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The European Union is expecting Britain to pay the full cost of relocating two major EU agencies from London back to the EU after Brexit, in the latest signal that Brussels intends to play hardball over the costs of UK withdrawal from Europe.

The plan, revealed in a leaked draft of the European Commissions Brexit negotiating mandate, looks certain to raise the temperature of the debate over Britains so-called Brexit bill.

Europe is expecting to reclaim two of its most prestigious UK-based agencies,covering banking and medicine regulations, which employ hundreds of highly skilled staff in offices based in Londons Docklands.

Last week David Davis, the Brexit secretary, indicated that Britain did not accept that the agencies would necessarily have to be relocated inside the EU after Brexit - a position that was swiftly rejected by senior figures across Europe.

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Brussels demands the UK foots the bill to relocate London-based EU agencies after Brexit - Telegraph.co.uk

The grassroots group Pulse of Europe aims to show politicians and right-wing Europeans that the silent majority favors the E.U.CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREAS ARNOLD / PICTURE-ALLIANCE / DPA / AP

On the Sunday before Easter, the sun was shining on Berlins charming Gendarmenmarkt. At 1:30 P.M., the first blue-and-yellow flagssymbols of the European Unionappeared on the square, held aloft or worn like capes. The P.A. system was up and running. A pop-y German New Wave classic came on: Visit Europe, while its still standing. From the broad, shady steps of the concert house, Alexander Knigges aviator sunglasses reflected the light. This songs about nuclear war, he said. But, actually, it fits todays situation pretty well.

Knigge is a German real-estate lawyer and one of the organizers of the Berlin chapter of Pulse of Europe, a grassroots movement dreamed up by a Frankfurt-based lawyer in response to the feelings of intense dismay brought on by watching Donald Trumps victory on television. Pulse of Europe events feature an hour-long program that includes live music and an open mike, and have been taking place on city squares across Europe almost every Sunday afternoon since the beginning of the year. Their mission is simple: to show support for the European Union.

Today, the theme was Francea country where four of the five major Presidential candidates in the upcoming elections have taken Euroskeptic positions. Knigge, who had never been involved in a protest movement before getting involved with Pulse of Europe, fielded organizational questions from other volunteers and reflected on his reasons for helping out. Its a matter of freedom, and peace, he said, as the playlist bounced to Frankreich, Frankreich, another eighties hit, in which the singer wakes up to a shock: overnight, he has lost his baguette, his cigarette, Jeanette and Claudette. If France decides to leave the E.U., the E.U. is gone, said Knigge. My grandparents fought in World War II, and we all know that the European Union is the best guarantee against war. I dont really trust GermanyIm happy its completely bound up in a bigger union.

Knigge paused, to smile at the lyrics (Oo-la-la!). Also, I really like living in Europe. Im forty-fiveIm not going to move to Spain. But I like the idea that I could. Knigge is not alone. The Pulse of Europe gatherings started with four hundred people on Goetheplatz, in Frankfurt, one gloomy mid-January afternoon. Since then, they seem to have struck a nerve: the weekend before the Gendarmenmarkt rally, some forty-five thousand people attended events in ninety-two cities spread across twelve countries, according to the organizers. Politicians are taking note: Last week, in one of his first speeches, Germanys recently elected President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, explicitly praised the organization for countering what many say is the E.U.s overwhelmingly negative public image. These young people, they are tired of people only talking badly about Europe, he said. (National politicians tend to make the E.U. a scapegoat for things that go wrong in their countries, while taking credit themselves for things that go right.) For many of our children and grandchildren, Europe is already a homeland, Steinmeier added.

Tanja Brzel, a professor of political science at the Freie Universitt Berlin, said that Pulse of Europe was filling a need. Pulse of Europe reminds us that Europe is more than just a bunch of men in gray suits, meeting to discuss problems, she said. Its such a powerful image of ordinary citizens mobilizing. Calling the group an emerging social movement, she added that, while Europes right wing has been able to mobilize twenty per cent of the population, Pulse of Europe signals to politicians and right-wingers that the silent majority is pro-Europe. Brzel disagrees with critics who say that Pulse of Europes lack of a specific political agenda limits its effectiveness. They lay out clearly what they support: Democracy, rule of law, human rights. This is not self-evidentlook at Hungary and Poland. These values are no longer to be taken for granted.

I think that is enough, she said. To initiate momentum. Then its up to the politicians to make specific reforms.

Polls show that the majority of European citizens do, in fact, support the E.U. But, after the Brexit referendum, Daniel Roeder, the founder of Pulse of Europe, grew concerned that headline-grabbing populists could win more Brexit-type victories. Then came the U.S. election. The day after Trump was elected, my wife and I were sitting in the living room watching TV in disbelief, Roeder said. We thought, Lets do something. There must be other people who are feeling like us, sitting here in complete shock. Maybe they will join us. The next morning, the couple began e-mailing friends and colleagues. They designed a Web site and drafted a nonpartisan, pro-European Union mission statement. Let us become louder and more visible! it reads. Basically, we wanted to create a pro-European critical mass, Roeder said.

So far, most Pulse of Europe demonstrations are located in Germany, though gatherings have taken place in towns from Montpellier to Stockholm, and organizers say queries have come in from Warsaw and Budapest. Europe is our everyday life, said Aurlien Condomines, a Paris-based lawyer who runs the French chapter of Pulse of Europe. I was in London after the Brexit vote. I went to professional lunches, and people were crying. They said, My God, what have we done? Could we have prevented this? Its part of your identity. Your self is torn apart when someone comes and says, Youre not a European anymore. Its crazy.

Things like markets and marriages bind European countries more closely than many people realize, Condomines added. So far, Euroskeptics have made the most noise. But that could change: Recently, thousands of people at a Munich Pulse of Europe gathering shouted a greeting to Bordeaux. Libert, egalit, fraternit, with German accents, Condomines said. It was really funny. Still, Martin Fischer, a German attorney who lives with his family in Amsterdam, told me that cultural differences cannot be ignored. I see one of my obligations in my life, growing up in Germany and dealing with the Holocaust, being to speak up as soon as I see signs of nationalism, Fischer said. However, he was frustrated when Dutch friends said that they would attend the Pulse of Europe events he was organizing in Amsterdam but did not. Finally, my Dutch friends said, We dont show our political opinions in public.

By the time the clock struck two on Gendarmenmarkt, several thousand people had arrived. Toni and Marie, rosy-cheeked ten-year-old twins, said they feared one thing if the E.U. failed: War. The eighty-three-year-old pastor Klaus-Heinrich Kamstein agreed. Its crucial, in my opinion, to speak loudly in favor of Europe now, he said. Weve already seen the results of hundreds of years of governance focused on nation-states. Among them are World War I and World War II. An advertising filmmaker in dark glasses and a pink fuzzy sweater worried that, with the Brexit, working across borders would be more difficult; a twenty-four-year-old political-science student said that she directly benefitted from the E.U.s open internal borders, as, to attend a Dutch university, she crossed the border every day. Juliane Latzke, a thirty-four-year-old mother of two, said that she was there for her small children: I was born in the G.D.R., and I know what it means not to be free.

Despite these fears, the atmosphere was celebratory. Were not protesting against something but for something, said Knigge. Its fun. As usual, the hourwhich included a minute of silence for the recent terror attacks in St. Petersburg and Stockholmwound down with the Italo-pop ballad Insieme (Together). As the 1990 Eurovision winner Toto Cutugno crooned, Unite, unite Europe, everyone on the square joined hands.I think the important thing is to bring emotion to the European project, said Julia Hahn, another organizer of the Berlin gathering. Thats something the European Union has missed out on. One weekend, we asked, Who has fallen in love in another country? You should have seen how many people raised their hands.

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Unite, Unite Europe! A Protest in Favor of the European Union - The New Yorker

BEIJING Top diplomats from China and the European Union pledged closer cooperation Wednesday, highlighting their common interests in peace and security and pushing a message of free trade and open engagement in contrast to fears that the U.S. is turning inward under President Donald Trump.

The statements came as China and the EU held their first high-level talks since Trump took office in January. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini co-chaired the Seventh EU-China Strategic Dialogue with State Councilor Yang Jiechi, Chinas highest-ranking diplomat.

At present, the international situation is complex with many new developments, challenges and problems, Yang told Mogherini at the outset.

Against this backdrop, for China and the EU to deepen cooperation and coordinate positions not only concerns the common interests of the two sides, but also is of great significance for the development of international political and economic relations, he added.

Mogherini said China and the EU had a big responsibility during times of uncertainty.

We are looking forward to intensifying our cooperation on a positive agenda, what the EU and China can do together for the benefit not only of our citizens, but also of the world, Mogherini said.

The two sides discussed rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea moves to accelerate its nuclear weapons development, and the war in Syria. Mogherini told reporters afterward that ending the war in Syria is a priority, and she and Yang discussed at length how to actively support the U.N.-led process while working to improve the humanitarian access into the country.

The one-day talks come ahead of an EU-China summit scheduled for Brussels in June.

On Tuesday, Mogherini met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who said that the international community was looking at how China and the EU would work together to tackle challenges including the world economic recovery, global conflicts and terrorism, and Britains pending withdrawal from the EU.

Li said he was optimistic about the outcome of the talks based on a stable China-EU relationship, with the consistency of our two sides toward multilateralism and free trade, and with our joint commitment to improving the international governance structure.

Unlike Trump, who was elected promising to tear up trade deals, impose new tariffs and bring jobs back to America, Chinese President Xi Jinping has cast his country as a champion of free trade and stability, and spoken out against protectionism.

Mogherini said that such speeches by Xi have raised high expectations that China and the European Union can work together on multilateralism, on rules-based global order and trade.

Not only our people, but probably the multilateral system, need Europe and China to work together on some of the major global issues we are facing, from climate change to migration or counterterrorism, and also the many crises we have around us such as the tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Mogherini told Li at the start of their meeting.

Beijing and Brussels have disagreements on trade, however, including complaints by European and other foreign companies that they are blocked from acquiring Chinese assets while Chinas companies are buying major global brands.

They also say they are barred from or sharply restricted in telecoms, information technology, finance and other promising industries in violation of Beijings free-trading pledges.

Beijing, meanwhile, wants the EU to grant it market economy status, which would make it harder for the EU to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports that it deems to be unfairly cheap.

Other points of dispute include Chinas increasingly restrictive environment for civil society and internet censorship.

Mogherinis first meeting Wednesday, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, was canceled. A foreign ministry official said the EU delegation had informed them that Mogherini was feeling unwell.

She will give a speech at Beijings prestigious Tsinghua University on Thursday, and then travel to India and Russia.

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China, European Union push message of free trade, engagement - The Denver Post

04/18/2017

European issues and conflicts affect all parts of the world.

SUNY Cortlands Model European Union participants recognize this and hope to gain knowledge and experience from SUNY Model European Union (SUNYMEU) to use in an international studies-related career.

Hoping to polish her public speaking and negotiation skills, Maya Zaynetdinova is one of 12 SUNY Cortland students who attended the SUNY Model European Union conference held March 30 to April 2 in New York City.

The conference alternates annually between New York City and Brussels, Belgium.

I look forward to meeting students from other schools and participating in the negotiations, said Zaynetdinova, an international studies and economics dual major. I am curious to see the strategies of other countries.

Zaynetdinova, an exchange student at SUNY Cortland from Moscow, Russia, joined Model European Union this semester.

The conference gives students the opportunity to represent one of the 28 member-states of the European Union; an institution of the EU, such as president of the EU Commission; president of the Council of Ministers; or representatives of a political party in the European Parliament, such as the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

At the recent conference, the students participatedin a test trial of a role-play simulation. Above left, the SUNY Cortland delegation and professors gathered at the SUNY Global Center in New York City.

Cortland represented Greece, Denmark and Romania this year.

Similar to the Model United Nations, students participated in role-play simulations addressing major issues in international studies, according to Model EU project coordinator Alexandru Balas, director of the Clark Center for Global Engagement and assistant professor of international studies at SUNY Cortland. However, SUNYMEU occurs in a much smaller setting consisting of around 30 students. Compared to the Model UN setting of 193 represented states, the smaller size of the Model EU allows for students to focus more on the substantive issues and on the negotiation skills.

Model EU is a great opportunity to become a better negotiator, which is crucial not only for any international work, but really for all professions, said Zachary Curtis, a sophomore international studies major from Cortland, N.Y. It will also help me immensely to be exposed to methods of governance we just don't have in the United States.

In November 2016, Balas received a Model European Union Simulations grant of 31,000 euros, equivalent to approximately $33,000, from the EU Delegation to the U.S. Also named as grant recipients were SUNY Cortland, Andreas Kotelis, 2017 Clark Center for Global Engagement scholar in residence, and Noam Ebner, professor of negotiation and mediation at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

The new funding supports the development, by the end of 2017, of three role-play simulations of the European Union Delegation to Washington, D.C.

At the recent gathering, the students had developed a simulation over the mandate given to the European Commission for negotiating a real or fictional free trade agreement with a major global economic power. They also planned to develop a simulation over policies regarding refugees and security. Another simulation involved a role-play negotiation on anti-terrorism cooperation.

This should get good exposure for SUNY Cortland as the expectation is that these three simulations will be used hundreds of times in international studies and political science courses throughout the country, said Balas, who represented SUNY Cortland at the annual coordination meeting of the European Union Jean Monnet Network in the U.S., from Dec. 7 to 9, in Washington, D.C.

The grant continues the Model European Union tradition at the College started by Henry Steck, a SUNY distinguished service professor and professor emeritus of political science at SUNY Cortland. This is the sixth award for the Colleges Model European Union-related funding for simulations that are currently underway, two of them through 2021.

In 2015, Balas received the European Union Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Module grant of 30,000 euros, or nearly $32,000, to establish SUNY Cortland as one of two SUNY schools that are members of the European Union Jean Monnet Network.

Given the current state of the European Union and the current challenges from Brexit to the rise of extreme right-wing parties and politicians, from the immigration crisis to the financial-economic crises, knowledge of the European Union is a must for global citizens nowadays, Balas said. Thus, this second grant will hopefully anchor European Union Studies at SUNY Cortland and promote an understanding of the continent which hosts most of our study abroad students.

For more information, contact Balas at 607-753-2250.

Prepared by Communications Office intern Jamie Winsper

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Students Model European Union in Big Apple - SUNY Cortland - SUNY Cortland News

In an unexpected statement at Downing Street, May said she was seeking a vote on June 8, less than halfway through the government's five-year term.

Opposition parties said they would not block the move, sending Westminster into full-throttle election mode.

The European Union brushed off May's announcement, saying it would not affect the negotiations on Britain's departure. But May's decision means that Europe's three most powerful nations -- France, Germany and Britain -- will be convulsed by internal election campaigns as the clock ticks on the two-year deadline to complete Brexit negotiations.

May, who commands only a slim majority in parliament's lower House of Commons, said that a new mandate would strengthen her hand in Brexit talks.

A general election would end the attempts of opposition parties and members of the House of Lords to thwart her Brexit plans, she said. "If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue," she told reporters at Downing Street.

"At this moment of enormous national significance, there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division. The country is coming together, but Westminster is not," she added. "We need a general election and we need one now."

Her decision is a sharp reversal of policy -- since taking over as Prime Minister, May had repeatedly ruled out an early election. May said she changed her mind on a recent walking holiday with her husband in Wales.

It is also a risky roll of the political dice. A fractious election campaign will reopen wounds barely healed after last year's EU referendum and give voice to those who oppose her strategy of pursuing a clean break from Europe.

May's Conservative Party currently holds 330 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. She is expected to win an increased number -- opinion polls show support for the opposition Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, at record low levels.

Corbyn said he would not oppose the call for an election. "I welcome the Prime Minister's decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first," he said.

Under legislation introduced by the coalition government led her predecessor, David Cameron, an early election requires the support of two-thirds of MPs in the House of Commons. May said she would place a motion on Wednesday in the House of Commons calling for a vote on June 8.

A Downing Street spokesman said that May had the full backing of her Cabinet on calling the election and that the Prime Minister had spoken with Queen Elizabeth II on Monday.

May called on voters to throw their support behind her Conservative Party, adding that "every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger" in Brexit talks.

Corbyn said he welcomed the decision to call for an election, even though his party is fractured over his leadership, widely regarded as lackluster.

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats -- which was battered in the 2015 election and now holds just nine seats in the House of Commons -- said the election was Britain's chance to change direction.

The Liberal Democrats oppose Brexit, and Farron said he would push for as strong an association with Europe as possible -- a so-called "soft" Brexit -- including membership of the EU's free-trade zone, the single market.

The party said it had gained 1,000 new members in the hour after May's announcement. Labour also said it had gained 1,000 members Tuesday.

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is likely to use the campaign to pursue her demand for a fresh independence referendum, after Scotland overwhelmingly voted to stay in the European Union.

"This announcement is one of the most extraordinary U-turns in recent political history, and it shows that Theresa May is once again putting the interests of her party ahead of those of the country," Sturgeon said.

Britain voted in July last year to leave the union after 44 years of membership in a divisive and hotly contested referendum.

The negotiations are expected to be tough and will likely take place over two years, though the more complex aspects of Britain's future relationship with the EU, such as trade, could take even longer.

May has struggled with not only the opposition, but with members within her own Conservative Party, who have been at loggerheads over what kind of Brexit the country should have.

The Prime Minister laid out her vision for Brexit in January and more formally later with a White Paper. But even that basic framework -- which spelled out that Britain would leave the EU's single market -- caused divisions in her party and involved several rounds of deliberations before a coherent plan could be presented.

The European Union appeared unwavered by the announcement. Preben Aaman, a spokesman for the European Council president Donald Tusk, said the EU would continue with its plans to adopt guidelines on April 29 for the Brexit talks.

CNN's Erin Mclaughlin, Hilary McGann and Carol Jordan contributed to this report.

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UK Prime Minister Theresa May to seek early election - CNN