Catella: “Is winter coming?”

In December’s Catella Real Estate Debt Indicator (CREDI), the Main index fell by 12.7 points to 43.9. Both the sub-index for the Current situation and the Expectation sub-index fell sharply, showing that the surveyed banks and property owners in Sweden have encountered tougher financing conditions, and anticipate tougher conditions in the property market also for the coming three-month period.“Since the summer, the capital markets have been more troubled, and we have seen fewer issues of shares and bonds than in the first half of the year. Compared to the volatile capital markets, access to bank financing was stable in the third quarter, even though last quarter’s CREDI showed signs of a slowdown. CREDI is now showing that access to bank financing has also weakened,” says Martin Malhotra, Project Manager at Catella.The fall in the Main index is being driven by a significant decrease in the sub-index for the Current situation, which fell by 20.9 index points to 42.3. A decline was also observed in the forward-looking sub-index, which similarly fell below the turning point of 50.0.
“We see two main factors driving the cooling of the financing climate. Firstly, reduced appetite from investors in the capital market and, secondly, seasonal effects with the banks having lent large amounts to the property sector during the year and the weighting of the sector therefore becoming high,” continues Martin Malhotra.CREDI’s Main index showed a significant drop of 12.7 index points in the December edition of the debt indicator, to 43.9 from 56.6. This is the first time since CREDI was started in 2012 that both components of the Main index are below the turning point of 50.0. December’s CREDI also marks a change from previous surveys in that the sub-index for the Current situation (42.3) is lower than the sub-index for the coming three months (45.5).“Since the summer, investor risk willingness has also decreased. This is mainly due to concerns about a weakening global economy and expectations that the Fed will be raising interest rates. Looking at the fourth quarter and the trend in Sweden, this is in line with the changes that have taken place globally in the financial markets since the summer,” says Arvid Lindqvist, Head of Research at Catella.
In line with underlying market rates, the average interest rate for the listed property companies fell again during the third quarter 2015, to 2.7 percent. There is a high correlation between the average interest rate for the companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Main Market and the implicit yield on the companies’ properties. Since 2009, the implicit yield has fallen from approximately 6 percent to the current level of approximately 4.5 percent.“Since August, there have been few issues of preference shares and market yields have been upwardly adjusted. Although there has been some correction in the common shares of the listed property companies during the autumn, the shares are still traded at a high level in relation to book value,” says Martin Malhotra.The thirteenth edition of the Catella Real Estate Debt Indicator (CREDI) is attached and can also be downloaded from catella.se/credi. CREDI consists of two parts: one is an index based on a survey of listed property companies and active banks in Sweden, and the other a set of indices based on publicly available data. Read more about the methodology here. This edition also includes an analysis of preferred shares and an overview of the property market.

Data protection package: Parliament and Council now close to a deal

A “strong compromise” on how to ensure a high level of data protection across the EU was agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators in their last round of talks on the data protection package on Tuesday. It is now up to member states to give a green light to the agreement. The two draft laws in the package – a regulation and a directive – are scheduled for a confirmation vote in the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday morning. The draft regulation aims to give citizens control over their private data, while also creating clarity and legal certainty for businesses to spur competition in the digital market.”Today’s negotiations hopefully have cleared the way for a final agreement”, said Parliament’s lead MEP on the regulation Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens, DE), adding that “In future, firms breaching EU data protection rules could be fined as much as 4% of annual turnover – for global internet companies in particular, this could amount to billions. In addition, companies will also have to appoint a data protection officer if they process sensitive data on a large scale or collect information on many consumers”.”The regulation returns control over citizens’ personal data to citizens. Companies will not be allowed to divulge information that they have received for a particular purpose without the permission of the person concerned. Consumers will have to give their explicit consent to the use of their data. Unfortunately, member states could not agree to set a 13-year age limit for parental consent for children to use social media such as Facebook or Instagram. Instead, member states will now be free to set their own limits between 13 and 16 years”, he concluded.
The new draft directive on data transfers for policing and judicial purposes will ensure citizens’ rights and freedoms, allowing at the same time national law enforcement bodies in the EU to exchange information faster and more effectively. “It is of the utmost importance, especially after the Paris attacks, to enhance police cooperation and exchange of law enforcement data”, said Parliament’ lead MEP on the draft directive Marju Lauristin (S&D, ET) after the agreement was reached. “I am very confident that this law will offer the right balance between safeguarding citizen’s fundamental rights and increasing the effectiveness of police cooperation throughout the Union”, she added.
The directive will be the first instrument to harmonise 28 different law enforcement systems with respect to exchanging data – also within each member state. At the same time, it should clarify police cooperation arrangements and give citizens greater certainty as to the law. EU countries may set higher data protection standards than those enshrined in the directive if they so wish.

Supporting Ukraine’s difficult path towards reforms

This Policy paper by Jan Jakub Chromiec, associate research fellow, and Nicole Koenig, research fellow at our office in Germany, the Jacques Delors Institut – Berlin, assesses Ukraine’s post-Maidan reform progress and outlines how the EU’s support could be boosted and fine-tuned. This Policy paper explores four major dimensions:
Reform progress along the “4 Ds”
Stumbling blocks and bright spots in the reform process
The EU’s multifaceted support to the reform process
Boosting and fine-tuning EU assistance

Miami Realtors Expanded Northwestern Dade Office Set for Grand Opening

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) is proud to announce the grand opening of its renovated and expanded Northwestern Dade office. A two-story atrium and an expanded 80-seat conference center along with a new 25-seat computer lab have been added to the Hialeah office, equipping MIAMI members with a fifth state-of-the-art South Florida location for Realtor classes, seminars and meetings. MIAMI leaders, past presidents of Northwestern Dade and local elected leaders are expected to attend Northwestern Dade’s grand opening/ribbon cutting on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 415 West 51st Place, Suite 200, in Hialeah. The Northwestern Dade Association of Realtors merged with the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® in October 2010 to become part of the largest local Realtor Association in the U.S.“We are thrilled to open the doors to our renovated, state-of-the-art Northwestern Dade office and conference center,” said Teresa King Kinney, the chief executive officer for MIAMI. “Adding a new, 25-seat computer lab at Northwestern Dade will give MIAMI members access to a fifth South Florida location to take our popular Realtor education and technology courses. Northwestern Dade’s newly expanded, 80-seat conference center will provide a great venue for some of the 3,500 educational seminars we present each year.”MIAMI’s other member computer labs: MIAMI headquarters at 700 S. Royal Poinciana Blvd., Suite 400, in Miami Springs (42-seat computer lab); Coral Gables office at 245 Alcazar Avenue (25-seat computer lab), West Broward-Sawgrass office at 13680 Northwest 14th St. in Sunrise (42-seat computer lab) and the East Broward-DCOTA office at 1815 Griffin Road, Suite 104 in Dania Beach (28-seat computer lab).A sixth computer lab is planned for Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound Association of Realtors (JTHS) members at the Jupiter office. JTHS, which comprises 1,500 members in Palm Beach and Martin counties, merged with MIAMI on September 22, 2015. MIAMI plans to increase educational opportunities for the new JTHS Council which will be focused on their members’ needs and interests.
MIAMI hosts more than 3,500 member educational seminars each year with about 86 percent offered free to members. Conference centers at each location hold between 80 and 150 participants for each of the seminars hosted there. MIAMI also provides more than 100 premium marketing tools and services to each of its 41,000 members, contributing to their success and helping better serve their customers.

Fair trials for children: Parliament and Council strike deal on new directive with a “catalogue of rights”

New rules to ensure that children who are suspected or accused of a crime are able to understand and follow the proceedings, to enable them to exercise their right to a fair trial, to prevent re-offending and foster their social integration were provisionally agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators on Tuesday evening.An estimated one million children come into formal contact with the police and judiciary in the EU each year (i.e. 12% of the total EU population facing criminal justice). However, their legal protection varies from country to country.”This agreement between the European Parliament and the Council is an important step in the creation of a European judicial area and in the development of a fairer and more effective model of juvenile justice, also in view of the social reintegration and prevention of recidivism of children involved in criminal proceedings”, said Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee rapporteur and lead negotiator on the proposal, Caterina Chinnici (S&D, IT).”Despite the large number of international instruments in this area, there was no, to date, a binding text defining what constitutes a ‘fair trial’ for children: this directive will provide a structured catalogue of rights for suspected or accused children, based on a set of minimum, interconnected standards aimed to meet the specific needs of children at all stages in criminal proceedings”, Ms Chinnici stressed.”At the end of a tough round of negotiations, we also succeeded in introducing, among other important rights, the crucial principle of mandatory assistance by a lawyer for children. For all these reasons, we are very proud of this directive and we hope that it will come into force at the earliest possible time”, she added.The deal on the text of the directive was reached in the ninth “trilogue” (three-way talks between Parliament, Council and Commission negotiators) on Tuesday evening.
During the negotiations, MEPs sought to strengthen the rules on assistance by a lawyer and to limit the derogations to this obligation, since children, as vulnerable persons, are not always able to fully understand and follow criminal proceedings. MEPs also inserted provisions throughout the text to ensure that “the child’s best interests are always a primary consideration”.

International police cooperation: MEPs OK deal with United Arab Emirates to fight terrorism and crime

A new agreement establishing police cooperation between Europol and the United Arab Emirates to strengthen the mutual fight against organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious, international crime was passed by Parliament on Tuesday by 490 votes to 159, with 44 abstentions.”This is absolute crucial at this moment in time. We need to concert our efforts in order to prevent criminals from having access to funds because this is a grave breach of the rights of our citizens”, said the rapporteur Alessandra Mussolini (EPP, IT). “This is a strategic agreement, it’s not an operational measure and therefore it excludes personal data. As Europol has stressed several times, the United Arab Emirates are becoming a centre of economic and financial crime. It is clear that a more structured cooperation would strengthen the role of Europol in solving concretely investigations whose outcome involves European countries. The cross-border criminal networks can only be dealt with energetic cooperation.” she added.The new agreement allows for strategic cooperation only. This could involve exchange of information such as specialist knowledge, general situation reports, strategic analysis, information on criminal investigation procedures and the provision of advice and support in individual criminal investigations. The strategic agreement does not allow for any exchange of personal data.Under the current rules, Parliament must only be consulted before the Council establishes police cooperation agreements with third countries. However, in the recently concluded talks on new rules to govern Europol, Parliament’s negotiators insisted on inserting a review clause on all such agreements. This means that all existing international agreements between Europol and third countries will be assessed within five years after the entry into force of the new regulation in order to check that they comply fully with data protection standards and meet EU standards on policing.Under the Lisbon Treaty, Parliament decides on an equal footing with Council on Europol. Once the new Europol regulation enters into force, Parliament is required to give the green light to new international police agreements.

Argentina’s new president will find it hard to make a fresh start

Buenos Aires, Argentina’s new President greets the crowd after taking the oath of office. This enthusiasm is overstated. Most importantly, it fails to recognise what is happening in Argentina in at least two respects. First and foremost, Mr Macri, while himself a moderate conservative, is part of a broader coalition whose brand of politics is far more progressive than his own. The new president cannot govern without his coalition partners. Based on his direct experience as mayor of Argentina’s capital, Mr Macri is also well aware of the real accomplishments of the Kirchner governments over the past 12 years. By using the windfall profits from historically high commodity prices to fund social benefits, the Kirchners managed to pull millions of Argentinians out of poverty and the margins of society. To simply pull the plug on these programmes would make the country ungovernable.Mr Macri will have to strike a delicate balance between policies designed to slow inflation and bring Argentina back to the international financial markets, allowing the country to attract the capital and investment it needs, while preserving enough of the Kirchners’ social safety net to keep the least privileged off the streets and the country’s powerful labour unions from going rogue.Mr Macri, while himself a moderate conservative, is part of a broader coalition whose brand of politics is far more progressive than his own. The new president cannot govern without his coalition partnersIn foreign policy, Cristina Kirchner’s anti-imperialist rhetoric may have been inflamed, but it touched a deep vein of anti-US feeling among the Argentinian public. The election of a new president has done nothing to change this. While President Macri can jettison his predecessors’ populist rhetoric, he cannot afford to be seen as cosying up to Washington.Thus, what we are likely to see in the short run are announcements of possible policy adjustments rather than any wholesale reforms. Clumsy controls on the economy imposed by previous governments will be gradually lifted, but there will not be any brusque shifts on critical issues.
The second aspect of Argentinian reality that will slow the pace of change is that President Macri does not control the Congress and most of the country’s provinces. Argentina has a federal system of government, and more than half of its 23 provinces are governed by officials who do not belong to Cambiemos.Mr Macri’s Republican Proposal (PRO) party controls the federal capital and province of Buenos Aires, while his coalition allies and parties in sympathy with his government will rule in Santa Fe, Cordoba, Mendoza and Jujuy. For the rest, Mr Macri will have to tread carefully with governors who may not wish to help him change things. Under the federal system, these governors are dependent upon a co-participation system that distributes federal revenue. By treating the rules of fiscal distribution in a fair and transparent manner, President Macri has an opportunity to win at least the neutrality of some Peronist governors.For perhaps the first six months of his term, President Macri may be able to operate independently of the country’s Congress, where Kirchner supporters still predominate. To govern effectively in the long term, however, he will have to convince at least one-third of lawmakers in the Kirchnerist coalition, the Victory Front (FpV), to break with Cristina and support his cabinet, at least occasionally.
The situation is less dire in the Chamber of Deputies, where the FpV holds 114 seats of the 257 total. This is more than balanced by the PRO, Radicals and the dissident Peronists, which can each muster about 40 votes, plus the Progressives and some splinter groups, with another 13 deputies. What now must be decided is the pecking order within the ruling coalition, and especially whether the PRO or the Radicals claim the position of First Minority party, which under Argentina’s legislative system, would give them the right to pick the heads of key parliamentary committees.

Missing Unaccompanied Minors

Over the past two years Greece and its neighboring countries in the have seen a great increase of refugees and migrants arriving by sea with most of them attempting to reach other Member States of the European Union. In 2014, around 43.000 refugees and migrants arrived by sea in Greece, an increase of 300% comparing to the previous year. Until today, more than 644.000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe by sea. Out of them 34% are women and children. According to the most recent statement of the UNHCR, more than 700.000 people entered into the European Union, 20% of which are children, whereas 3.210 people have lost their lives or have gone missing. Under these conditions a major risk exists for children going missing or falling victim to smugglers and traffickers. We are focusing especially on the protection of refugee and migrant children, unaccompanied minors and children on the move and without parental care. In most of these cases international cooperation and coordination with agencies and other non-governmental organizations is required. The Smile of the Child is taking the initiative through the European Hotline for Missing Children 116 000 to launch an international mobilization effort among all competent actors with the aim to locate the missing unaccompanied refugee minors.At the same time, the services of “The Smile of the Child” have been deployed to the fullest, in order to support children and their families and it cooperates with all the competent actors, public agencies, non-profit and non-governmental Organizations on a case by case basis. Anyone who has any information should contact “The Smile of the Child” Organization, on a 24 hours basis, and the European Hotline for Missing Children 116 000 as well as any police department across the country.

European Parliament gives green light to visa waiver agreements with nine countries

The European Parliament gave its consent to short-stay visa waiver agreements between the EU and five Caribbean nations, three Asian Pacific states and the United Arab Emirates. The deals voted on Tuesday provide for visa-free travel for EU citizens when travelling to the territory of these countries and for citizens of these countries when travelling to the EU for stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period.In order to benefit from visa-free travel, citizens from the EU and from these nine countries – Dominica, Vanuatu, Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, Grenada, Timor-Leste, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United Arab Emirates – must be in possession of a valid ordinary, diplomatic, service/official or special passport.The visa waiver applies to all categories of persons travelling for any kind of purposes (for instance tourism, cultural visits, scientific activities, family visits, business etc.), except to those travelling for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity. The Civil Liberties Committee rapporteur, Mariya Gabriel (EPP, BG), stressed that the visa waiver agreements represent a culmination of the deepening of relations between the EU and these countries and are an additional way of stepping up economic and cultural relations and intensifying political dialogue on various issues, including human rights. Moreover, these countries do not present risks of clandestine immigration or threats to public policy or security, she added.

SACE lancia “Frontier Markets – Asia”

SACE lancia l’edizione asiatica di “Frontier Markets”, il Programma di studi e advisory per accompagnare le PMI italiane verso i futuri mercati emergenti: destinazioni ancora non pienamente presidiate, ma capaci di dischiudere, in prospettiva, interessanti opportunità per il business Made in Italy. Filippine, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar e Mongolia sono le cinque frontiere asiatiche identificate da SACE: mercati molto diversi tra loro, caratterizzati da dimensioni economiche e demografiche sfidanti e profili di rischio elevati, ma con un potenziale non trascurabile per le esportazioni italiane.Complessivamente queste destinazioni sono valse alle nostre imprese circa un miliardo di export nel 2014, ma con un miglior presidio potrebbero consentire circa 450 milioni di euro di esportazioni addizionali entro il 2018, un valore importante soprattutto per il business di aziende di dimensioni piccole e medie. Per cogliere queste opportunità, il Programma “Frontier Markets”, mette a disposizione delle PMI interessate una guida dedicata ai cinque paesi, l’assistenza degli uffici della rete internazionale a Hong Kong e Mumbai e servizi dedicati, tra cui: soluzioni finanziarie per l’import di commodities destinate alla supply chain italiana; advisory per valutare la coerenza dell’approccio ai singoli mercati e i diversi profili di rischio e adottare strutture finanziarie e assicurative efficaci a supporto delle singole transazioni commerciali e di investimento; analisi dei settori merceologici ad alto potenziale e segnalazione di opportunità di business.

Expert comment on Volkswagen losing market share in Europe

Expert comment on Volkswagen losing market share in Europe Sebastiaan Van Doorn, of , is an Assistant Professor of Enterprise and has researched the management structure at Volkswagen.Dr Sebastiaan Van Doorn said: “As expected Volkswagen’s market share has declined, but only marginally considering the extent of the scandal and the associated media coverage. While Volkswagen retains its strong position in the European market it will be interesting to see how its US market share is affected at the end of the year. While Volkswagen historically can rely on a large loyal customer base in the EU, these ties are much less established in the US.”At the same time, car makers in the European market continue to find themselves in a whirlwind of ambiguous regulations for years to come as the EU Parliament has just rejected the plea of the car makers to relax emission standards for diesel cars up to 2020. This institutional uncertainty presents all car makers focusing on the European market with much larger problems than those associated with the current marginal slumps in sales figures.”While it is commendable that the EU is making a calculated attempt to come to a fairer representation of emissions, through the new testing system announced for 2017. These efforts can only be welcomed if accompanied by clear guidelines that allow car makers to plan ahead with the development of new models and the associated R&D expenditures.”

Graduation Day

Parma Venerdì 18 dicembre alle ore 10 nell’Auditorium del Carmine, Conservatorio di Musica “Arrigo Boito” (via Duse 27/B, Parma), si terrà il Graduation Day con la consegna dei Diplomi della prima edizione del Master in Agribusiness & Food Management, promosso dall’Università degli Studi di Parma in collaborazione con la Business School de Il Sole 24 Ore.Si tratta di un’edizione di successo che ha visto il coinvolgimento di oltre 30 aziende e il sostegno e patrocinio di numerosi enti e soggetti operanti nel settore Agroalimentare quali: l’Unione Parmense degli Industriali, l’Associazione Italiana Consorzi Indicazione Geografica, l’Associazione Industriali delle Carni e dei Salumi (ASSICA), Cariparma Crédit Agricole, Confagricoltura Parma, FederDoc, l’Istituto di Certificazione Etica Ambientale (ICEA), il Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano, il Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma e la Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Conserve Alimentari (SSICA).All’evento sarà presente la Prorettrice alla Didattica, professoressa Maria Cristina Ossiprandi, che porterà i saluti dell’Ateneo, il Direttore Scientifico, professor Guido Cristini, i rappresentanti del Comitato Scientifico e i docenti del corso.Special Guest della cerimonia, Giuseppe Morici, Presidente Europa del Gruppo Barilla, che terrà una lectio magistralis e in seguito consegnerà i Diplomi ai 26 partecipanti che hanno terminato con successo il percorso formativo.Saranno inoltre presenti i rappresentanti delle aziende sponsor, quali Consorzio Casalasco Pomì, Coop Italia, Conad, Ferrero.

Cresce la circular economy

L’industria del riciclo rifiuti si conferma pilastro della circular economy, continua a crescere nel comparto degli imballaggi (nel 2014 il 66% è stato avviato a riciclo, +2% vs 2013), in quello dei RAEE, in quello della gestione della frazione organica e degli pneumatici. I rifiuti importati dall’Italia nel 2014 hanno raggiunto 5,9 milioni di tonnellate, in gran parte costituiti da rottami ferrosi, mentre 3,8 mln di tonn. sono stati quelli esportati. Il paradosso è che 450.000 tonnellate di rifiuti importati (circa l’8% di quelli trasportati nel nostro Paese per essere trattati) equivalgono, per volume e tipologia, a rifiuti italiani spediti all’estero, con costi per noi spesso esorbitanti.Sono queste le principali evidenze emerse nel corso della presentazione dello studio annuale “L’Italia del Riciclo”, il Rapporto promosso e realizzato da FISE Unire (l’Associazione di Confindustria che rappresenta le aziende del recupero rifiuti) e dalla Fondazione per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, tenutasi stamane nel corso di un convegno a Roma. A pochi giorni dall’uscita del nuovo Pacchetto sull’economia circolare, presentato dalla Commissione Europea il 2 dicembre, il Rapporto mostra l’industria del riciclo rifiuti come un pilastro dell’economia circolare, nonostante la riduzione dei consumi delle famiglie e della produzione industriale.

Viaggio nell’Islam italiano: Percorsi d’incontro e conoscenza

Roma 17 dicembre dalle ore 17:00 presso la sala consiliare del Municipio Roma V in via Giorgio Perlasca 39, Viaggio nell’Islam italiano: Percorsi d’incontro e conoscenza. All’evento parteciperanno la professoressa Renata Pepicelli dell’Università degli studi Roma Tre, mons. Giuseppe Marciante vescovo ausiliare di Roma Est, l’avv. Luca Bauccio esperto di diritto dell’informazione, il dott. Giuseppe D’Amico presidente del CAIL (Coordinamento delle Associazioni Islamiche del Lazio), il dott. Ben Mohamed Mohamed presidente dell’Associazione culturale Islamica Italiana.
La conferenza nasce dalla necessità di creare un’occasione di dialogo per conoscere meglio la realtà islamica, fortemente presente nel Municipio Roma V. Siamo convinti che la conoscenza sia l’unica arma per combattere la paura, con questo spirito abbiamo voluto riunire esperti dell’argomento, rappresentanti della comunità islamica e autorità per cercare di delineare un percorso di collaborazione per fugare le paure e avere la chiave per riconoscere il fanatismo religioso e contrapporvisi.

Ampio sostegno al progetto per una forza UE di frontiera esterna

La proposta della Commissione europea per trasformare Frontex in un corpo comune europeo di frontiera e di monitoraggio delle coste che, in caso di urgenza, potrebbe essere schierato anche senza l’approvazione del Paese interessato, è stata accolta favorevolmente dai deputati, nel dibattito di martedì con il vicepresidente della Commissione, Frans Timmermans e il commissario Dimitris Avramopoulos.
La gestione delle frontiere esterne dell’Unione europea dovrebbe essere disciplinata da principi di interesse comune e di responsabilità condivisa degli Stati membri dell’l’Unione europea, ha dichiarato Timmermans.La Commissione ha inoltre proposto la creazione di un ufficio europeo per i rimpatri all’interno della nuova agenzia. In situazioni urgenti le squadre di intervento per un ritorno rapido potrebbero essere utilizzate sia su richiesta di uno Stato membro sia su decisione dell’UE. “Niente può avvenire senza la loro cooperazione e la nostra proposta è una risposta europea al problema europeo”, ha detto Avramopoulos.I membri del PPE hanno sostenuto l’idea di gestione integrata delle frontiere esterne, al fine di gestire la migrazione in modo efficace e garantire un elevato livello di sicurezza all’interno dell’UE. Tale idea è stata ripresa dai membri del gruppo ALDE, che hanno invitato gli Stati membri a trasferire alcune responsabilità all’Unione europea, al fine di garantire una maggiore sicurezza per i cittadini.I deputati del gruppo S&D hanno accolto l’idea della Commissione in linea di principio, pur chiedendo maggiori garanzie in materia di diritti fondamentali e sovranità nazionale. I deputati del gruppo ECR hanno dichiarato che l’Unione europea dovrebbe potersi avvalere del diritto di agire anche quando gli Stati membri non chiedono aiuto, nel caso non siano in grado di proteggere i loro confini.Per i membri del gruppo GUE/NGL e del gruppo Verdi/ALE le misure di sicurezza non devono pregiudicare il diritto dei richiedenti asilo a cercare protezione attraverso canali legali e sicuri.
Gli oratori dei gruppi EFDD e ENF infine hanno respinto l’idea di una forza di intervento comune, ritenendola un ampliamento delle competenze dell’Unione europea e affermato che ogni Stato membro deve essere autorizzato a proteggere i propri confini.

Elettricità: i deputati chiedono agli Stati membri di collegare le reti elettriche nazionali

Il Parlamento, martedì, ha approvato una risoluzione non legislativa secondo la quale un mercato dell’elettricità UE pienamente integrato potrebbe tagliare le spese di almeno 2 euro per MWh e quindi far risparmiare agli utenti, entro il 2030, fino a 40 miliardi di euro l’anno. Per ottenere tale risultato, i paesi membri dovrebbero investire 150 miliardi di euro.Per il relatore Peter Eriksson (Verdi/ALE, SE) “un migliore collegamento della rete elettrica UE è fondamentale sia per avere più rinnovabili, e quindi per raggiungere gli obiettivi sul cambiamento climatico, sia anche per rendere l’Europa più competitiva attraverso prezzi dell’elettricità più economici”.
Nel testo si legge che garantire che almeno il 10% dell’elettricità prodotta dalle centrali elettriche di ogni Stato membro possa essere inviata ai paesi vicini oltre confine dovrebbe creare una rete strategicamente “più resiliente e solida”. Il testo aggiunge che l’obiettivo attuale UE del 10% entro il 2020 è “significativo” ma “non rispecchia sempre la situazione del mercato” poiché “dodici Stati membri non hanno raggiunto l’obiettivo del 10% e sono quindi ampiamente isolati dal mercato interno dell’energia elettrica”.I 12 paesi che sono sotto il target del 10% sono Italia, Cipro, Estonia, Irlanda, Lituania, Lettonia, Malta, Polonia, Portogallo, Romania, Spagna, Regno Unito.