EU: Building a positive agenda for the Mediterranean – by Fathallah Sijilmassi

Today there are three main reasons why we need to mobilise all our efforts to ensure a true partnership between both sides of the Mediterranean.

Firstly, it has never been clearer that the challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean region call for a collective and concerted response. From security threats to our endeavor of living together to the socio-economic challenges, everything now points to the fact that no response can be solely national or confined to a limited geographical area.

At a time when inward-looking attitudes and nationalist sentiments are on the rise, today we must say loudly and clearly that it is by working together that we will succeed, or else we will all fail.

This is the purpose of the roadmap for the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), adopted in January 2017 in Barcelona by the foreign affairs ministers from its 43 Member States. It is also in this spirit that the recent African Union – European Union (AU-EU) summit was held in Abidjan. The EU is also in a process of consolidation in view of the need to act collectively in response to the different challenges.

The stability and security of Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa are obviously closely linked.

Secondly, limiting the Southern Mediterranean to the sole task of managing the “negative agenda”, which must of course be firmly and decisively dealt with (terrorism, irregular migration, radicalism, etc.), would be an enormous injustice for the millions of Mediterranean people who are part of the spirit of openness and modernity and whose daily accomplishments are remarkable.

These women and men in the Southern and Northern Mediterranean are the region’s greatest asset and the finest ambassadors for the shared values that we seek to defend and promote. They should be at the centre of our attention and actions.

Thirdly, we must strengthen our collective political engagement to foster concrete actions.

Today the Mediterranean does not need a romantic vision of the glorious past of our sea, “mare nostrum”, a defeatist, anxiety-inducing conversation about the state of the region, or constant theories about the eternal need to restructure the partnership.

The institutions already exist. We must make greater use of them. The funding already exists. We must ensure that it is used fully and effectively for actions that strengthen the bonds between people and bring tangible results which meet their expectations.

It is on the basis of these three observations that the Union for the Mediterranean gives priority to action on the ground rather than to media headlines.

Under the direction of its two Co-Presidencies – the European Union and Jordan – and the action taken by its Secretariat, the activities of the UfM have enabled it to achieve three major strategic objectives in a challenging context in recent years:

    To become a platform for regional political dialogue;
    To bring together governments and regional cooperation actors (international organisations, NGOs, the private sector, local authorities, etc.); and
    To promote specific regional projects for the benefit of people.

The UfM embodies today the will to have a working framework for strengthening the regional cooperation in the Mediterranean. This framework addresses all the serious and unfortunately growing challenges of our region. It also allows us to do so with a global and balanced perspective that fully recognises the existence of important opportunities and addresses the root causes of the current problems we face, such as the challenges of youth employment, education, health, and justice.

From concrete projects for young people – the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez, the Mediterranean Initiative for Jobs (Med4Jobs), the Sciences Po’s WOMED women’s leadership project, to name but a few – to sustainable development programmes in the areas of water, the environment, the blue economy, transport, urban development, energy and climate change, the opportunities are real and numerous.

Confidently building a positive agenda for the Mediterranean is critical, and it must be done with strength and conviction.

Read more: Building a positive agenda for the Mediterranean – EURACTIV.com

The Netherlands: US ambassador to Netherlands describes own words as 'fake news - Martin Belam'

The US ambassador to the Netherlands faced an excruciating moment on television when he denied ever saying that there were no-go zones in the Netherlands, calling the suggestion “fake news”.

Trump’s new choice for ambassador, Pete Hoekstra, who was only sworn in by the vice president, Mike Pence, on 11 December, was being interviewed for current affairs programme Nieuwsuur by reporter Wouter Zwart.

Zwart says: “You mentioned in a debate that there are no-go zones in the Netherlands, and that cars and politicians are being set on fire in the Netherlands.”

Hoekstra replies: “I didn’t say that. This is actually an incorrect statement. We would call it fake news.”

Hoekstra is then shown clips of him saying: “The Islamic movement has now gotten to a point where they have put Europe into chaos. Chaos in the Netherlands, there are cars being burnt, there are politicians that are being burnt ... and yes there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.”

Challenged about having called this “fake news”, Hoekstra then went on to deny to Zwart that he had in fact used the phrase “fake news”.

“I didn’t call that fake news. I didn’t use the words today. I don’t think I did.”

Hoekstra, who was born in Groningen in the Netherlands, was a Republican Congressman for Michigan between 1993 and 2011, and served as chair of the House intelligence committee for two years during that time.

Note EU-Digest: "No Mr. Hoekstra, we also don't believe that story of the Dutch boy putting his finger in the dike" 

Read more: US ambassador to Netherlands describes own words as 'fake news' | World news | The Guardian

USA: U.N. Defies Trump's Bullying and Threats by Passing Resolution on Jerusalem - by Kambiz Foroohar

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a measure critical of President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel despite U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s warning that the move could put funding for their nations and the global body at risk.

The nonbinding UN resolution passed on Thursday by a vote of 128-9, with 35 nations abstaining. Key U.S. allies backing the measure over Trump’s threats included the U.K., France, Italy, Japan and Germany. The U.S. was joined in opposition by countries including Guatemala, Nauru and Micronesia. Abstentions included Australia, Canada and Argentina.

“The United States will remember this day when it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly,” Haley said at the U.N. podium ahead of the vote. “We will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they often do, to pay even more. This vote will be remembered.”

That threat was repudiated by speakers from countries supporting the resolution, which says the status of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations. A similar resolution had 14 votes in favor in the 15-member Security Council last week, prompting Haley to exercise the first U.S. veto since 2011.

“We were all asked to vote no or face the consequences,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said before Thursday’s vote. “Some even threatened to cut development aid. This is bullying. It is unethical to think that the votes and dignity of member states are for sale.” 

Read more: U.N. Defies Trump's Threats by Passing Resolution on Jerusalem

Netherlands population getting more diverse; To hit 18 million by 2031 - by Janene Pieters

The Dutch population will continue to grow in the coming decades to over 18.4 million people by 2060, according to the latest prognosis by Statistics Netherlands. The 18 millionth inhabitant is expected in 2031. By 2040 almost a quarter of the Dutch population will be elderly, and by 2060 just over a third will have their roots in the outside world, according to the stats office.

The population of the Netherlands is growing because more people move to the Netherlands than move away, and because of the increasing lifespan. "In the coming years, more children will also be born, but that will not be sufficient in the long run to compensate for the increasing number of deaths", Statistics Netherlands writes. According to the current forecast, from the end of the 2030s more residents will die each year than are born.

Over the past two decades, the Dutch population grew by 1.5 million people. 86 percent of this increase involve people with a migration background. People immigrating to the Netherlands for work or study increased sharply over the past en years. And more recently, the Netherlands also saw a mass increase in asylum migrants. Though immigration from tradition countries of origin like Morocco, Turkey and Suriname decreased.

In the coming decades, the number of Netherlands residents with a migration background will increase, while the residents with a Dutch background will decrease, Statistics Netherlands expects.

This year 23 percent of the population have a migration background, by 2060 this will increase to 34 percent. "Both now and in the future, more than half of those with a migration background were born in the Netherlands, with at least one parent born abroad."

The number of elderly residents will also increase in the coming decades, due to the high birth rates immediately after the Second World War and in the 1950s and '60s. Another factor is that lifespan increased over the paEU-Digestst years and continues to rise. According to the prognosis, the proportion of the population aged 65 and older will increase from 18 percent in 2017 to 24 percent in 2040.

According to Statistics Netherlands, this prognosis has a level of uncertainty. Migration fluctuates from year to year, which means there is great uncertainty in the prognosis of immigration and emigration on the short term. Birth and mortality rates are easier to predict in the short term, but uncertainty increases in the long term. Taking these uncertainties into account, the Dutch population will be between 17.2 million and 19.7 million people in 2060.

Note  EU -Digest: Bottom line: the Netherlands needs more immigrants, obviously this immigration stream needs to be far better controlled and administered than it is presently done. New citizens should also be required to swear their alliance to the Netherlands/EU during a special Public ceremony in presided over by a Judge, when inducted as citizens of the Netherlands/EU and agree not to serve in any other military force, except that of the Netherlands or the common EU defense force.

Read more: Netherlands population getting more diverse; To hit 18 million by 2031 | NL Times

EU Migration Problems: Former PM Mikuláš Dzurinda of Slovakia "EU must seek solution for migration outside its borders" – by Lucia Yar

The solution to the migration crisis is beyond the European Union borders and the EU must be prepared to talk to all relevant players in troubled countries and provide financial and logistical help, the former prime minister of Slovakia told EURACTIV.

It is necessary to act. When I say that agreements with relevant players are needed, these agreements should be directed in such a way that they don’t create modern concentration camps where people are raped and abused. The conditions in centres in which people spend the time needed for an asylum procedure must be dignified.

I do not feel nervous that some accents are now different in Warsaw or Budapest. Rather the opposite, the accents should be understood. Sometimes even the Slovaks could be interpreting them in Brussels or Paris.

Not everything that Orbán or Kaczynski say is foolish. Yet, the degree of centralisation worries me. I often feel that the European administration in Brussels interferes with the member states’ competence and that they are barely consulted.

All of these processes need to be seen very soberly, and the Visegrad Four needs to be cultivated. It does not need to be pushed to the position of a breaker. It should become a unifier.

Read more: Dzurinda: EU must seek solution for migration outside its borders – EURACTIV.com

EU-US Relations: The new Trump Isolationist Doctrine and Strategy requires a reevaluation of the EU foreign policy objectives

A wall around America, instead 
of one between Mexico and US

President Donald Trump declared a new national security strategy on Monday,December 18, stressing the "America first" message of his 2016 campaign and faulting previous U.S. leaders for failing to measure up to it and look out for the nation's citizens. Isolation

"Our leaders engaged in nation building abroad while they failed to build up and replenish our nation at home," he said, pointing to the economy's strong performance and predicting even better under his policies.

His security strategy envisions nations in constant competition, reverses Obama-era warnings on climate change and affirms that the United States will unilaterally defend its sovereignty, even if that means risking existing the agreements with other countries that have dominated the United States' foreign policy since the Cold War.

The strategy from the Republican president could sharply alter U.S. international relationships if fully implemented. It focuses on four main themes: protecting the homeland, promoting American prosperity, demonstrating peace through strength and advancing American influence in an ever-competitive world.

Trump's doctrine holds that nation-states are in perpetual competition and that the U.S. must fight on all fronts to protect and defend its sovereignty from friend and foe alike. While the administration often says that "America First" does not mean "America Alone," the national security strategy makes clear that the United States will stand up for itself even if that means acting unilaterally or alienating others on issues such as trade, climate change and immigration.

Despite the risk of potential isolation presented by Trump's strategy, its fundamentals are not a surprise. The strategy emphasizes that U.S. economic security is national security. And it stresses that the U.S. is interested only in relationships with other countries, including in alliances such as NATO, that are fair and reciprocal.

The strategy also details the threats of "rogue regimes," like North Korea. It says that China and Russia "challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity."

Despite international challenges, the document cites emerging opportunities to advance American interests in the Middle East. "Some of our partners are working together to reject radical ideologies and key leaders are calling for a rejection of Islamist extremism and violence," it says. "Encouraging political stability and sustainable prosperity would contribute to dampening the conditions that fuel sectarian grievances."

Note EU-Digest: Obviously the President of the USA can and must do what in his eyes he believes is good for America. As to the EU, what is good for America, necessarily does not have to be good for the EU. Consequently, as has been written many times, the EU must stop being the "lapdog" of America, given its importance as a world class economy, with a population of close to half a billion people, and establish its own independent foreign policy based on EU principles and  priorities, and include a review of its military objectives within this context.

As to the leaders of European Populists and Nationalist parties, like Geert Wilders, Jean Marie Lr Pen, Nigel Farage, and others, who apparently admire Trump's "America First Isolationist Doctrine",  we  recommend they pack their bags and request asylum in the US  from their idol Danald Trump.   

Read more: Trump unveils details of 'America First' security strategy

Ocean Pollution and Fishing Industry: Are seafood lovers really eating 11,000 bits of plastic per year?

Fishing Industry Under Pollution warning

The claim: Seafood lovers could be eating up to 11,000 microscopic pieces of plastic a year.

Reality Check verdict: There is evidence of plastic microparticles being found in the particular mussels and oysters examined, but the research suggests that in order to consume that much plastic you'd have to be eating an average of more than four oysters or between 17 and 18 mussels a day.

The figure of 11,000 bits of plastic a year, which has been reported by the Daily Mail and others recently, comes from a piece of Ghent University research dating back to June 2014.

The researchers were investigating how much plastic is consumed by humans via water molluscs such as mussels and oysters.

The researchers looked at mussels which lived on farms in the North Sea and were bought in Germany, and at oysters from Brittany in France which were farmed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Farming in this context means the mussels and oysters lived on "rope" that hangs in seawater while they were growing.

First they examined the combined tissue of three mussels and two oysters which was about 15-20 grams of meat and found that there was an average of 0.42 plastic particles per gram.

While reports of this figure featured photographs of plastic bottles and other waste washed up on beaches, these particular particles are very small - if you put 11,000 of them in a line it would cover about 4in (11cm).

To get an idea of how many particles people were likely to be eating, the authors accessed data from the European Food Safety Authority's food consumption database.

Read more: Are seafood lovers really eating 11,000 bits of plastic per year? - BBC News