The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) issued today a call for experts to join a Practitioners Network on Pension Tracking Systems (Network) to strengthen and complement EIOPA’s expertise with regard to the internet-based applications that provide citizens with an overview of their future retirement income, based on their entitlements from all pension schemes in which they participate.

The expertise gathered from the Network should benefit current work of EIOPA to identify best practices for the set-up of a National Pension Tracking System tool following the call for advice from the European Commission.

The Network will share technical expertise and collect evidence, in particular with regard to the following:

• the mapping of functional features for the individual to have a simple, attractive and comprehensive view of his/her income at retirement;
• the outline for the presentation of the information in the tracking tool, including the summary of key information;
• an appropriate implementation approach for launching the tracking tool and the accompanying communication initiatives;
• the identification of the relevant data points from pension products across the different sources, for example state-run pensions, occupational pensions, personal pensions and the relevant sources/entities;
• the design, set-up costs and governance of the framework, including parties responsible for holding of data, the interface for accessing the system, etc.  
• ensuring the consistency in the estimates and projections of an individual’s financial position at retirement;
• the interconnectivity with the European Tracking Service;

The members of the Network are expected to be highly knowledgeable professionals with extensive practical experience with the design, use and/or management of pensions tracking system tools developed both within and outside the European Economic Area. In particular, EIOPA seeks representatives from public entities, pension funds associations, companies, non-profit organisations and the European Tracking Service.

Members will be selected for a one-year term, with the possibility of the extension for one more year. The requirements, selection process and conditions are specified in more detail in the call for experts.

The deadline for applications is Sunday, 31 January 2021 23:59 CET.

On 10 December 2020, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2020/2033¹.

The Council renewed the existing restrictive measures for a further twelve months, until 12 December 2021, and amended the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures as set out in the Annex II to Decision 2010/788/CFSP.

The Candidate Countries the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania² and the EFTA countries Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this Council Decision.

They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.

¹ Published on 11.12.2020 in the Official Journal of the European Union no. L 419/30

² The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

January 13, 2021 EU Intellectual Property Network

European Cooperation: Sofia and Plovdiv join the European Network of ‘Authenticities’

On 18 November 2020 and 22 December 2020, under the framework of the European Cooperation Project (ECP8) ‘European Network of Authenticities’, the municipalities of Sofia and Plovdiv became the first certified Bulgarian ‘Authenticities’.

Following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria and both municipalities, and in cooperation with different stakeholders, a series of IP-related awareness-raising activities will take place locally over the next two years in the newly certified Authenticities.

This European Cooperation Project aims to raise awareness, among local policymakers, businesses and the European public, of both the value of IP and the damaging effects of counterfeiting in European cities.

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and its largest city. It is also the country’s main administrative, cultural and educational centre. A sixth of Bulgaria’s industrial production is concentrated in Sofia.
Plovdiv, European Capital of Culture in 2019, is the second largest city in Bulgaria. It’s a city with over 8000 years of history. Plovdiv is fast becoming Southern Bulgaria’s most dynamic and developed city and hub. Its economy is well-developed and diversified, which includes a mixture of industry, services, tourism and information technology.

Through this EUIPO project, the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, in cooperation with these two municipalities and several local stakeholders, will aim to combat counterfeiting and to simultaneously increase IP awareness on a local level. In that sense, it will also be joining the recent Authenticity of Thessaloniki in the task of further building a European network of certified Authenticities, where best practices can be shared and new synergies created.

The joint meeting of the lead committees will intensify the democratic parliamentary scrutiny process for the new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement reached by EU and British negotiators on 24 December.

The two committees will in due course vote on the consent proposal prepared by the two standing rapporteurs Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg) and Kati Piri (S&D, The Netherlands), to allow for a plenary vote before the end of the provisional application of the agreement.

In addition to the plenary vote, Parliament will also vote on an accompanying resolution prepared by the political groups in the UK Coordination Group and the Conference of Presidents.

The meeting

When: Thursday, 14 January, at 10.00 CET.

Where: Room 6Q2 in Parliament’s Antall building in Brussels and remote participation.

You can follow it live here. (10.00-12.00 CET).

Here is the agenda.

Background

The new Trade and Cooperation agreement has been provisionally applied since 1 January 2021. For it to enter into force permanently, it requires the consent of the Parliament.

MEPs on the International Trade Committee held a first meeting on the new EU-UK deal on Monday 11 January, during which they promised thorough scrutiny of the agreement. Read more here.

Organised by the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the hearing will address the loss of biodiversity and the extent to which this increases the risk of pandemics due to change in land use, climate change and wildlife trade. The role that the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 could play in countering biodiversity loss and in increasing the EU’s and the global commitment to biodiversity will be discussed.

Dr Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and Dr Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, will open the public hearing.

The detailed programme is available here.

You can follow the hearing live here from 9.00 on Thursday 14 January.

EU biodiversity strategy for 2030

On Thursday afternoon, Members will discuss the draft report by rapporteur César Luena (S&D, ES) which responds to the Commission’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and welcomes the level of ambition in the strategy. The draft report underlines that all main direct drivers of change in nature must be addressed and expresses concern about soil degradation, the impact of climate change and the declining number of pollinators. It also addresses the issues of funding, mainstreaming and the governance framework for biodiversity, calls for a Green Erasmus programme focused on restoration and conservation, and emphasises the need for international action, including with regard to ocean governance.

You can follow the committee meeting live here from 13.15 on Thursday 14 January.