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Worldwide
-DW Information
Paris, Jan 06: The primary weekly assembly of 2022 of the 27 EU Commissioners is being held within the French capital, Paris, regardless of excessive case numbers of COVID-19 in Europe and significantly in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron has outlined an formidable plan for the presidency, within the hope of pushing quite a lot of key points over the subsequent six months.
In an announcement to mark its launch, Macron stated, “the French presidency should be a second of fact for the regulation and accountability of digital platforms, the carbon pricing at European borders on imported merchandise, minimal wages, and our relationship with Africa.”
Uncommonly for a European Council presidency, there will probably be a nationwide election throughout these six months, with French voters heading to the polls in April.
Franco-German axis
France takes up the Council presidency from Slovenia, which adopted Germany’s stint through the first half of 2021.
With Chancellor Olaf Scholz taking on after 16 years of Angela Merkel main Germany, the political priorities of the French presidency will probably be a check of the brand new relationship between Paris and Berlin.
“How Macron is obtained normally in Berlin remains to be an open query,” Jon Value, a outstanding EU blogger, informed DW. “On vitality coverage — particularly nuclear — there’s apparent rigidity, however Scholz will probably be much less fiscally hawkish than Merkel”s administration was. There’s additionally nonetheless a conflict of fashion between the extra brash and assertive Macron and the very understated Scholz.”
The brand new German authorities was eager to overtly present its dedication to the connection with quite a lot of senior ministers and the chancellor himself heading straight to Paris within the days instantly after being sworn in.
Digital agenda
Throughout the French EU Council presidency, Macron needs to maneuver ahead two main items of EU laws on digital protections.
The European Fee put out proposals for the Digital Providers Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in December 2020 and Paris hopes negotiations with the European Parliament and amongst EU governments will be accomplished whereas France holds the chair.
The DSA could be a sweeping regulation to struggle disinformation, murky promoting practices and unlawful content material on-line.
The DMA proposal focuses on lowering the management of multinational tech firms on-line and stopping them from abusing their highly effective positions.
“We will anticipate the French presidency to give attention to reinforcing measures to fight unlawful content material on-line, safeguarding due diligence measures in addition to on pushing for sturdy centralized enforcement of the long run DSA regulation,” Eliska Pirkova, Europe coverage analyst on the digital rights group Entry Now, informed DW.
Local weather motion
One of many different key issues for the French presidency is making an attempt to get the EU to implement a carbon border tax.
France has lengthy been one of the crucial vociferous international locations calling for extra taxes to be levied on services that emit giant quantities of CO2.
In its proposals to achieve a 55% discount in emissions by 2030, the European Fee put ahead a plan referred to as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). A world first, it’s going to have an effect on high-emitting industries similar to metal, cement, aluminum, fertilizers and vitality manufacturing.
EU watchers like economist Andre Sapir, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a assume tank, informed DW, “There are clear hesitations on the a part of quite a lot of EU member states to proceed due to the concern of retaliation by third international locations who will probably be affected by the carbon tax, which suggests for my part that the EU wants to barter with third international locations earlier than implementing its carbon border tax.”
Different points the French presidency plans to deal with are an EU-wide minimal wage, easy methods to tax world digital companies and, doubtlessly, to adapt EU guidelines on authorities funding of sure industries to have the ability to compete with world gamers like China and the US.
Edited by: Nicole Goebel
Supply: DW
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