Today, 24 October, at the Conference of Committee Chairs of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Estonian Deputy Minister for EU Affairs Matti Maasikas delivered a report on the progress so far in Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Maasikas said Estonia has focused on developing a stable, knowledge-based, competitive and supportive business environment, and progress has been made on major themes such as updating VAT on cross-border e-commerce and draft legislation dealing with the functioning of the electricity market. “One good example – and some may say, long overdue – is the highly political and substantive discussion of digital taxation. We are aiming at having ECOFIN conclusions on this subject in December,” said Maasikas. Negotiations with the European Parliament have led to a recent political agreement on Europe´s New Antidumping methodology and we aim to conclude the trade negotiations with Japan by the end of the year. European Public Prosecutor's Office has now been established.
In speaking about the changes in the security environment, internal security and control of the external border, Maasikas said that above all, modern information systems and cooperation between Member States must be strengthened. Estonia has made progress in upgrading the Schengen information system and the draft legislation on the Entry-Exit System and Travel Information and Authorisation System is in preparation. Reform of the common asylum system will help to bring the migration crisis under control – draft legislation in this area is also seeing brisk progress.
In the field of external and security policy, Estonia has devoted attention to good cooperation with Eastern Partners and EU candidate countries, with the Eastern Partnership summit coming up in November in Brussels. An agreement has been reached on launching Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) this year. Discussions are continuing on how to cope with hybrid threats, on how to fund the EU operations and battle groups and on how to regulate European Defence Industrial Development Programme. Maasikas stressed that “Estonia organized a cyber exercise EU Cybrid 2017 for the EU’s defence ministers in Tallinn, which was the first of its kind and also drew more attention to the need for closer EU-NATO cooperation in the field of cyber defence and exercises.“
One of the key topics of the Estonian Presidency is a digital Europe and the summit held in Tallinn in September saw EU leaders come to consensus that “a digital Europe is not just a priority for the Estonian Presidency but for all of Europe,” said Maasikas. He said that, led by Estonia and likeminded Member States, the Commission had introduced a draft legislation on free movement of data, and that there had been substantial progress on the draft electronic communication code.
Also important are a Europe that offers EU citizens equal opportunities, development of education and skills, diverse employment opportunities and availability of quality services. Yesterday, Estonia achieved agreement on the directive on posting of workers, which Maasikas said is one of the most complicated topics of the Presidency so far and – considering an agreement was ultimately reached – a good example of how Member States are ready for compromise and committed to preserving the unity of the EU.
This evening, Maasikas will address the plenary session of European Parliament on protection of journalists and media freedom in Malta, and tomorrow, Maasikas and the President of European Parliament Antonio Tajani will digitally sign an EU legal act for the first time in history.
Photographs: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4Txi7L
Address by Matti Maasikas: http://vm.ee/en/news/deputy-minister-eu-affairs-matti-maasikas-plenary-session-european-parliament
Direct link to the European Parliament livecast: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/plenary
Additional information:
Tiina Maiberg
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Islandi väljak 1
15049 Tallinn
(+372) 6377 253
(+372) 53 008 703
www.vm.ee