EU summit March 2018

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The EU summit in March 2018 took place in Brussels from March 22 to 23, 2018 . It was chaired by EU Council President Donald Tusk .

subjects

The topics of the summit in March 2018 were trade with the US and negotiations on the UK's imminent exit from the EU . At the same time, the council backed the UK by condemning Russia for the poison attack on former agent Skripal and his daughter.

trade

In long negotiations and discussions, representatives of the EU in Washington tried to dissuade the American government from imposing punitive tariffs from March 22, 2018. While the European heads of state and government met on that day, US President Trump declared in a press conference that he would waive punitive tariffs against the EU for the time being and instead raise tariffs on goods from China . The summit participants called for a permanent agreement to waive punitive tariffs. At the same time, they advocated measures by the EU Commission in the event that the punitive tariffs were still applied.

Another topic was the possible inclusion of a digital tax that Donald Tusk had put on the agenda in order to oblige internet companies such as Facebook or Apple to pay higher taxes. Countries like Ireland or Luxembourg , which have attracted these groups with attractive tax offers, spoke out against taxing these companies too high. According to the German Chancellor Merkel, the summit participants agreed that the existing regulations were no longer up to date.

Brexit

The European Council adopted guidelines for further negotiations with Great Britain after its planned exit from the EU in spring 2019. Cooperation should remain "as close as possible", particularly in the areas of security and defense policy. On the other hand, the heads of state and government declared that there would be no approval for a "cherry-picking" in which Great Britain could choose special access to the European internal market for certain branches of the economy such as the financial industry . Nonetheless, the remaining 27 EU countries agreed to offer the United Kingdom a comprehensive free trade agreement .

Russia

In the case of the poisoning of former Russian GRU agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury , England , the EU unanimously backed Great Britain and condemned the attack "in the strongest possible way". They also announced that they would like to strengthen their preparedness against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats . Although the governments of Greece and Hungary initially spoke out against condemning Russia, they changed their minds during the summit.

Turkey

The European Council condemned Turkey's actions in the Eastern Mediterranean , where, among other things, it arrested two Greek soldiers and obstructed Cyprus from drilling natural gas .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hard shell, soft core. The EU has agreed. spiegel.de, March 23, 2018, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  2. ↑ European report. (PDF) Representation of the Free State of Bavaria. bayern.de, March 23, 2018, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ There is only a brief sense of relief in Brussels. sueddeutsche.de, March 22, 2018, accessed on December 29, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Guidelines for Brexit talks adopted. European Council has shown unity. bundeskanzlerin.de, March 23, 2018, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  5. ↑ European Council. Guidelines. consilium.europa.eu, March 23, 2018, accessed on December 29, 2019 .
  6. ↑ EU states adopt guidelines for negotiations. EU only offers London a free trade agreement. wienerzeitung.at, March 23, 2018, accessed on December 29, 2019 .
  7. ↑ No cherry picking for May. Guidelines for the further Brexit negotiations. tagesschau.de, March 23, 2018, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  8. ↑ EU offers Great Britain free trade agreements. Guidelines after Brexit. zeit.de, March 23, 2018, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  9. ↑ EU withdraws ambassador from Moscow. EU tightens course towards Russia. spiegel.de, March 23, 2018, accessed December 29, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Meeting of the European Council. Conclusions. consilium.europa.eu, March 23, 2018, accessed on December 29, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b EU summit insists on permanent exemption from US tariffs on steel and aluminum. eiz-niedersachsen.de, March 26, 2018, accessed December 30, 2019 .
  12. ↑ EU summit sees Russia behind a poison attack in England. EU stands on the side of Great Britain and against Russia. de.reuters.com, March 23, 2018, accessed December 30, 2019 .