#EUNews - Let’s talk about what the EU actually does 🔊 Before the holidays, agenda topics were external activities, improving rescEU, the ban on plastic and Brexit
📌Fraud prevention: MEPs inquire the misuse of EU agricultural funds in Slovakia🔍💪👨🌾
📌Master of disaster: the EU is strengthening its civil protection capacities🎓🌩️👨
📌No more plastic fantastic: EU slowly but surely moving towards an actual law 🛍️🐌👨⚖️
📌Brexit: European Commission implements “no-deal” Contingency Action Plan 🎬🤯❌
Fraud prevention: MEPs inquire the misuse of EU agricultural funds in Slovakia🔍💪👨🌾
➡️ The Budgetary Control Committee visited Slovakia on a fact-finding mission to inspect the use of EU agricultural funds. MEPs met government officials, NGOs, journalists and local farmers inquiring about an alleged misuse of EU agricultural funds, as reported by murdered journalist Ján Kuciak and later by other journalists.
Master of disaster: the EU is strengthening its civil protection capacities🎓🌩️👨
➡️ The EU is strengthening its civil protection capacities, to make sure timely support can be provided whenever there is a natural or man-made disaster. An agreement was reached between the Council Presidency and the European Parliament representatives on the proposal to amend the EU civil protection mechanism to ease knowledge sharing, to strengthen the response capacities and overall improving risk prevention.
No more plastic fantastic: EU slowly but surely moving towards an actual law 🛍️🐌👨⚖️
➡️ The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached a provisional political agreement on the measures proposed by the Commission to tackle marine litter at its source, targeting the 10 plastic products most often found on our beaches. It envisages different measures to apply to different product categories. Where alternatives are easily available and affordable, single-use plastic products will be banned from the market. For other products, the focus is on limiting their use through a national reduction in consumption; on design and labelling requirements; and waste management/clean-up obligations for producers.
🔜 The law might be implemented in spring 2019, but your own thoughtful consumption has an immediate effect.
Brexit: European Commission implements “no-deal” Contingency Action Plan 🎬🤯❌
➡️ Given the continued uncertainty in the UK surrounding the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, the European Commission started implementing its Action Plan, which includes 14 measures in a number of areas where a "no-deal" scenario would create major disruption for citizens and businesses in the EU27, such as financial services, air transport, customs, and climate policy. These measures cannot replicate the terms provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. They are limited to specific areas where it is absolutely necessary to protect the vital interests of the EU and where preparedness measures on their own are not sufficient. Over the past year, the Commission has published 78 sector-specific preparedness notices to inform the public about the consequences of the UK's withdrawal in the absence of any Withdrawal Agreement. These are available in all official EU languages.
🔜 The Commission will continue to implement its Contingency Action Plan in the weeks to come, monitor the need for additional action and continue to support Member States in their preparedness work.
🔥 If you want to be updated, too, we suggest the European Parliament's press service http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room and the European Commission's news room https://europa.eu/newsroom/home_en