stab the capricious US government in the back. With the tense situation in Libya and Turkey, further geopolitical challenges await Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, which could quickly manifest themselves in new refugee movements. It will be anything but easy to reach agreement among the Member States on these issues.
The negotiations on the EU-UK Free Trade Agreement, on the multiannual financial framework and on the EU's climate policy ambitions will also occupy us this year, revealing the differing interests within the EU. We can only wish for that: All the best for 2020!
Dr. Bert Van Roosebeke
Head of Division |
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| Better implementation of the GDPR |
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In a Communication, the EU Commission has outlined the current status of harmonisation by way of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and sets out what remains to be done to improve its uniform application. In May 2018, the GDPR replaced the existing Data Protection Directive.
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| Carbon pricing in France & Germany |
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The pricing of CO2 emissions in the transport and building sectors dominates the climate policy debate both in France and in Germany. With a cepInput, cep and cepFrance jointly analyse and evaluate strategies and instruments of carbon pricing in both countries, highlighting differences and similarities.
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| 10 Years of redistribution between the EU Member States |
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The Brexit and the negotiations on the future multiannual financial framework for the EU budget have led to intense discussions between Member States on the distribution of contributions. With this background, the cep has produced a comprehensive picture of the factors and the extent of redistribution between EU Member States.
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| Deadline extension for medical devices |
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In order to avoid impending shortages of medical devices as of May 2020 and with the aim to guarantee patient safety, the Council proposed an extension to the deadline for certain medical devices on 25 November 2019. The cep has assessed this in an Adhoc.
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"The generation of my children cannot imagine a life without this sense of home in Europe. Today, everybody knows that we have to fight again and stand up for our Europe"
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament |
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"There is only one way, and that is the ordinary legislative procedure."
cep Board of Directors Prof. Dr. Lüder Gerken on the deadline extension for medical devices |
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„The Greek state saves around 1,000 euros per year and inhabitant through the EU. This corresponds to the relief for Berlin through the horizontal fiscal equalization system.“
cep expert Dr. Matthias Kullason the redistribution between the EU member states |
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High growth companies provide many jobs in the EU
In 2017, 190 000 companies were classified as high-growth enterprises. Together, they provide work for 16.4 million employees. The highest proportion of high-growth enterprises was in the ‘Information and communication’ sector (17.0% of active enterprises in this sector), followed by ‘Administrative and support service activities” (15.3%), ‘Transportation and storage’ (14.0%) and ‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’ (12.7%).
(Source: Eurostat) |
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Angela Merkel reflects about a "crazy" 2019 and faces the new year 2020!
https://twitter.com/Tagesspiegel/status/1211688760456425473 |
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