'Alarm' at Poland's plan to leave treaty protecting women

Yahoo – AFP, July 26, 2020

Around two thousand people marched in Warsaw on Friday to protest the
government's withdrawal plan (AFP Photo/Wojtek RADWANSKI)

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The EU and the Council of Europe on Sunday voiced regret and alarm over the Polish right-wing government's move to withdraw from a landmark international treaty combating violence against women.

The Council of Europe said it was "alarmed" that Poland's right-wing government was moving to withdraw from a landmark international treaty combating violence against women.

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said over the weekend that on Monday he would begin preparing the formal process to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.

The treaty is the world's first binding instrument to prevent and combat violence against women, from marital rape to female genital mutilation.

Ziobro has in the past dismissed it as "an invention, a feminist creation aimed at justifying gay ideology".

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, told AFP in Brussels that it "regrets that such an important matter has been distorted by misleading arguments in some member states".

The Commission added that it would "continue its efforts to finalise the EU's accession" of the convention, which was signed in 2017 but has not yet been ratified.

'Highly regrettable'

A previous centrist Polish government signed the treaty in 2012 and it was ratified in 2015.

The treaty was spearheaded by the Council of Europe, the continent's oldest human rights organisation, and its Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric condemned the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government's plan to withdraw.

"Leaving the Istanbul Convention would be highly regrettable and a major step backwards in the protection of women against violence in Europe," she said in a statement on Sunday.

"If there are any misconceptions or misunderstandings about the convention, we are ready to clarify them in a constructive dialogue."

There is growing anger among women in Turkey at the growing number of 

murders of women there (AFP Photo/Yasin AKGUL)

Around two thousand people marched in the Polish capital Warsaw on Friday to protest the government's withdrawal plan, some shouting "stop violence against women".

There was also outrage from several members of the European Parliament, with Iratxe Garcia Perez, the Spanish leader of the Socialist group, calling the decision "disgraceful".

"I stand with Polish citizens taking (to) the streets to demand respect for women's rights," he tweeted.

The leader of the EU parliament's Renew Europe group, Romania's former prime minister Dacian Ciolos, tweeted: "Using the fight against the Istanbul Convention as an instrument to display its conservatism is a new pitiful and pathetic move by some within the PiS government".

Other countries rejecting treaty

Irish centre-right MEP Frances Fitzgerald said it was now essential for the whole of the EU to ratify the convention "so that no woman is left unprotected and vulnerable to violence".

The Council of Europe stressed that the Istanbul Convention's "sole objective" was to combat violence against women and domestic violence.

Although the treaty does not explicitly mention gay marriage, that has not stopped the backlash to it in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

In Slovakia, the parliament rejected the treaty insisting -- without proof -- that it was at odds with the country's constitutional definition of marriage as a heterosexual union.

The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, which is separate from the European Union, has no binding powers but brings together 47 member states to make recommendations on rights and democracy.

Warsaw has already clashed with the EU Commission over reforms to its judicial system, championed by recently re-elected President Andrzej Duda.

Turkey is also mulling a possible withdrawal from the treaty, and on Sunday, women marched in several cities there to express support for the treaty.

The demonstrations also reflect rising anger in Turkey at the growing number of women killed, including the murder of university student Pinar Gultekin this month.

‘Frugal four’, including the Netherlands, present EU recovery plan

DutchNews, May 24, 2020

Photo: DutchNews.nl

The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden have submitted their own Covid-19 recovery plan to the European Commission as debate over the EU’s strategy for offsetting the impact of coronavirus continues. 

The Netherlands and its partners, known as the ‘frugal four’, say they support the establishment of a one-off emergency fund but do not back debt sharing or a ‘significant’ increase in the EU’s next seven-year budget. 

The Netherlands has been at the forefront of a campaign not to ‘give gifts’ to southern European countries and this proposal is based on a ‘modernised’ EU budget that will make sure countries are ‘better prepared for the next crisis,’ Politico reported. 

The fund would be temporary and one-off and should not lead to ‘debt mutualisation’ Politico quoted the four countries’ position paper as saying. 

The ‘loans for loans’ approach is in line with the fundamental principles of the EU, the Financial Times said, and recipients of loans would have to display a ‘strong commitment to reforms’. 

Last Monday, Germany and France submitted their joint deal involving a €500bn recovery fund offering grants rather than loans. The move was welcomed by southern EU countries and praised as an important breakthrough. 

The Franco-German plan envisages borrowing from the market in the name of the EU and says that countries benefiting would not have to repay the cash. 

‘We are convinced that it is not only fair but also necessary to make the funds available now… that we will repay gradually through several future European budgets,’ German chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference. 

Solidarity 

The seriousness of the crisis meant ‘solidarity’ must be the order of the day, Merkel said. 

The plan was welcomed by EU chief Ursuala von der Leyen as constructive and as acknowledging the ‘scope and size’ of the challenges the EU faces. 

The European Commission is expected to unveil its own proposals for funding the recovery on Wednesday. Insiders suggest it is a combination of grants and loans. 

All 27 member states will have to agree to any recovery plan before it can be implemented. SER Last Thursday, Dutch government policy advisory group 

SER 

said the Netherlands must show solidarity with the EU member countries which have been hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, in its own interest. 

Instead of a strict system of loans subject to conditions and reforms, the government should show more leniency and aim for ‘a responsible form of risk sharing’, SER’s Coronacrisis think-tank said. 

The think-tank, which includes unions, employers, advisory bodies CPB and SCP and Dutch bank DNB and was set up in March, ‘deviates from the government line’, chairwoman Mariëtte Hamer told the FD. 

It is in the Dutch interest to makes sure the southern European countries in particular do not drown in debt and find their way out of the crisis as soon as possible, Hamer said.

Related Article:

Dutch government must show more solidarity with hard-hit EU countries: SER

Brussels warns the Netherlands about airline vouchers, reasserts passenger rights

DutchNews, May 13, 2020 

Margrethe Vestager during the press conference. Photo: Xavier Lejeune EC
Audiovisual Service 

EU nationals are entitled to cash refunds if flights and ferry crossings are cancelled because of coronavirus, and countries such as the Netherlands which do not support this are being written to, the European Commission confirmed on Wednesday. 

At the end of April, Dutch infrastructure minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen said the Netherlands is turning a blind eye to the cash back requirement, even though the vouchers are only valid for a year and passengers could be left with nothing if the airline goes bust. 

During a news conference to mark the publication of a package of guidelines for a return to safe travel and tourism this year, commission vice president Margrethe Vestager said that ‘European consumers have a right to a cash refund, if that is what they want.’ 

‘Letters are being sent as we speak to member states which are in breach of this fundamental right,’ Vestager said. Some 11 other EU countries are thought to be following the Dutch position. Later it transpired the letters are ‘aimed at reminding member states about the rules’ rather than the start of any legal proceedings. 

The package of measures aimed at starting tourism up again within Europe include recommendations on how to make the vouchers more attractive. ‘Many companies have problems and this liquidity crunch would be less severe if customers accepted vouchers instead of cash refunds,’ Vestager said. 

To this end, the commission suggests vouchers be protected against the airline going bankrupt, be valid for a minimum of 12 months, and be refundable after at most one year, if not redeemed. 

They should also give passengers sufficient flexibility, allow them to travel under the same conditions, and be transferable. 

Van Nieuwenhuizen said in April she had decided to turn a blind eye to airlines breaking the rules to protect their financial position. Nevertheless, the minister said she would like the aviation sector to make the vouchers as attractive as possible, by being more flexible about the conditions and allowing them to be transferred to other passengers. 

Alexandre de Juniac, head of the international airline body IATA, said in a reaction that the commission’s recommendations are ‘quite frankly, are not helpful to airlines are consumers. Both need clarity.’ 

Every traveler must be treated fairly and given what they are owed, he said. But at the same time, there needs to be a harmonised approach to reimbursements and vouchers ‘through a temporary and clearly drafted adjustment of the current passenger rights framework’.

Coronavirus: EU calls for coordinated exit plan

DW, 15 April 2020 

The Commission wants member states to collaborate on easing coronavirus restrictions. But with disparate national responses to COVID-19, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Bernd Riegert reports from Brussels.

Ursula von der Leyen (Reuters/J.Geron)

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is unveiling on Wednesday her road map for lifting coronavirus restrictions across the bloc. In a 14-page document laying out her ideas, von der Leyen says that "although it is clear that the path back to normalcy will take a long time, it is also obvious that we cannot maintain these extraordinary restrictions indefinitely."

She says lockdowns across the continent had proven effective, yet also precipitated a tremendous economic shock and placed a heavy burden on public life. EU officials estimate that the eurozone economy could shrink by 10 percent this year — a drop in economic productivity not seen since the global economic crisis of the 1920s.

Austria has begun lifting restrictions, but people must contineu to wear masks
in public

Avoiding tensions between member states

Ursula von der Leyen urges all 27 EU member states to coordinate their lifting of restrictions and to continue coordinating their approach to tackling the pandemic going forward. She warns that "insufficient coordination in the lifting of restrictions poses the risk of creating negative effects for all member states and most likely increases tensions between them." She admits there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but that member states should strive to inform each other of steps taken.

At the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, various EU members states had closed their borders, or imposed travel restrictions, without giving each other advance warning. Ursula von der Leyen now hopes that the re-opening of borders over the coming weeks and months will happen in a more systematic fashion.

Sweden has thus far avoided implementing restrictive measures, even as deaths from
coronavirus have risen, meaning these Stockholm bargoers can enjoy beers out — for now

Infections could surge again

The EU Commission says three conditions must be met for coronavirus restrictions to be eased. Brussels says that curfews could be lifted once national health care systems are no longer under such extreme strain, once infections rates have dropped off, and once particularly vulnerable groups are able to be provided with extra protection. Brussels does not, however, propose a specific time plan for this.

The paper recognizes that this is fraught with danger: "It is certain that such a gradual lifting of restrictions will lead to new infections." This is why, it states, developments must be closely monitored and new, possibly even more draconian measures will have to be imposed. Von der Leyen writes that "we will have to live with the virus until a vaccine has been developed."

Member states are autonomous actors

Some EU states, like Austria and Denmark, have already announced plans to lift some restrictions on daily life. Countries like France and Spain, meanwhile, are keeping strict measures in place.

France will remain in a lockdown until May 11

And while some states have isolated themselves, others are still permitting international flights to operate. Roughly half of all member states have declared a state of emergency, whereas Sweden, in contrast, has kept restrictions to a bare minimum. In Germany, meanwhile, there is no universal approach among its 16 federal states to fighting the virus outbreak. In the state of Bavaria, for instance, all DIY stores have been closed to help contain the virus, while in neighboring Baden-Württemberg they're free to stay open.

Revised with caution

The bloc's heads of the states and governments had prompted Ursula von der Leyen to draw up an exit strategy for the bloc. She had been ready to unveil her road map last week, yet was called back by concerned governments demanding she revise the paper.

The amended paper now has a more cautious wording, and makes suggestions, instead of demands. It appeals to all states to gradually reactivate the common market and ease travel restrictions. EU members states, meanwhile, are still to reign supreme with regard to managing public health and disease control.

EU plans economic stimulus package

At the end of the document, Ursula von der Leyen pledges to draw up a plan to kick start the bloc's economy, which was been hit hard by the coronavirus. She says demand and production must be stimulated, and taxes possibly lowered. The paper states that "the Commission will develop a recovery strategy that builds on a new medium-term budget plan, and a reworked 2020 action plan."

Next week, the EU's heads of state and government will discuss the possibility of creating a European "Marshall Plan" to stimulate the bloc's economy recovery. Commission President von der Leyen plans to pump hundreds of billions of euros into into the recovery effort.

Greta Thunberg tells EU to stop 'pretending' on climate

Yahoo – AFP, March 4, 2020

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said that despite "disregarding" science, the EU
was hoping its climate plan "will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has
ever faced" (AFP Photo/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD)

Brussels (AFP) - Teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg branded the EU's grand plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 inadequate on Wednesday and said Europe is falsely claiming to lead the world on climate.

The European Union must stop "pretending that you can be a climate leader and still go on building and subsidising new fossil fuel infrastructure," the Swedish activist told a committee hearing at the European Parliament.

Thunberg was addressing MEPs as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new draft law that Brussels has hailed as the cornerstone of Europe's "Green Deal" to fight climate change.

The 17-year-old said that despite "disregarding" science, the EU was hoping its plan "will somehow solve the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced".

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C) announced a new draft law 

that Brussels has hailed as the cornerstone of Europe's "Green Deal" to fight 

climate change (AFP Photo/JOHN THYS)

"This must come to an end," she said.

Earlier, Thunberg had been a guest at a meeting of top EU officials that approved a proposal to enshrine into law the EU's ambition of net zero carbon emissions by mid-century.

This would bind the EU's 27 member states to balance polluting emissions and the removal of greenhouse gases -- such as by using carbon capture technology or reforestation -- within the next 30 years.

The law, once ratified, would also give the EU executive new powers to impose emission targets on member state governments.

"When your house is on fire, you don't wait a few more years to start putting it out," said Thunberg.

"When the EU presents this climate law and net zero by 2050 you indirectly admit surrender, that you are giving up," she said.

'Wise owl' Lagarde launches major ECB review

Yahoo – AFP, Michelle FITZPATRICK, Tom BARFIELD, December 12, 2019

Neither hawk nor dove, but 'wise owl' (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Christine Lagarde on Thursday announced a major review of the ECB's tools and goals and said the eurozone slowdown was beginning to ease, as she made her debut as president vowing to bring her "own style" to the job.

Speaking at a Frankfurt press conference after chairing her first governing council meeting, Lagarde said the bank would launch its "strategic review" next month and aim to finish by "the end of 2020".

A central focus of the reassessment, the ECB's first since 2003, will be whether the bank's main objective of keeping inflation "close to, but below" two percent remains relevant after years of anaemic price growth.

Lagarde said she also wanted to focus on "major changes" in society since the last review, including the challenges posed by climate change, technological advances and rising inequality.

As expected, Lagarde kept her predecessor Mario Draghi's ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged Thursday, holding interest rates at historic lows and leaving a 20-billion-euro ($22.2 billion) per month bond-buying programme untouched.

The policies are designed to bolster the 19-nation eurozone economy and drive up inflation at a time of weak global growth, weighed down by US-China trade rows and Brexit uncertainty.

Lagarde said the ECB was seeing "some initial signs of stabilisation in the growth slowdown", despite "persistent global uncertainties".

While manufacturing remained weak as trade tensions fester, the services and construction sectors remain "resilient", she said.

Look out for monetary policy tackling the climate crisis (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Neither hawk nor dove

Although her maiden press conference was light on monetary policy news, Lagarde showed she was keenly aware that her performance was being closely scrutinised.

The former International Monetary Fund chief who has no prior central banking experience took pains to urge observers not to weigh her every word or compare her to former ECB boss Mario Draghi.

"Don't over-interpret, don't second guess, don't cross reference, I'm going to be myself and therefore probably different," she told journalists.

"Once and for all, I'm neither a dove nor a hawk, and my ambition is to be this owl, that is often associated with a little bit of wisdom," said Lagarde.

"For ECB watchers and financial market participants... learning how to read Christine Lagarde will take some time" said ING bank economist Carsten Brzeski, judging it "not always clear whether Lagarde spoke on behalf of herself" or the ECB council.

The ECB also unveiled its latest growth and inflation forecasts, for the first time running through to 2022.

Risks to the euro area outlook "remain tilted to the downside, but have become somewhat less pronounced", Lagarde said.

The bank trimmed its eurozone growth forecast for 2020 to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent, but said it saw output strengthening to 1.4 percent in the following two years.

Inflation meanwhile is predicted to climb from 1.1 percent in 2020 to 1.6 percent in 2022 -- bringing the ECB closer to its target.

"Is it satisfactory? It's certainly directionally good, but is it the aim that we pursue? No," Lagarde said.

'Some initial signs of stabilisation in the growth slowdown': Lagarde already 

seems comfortable with central bank speak (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Going green

Pressed for details on the planned review, Lagarde said there was "no preconceived landing zone".

But calls are growing for the ECB to loosen its strict inflation goal after years of stubbornly low growth, and change the way it calculates inflation.

Lagarde herself explicitly mentioned possibly including housing costs in the measurements in future.

The ECB's first female president has also repeatedly stressed that monetary policy has a role to play in tackling the climate crisis, even if the real driver for change lies with fiscal policy.

She said the bank would be speaking to lawmakers, academics and civil society representatives to hear their views.

The focus on climate change comes just days after new European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a "Green Deal" for the bloc that aims to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050.

Lagarde praised "the ambition" shown by the initiative and said she hoped it would win widespread backing.

"In our strategic review we will take up climate change, we will take up the fight that is taken up by the European Commission and I hope other European institutions, and see where and how we can participate."

EU leader urges MEPs to back green growth plan

Yahoo – AFP, Marine LAOUCHEZ, Dave CLARK, December 11, 2019

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the 'Green New Deal'  to
fight climate change was "Europe's man on the moon moment" (AFP Photo/
Aris Oikonomou)

Brussels (AFP) - The EU's top official Wednesday launched the bloc's new "Green Deal", hailing it as a strategy for jobs and economic growth, not just for cutting emissions.

Unveiling the plan to the European Parliament, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also warned against the steep cost of inaction.

Earlier, she had compared the ambition of the plan to the 1960s US mission to the moon, but Green groups were quick to warn it does not go far enough.

The key element of the plan will be a law committing member states to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050 -- but first it will need the go-ahead from parliament and EU leaders.

"We do not have all the answers yet. Today is the start of a journey. But this is Europe's man on the moon moment," Ursula von der Leyen said.

She promised a "new growth strategy" that "gives back more than it takes away", aiming to mobilise around 100 billion euros to fund clean energy projects.

"We have to make sure no one is left behind," she told reporters. "This transition will either be working for all and be just, or it will not work at all."

In parliament, she said: "Some say the cost of this transition is too high, let us never forget what the cost of non-action would be. It is rising by the year."

The document is the first major political challenge for the former German defence minister since she took charge of the European Commission this month.

And it comes as a UN global climate summit is under way in Madrid -- focusing attention on the crisis -- and on the eve of von der Leyen's first EU summit.

Various leaked versions of the plan have been flying around Brussels for weeks, and lobby groups from all sides of the debate have been piling on pressure.

The European Parliament was the first to officially receive the plan.

"At this point, we can't yet say if it's a Green Deal or green washing," said French Green MEP Karima Delli as associations feared the proposals did not go far enough.

The leaders of EU member states will hear it on Thursday at their Brussels summit and von der Leyen's deputy Frans Timmermans will take it to this week's COP25 forum in Madrid.

"It's important that, in parallel to the announcement, there's a signal" of support from European leaders, European Council President Charles Michel said.

The "European Green Deal" lists legislative proposals, financial instruments and action plans in different sectors, with a timetable.

The key goals are to use a combination of cleaner tech and carbon capture methods to make Europe the first "carbon neutral" economy by 2050.

Global competitors

Three countries still highly dependent on fossil fuels, particularly coal, could still block the way: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

To convince them, the Commission plans to establish a 100-billion-euro "transition mechanism" to help them transition to renewable energy sources.

"It would help if at the Council we get some progress on carbon neutrality," said MEP Pascal Canfin, chair of the environment committee of the leaders' meeting.

The European Commission wants to set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50 or even 55 percent by 2030, up from its 40 percent goal.

But for some this does not go far enough.

"The promises are too small, too few, and too far off," said Jagoda Munic of Friends of the Earth Europe.

"We're on a runaway train to ecological and climate collapse and the EU Commission is gently switching gears instead of slamming on the brakes."

The action plan also includes plans to extend the EU Emissions Trading System into the highly polluting shipping sector.

And there are plans for a "border adjustment mechanism" aimed at importers to ensure that EU companies do not lose out to competitors who flout the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Commission will also lay out the timetable for its "from farm to fork" strategy to promote sustainable and quality agriculture, as well as that on biodiversity.

But however ambitious von der Leyen's environmental plan is, it will be very dependent on the money EU members are willing to spend on it.

For the moment, this is the unknown. Negotiations for the multi-year MFF budget for the period 2021-2027 are running late and entering a difficult stage.

EU leadership takes office touting green ambition

Rfi.fr - AFP, 1 November 2019

Von der Leyen replaced EU veteran Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the 

European Commission AFP

Brussels (AFP) - The EU's new leadership took office on Sunday, one month later then planned, promising a more united Europe that would be ready to face major challenges, including fighting climate change.

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen became president of the European Commission and marked the occasion in a short ceremony with her top EU official counterparts, including EU Council President Charles Michel who also started on Sunday.

The team took the reins as the 28-member union is faced with a mountain of difficulties, including the Brexit divorce with Britain and tense ties with superpowers China and the United States.

Von der Leyen said the officials gathered, who also included European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, must meet a great responsibility as guardians of the EU treaties.

"It is a responsibility towards the European people and towards our founding father and mothers, but it is also a responsibility towards our children," she said.

"It is our responsibility to leave a union that is stronger than the one we inherited: ... a continent in peace with rights and liberties (and) a single market with unprecedented economic opportunities," she said.

Former IMF chief Lagarde, who took office last month, stressed that the union had only recently left the damaging debt crisis and must look to the future.

"It's a formidable challenge that awaits us, but my hope is that... we may leave this age of repairing (the EU) to one of renovation and hope," she said.

Von der Leyen, who replaced EU veteran Jean-Claude Juncker, will lead a 27-strong team of commissioners who also began work on Sunday with a clear ambition to make Europe a global powerhouse on green policy.

European Parliament President David Sassoli said the MEPs would hold an extraordinary session on December 11 -- the eve of an EU leaders summit -- to receive the commission's first climate proposals, dubbed the "Green New Deal".

The Sunday ceremony was officially the 10th anniversary of the latest European treaty that simplified an EU governance, which remains complicated and often criticised as too removed from the continent's 500 million citizens.

Her mandate was due to start November 1 but was delayed after three of her initial nominees to the commission were rejected during the parliamentary confirmation process in an unprecedented snub.

EU changes title for migration commissioner after outcry

Yahoo – AFP, Marc BURLEIGH, November 13, 2019

EU Commission president-elect Ursula von der Leyen had dug in over the original title
'Protecting our European Way of Life' before finally ceding (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Brussels (AFP) - The incoming European Commission chief has changed the title of her migration commissioner from "Protecting our European Way of Life" following criticism it had far-right connotations, an EU official said Wednesday.

Ursula von der Leyen agreed to modify the title to "Promoting the European Way of Life" for the commissioner, her spokesman told AFP. Her commission plans to take charge from next month.

The original name given to the portfolio had brewed up a storm, especially among left-wing MEPs who noted a similarity to rhetoric employed by anti-immigration politicians.

Outgoing Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said in September he believed the title would end up being changed, adding: "I don't like the idea that the European way of life is opposed to migration."

But his successor von der Leyen dug in for a long time, arguing that the title was grounded in the language of tolerance enshrined in the EU treaty.

Greece's Margaritis Schinas, who is set to take on the role, has avoided using the title though he has defended von der Leyen's position.

Delayed changeover

Von der Leyen's hopes of a smooth transition have taken a blow after MEPs blocked three picks for her team, deeming them unsuitable to become commissioners.

That has pushed back the date she hoped her Commission would take over, from November 1 to December 1 at the earliest.

Brexit turmoil and elections in Britain, still an EU member until at least the end of January, have compounded the commission conundrum, with London dodging her demands for the UK to also nominate a commissioner.

Von der Leyen still needs MEPs to confirm her replacement picks for commissioners, especially France's Thierry Breton, a multi-millionaire former minister who barely scraped through the parliament's legal affairs grilling.

The leftist Socialists and Democrats grouping in the European Parliament, which was among the most vocal against the "Protecting our European Way of Life" title, hailed the belated change.

Its leader, Iratxe Garcia, portrayed the modification as von der Leyen bending to pressure from her group.

"We all agree that the European way of life is an achievement we must preserve, but it doesn't have to be defended, rather promoted," Garcia said in a statement.

She added that von der Leyen had also agreed to change other job titles, with the jobs portfolio becoming "jobs and social rights" and the word fisheries being added to the title carried by the commissioner for environment and oceans.

A source in the left-wing bloc of MEPs told AFP the changes "take a bit of pressure off" the hearings for the commissioner candidates.

A spokesman for von der Leyen's commission, Eric Mamer, told reporters at a briefing that he was not yet fully informed on the change of titles for the migration portfolio, but he said it "puts a nuance that is probably a little more positive" than the original one.

EU pursues Brexit ratification despite delay request

Yahoo – AFP, Dave CLARK, and Martin Trauth, October 20, 2019

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined an anti-Brexit march in
central London on Saturday (AFP Photo/Niklas HALLE'N)

Brussels (AFP) - Brussels officials on Sunday pressed on with plans to ratify the divorce deal as European leaders considered Prime Minister Boris Johnson's reluctant request for a Brexit delay.

Ambassadors and senior officials from the other 27 member states met Sunday after British MPs forced Johnson to send EU Council president Donald Tusk a late request to postpone the withdrawal.

"The EU is keeping all options open and has therefore initiated the ratification process so that it can be handed over to the European Parliament on Monday," an EU diplomat told AFP.

"The EU will probably pursue this strategy until there is clarity on the British side," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Tusk will spend a "few days" canvassing member state leaders, and diplomats said this would mean the British parliament will have to vote on Brexit again before hearing their decision on the October 31 departure.

"It was a very short and normal meeting of the EU ambassadors to launch the next steps of the EU ratification of the agreement," EU negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters after Sunday's talks.

Diplomats told AFP the ambassadors' meeting lasted only 15 minutes and had dealt simply with EU ratification, although a participant said they had "taken note" of Johnson's letter.

Asked whether he thought EU leaders would grant a delay, Barnier said: "President Tusk will consult in the next days."

Previous deal torpedoed

On Saturday, MPs pushed through an amendment obliging a furious Johnson to ask for an extension until the British legislation governing the withdrawal is drafted and passed.

Johnson, who refused to sign the letter and insists no delay is necessary, plans to bring the Brexit agreement he reached with Barnier last week to a vote on Monday.

MPs will thus have to vote without knowing whether EU leaders will allow an extension -- and if so whether they will delay Brexit as far as January 31 next year, as the British letter requested.

"Further developments on the British side will have to be taken into account," another European diplomat confirmed.

"What was decided on Thursday stays on the table. The British parliament didn't reject the deal, so no need to change course."

And one diplomat took to Twitter to complain that his Sunday morning had been disrupted by British political manoeuvres.

Gregor Schusterschitz, Austria's deputy permanent representative to the EU, sent a picture of the meeting agenda.

"What better way at to start a Sunday morning than with a meeting on Brexit... and this in all the uncertainty yet again created by the House of Commons," he added.

European sources were not sure how any decision on an extension will be made. Tusk could call a special summit next week, but diplomats said he is more likely to use a written procedure.

Diplomats suggested a summit would only be necessary if British MPs reject the deal next week and overturn the whole process. Any decision either way must be unanimous.

"If the parliament says it needs more time, then there could be a 'technical extension' for some weeks. This would probably be agreed. We certainly do not want to risk a no deal because of a few days more," one EU diplomat said.

Election prospects

If the House of Commons rejects the withdrawal agreement, however, the EU leaders would probably want to hold a meeting to discuss whether it is worth giving a longer extension to allow Britain to hold an election or second Brexit referendum to break the impasse.

Last week, EU and UK negotiators announced an agreement to govern Britain's departure from the bloc at the end of the month and European leaders endorsed it at a summit on Thursday.

The EU parliament will begin its own ratification procedures on Monday but Britain's House of Commons, which torpedoed an earlier agreement signed a year earlier, still has its doubts.