A meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) took place on 25 April 2017 in Vienna. This was the 5th meeting of the Joint Commission since JCPOA Implementation Day. Under the terms of the JCPOA, the Joint Commission is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the nuclear deal.

The Joint Commission was chaired, on behalf of EU High Representative Mogherini, by EEAS Secretary General Helga Schmid and was attended by the E3+3 (China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) and Iran at the level of Political Directors/Deputy Foreign Ministers.

The meeting provided the opportunity to address the implementation of the JCPOA with regard to nuclear and sanctions related commitments. The Joint Commission particularly welcomed the important progress made on the Arak modernisation project, where Chinese and Iranian companies signed the first consultancy services contract on Sunday, 23 April, in Vienna. Participants discussed the importance of implementation of Annex III of the JCPOA on civil nuclear cooperation, and welcomed in this context the recent EU-Iran high-level seminar on international nuclear cooperation.

All participants noted  their continued adherence to JCPOA commitments and stressed the need to ensure its full and effective implementation.

I’m delighted to travel to the United States next month to meet with President Donald J Trump and to attend the 75th Battle of the Coral Sea commemorations in New York, hosted by the America-Australia Association (AAA).

Australia and the United States are enduring allies. Our alliance has been forged over many decades, through times of war and times of peace, securing our nations’ freedom and peace and security in the world.

Next year will be one hundred years since Australian and American troops first fought side by side at the Battle of Hamel.

In the century since, our nations have become the closest allies, partners and friends united by shared democratic values and millions of people to people links.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, where Australian and American forces turned back the Japanese invasion fleet.

To commemorate this pivotal moment in our shared history, the AAA will host a celebration of our great alliance on the aircraft carrier, USS Intrepid. Also known as the Fighting 1, the Intrepid survived torpedo and kamikaze attacks during WWII. Now a museum on the banks of the Hudson River, it stands testimony to the bravery of US and Allied Forces.

The commemoration will honour all our veterans, including veterans of the Battle of the Coral Sea, and celebrate the ‘First 100 Years of Mateship’ between the United States and Australia, which has seen us fight side by side in every major military conflict since WWI.

Australia and the United States share the values of democracy, the rule of law and a commitment to peace, prosperity and security. Our forces continue to serve together in defence of those values in the Middle East where I have visited our troops and discussed the future of the region with US commanders and Defence Secretary James Mattis.

My meeting with President Trump will provide an opportunity to reaffirm our alliance and the United States’ engagement with the Asia-Pacific. It closely follows my visit to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and comes at a time when our region faces a serious threat from a reckless and dangerous regime in North Korea.

I look forward to discussing these and many other issues with President Trump in New York on 4 May.

Children are at risk of coming across videos containing violence or hate speech when online. The culture committee proposed several measures to better protect them when it adopted its position on a proposed update of the audiovisual media services directives on 25 April. But do you know how much time children spend online or the best way to protect them from harmful content? Watch our video to find out.

The measures proposed by the culture committee include video-sharing platforms having to create mechanisms for reporting harmful content, which they then have an obligation to remove. In addition advertising and product placement of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and alcohol should be banned in children’s TV programmes and video-sharing platforms.

The directive also deals with other issues, such as a proposed quota for European works in on-demand video platform catalogues. The European Commission is proposing a quota of 20%, but the culture committee is calling for a quota of 30%.

All MEPs will vote on the proposals during May’s plenary session in Strasbourg. The two MEPs responsible for steering the plans through Parliament are German S&D member Petra Kammerevert  and German EPP member Sabine Verheyen.

Find out more in the press release.