It will soon become easier for member states to trace people who fail to pay road fees, even when their vehicles are registered in another EU country. A new information-sharing system allowing this is included in the updated electronic road toll rules that member states’ ambassadors approved today in the Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee. A provisional deal was reached by the presidency and the European Parliament on 20 November.

This reform puts all road users on an equal footing when it comes to paying road fees. It also makes electronic tolling systems more interoperable and therefore more cost-efficient and user-friendly.

Norbert Hofer, Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria, President of the Council

Under the reform, national authorities will have access to other member states’ national vehicle registration data in order to identify owners of vehicles for which road fees have not been paid. The information exchange relates to fees to be paid electronically or manually for using road infrastructure. The possible administrative or legal consequences will depend on the national law of the country where the fee was left unpaid.

The new rules will also remove administrative barriers, such as local technical specifications, and give electronic tolling providers easier access to the toll collection market.

The new measures will become applicable 30 months after the entry into force of the directive.

This is the first proposal in the three mobility packages to be agreed on between the Council and the Parliament.

Next steps

Once the agreed text has undergone legal and linguistic finalisation it must be formally adopted, first by the Parliament and then by the Council. Following adoption, the directive will be published in the EU’s Official Journal.

The text of the draft directive will soon be available on this webpage.

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EU exports to the world are more important than ever, supporting 36 million jobs across Europe, two thirds more than in 2000. 14 million of these jobs are held by women. In addition, EU exports to the world generate €2.3 trillion of value added in the EU.

Since the beginning of this Commission in 2014, the number of jobs supported by exports has increased by 3.5 million. These jobs are on average 12% better paid than jobs in the rest of the economy.

Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said: “This study makes it crystal clear that trade means jobs. Exports from the EU to the world support the livelihoods of a vast, and increasing, number of citizens in every corner of Europe. Almost 40 percent of those whose jobs are supported by trade are women. EU trade also supports millions of jobs far beyond EU borders, including in developing countries. So here’s even more proof that trade can be a win-win: what’s good for us is also good for our partners around the world.”

The report released today, during the EU Trade Policy Day, includes detailed factsheets about the results for every EU Member State. Exports create and support jobs all across the EU, and the numbers are increasing. The highest increases have been seen since 2000 in Bulgaria (+312%), Slovakia (+213%), Portugal (+172%), Lithuania (+153%), Ireland (+147%), Estonia (+147%) and Latvia (+138%).

The figures released today highlight an important positive spillover effect from exports to the world. When EU exporters in one Member State do well, workers in other Member States also benefit. This is because firms providing goods and services along the supply chain also gain when their end-customer sells the final product abroad. To give an example, French exports to the rest of the world support around 627,000 jobs in other EU Member States.

Finally, EU exports to countries around the world support almost 20 million jobs outside the EU. These jobs have more than doubled since 2000. For instance, more than 1 million jobs in the United States are supported by the production of US goods and services that are incorporated into EU exports through global supply chains.

The study looks also into the gender balance, concluding that there are almost 14 million women in jobs supported by trade in the EU.

Background

The European Commission identified trade policy as a core component of the European Union’s 2020 Strategy. Given the fast changing global economy landscape it is more important than ever to fully understand how trade flows affect employment. This can only be done by gathering comprehensive, reliable and comparable information and analysis to support evidence-based policymaking.

Guided by that objective, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Commission’s Directorate General for Trade have collaborated to produce a publication that aims to be a valuable tool for trade policymakers and researcher.

Following up the first edition of 2015, the report features a series of indicators to illustrate in detail the relationship between trade and employment for the EU as a whole and for each EU Member State using the new World Input-Output Database for the year 2016 as the main data source. This information has been complemented with data on employment by age, skill and gender. All the indicators relate to the EU exports to the rest of the world to reflect the scope of EU trade policymaking.

For More Information

The memo with more detailed findings

Interactive map (28 country factsheets and 1 EU factsheet): how many jobs are supported by exports in your country?

Full study – data and graphs

Trade and income study

Economist’s note – the data of the study, explained

2015 report

European Trade Policy Day event page

European Commission – Fact Sheet

Brussels, 27 November 2018

MEMO/18/6567

The Council today adopted a regulation that enables the Commission to exempt two additional categories of national subsidies from the standard checks required under EU state aid rules.

The two new categories are :

a) national funds combined with EU centrally managed funds, such as the InvestEU Fund or ‘Seal of Excellence’ projects provided for by the next framework programme on research and innovation;

b) national funds for projects supported by EU European Territorial Cooperation programmes.

The new rules will significantly simplify the national financing of projects co-financed by the new EU funds provided for by the next multiannual financial framework.

The adopted regulation will improve the interaction of EU funding programmes with state aid rules. It will enable the Commission to make targeted modifications to its general block exemption regulation so that nationally managed funds and centrally managed EU funds can be combined as smoothly as possible, without having to prove that they do not distort competition in the single market.

The regulation will apply as from the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal.

The new rules will be part of the so-called ‘enabling regulation’, which constitutes the legal basis for the Commission declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market and enabling member states to directly finance certain projects without prior Commission approval.

Visit the meeting page Download as pdf

Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published four Country of Origin Information (COI) Reports on Nigeria: Security Situation, Actors of Protection, Targeting Individuals, and Key Socio-economic indicators. The reports provide information relevant for the protection status determination of Nigerian asylum seekers.

In 2017, Nigeria was the fourth most common country of origin in the EU+ countries with a total number of close to 42,000 applicants. In 2018, following a substantial decrease in the number of irregular arrivals in the central Mediterranean, far fewer asylum applications were lodged by Nigerian nationals in EU+ countries. Despite this decrease, Nigeria remained in the top-five among all countries of origin of applicants in the EU+ with about 21,500 applicants recorded between January and October 2018. At the end of October 2018, around 25,000 cases awaited a first-instance decision.

The EASO COI report Nigeria Security Situation, following a brief and general introduction to Nigeria provides a general description of the security situation in Nigeria. The first chapter gives an overview of the recent conflicts in the country; actors in the conflict; recent security trends and armed confrontations; the impact of the violence on the civilian population and IDPs; and the impact of the violence on the state ability to secure law and order. 

The main conflicts in Nigeria are elaborated upon in more detail in the second chapter. A general description at the level of the geopolitical zone contains information on the geography and population, and on the background of the conflict, including the actors active in the conflict. This is followed by a description of recent trends in the security situation, with regard to the nature of the violence, frequency, tactics and targets, locations and number of fatalities. Also the impact of the violence on the state’s ability to secure law and order, and the impact on the population are discussed. 

The report includes specific information on violent incidents and civilian casualties in the North East where Boko Haram is active. An increase is noted in the number of violent incidents in the North Central Zone and Kaduna State, where conflicts between herders and farmers are intensifying. By comparison, the Niger Delta saw a much lower number of fatalities than the two previous zones. Striking is the relatively low number of incidents but resulting in a high number of fatalities in Zamfara State, where cattle rustling and mass attacks on villages have soared since the beginning of 2018. 

The EASO COI report Nigeria Security Situation was drafted by the Office for Country Information and Language Analysis (OCILA) of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. It was reviewed by an expert from the International and European Affairs Unit, Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, Czech Republic. The external expert Nnamdi Obasi, Senior Advisor on Nigeria, International Crisis Group also reviewed this report, in order to ensure the highest quality. The EASO COI report Nigeria Actors of Protection provides information on the Constitution and the state’s legal structure, the police and armed forces, the public prosecution institutions, the court system, the National Human Rights commission, the Public Complaints Commission – (the Ombudsman) and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The report highlights the complexity of the country’s pluralist legal system, consisting of common law, Islamic law, customary law at federal, state, and local levels. Problematic capacity and integrety issues with the police and the national army are noted, leading to human rights abuses and corruption, as well as the high number of complaints received by the National Human Rights Commission, reaching one million over 2017.

The EASO COI report Nigeria Actors of Protection was drafted by the International and European Affairs Unit, Department for Asylum and Migration Policy, Czech Republic, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. The report was reviewed by the Office for Country Information and Language Analysis (OCILA) of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service. In addition, the report was reviewed by the external expert Stella Amadi Odiase, Lawyer and International Development Practitioner, and by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD).

The EASO COI report Nigeria Targeting Individuals is divided into two main sections, following a first brief and general introduction to Nigeria. The second chapter on actors discusses several non-state actors, such as Boko Haram, militant groups in the Niger Delta, student/university cults, traffickers, and state or state-affiliated actors. 

The third chapter discusses 15 profiles of persons subject to targeting by one or more actors, or by society in general. These profiles, which sometimes overlap, include: persons targeted by Boko Haram, by university cults, members of militant groups in the Niger Delta, persons involved in herders-farmers conflict, religious minorities, persons affected by witchcraft and ritual killings, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons, women and children, and others. 

The EASO COI report Nigeria Targeting Individuals was drafted by members of the Country of Origin Information (COI) sector in EASO, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. The report was peer reviewed by Office for Country Information and Language Analysis (OCILA) of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, and by Lifos, the Centre for Country of Origin Information and Analysis of the Swedish Migration Agency. In addition, the report was reviewed by the external expert Dr Megan Turnbull, Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Georgia in the Department of International Affairs.

The EASO COI report Nigeria Key Socio-economic indicators is divided into two main sections, after a first brief and general introduction to Nigeria in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 provides information on the following key socio-economic indicators: demographics, economic growth, employment, poverty, food security, housing and living conditions, education, health care, social networks and support mechanisms. 

A main emphasis, where information is available, is on the situation in Abuja and Lagos and on the socio-economic situation of women, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees. The third chapter provides information on mobility and internal travel possibilities.

The EASO COI report Nigeria Key Socio-economic indicators was drafted by the Country of Origin Information (COI) sector in EASO, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology. The report was peer reviewed by Lifos, the Centre for Country of Origin Information and Analysis of the Swedish Migration Agency. In addition, the report was reviewed by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD).

It is EASO’s intention to continue to produce such reports on important countries of origin and to update them on a regular basis in order to raise and harmonise COI standards in the EU and to further support the practical implementation of the Common European Asylum System.

The reports can be downloaded via:

EASO, COI report Nigeria, Security situation, November 2018, https://coi.easo.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2018_EASO_COI_Nigeria_SecuritySituation.pdf

EASO, COI report Nigeria, Actors of Protection, November 2018, https://coi.easo.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2018_EASO_COI_Nigeria_ActorsofProtection.pdf 

EASO COI report Nigeria, Targeting of individuals, November 2018, https://coi.easo.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2018_EASO_COI_Nigeria_TargetingIndividuals.pdf 

EASO, COI report Nigeria, Key-socio-economic indicators, November 2018, https://coi.easo.europa.eu/administration/easo/PLib/2018_EASO_COI_Nigeria_KeySocioEconomic.pdf