nEUwsletter 15/03/2020
- European Horizons Bangor
- Mar 15, 2020
- 5 min read
Coronavirus: US suspends flights from Europe
By Alexandre Capel
On Wednesday 11 March, the President of the United States announced the suspension of flights from Europe for 30 days from 13 March. The American declaration comes after the WHO declared the status of a pandemic to encourage countries to take more action to contain it.
Europeans undesirable in the United States
While many other countries have taken the decision to refuse entry to their territory to nationals of the Old Continent (India, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan ...) or to place them in quarantine upon arrival (Colombia, Argentina ...), Washington followed suit on Wednesday, March 11. "Donald Trump announced [...] the suspension for 30 days of the entry into the United States of any foreigner who has been in Europe, except for the United Kingdom," reports Courrier International.
A "unilateral decision"
This restriction, which may be extended by the US President as the situation develops, also applies to permanent residents who have stayed in the Schengen area countries within the last 14 days. However, it does not apply to US citizens or their close family members. Their flights will nevertheless be "directed to a limited number of airports", so that passengers are "examined before they can enter the territory", Libération said. The European Union reacted to this announcement on Thursday 12 March. In a statement, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel retorted that they disapproved this "unilateral decision" [Ouest-France].
The president justified his decision by comparing it with a similar measure he had adopted earlier in February concerning flights from China, where the pandemic began. This "drastic" decision, according to Le Monde, allows the White House to ensure that "the spread of the epidemic is under control on American territory". With now more than 1,300 cases recorded in the United States, the leader thus accuses Europe of having brought the virus to American territory: "A number of new clusters in the United States have been created by travellers from Europe," he said [Politico]. For Donald Trump, it was the lack of common measures among EU countries that led to the spread of the virus. The New York Times called Trump's accusation "unsubstantiated" and accused him of failing to work with other leaders to develop a common response, including minimising the impact of the crisis.
The new industrial approach taken by the European Union to counter China and the United States
By Hélène Veysseyre
On march 10th 2020, the European Union presented a new strategy to reinforce the European industry within the digital era and the ecological transition. This industrial strategy takes place within a context in which China -which receives subventions helping the development of its industry- and the United States -being ahead of european countries in digital industry- are market leaders.
This new strategy is a modern approach which haven’t been used yet. Indeed, until now the European Commission policy has focused on consumer protection and the preservation of free competition, justified as free competition policy is an exclusive competence of the European Union, as opposed to industrial policies, dealed directly by member states.
However, the appearance of an industrial strategy is justified as the principle of free competition has been too focused on the European scale. It needs to be understood within a wider scope, beyond the European borders as China and the United States don’t give as much importance to the principle of free competition but represent a great threat to the European industry. Thus, in order to create a European mondial leader, an industrial policy taking into account the reality abroad is needed.
Hence, on March 10th 2020, the European Commission declared its will to adapt firstly the trade rules to the context of globalization and secondly the European competition rules.
In order to do so, a consultation organized by the Commission will work on the improvement of the situations of markets in the case of mergers and acquisitions in June 2020. Also, a white paper will examine the distorting effects caused by foreign subsidies in the single market. It will contain action proposals to be used as tools within the new strategy. Furthermore, the new strategy will be developed within “strategic ecosystems” in specific areas of industry such as the automobile industry, aeronautics-space and sustainable construction. Those areas will develop the new strategy through the help of companies, research laboratories and universities. Finally, the new strategy will promote some Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) in specific sectors such as hydrogen energy. Those projects will symbolize the union of european countries as well as the modernization of rules within the contemporary era as the hydrogen energy is an actor to the ecological transition.
Therefore, the announcement of a new strategy has been greatly welcomed by numerous European countries, as the french Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire declared that it was "good news for Europe. It will allow us to strengthen our sovereignty, to be less dependent on foreign countries in certain strategic sectors.” Indeed, it underlines the ambitions for the European Union in terms of industrial strategy and new technologies.
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Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board
By Mathilde Flamant
Bill Gates, the famous co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s richest men, aged 65, announced that he will step down from the company’s board in order to spend more time on philantropic activites. He created Microsoft with Paul Allen in the 1980s and within a year became the youngest self-made billionaire. Bill Gates is known for his generosity and devotes a lot of time to the charitable organisation he created with his wife, the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. The Chronicle of Philantropy named them the most generous philantropists in the US in 2018. Bill Gates had already left his main role running Microsoft in 2008. He now steps down from Microsoft board, asserting that he wants to focus on global health, education, development and tackling climate change, but that he would continue to be engaged to Microsoft’s leadership.
The constitutional reform in Russia
By Emmanuel Jeanny
The Russian president Vladimir Putin signed yesterday the constitutional reform allowing him to run for two more terms. The Kremlin has published the 68-page law spelling out the constitutional reform on its website, sign that they were agreed by the Russian president.
The reforms were sent to the Russian Constitutional Court which has a week to rule on whether to approve the law, which would reset Putin's constitutional limit on terms in power. The last step before the adoption of the reforms will be the vote by the Russian citizens.
Putin, who is currently 67, is the leader of the country for more than 20 years now following the resignation of Boris Eltsine. According to the Constitution he couldn’t run for a new election, but he stunned the country on Tuesday when he backed a last-minute proposal to add a condition to the reform package for his possible return to the Kremlin after 2024.
The measure was added on the day, when the “Duma” (the lower house of the Parliament) was voting for the reforms. It was swiftly passed, and the bill subsequently sailed through the upper house and regional parliaments.
A proposal has been done by the Russian leader to change the constitution in January, but until this week he denied that he is seeking to extend his rule. His spokesman said Putin changed his mind due to global instability. Therefore, if this reform is accepted by the Russian Constitutional Court and the citizens, Vladimir Putin could lead his country for 12 more years.
Furthermore, this reform covers other issues like the marriage. Indeed, the changes also outlaw same-sex marriage and mention “a belief in God” as one of Russia's traditional values.
Thus, this reform is criticised by the opponents of the president by denouncing an authoritarian conduct of Putin.
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