An EU citizens’ panel championed by French President Emmanuel Macron has issued 40 recommendations for the future of the bloc’s foreign and migration policy, but stopped short of calling for a full-scale European army.
The panel also rejected a disputed suggestion that immigration quotas should cap the share of foreigners in EU neighbourhoods at 30 per cent.
But it called for a migration overhaul that would force countries to take in a fair share of asylum seekers and create EU-mandated language and integration courses.
It called for more powers for EU border agency Frontex so that it could intervene in any member state to protect the bloc’s frontiers.
The proposals come as Mr Macron tries to use his country’s six-month presidency of the EU to drive forward long-stalled immigration reforms and sell his vision of greater European sovereignty.
The panel of 200 EU citizens, one of four such committees addressing different topics, is part of an initiative called the Conference on the Future of Europe which was spearheaded by Mr Macron.
It was launched last year with the aim of providing tangible proposals that could be taken forward this year by the French presidency.
In a final session in Maastricht, the migration panel struck out six proposals from its list including a call for a joint army that would involve the “gradual integration and subsequent conversion of national armed forces”.
However, it left in a recommendation that a joint military force could provide help after natural disasters and be sent abroad in exceptional cases.
Mr Macron has led calls for greater European independence in defence matters, but some EU members are wary of watering down Nato’s role. The bloc has had a reserve of “battle groups” since 2007 but never used them.
On migration, the panel said Europe’s labour market should be more open to asylum seekers to encourage them to integrate in their new countries.
Refugees should receive free of cost, but compulsory, language training starting within two weeks of a residency application being filed, EU leaders were told.
The panel called for asylum rules to be replaced with a legally-binding treaty requiring a “just, balanced and proportionate” distribution of asylum seekers.
Countries on Europe’s external border such as Italy and Greece have long complained that they face an excessive burden from illegal migration.
But efforts to reform these rules have been at a stalemate for years, with Mr Macron hoping to launch a new reform push for the border-free Schengen zone.
Another rejected proposal was the idea that no neighbourhood should draw more than 30 per cent of its inhabitants from non-EU countries.
The proposal was inspired by a move in Denmark to limit the number of “non-western” residents to the same threshold, although the government there removed the provocative word “ghetto” from its legislation.
Supporters of such a quota lost the argument in the EU panel after claiming that it would lead to greater acceptance of migrants by the local population.
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 1
Kane (50')
Newcastle United 0
Kill%20Bill%20Volume%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Quentin%20Tarantino%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Uma%20Thurman%2C%20David%20Carradine%20and%20Michael%20Madsen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIGHT CARD
Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Catchweight 67kg Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) v Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg Mostafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) v Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78kg Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg Rachid Hazoume (MAR) v Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG)
Lighweight Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg Omar Hussein (PAL) v Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
Middleweight Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
