September 2015
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited UK, on September 10, and met with Prime Minister David Cameron. The visit was to highlight the greatest partnerships between UK and Israel. And also the security in the Middle East which has been threatened by the radical groups and the ISIS in the recent years.
© Ministry of Foreign Office of Israel
At the House of Common, 7. September 2015
Before making a statement on counter-terrorism, let me update the House about what we are doing to help address the migration crisis in Europe and, in particular, to help the thousands of refugees who are fleeing from Syria.
This issue is clearly the biggest challenge facing countries across Europe today. More than 300,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year. These people came from different countries under different circumstances. Some are economic migrants in search of a better life in Europe. Many are refugees fleeing conflict. And it is vital to distinguish between the two.
In recent weeks we have seen a vast increase in the numbers arriving across the Eastern Mediterranean from Turkey – more than 150,000 people have attempted that route since January. The majority of these are Syrian refugees – fleeing the terror of Assad and ISIL, which has seen more than 11 million people driven from their homes.
The whole country has been deeply moved by the heart-breaking images we have seen over the past few days. And it is absolutely right that Britain should fulfil its moral responsibility to help those refugees just as we have done so proudly throughout our history.
But in doing so we must use our head and our heart by pursuing a comprehensive approach that tackles the causes of the problem as well as the consequences.
Britain is doing and will continue to do all of these things.
And last week we announced the largest an additional £100 million in aid taking our toal contribution to over £1 billion
The is the UK’s largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis. Sixty Million pounds of this additional funding will go to help Syrians still in Syria.
The rest will go to neighbouring countries – to Turkey, to Jordan, to Lebanon where Syrian refugees now account for one-quarter of the population. And over half of this new funding will support children, with a particular priority on those who have been orphaned or separated from their families.
No other European country has come close to this level of support. Without Britain’s aid to these camps, the numbers attempting the dangerous journey to Europe would be very much higher. And as my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor said yesterday, we will now go much further in the spending review, significantly reshaping the way we use our aid budget to serve our national interest. We will invest even more in tackling the causes of the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa. And we will hold much larger sums in reserve to respond to acute humanitarian crises as they happen.
Britain is doing and will continue to do all of these things.
We are using our aid budget to alleviate poverty and suffering in the countries where these people are coming.
We are the only major country in the World that has kept our promise to spend 0.7% of our GDP on aid.
We are already the Second Largest bilateral donor of aid to the Syrian conflict, including providing over 18 million food rations, giving 1.6 million access to clean water and providing education to a quarter of a million children.
©GOV.UK
From 20-31 July 2015 the U.S Army in Europe conducted a joint Exercise with its European Counterparts.
Rapid Trident, was part of U.S Army Europe that had its Training intensity on Peacekeeping and Stability Operations.
There were over 1800 members of Armed-Forces from 18 EU States as well as Canada.
Participating Armed-Forces were from: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukrainian and the U.S.
©The US Army Europe
By Catherine Stella Schmidt (Copy righted material)
By the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Philip Hammond
LONDON — Right across the continent, anti-EU parties have made huge gains in recent years — in local, national and European elections. We need to respond by making the EU more democratic and far better equipped to help deliver the growth and jobs its citizens expect.
Since the UK joined, the EU has changed beyond recognition. The fall of the Iron Curtain has seen the EU expand with 16 new countries becoming members; the Euro has been created, and EU rules now regulate our affairs across a huge area stretching from environment to social policy.
There is no doubt that EU membership has brought clear benefits to Britain in some areas. But in others it has led to loss of national sovereignty and an increase in bureaucratic burdens on business that has resulted in the British people’s consent for membership wearing wafer thin.
So what does the UK government want from this negotiation? To restore the confidence of the British people in the EU we need to work with our European partners to agree a package of reform that will ensure the EU is fit for the 21st century; reforms that will benefit not only the UK, but all 28 member states.
First, on jobs and growth, the uncomfortable truth is that the EU’s growth rate is far below that needed to reduce unemployment to acceptable levels and is being challenged not only by Asia, but also by the US. If we are to preserve European living standards, we need to empower our businesses to compete more effectively in the world by enhancing the single market, especially in services, digital, and energy. We have to be open to world trade and complete trade agreements with the US, Japan, and other developed economies, as well as with the fast growing economies of Asia and South America. And we must create a regulatory framework that supports, not hinders, business to create the growth and jobs we need.
Secondly, we seek reforms that will allow those countries that want to integrate further to do so, while respecting the interests of those that do not. This applies most clearly to the Eurozone where the UK does not seek to prevent further euro-integration — indeed supports it — but does need guarantees that the interests of those not in the euro will be protected. This concept of a two-pillar Europe, with a properly defined relationship between the Eurozone and non-Eurozone within a single market, and sharing the same institutions, builds on the existing architecture of Schengen and Banking Union and is good for everyone. It allows Eurozone integration to progress, respecting the interests of the non-Eurozone Member States. And it recognises that, while the concept of ever-closer union appeals to some Member States, it is not right for all.
Thirdly, we think national parliaments must have a greater say, both in connecting citizens to EU decisions and in properly implementing the concept of subsidiarity — the idea that decisions should be made as close as possible to the citizens they affect. All too often the EU has exercised power in areas where decision-making could be done at national, regional, or local government level without interfering with the operation of the single market or the effective functioning of the EU. We want to strengthen the role of national parliaments, for example, by allowing groups of them to be able to block regulations in future. The EU must respect the layers of government that are closest and most accountable to European citizens. We agree with the Dutch Government: “Europe where necessary, national where possible.”
Fourthly, while we accept that the free movement of people to work is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EU and these negotiations do not seek to curtail this freedom, we do want to protect the UK’s welfare system from abuse and reduce the incentives that encourage highly skilled workers to travel to the UK to do low-skilled jobs. This undermines economic growth in their countries of origin and belief in the fairness of free movement in destination countries. We must also develop the other freedoms, in particular freedom of movement of services and of capital, to ensure that it is not just free movement of people that contributes to convergence of living standards across Europe.
We approach these reforms in a positive and engaged manner, listening to our partners and intending to agree reforms that will help all Member States to thrive in the 21st century.
We will negotiate a package of reform and will then ask the British people their view, in a straightforward “in or out” referendum by the end of 2017, and earlier if we can.
The stakes are high: the UK is a large and open economy with a long history and a significant role on the world stage which can contribute hugely to Europe’s success. If we can resolve the issues that have so troubled the British people and achieve a
“Yes” vote in the referendum, we will settle the question of Britain’s place in Europe and enable the UK to play a fully engaged role in a more competitive, prosperous, outward-looking and confident EU in the future.
That is an outcome that really will be in the best interest of Europeans on both sides of the English Channel.
This Article was originally published in Politico.EU on June 2015: http://www.politico.eu/article/britains-four-point-package-for-eu-reform/
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