Scotland’s Place in Europe – paper published today

First Minister’s Christmas card 2016 featuring Oor Wullie!

The Scottish Government has published a paper detailing “proposals to keep Scotland in the European Single Market, retain freedom of movement, and to equip the Scottish Parliament with the powers it needs to serve Scotland’s interests post-Brexit” as explained on the Scottish Government website. You can read the full paper in html or pdf formats by following the appropriate links on this page . There is a link to the pdf at the end of this post.

 

Scotland’s Place in Europe pdf version.

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Annual compilations of LIFE environmental programmes published

© Andrea Leganza Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

LIFE is the EU’s financial mechanism supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects in the EU.  The successful projects for last year fall into four categories.  Click on the links below to find out more.

• Environment & Resource Efficiency (56 new projects in 10 countries worth €71.9 million)
• Nature & Biodiversity (39 new projects in 19 countries worth €95.6 million)
• Environmental Governance & Information (15 new projects in 10 countries worth €13.8 million)
• Climate Action (34 new projects in 10 countries worth €41.5 million)

One of the supported projects is TRiFOCAL London Transforming City Food Habits for Life on ways to promote a reduction in food waste.

The European Documentation Centre in Taylor Library receives some LIFE publications in hard copy.  Recent titles include:

• LIFE and climate change mitigation
• LIFE and freshwater fish
• LIFE and human coexistence with large carnivores

EYE2016 report: 50 ideas for a better future

Last May’s European Youth Event (EYE2016) saw 7500 young people from all over Europe and beyond congregate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to share and discuss ideas, driven by the motto “Together we can make a change”. Topics discussed ranged from space and innovation to climate change, migration and democracy.

Since then a team of young reporters have created a report highlighting 50 ideas for a better Europe. The report also contains interviews, infographics, a political commentary from the European Youth Forum and more. In addition to this there is the EYE2016 ideas tree, a separate document containing all the ideas written by the participants with a handy navigational graphic. Just click on any branch topic to jump to the idea.

French and German language versions of the report are also available.

Creative Europe’s MEDIA programme is 25 this year

The EU MEDIA programme is 25 years old this year. To mark the occasion they’ve created a general question and answer factsheet as well as a series of country specific factsheets, an infographic, and a number of videos to explain how the EU invests in film, television and video games across Europe, as well as providing training and collaboration opportunities between nation states. Information is available in all official languages of the EU.

See below or click the links above to find out about the MEDIA programme’s activities.

 

EU MEDIA 25 years infographic

What are the implications for the UK and Ireland’s relationship post Brexit?

© William Murphy  Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The UK and Ireland have unique historical, economic, cultural and social ties and indeed share a land border.  How will Brexit impact on the Common Travel Area, on trade, on the border, on the peace process and on citizens rights?  In a report published today The House of Lords European Committee looks at all these issues and calls on all parties to the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, to give:

“official recognition to the special, unique nature of UK-Irish relations in their entirety, including the position of Northern Ireland, and the North-South and East-West structure and institutions established under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement”

Aberdeen University users can access this report as well as other UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and  the National Assembly for Wales publications on Public Information Online.

European Solidarity Corps – registration website available in all languages

The EU Solidarity Corps is an initiative announced by Jean Claude Junker in September’s State of the Union (SOTEU) address. He stated:

“There are many young, socially-minded people in Europe willing to make a meaningful contribution to society and help show solidarity. We can create opportunities for them to do so … Solidarity is the glue that keeps our Union together”

Young people aged between 17 and 30 are now able to register for the EU Solidarity Corps through the online portal, which is available in all official languages of the EU. Upon registering participants become eligible for invitation to join a variety of humanitarian, social and environmental projects with in the EU, ranging in length from two to twelve months.

For more information click here. There is also a useful list of FAQs for participants.

See below for the ‘how to register‘ video, and below that for the 2016 SOTEU highlights.

 

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

Brochure cover detail © EU Publications Office

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is described by the EU Publications Office as ‘a unique forum for consultation, dialogue and consensus between representatives from all the different sectors of organised civil society. ‘If you’d like to find out more, they have produced a 12-page brochure describing the EESC and what they do.

The EDC holds a number of publications from the EESC under the shelfmark EC 2-9 and the EU Bookshop is the place to go for all the most up to date EU publications.

Summaries of EU Legislation

32 Categories © EU Publications Office

The EU Publications Office maintains a Summaries of EU Legislation page on the EUR-Lex site. It provides straight-forward and easily navigable explanations of the main aspects of EU legislation, policies and activities. Included in the 32 topics covered on the site are: agriculture, education, environment, human rights and justice. There is a search function allowing you to search within summaries. Currently there is a short user survey being run for those interested in providing some feedback.

The library documentation team and the EDC have produced a short information guide to EUR-Lex.

Chester gets EU award for enhancing access to tourist sites for disabled people

The UK city of Chester is this year’s winner of the Access City Awards.  An honour recognising the work and achievements of European cities in improving access and opportunities for people with disabilities.

Presenting the award Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility said:

“Chester’s efforts to make its historical and cultural heritage fit for persons with disabilities deserve the highest praise. People with a disability should be able to participate in all aspects of life without limitations: social, cultural, economic, touristic, and more. I would like to congratulate Chester for leading the way in making life more accessible for all”

Can the UK government launch the process to leave the EU without an Act of Parliament?

© Jay Gavin Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

This is what the Supreme Court will be considering today in a case expected to last 4 days.  Follow it live here.

The case is about prerogative powers, defined by the High Court in the original case as “the residue of legal authority left in the hands of the Crown” however as the UK has a sovereign parliament it is argued that prerogative powers cannot be used to overrule legislation. The government argues, however, in does have the prerogative power to “make and unmake treaties” allowing it to launch the process without requiring an Act of Parliament.

The Scottish Government is also involved in this case. The Lord Advocate’s intervention proposes that triggering article 50 requires an Act of the UK Parliament and as a result requires a Legislative Consent Motion of the Scottish Parliament as matters devolved to them are involved.