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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12604

19 November 2020
Contents Publication in full By article 23 / 28
COUNCIL OF EUROPE / Institutional
Germany takes over presidency of Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe

Brussels, 18/11/2020 (Agence Europe) – During a videoconference meeting attended by representatives of the 47 member states of the organisation today, Germany took over the presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from Greece. This was an opportunity to review the outgoing presidency - the first remote presidency in the history of the organisation - which had to take as its main theme “Effectively responding to a sanitary crisis in full respect for human rights...

Contents

ECONOMY - FINANCE
ECONOMY: Member States’ budgetary measures to support their economies must be temporary, without being too short, insists the Commission
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
COHESION: interim agreement reached between European Parliament and EU Council on REACT-EU Regulation
BUDGET: European Council could discuss deadlock on 2021-2027 MFF and EU Recovery Plan on Thursday 19 November
HEALTH: European Commission sets common quality criteria for antigen tests
STATE AID: green light for €22.2 million Cypriot term loan to Hermes Airports Limited
EXTERNAL ACTION
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: United States, Afghanistan, multilateralism and discussion with al-Maliki on EU Council’s agenda
DEVELOPMENT: EU contribution to global response to Covid-19 crisis will dominate ministerial meeting on 23 November
UNITED STATES: Member States’ Ambassadors to the EU approve lowering of certain tariffs with US
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: permanent structured cooperation and strategic compass on European Defence Ministers’ agenda
SECTORAL POLICIES
MIGRATION: Pact on Migration and Asylum, German Presidency now focusing on ‘progress report’ rather than on general political agreement in December
MIGRATION: Frontex agency compromised again by revelations about refoulements of migrants in Aegean Sea
INDUSTRY: EU Ministers to discuss update to industrial strategy
DIGITAL: European Data Protection Supervisor delivers a preliminary opinion on European Health Data Space
JUSTICE: German Presidency of EU Council is working on clarifying relations between European Public Prosecutor’s Office and non-participating Member States
CLIMATE: ‘climate law’, green light from Member States’ ambassadors to start trilogues 
CLIMATE: aid granted for fossil fuels may jeopardise development of renewable energies, warns Climate Transparency
ENVIRONMENT: PAN Europe calls on Commission to take legal action against Member States that violate ‘Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive’
FISHERIES: EU total allowable catch system on verge of imploding, according to report
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL: outlook is bleak, according to European Commission’s Joint Employment Report
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: pending EU’s 2021-2030 strategy on rights of people with disabilities, national ombudspersons put forward their recommendations
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
SOCIAL: Court believes a national collective agreement may only grant additional maternity leave to mothers
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
HUMAN RIGHTS-SOCIETY: Council of Europe reaffirms its commitment to protection of children against sexual abuse and warns about images produced by children themselves
INSTITUTIONAL: Germany takes over presidency of Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe
NEWS BRIEFS
AGRICULTURE: European Commission approves two geographical indications from Spain and Hungary
DEFENCE: around 40 NGOs concerned about human rights implications of planned European Peace Facility
SPACE: inquiry commission launched into failure of Vega launcher
WTO: WTO observes a decrease in trade restrictions between mid-May and mid-October 2020
SOCIAL: EU Council definitively adopts extension of European Network of Public Employment Services until end of 2027