Sommarju : The League of Arab States, a grouping of 22 Arab states established in 1945, has the potential to become the most important regional organisation in the greater Middle East. The changes triggered by the Arab Spring have led to the reorientation of the League's traditionally conservative policies on established Arab political regimes, while the civil wars in Libya and Syria have highlighted the League's potentially constructive role in supporting transition in the southern Mediterranean. The organisation's newfound relevance has been recognised by the European Union, which has worked to enhance the once-limited bilateral relations. A milestone for the partners' cooperation was the second EU - Arab League Foreign Affairs ministerial meeting, convened in Cairo in November 2012, which resulted in a joint declaration outlining an ambitious work programme in a range of fields. In parallel, the European Parliament has advanced inter-parliamentary cooperation with the newly-established permanent Arab Parliament composed by representatives of national parliaments. While the Arab Parliament's role is still limited, the organisation has the potential to grow in the future, as the region moves towards more democratic structures of governance. This provides impetus for the European Parliament to be proactive and enhance its cooperation with the Arab Parliament. In addition, closer relations with the Arab Parliament would allow the European Parliament to increase its visibility and interaction with national parliaments in Arab countries.

Awturi : Andreas KETTIS (with contributions from Irene FERNANDEZ MOLINA) (Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, European Parliament)

Il-Kumitati : Affarijiet barranin

Sommarju : Like a number of former Soviet Union republics in Central Asia, Turkmenistan has recently recorded quite high economic growth rates — often in the double digits — mainly thanks to the increasing global demand for energy and other raw materials, which are abundant in the country. Despite recent progress, the country's economic growth is still hampered by inefficient economic and public structures, still largely inspired by Soviet models and lacking modern infrastructure. The geographical location of Turkmenistan, a land-locked country with some 'difficult' neighbours (such as Iran and Afghanistan), also negatively influences its development. Among the former Soviet Union republics, Turkmenistan has what is probably the worst record in terms of economic and trade liberalisation. Despite growing public revenues, malnutrition still plagues remote rural areas, and poverty is widespread.

Awturi : Roberto BENDINI (Policy Department, Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union, European Parliament)

Il-Kumitati : Il-Kummerċ internazzjonali

Sommarju : Freezing assets is an EU competence; recovering them, on the other hand, is a competence of the Member States. For the EU, recovering the assets of the ousted Tunisian and Egyptian regimes is an issue of political commitment and credibility, with the Union's reputation in Arab Spring countries partly at stake. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (in force since 2005) makes clear that recovering assets is a priority in a coordinated international fight against corruption. There exists a lack of efficient cooperation between 'requesting' and 'requested' states, as well as a paucity of reliable information about the amounts in question. The EU Council has recently adopted a decision to make it easier to share information relating to Egyptian and Tunisian funds in the EU. There are still many procedural problems to tackle, especially in the case of Egypt. An EU special task force could be set up to explore practical ways to better coordinate and exchange best practices between EU Member States and Tunisia and Egypt. The UK is a frontrunner in establishing a central structure facilitating the legal proceedings to recover assets. The European Parliament can send a clear signal of the EU's political commitment to helping Tunisia and Egypt recover their assets.

Awturi : Andreas KETTIS and Pekka HAKALA (EP, DG EXPO, Policy Department)

Il-Kumitati : Affarijiet barranin

Sommarju : This study provides a preliminary overview of the wide range of policy concerns relating to surrogacy as a practice at national, European and global level. It undertakes an extensive examination of national legal approaches to surrogacy. It also analyses existing European Union law and the law of the European Convention of Human Rights to determine what obligations and possibilities surround national and transnational surrogacy. The study concludes that it is impossible to indicate a particular legal trend across the EU, however all Member States appear to agree on the need for a child to have clearly defined legal parents and civil status.

Awturi : Laurence BRUNET (Lead - Université Paris I), Janeen CARRUTHERS (University of Glasgow), Derek KING (PSSRU, London School of Economics), Konstantina DAVAKI (LSE Health, London School of Economics), Julie MCCANDLESS (London School of Economics) and Claire MARZO (European Institute, London School of Economics)

Il-Kumitati : Affarijiet ġuridiċi

Sommarju : Disabled women are at the intersection of various forms of discrimination on the grounds of gender and disability. This report provides an overview of relevant legislation and its limitations. It examines the ways this discrimination manifests itself in many domains of the private and public spheres. An intersectionality approach is seen as the most appropriate tool to analyse the complexity of this phenomenon and inform future policies and legislation, which will ensure participation and realisation of disabled women’s full potential.

Awturi : Konstantina DAVAKI (LSE Health/Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UNITED KINGDOM), Claire MARZO (European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UNITED KINGDOM), Elisa NARMINIO (LSE Consulting, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, UNITED KINGDOM) and Maria ARVANITIDOU (UnitedHealth Group, London, UNITED KINGDOM)

Il-Kumitati : L-ugwaljanza bejn is-sessi

Sommarju : The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Project is an international scientific undertaking between seven cofinancing Parties intended to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion as a power source. Fusion for Energy (F4E) is the Domestic Agency charged with providing the EU contribution to the ITER International Organisation. ITER, and subsequently, F4E costs have increased substantially from original estimates, because of a number of internal and external drivers. While the EU has continued to affirm its support for the project, cost overruns have attracted a large amount of political questions, culminating in the capping of ITER expenditure through 2020 at 6,6 billion Euros, and have accentuated early difficulties of the F4E organisation. Beginning in 2010, a number of reforms were undertaken within F4E, including a reshuffling and reorientation of the governance and management structures, as well as significant efforts to implement cost-savings. The reforms have been widely lauded as effective and positive by stakeholders, although the inherent cost-effectiveness of F4E remains inextricably linked with the ITER project as a whole. Despite F4E’s commendable efforts, the margin to achieve the cost-savings needed to rebuild the contingency is highly limited by inherent characteristics of F4E’s operating environment. However, the study puts forward some tracks for improvements.

Awturi : Ernst & Young - Government & Public Sector (GPS) (Paris-la-Défense, France)

Il-Kumitati : Kontroll tal-Baġit, Affarijiet Baġitarji

Sommarju : This study discusses current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures and reform proposals for the post-2013 period with respect to EU semi-subsistence farms (SSFs). Based on country case studies and interview evidence, the study assesses the values of SSFs for rural areas and the obstacles they face in using Pillar 1 and 2 measures. It concludes that the fundamental issue of income support to semi-subsistence producers is inadequately addressed by any set of CAP instruments, and puts forward a set of recommendations for strengthening the CAP approach, especially via Pillar 2, for SSFs.

Awturi : Sophia DAVIDOVA (University of Kent), Alastair BAILEY (University of Kent), Janet DWYER (CCRI), Emil ERJAVEC (University of Ljubljana), Matthew GORTON (University of Newcastle) and Kenneth THOMSON (University of Aberdeen)

Il-Kumitati : L-Agrikoltura u l-iżvilupp rurali

Sommarju : This is the update of the June 2011 comprehensive digest of the EU legislation on aviation security. It reminds notably of the current obligations on the parties involved, the monitoring process or the international aspects. The note also sheds light on the regime which applies to liquids on board, to the cargo from third countries or to the financing of security measures which all give rise to recurrent significant debate.

Awturi : Marc Thomas (Policy Department B: Structural and Cohesion Policies, European Parliament)

Il-Kumitati : It-Trasport u t-turiżmu

Sommarju : This note seeks to provide an initial appraisal of the European Commission's Impact Assessment accompanying its proposal for a Directive on the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products, submitted on 19 December 2012. The Commission wishes to update existing Directive 2001/37/EC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products (Tobacco Products Directive, TPD), by adjusting it to current developments and including so far uncovered areas. The revision of the TPD focuses on five policy issues: (1) smokeless tobacco products (STP) and extension of the product scope (nicotine containing products and herbal products for smoking), (2) packaging and labelling, (3) ingredients and additives, (4) cross-border distance sales, and (5) traceability and security features.

Awturi : Alina-Alexandra Georgescu

Il-Kumitati : Valutazzjoni tal-impatt, L-ambjent, is-saħħa pubblika u s-sikurezza alimentari