Mister President,

Mister Prime Minister,

Mister Speaker,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear friends,

It is a great honour indeed to be with you here today on this very emotional occasion. Today’s centenary Independence Day is a historic moment for your great European nation.

The journey has not always been easy. The road to freedom never is.

But Georgia is a proud country, built on the courage and the ambition of its people.

In the last century, you took your future in your own hands. You chose hope over fear. And you never stopped fighting for your independence and your freedom until it was firmly restored.

As I stand here today, there can be no greater tribute than to say that a century on, Georgia has more than lived up to the spirit of 26 May 1918.

While the history of the Georgian people goes back millennia, that day, a century ago, modern Georgia was born.

A country built from the moment of its independence on the principles of democracy, equality and respect for human rights – values on which Europe is based today. These are not just words, these are not just aspirations. For all of us, these are enduring commitments. Through thick and thin, through conflict and pain, the Georgian have always stayed true to these values, making you what you are.

I think of the fierce fighting and the long resistance to Soviet occupation and the efforts to strengthen your democracy.

This is the way you have honoured the spirit of 1918, this is what defines you as a country. And it is what makes our association and partnership such a natural one. 

Georgia is a country that has always been part of Europe and has always looked towards Europe.

We are linked by history and by geography. Our fates and our destinies have long been intertwined.

But I want this special occasion to be the start of the next chapter in our common story.

I have always argued that the European Union must send a message of hope to Georgia and especially to its youth.

So I want us to break down more of the barriers that still exist between us, and step up our support to each other, building on the progress we have already achieved.

I am delighted that more than a quarter of a million Georgians have already visited Europe without a visa since March of last year. I hope many more will visit us soon. 

I also hope that many more will join the thousands of Georgian teachers and students that have come to Europe to study or teach thanks to the Erasmus+ programme. I look forward to the first students being welcomed at the new European School in this city this September.

Georgia and the European Union always stand up for each other. We will always support Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. And standing in front of your brave soldiers, I also want to thank you for Georgia’s invaluable role in EU peace-keeping operations, serving noble causes.

Long live Georgia, love live Europe! May they live together forever.

Thank you.

Overview of the main subjects to be discussed at meetings of the Council of the EU over the next two weeks.

Foreign Affairs Council, Monday 28 May 2018

The Council will focus on the situation in Iran, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the future agreement with the African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. Foreign ministers will also discuss the situation in Gaza, following the recent developments.

Competitiveness Council (Internal market and Industry), Monday 28 May 2018

The Council will carry out a competitiveness check-up on the impact of the internal market on industry. It will hold discussions on mutual recognition of goods and on online platforms-to-business relations.

Competitiveness Council (Research and Space), Tuesday 29 May 2018

The Council will debate on space policy, the extension of the EURATOM research programme as well as research and innovation in the context of the next EU’s multiannual budget. It is due to adopt conclusions on knowledge circulation and the European Open Science Cloud. It will also take note of a report on high performance computing.

Justice and Home Affairs Council (Justice), Monday 04 June 2018

Justice ministers will discuss various topics including insolvency, contract law and parental responsibility. Jointly, home affairs and justice ministers will also discuss the draft legislation on e-evidence.

Justice and Home Affairs Council (Home Affairs), Tuesday 05 June 2018

Home affairs ministers will cover different aspects of the EU migration, security and terrorism policy.

Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on transport (Transport), Thursday 07 June 2018

The agenda includes, among other topics, key proposals on drivers’ driving and rest times, the posting of road hauliers and cabotage restrictions; safeguarding competition in air transport; port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships; electronic road tolling and exchange of information; and the use of hired vehicles.

Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on transport (Telecommunications), Friday 08 June 2018

The Council is due to agree a general approach on a proposed Cybersecurity Act regulation. Ministers will also look at the progress made on a proposal to update privacy rules for electronic communications (ePrivacy), and discuss a draft directive to promote the re-use of public sector information.

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The Council’s permanent representatives committee (Coreper) today agreed its position on a draft directive aimed at adapting EU copyright rules to the digital environment.

The common position will serve as a mandate for the presidency of the Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament, once the latter has agreed its own position.

All kinds of content are today easily made available online. The dissemination of creative content through the internet encourages cultural diversity. However, this has to be balanced against an appropriate level of protection and fair remuneration for those creating the content.

Boil Banov, Minister of culture of Bulgaria

The main objective of the directive is to modernise the European copyright framework and adapt it to the requirements of the digital age. By contributing to the harmonisation of practises across  member states, it will also increase legal certainty in the digital single market.

The main issues of the Council mandate include the following: 

Protection of press publications

The Council compromise text would create a new right for press publishers for the online use of their press publications, which is in line with the Commission original proposal. However, the protection would only last one year instead of the 20 years proposed by the Commission.

The protection would also cover the use of parts of press publications. However, insubstantial parts of press publications will not be covered. To determine whether a part of a press publication is insubstantial, member states will be able to apply either an originality criterion or a size criterion (for instance very short excerpts), or both criteria. 

Value gap

The directive seeks to strike the right balance between the remuneration received by authors and performers and the profits made by internet platforms when they make their works accessible. This difference is known as the value gap.

The Council text targets online service providers whose main purpose (or one of whose main purposes) is to provide access to a large amount of copyright-protected content uploaded by their users for the purpose of making profits from organising and promoting it.

Examples of organising and promoting content include indexing the content, presenting it in a certain manner and categorising it.

It would not include services such as internet access providers, providers of cloud services which allow users, including businesses, to upload content for their own use, or online marketplaces whose main activity is online retail and which do not give access to copyright protected content.

Websites which store and provide access to content for non-for-profit purposes, such as online encyclopaedias, scientific or educational repositories, or open source software developing platforms, are also not included. 

Improved cooperation between rightholders and online platforms

The Council text encourages collaboration between online content sharing service providers and rightsholders.

Service providers will have to obtain authorisation from rightholders. When no authorisation has been given, for example because rightholders do not want to conclude a licence, the service provider will have to prevent the availability of the works identified by rightholders. Otherwise, they will be considered to be liable for copyright infringement. Nevertheless, exemptions from liability may be granted to platforms under certain conditions linked notably to their size.

Upon notification by rightsholders of an unauthorised protected work, an online content sharing service provider will have to take urgent steps to remove the work and prevent it from becoming available in future. 

Exceptions to copyright on text and data mining

New technologies enable the automated computational analysis of information in digital form, such as text, sounds, images or data. This is generally known as text and data mining. Those technologies allow researchers to process large amounts of information with a view to securing new knowledge and discovering new trends.

In line with existing European research policy, which encourages universities and research institutes to develop collaboration with the private sector, research organisations should also benefit from the exception when their research activities are carried out in the framework of public-private partnerships. A mandatory exception for uses of text and data mining technologies in the fields of scientific research is included in the directive.

There will also be mandatory exceptions or limitations to the general copyright rules for illustrations used for teaching in the digital environment and for cultural heritage institutions such as public libraries, museums and archives.

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Place:       
Europa building, Brussels

Chairs:     
Emil Karanikolov, Minister for Economy of Bulgaria
Krasimir Valchev, Minister of Education and Science of Bulgaria  

All times are approximate and subject to change

MONDAY, 28 MAY 2018

+/- 08.00
Arrivals

+/- 08.50
Doorstep by Minister Karanikolov

Internal Market and Industry

+/- 09.30      
Roundtable
Adoption of the agenda
Adoption of A items

+/- 09.40
Competitiveness check-up

+/- 10.30
Mutual recognition of goods – draft regulation (public session)

+/- 11.30
Businesses using online platforms – draft regulation (public session)

+/- 13.15
Artificial intelligence (informal lunch debate)

 +/- 14.45
Roundtable
Any other business: (public session)
– Recent initiatives in the digital single market
– Copyright package
– New deal for consumers package
– Company Law package
– Outcome of event in the field of tourism in 2018
– Supplementary protection certificates for medicinal products

Any other business: (not in public session)
– Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court
– SOLVIT online service on the internal market (outcome of conference)
– Work programme of the incoming presidency

+/- 18.45
Press conference (live streaming from Europa building press room)

TUESDAY, 29 MAY 2018

+/- 08.30
Arrivals

+/- 09.25
Doorstep by Minister Karanikolov

Space

+/- 10.00
Roundtable       

+/- 10.00
Future of the European space policy (debate)

Any other business:
– Outcome of events dedicated to space
– Work programme of the incoming presidency

Research

+/- 12.45
High-performance computing (informal lunch debate)

+/- 14.30
Roundtable

+/- 14.30
European high-performance computing joint undertaking (draft regulation)

+/- 14.45
Euratom programme 2019-2020 (draft regulation)

+/- 15.00
European Open Science Cloud (conclusions)

+/- 15.15
Accelerating knowledge circulation in the EU (conclusions)

+/- 16.00
Research and innovation within the context of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (live streaming)

+/- 17.30
Any other business:
Work programme of the incoming presidency

+/- 17.45
Press conference (live streaming from Europa building press room)

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