The European Union countries and EU lawmakers are set to agree on a common charging port for mobile phones, tablets and headphones on 7 June when they meet to discuss a proposal that has been fiercely criticised by Apple, people familiar with the matter said.
The proposal for a single mobile charging port was first broached by the European Commission more than a decade ago after iPhone and Android users complained about having to use different chargers for their phones.
The former is charged from a Lightning cable while Android-based devices are powered using USB-C connectors.
Outstanding issues include broadening the scope of the proposal to laptops, a key demand by EU lawmakers.
The trilogue next Tuesday will be the second and likely the final one between EU countries and EU lawmakers on the topic, an indication of a strong push to get a deal done, the people said.
Outstanding issues include broadening the scope of the proposal to laptops, a key demand by EU lawmakers that is likely to impact Samsung and Huawei and other device makers, the people said.
EU lawmakers also want to include wireless charging systems to be harmonised by 2025 while EU countries and the commission wants a longer lead-in period for technical reasons.
Apple was not immediately available for comment. It has previously said the inappropriate use of dated international standards stifles innovation and that forcing users to change to new chargers could create a mountain of electronic waste.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The European Commission and External Action Service (EEAS) have not demonstrated that European Development Fund (EDF) aid to Kenya between 2014 and 2020 addressed the country’s development obstacles and focused on reducing poverty, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Projects funded under the previous 2008-2013 EDF delivered outcomes as expected, but have not had a visible impact on Kenya’s overall economic development. The auditors now call on the EU to rethink its approach to allocating development aid.
Juhan Parts, the ECA Member
EU development aid is aimed at reducing and ultimately eradicating poverty in the supported countries by incentivising good governance and sustainable economic growth. The EDF is Kenya’s main source of EU funding. The aid received by the country under the 11th EDF, between 2014 and 2020, amounted to €435 million, around 0.6 % of its tax revenue. The auditors examined whether the Commission and the EEAS had targeted it effectively towards where it could contribute most to reducing poverty.
“We did not see sufficient evidence that aid under the 11th EDF is channeled to where it can do most to reduce poverty,” said Juhan Parts, the ECA Member responsible for the report. “Job creation is the most effective and sustainable way to reduce poverty, so EU funds should primarily be focused on economic development.”
The auditors found that the process of allocating EDF aid does not allow it to be linked to a country’s performance, its governance, or its commitment to structural reforms or fighting corruption. The Commission and the EEAS allocated around 90 % of Kenya’s 2014-2020 funding from the EDF using a standard formula for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, which does not address their specific development obstacles or the funding gap. The country allocations also did not take into accounts other donors’ grants or loans.
The aid covered only a small fraction of Kenya’s development needs and was spread across many areas, including agriculture, drought emergencies, energy and transport infrastructure, elections, public financial management and the justice system. Spreading funding over so many areas increases the risk of not reaching the necessary critical mass to achieve significant results in any single sector, warn the auditors. Furthermore, the reasoning behind the selection of sectors is not clear enough: the Commission and the EEAS did not carry out their own specific assessment of the country’s development obstacles and objectives, and did not explain how and why the supported sectors would assist most in reducing poverty.
The auditors found no reason why the Commission and the EEAS had chosen not to directly support the manufacturing sector, a sector which has great potential to create jobs. Most funding went to food security and climate resilience (€228.5 million), where it is likely to improve the living standard of the rural communities and small farmers, particularly in dry areas, but does not help progress towards farming commercialisation and the expansion of agro-processing. Conversely, the funding provided for energy and transport infrastructure (€175 million) is too limited to achieve the very ambitious objectives agreed with the Kenyan authorities and to make a significant impact. Considering the perception of widespread corruption in the country, the auditors also argue that the EU’s direct support for measures against corruption was limited.
The auditors recommend that the Commission and the EEAS: examine the EU’s method for allocating funding between ACP countries and make it conditional upon the recipient country’s performance and commitment to reforms; assess critical mass when selecting focal sectors in Kenya, and prioritise the country’s sustainable economic development and the rule of law.
The EDF is made up of contributions from EU Member States outside the EU budget. Each EDF generally lasts from five to seven years. Under the 11th EDF, 75 ACP countries received a total of €15 billion. The allocation was based on five indicators: population, GNI per capita, Human Asset Index, Economic Vulnerability Index, and Worldwide Governance Indicators. Countries with large populations such as Kenya received proportionally less funding. The legal framework for EU development aid to ACP countries is the Cotonou Agreement, which expired in February 2020, with transitional measures in place until December 2020. Discussions on a successor agreement are ongoing.
Kenya’s population of 47 million in 2016 is projected to reach about 85 million by 2050. The country’s urbanisation rate is rising rapidly, creating more demand for jobs in cities. In 2016, 36 % of Kenya’s population was below the poverty line, living on less than $1.90 a day, and over 20 % suffered from undernourishment. Kenya’s economy still rests on agriculture, which makes up a third of its GDP, while manufacturing remains at only 10 %, the same proportion as 40 years ago. From 2003 to 2018, Kenya’s GDP growth has been below the regional average. Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2018 ranks it 144th out of 180 countries.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The European Commission aims to intensify its scrutiny of states posing money-laundering risks, and is looking into creating a new body to help police financial crime and monitor banks more strictly, draft documents seen by Reuters show. One document, expected to be published on Thursday, adds Panama and other countries to an existing blacklist but spares Saudi Arabia and U.S. territories that had been put on an earlier list before being shelved in the face of objections.
Here Is All You Need To Know
A second document, also due on Thursday, suggests giving the European Union more powers to tackle financial malfeasance within the bloc after a spate of scandals at large banks dented the EU’s reputation.
The proposal, still subject to changes, says the EU could set up by 2023 a common supervisory body in charge of carrying out inspections at banks and possibly empowered to impose sanctions and identify suspicious payments.
The revised money-laundering list, expanded to include 22 from 16 states, is set to take effect from October.
Under the draft proposal, the Commission added Panama, the Bahamas, Mauritius, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe to its list of countries that “pose significant threats to the financial system of the Union” because of failings in tackling money laundering and terrorism financing.
Banks and other financial and tax firms will be obliged to scrutinise more closely their clients who have dealings with these countries. Companies in listed states are also banned from receiving new EU funding.
But the higher scrutiny will only apply from October, the document says, due to disruptions caused by the current coronavirus pandemic.
Countries who were already on the list are Afghanistan, Iraq, Vanuatu, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago, Iran and North Korea.
All countries but North Korea have committed to changing their rules in order to better tackle money laundering and terrorism financing.
The EU listing left out Saudi Arabia, the current holder of the G20 presidency. The Saudis were included in an EU draft list last year until that document was struck down by EU governments after pressure from the oil-rich kingdom.
That was an exceptional case as EU member states only rarely interfere with listings which are largely a competence of the Commission, the bloc’s executive arm.
Among other countries who were included in last year’s draft list but have now been spared are Libya and the four United States territories of American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam. The listing of the U.S. territories had drawn criticism from Washington.
The new EU draft list largely reflects a listing compiled by the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is the global standard-setter for efforts to curb money laundering.
The EU list however does not include Albania, a candidate country to join the bloc, and Iceland, a close trading partner of the 27-nation Union. Both countries are on the FATF list.
The Commission also intends to propose legislative changes next year to improve policing of financial crime with the aim of having them adopted by 2023. The plan follows financial scandals in Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Cyprus and the Netherlands that exposed how banks abetted or did not prevent money laundering.
The second document proposes a body tasked with “carrying out supervision of clearly defined obliged entities or types of activities for a given period of time”.
The supervisory body could include a financial intelligence unit to identify “suspicious international transactions and analysis of cross-border cases of financial crime”.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
