Shaping the Europe
of the future
The Council's work in 2019

The nature of work is changing, often very rapidly, and one of the roles the EU plays is to defend and protect the rights of citizens in this changing environment.

The EU aims to ensure that workers know their working conditions right from the start of the employment relationship and that some minimum conditions are met, in particular for those in precarious jobs. New rules adopted by the Council in June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions require employers to inform workers of the essential aspects of the employment relationship, such as:

• the identities of the parties to the relationship and the place and the nature of work
• the initial basic amount of remuneration and the amount of paid leave
• the duration of the standard working day or week when the work pattern is predictable
• the identity of the social security institution receiving social security contributions, where this is the responsibility of the employer
• the obligation of the employer to inform the worker sufficiently in advance about its work assignment, for those workers with unpredictable working patterns

Reconciling professional and family life

Equality between men and women is a fundamental principle of the EU. However, across the EU, women remain considerably underrepresented in the labour market and in management – and the resulting economic loss is put at €370 billion a year.  New legislation adopted by the Council in June 2019 should help working parents and carers by not obliging them to choose between their family lives and their working careers. 

By rebalancing the caring responsibilities between men and women, women and men will have a real choice to combine work and family life.

The key elements of the legislation include:

• paternity leave - at least 10 working days, new right at the EU level
• parental leave - four months, from which two are paid
• carer's leave - new right at the EU level
• flexible working arrangements - to include carers and update the level of protection

Other steps taken in 2019 include:

• The creation of the European Labour Authority to support EU countries in implementing legal acts in the area of labour mobility across the EU

The EU27 want an ambitious relationship with the UK after Brexit, and will remain vigilant when it comes to protecting citizens’ rights and the hard-won peace in Ireland.

Brexit was expected to have happened by this point. Article 50 was supposed to run out by 29 March, but the deadline was extended at the UK’s request twice in the spring.

Following a leadership change in the UK end of July, negotiations on a revised withdrawal agreement ran into October, when it was endorsed by the leaders at the European Council. 

At Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s request, the deadline was extended again, this time until 31 January 2020. 

Concluding his involvement with the Brexit issue at the end of his term of office, Donald Tusk wrote:

At their summit in December, the EU27 leaders called for a timely ratification and effective implementation of the withdrawal agreement. 

They also reconfirmed their aim of establishing as close as possible a future relationship with the UK. "The future relationship will have to be based on a balance of rights and obligations and ensure a level playing field", they said.

Michel Barnier will lead talks on the future relationship on behalf of the European Commission. Following the UK's departure, the Council will adopt the negotiating mandate for these negotiations. 

The EU is at its heart a peace project, and its mission is to continue to work for peace for future generations. In the 10 years since the Lisbon Treaty, the role Europe has played has grown in significance and scope.

Trade

The EU’s trade policy continued to empower the European Union to provide prosperity at home and raise its standing abroad.

The influence of the EU through trade should not be underestimated. The EU is the world’s biggest single trading bloc and trade accounts for 35% of its gross domestic product. Exports to countries outside the EU support more than 36 million jobs.

In 2019, the Council gave the green light to two new free trade agreements - with Singapore and Vietnam – reaching a total of 41 trade agreements with 72 countries. 

After lengthy negotiations, on 28 June 2019 the European Union and Mercosur concluded a comprehensive trade agreement in principle, which will be part of a wider Association Agreement between the two regions.

And while opening up new trade opportunities, the EU continued to focus on relations with its two biggest trading partners, the United States and China. It expressed its support for multilateralism and rules-based trade during the EU-China summit in April, and took steps to maintain and even broaden the scope of a positive trade agenda with the US.

Earlier this year, the Council approved a mandate to start negotiations with the US on removing tariffs for industrial goods. It also agreed to open talks on an agreement on conformity assessment that aims to remove non-tariff barriers, by making it easier for companies to prove their products meet technical requirements both in the EU and the US while maintaining a high level of protection in the EU.

In November, the EU and China concluded the negotiations on a bilateral agreement to protect 100 European geographical indications (GI) in China and 100 Chinese GI in the EU against imitations and usurpation. They are also discussing a bilateral agreement on investment.

As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) goes through a period of uncertainty, the EU has continued to promote its vision for the modernisation of the body by improving effectiveness regarding intellectual property protection, ensuring a functioning system for settling disputes and eliminating unfair trade practices.

Security co-operation

Two years ago, in December 2017, the Council established Permanent Structured Cooperation, PESCO, a framework to deepen defence co-operation among the participating member states. 

The programme was extended in November 2019 with an additional 13 projects to be undertaken, making a total of 47. Five of the new projects focus on training in the areas of cyber, diving, tactical, and medical, as well as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence. Other projects are focused on developing collaboration on sea, air and space defence.

Illegal migration and human trafficking

Strengthening secure borders is vital for the interests of European citizens. To that end, in November 2019 the Council adopted a new regulation on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, strengthening it in terms of staff and technical equipment, and giving it a broader mandate to support the efforts of member states to reinforce Europe’s external borders.

As a result, by 2027 Frontex will have at its disposal a standing corps of up to 10 000 operational staff through a combination of its staff and those seconded or deployed from member states. It will be better able to help with return activities, and will also have a wider scope to liaise with third countries.

The levels of illegal migration flows to Europe across the Mediterranean have continued to fall since the height of the migration crisis in 2015, thanks to EU measures implemented to control better external borders and migration flows. 

All these actions are supported by the strategic agenda that the European Council agreed in June, in particular the effective control of borders, better cooperation with countries of origin to tackle illegal migration and human trafficking, and an effective asylum policy.

Ukraine

In July 2019, EU and Ukrainian leaders reaffirmed their strong political and economic ties at a summit in Kyiv.

The EU announced new measures worth €10 million to help mitigate the impact of Russia’s destabilising actions in the Sea of Azov region.

The EU remains fully united in its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Sanctions against Russia - in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine - continue and have been renewed every six months for the past five years.

Other steps taken during 2019 include:

• Turkey: In October, the European Council unanimously condemned Turkey’s military action in North East Syria. EU leaders called on Ankara to end its offensive, withdraw its forces and respect international humanitarian law
• Iran: The EU condemned the widespread and disproportionate use of force by the Iranian authorities in response to the protests that have been ongoing since November
• Syria: In May, the Council extended restrictive measures against individuals responsible for repressing the Syrian population. In October it extended restrictive measures against ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaeda
• Libya: In May, following attacks by the Libyan National Army, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya
• Venezuela: As the socio-economic and political crisis continues to unfold in Venezuela, the Council extended sanctions in November for another year to encourage democratic shared solutions. The objective is to achieve political stability and address the pressing needs of the population
• Disinformation: In June, the Council invited EU institutions and member states to develop resilience against cyber attacks and and hybrid threats, and to better protect the EU’s information and communication networks.