On Tuesday 25 October, the European Commission adopted its working programme, which lays out the key initiatives it intends to carry out by the end of 2017.
The working programme, which focuses on the major issues, lists 21 key initiatives and 18 new REFIT proposals to improve the quality of the existing EU legislation.
This year, the Commission has withdrawn 19 pending legislative proposals that are now outdated and cancelled 16 obsolete legislative acts. Additionally, it will step up its efforts to enforce legislation in several areas, in particular the single market and the environment.
Employment, growth and investment. The Commission will reinforce the youth employment initiative (+€2 billion for the period 2017-2020). By the end of 2016, the Commission intends to launch the European solidarity corps. It is determined to double both the term and the financial capacity of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). The Commission will present a proposal introducing minimum quality standards for reused water and a revision of the directive on drinking water.
Following the proposed revision of the multiannual financial framework (2014-2020), the Commission will make a proposal on the framework to be set in place for post-2020, which will also deal with own resources. The Commission will continue its work on simplifying and modernising the common agriculture policy. As regards farmers' position in the food supply chain, the Commission will consider other measures if necessary.
A connected digital single market. The Commission will carry out a mid-term review of the implementation of the digital single market strategy. It will work on the most recent anticipated proposals, such as the REFIT package concerning value-added tax (VAT) which covers proposals on trade, publications and electronic books. Progress is anticipated on digital contracts, copyright, geographic blocking and the portability and delivery of parcels. The Commission will keep its promise to remove roaming charges for mobile telephones by mid-2017.
Energy and climate change. The Commission will continue implementation of the Energy Union and by the end of the year will present a full raft of measures to reinforce energy efficiency. This raft of measures will include legislative initiatives on energy efficiency, renewable energy, including the sustainability of bio-energy resources, the organisation of the electricity market and governance rules for the Energy Union.
The Commission will ensure the monitoring of the low-carbon intensity mobility strategy (revision of the regulations on private cars and light utility vehicles and of the directive on private cars). In order to apply the user-pays and polluter-pays principle, the Commission will propose improvements to the member states opting for road tolls, particularly regarding the interoperability of remote toll services.
Single market and industry. The actions to be carried out will include a revision of the legislation on goods, an initiative on company law aiming to facilitate the use of digital technologies through a company's entire life-cycle and cross-border mergers and demergers, an initiative on coordinated assessments of healthcare technologies, measures for a better application of the rules of the single market, in the framework of a broader raft of application measures and including proposals for a single digital portal and an information tool on the single market. As regards the space industry, the Commission will make proposals next year for an initiative to ensure communication services using reliable satellites that are safe and provide the public authorities with an excellent cost-efficiency ratio (GOVSATCOM – government telecommunications by satellite) and measures to facilitate the penetration of the space services and space data market.
Economic and Monetary Union. The White Paper on the future of Europe, which lays out the measures to be taken to reform an EU of 27 member states 60 years after the Treaties of Rome, will also cover the future of EMU, to prepare for the second phase of the deepening of EMU in a new political and democratic context. In particular, there are plans to revise the Stability and Growth Pact with a particular focus on stability and a monitoring of Article 16 of the Treaty on stability, coordination and governance within the Economic and Monetary Union. The Commission will revise the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS). The conclusion of an agreement on a proposed common European deposit insurance system remains a priority. The Commission also plans to revise certain areas of banking legislation and to propose targeted changes to the regulation and directive on own-funds requirements as well as the directive on the recovery of banks and the resolution of their defaults.
The Commission stresses that it is determined to promote upwards social convergence and to reinforce the social dimension of European integration. It is to present a European pillar of social rights, laying out the principles of a Union based on social justice. This pillar will define a raft of principles aiming to promote fair conditions of competition in a European social market economy.
Trade: a reasonable and balanced free-trade agreement with the United States. On the basis of a network of free-trade agreements successfully set in place by the EU, the Commission will continue negotiations with the United States, Japan, Mercosur, Mexico, Tunisia and the ASEAN countries. It will seek to obtain new mandates to start negotiations with Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. The Commission will continue to work for a swift ratification of the comprehensive economic and trade agreement with Canada, in line with the working programme (see other article).
Justice and fundamental rights. The Commission is planning to make a proposal for a European travel information and authorisation system (ETIAS), allowing an automated control of third-country nationals with a visa exemption wishing to enter the Schengen zone, thereby adding to the system of entries and exits of third-country nationals already proposed. It will also present improvements to the Schengen information system and will submit an initiative on access to electronic evidence (criminal proceedings and the fight against serious forms of crime and terrorism). Other initiatives include proposals for harmonised sanctions as a deterrent against money laundering, illegal movements of cash and the illegal trade in cultural goods, and proposals on freezing and confiscation of assets of criminal origin. A reinforcement of Europol is also planned.
Towards a new migration policy. In 2017, the Commission will continue its work with the same intensity in the field of direct aid to refugees, support for their integration in the communities hosting them in Europe and in third countries, improving the management of migration in the most exposed border areas, the fight against the trafficking of migrants and human beings – particularly unaccompanied minors – and returns of illegal migrants. The Commission states that the measures have been taken to put the Schengen zone for the free movement of people back on the road to business as usual.
A stronger Europe internationally. The Commission will present a European defence action plan. Subsequently, it will propose the creation of a European defence fund. Furthermore, additional measures will be proposed in the field of defence public procurement. Ahead of the fifth EU-Africa summit, to take place in late 2017, the Commission will propose a new approach aiming to define the EU's strategic priorities and objectives in its relations with Africa. This approach will also feed into the African pillar of the post-Cotonou framework, to be presented by the Commission shortly. The Commission will propose a new European consensus on development, bringing its development position into line with the 2030 sustainable development programme of the United Nations. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)