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EUROPEAN UNION

Elections to borders: 7 big changes in the EU that will impact you this year

There are several big events or changes in the European Union this year that will affect residents lives in different ways. Here's a rundown.

Published: 15 January 2024 18:56 CET
Elections to borders: 7 big changes in the EU that will impact you this year
Flags of European Union fly next to flags of EU countries at the European Parliament on July 2, 2019 in Strasbourg. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)

1. Romania and Bulgaria join (partially) the Schengen area

From March 31st, the EU’s free movement area expands as Romania and Bulgaria will join, at least partially, the Schengen zone. There will be no longer controls between Bulgaria and Romania and the other Schengen countries, but that will concern initially only air and maritime borders. The lifting of land border controls will be decided later in the year.

READ ALSO: ‘Air Schengen’: Austria open to compromise over Bulgaria and Romania

2. The European Parliamentary elections

From June 6th to June 9th, EU citizens will go to the polls to elect the 720 members of the European Parliament.

It will be the first European elections without the UK, which still participated in 2019 even though British MEPs remained in the job only for a few months, until the country withdrew from the EU. Elected every five years, the European Parliament makes laws that apply across the EU in a number of areas, including citizens’ rights, the environment and consumer protection. It does so together with the Council, which represents EU governments.

Currently, the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the social-democrats (S&D) and the liberals of Renew Europe hold the parliamentary majority. A surge or right-wing and far-right parties Is expected in the next parliament, but it remains to be seen whether that will change the political balance.

3. New European Commission

Back to the political agenda, based on the results of the European Parliament election, EU governments will nominate a new president of the European Commission, who will have to be approved (or vetoed) by the Parliament.

Incumbent Ursula von der Leyen has high chances to be remain in the role for another 5 years, according to experts in Brussels.

But challengers may emerge from behind the scenes. The post of European Council President is also up for grabs this year.

Current President Charles Michel (Belgium) has announced he will run for a seat in the European Parliament. If he is elected, he will have to resign from his current post in advance and will be replaced ad interim by the holder of the rotating EU Council Presidency, in this case Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

4. Hungary’s EU Council Presidency

That is already causing headaches in Brussels.

From July 1st to December 31st Hungary will have the rotating EU Council Presidency.

The Council gathers representatives of EU governments. All EU countries, in turn, take the presidency for six months. The role of the presidency is to chair meetings at all levels, take legislation forward and ensure cooperation among EU member states. “To do this, the presidency must act as an honest and neutral broker,” says the Council website. This year for the first time an openly eurosceptic and pro-Russia government will take on this role.

5. The new Entry/Exit System or non-EU arrivals

After years of delays, the new EU digital border system is scheduled to be launched on October 6th. The start date has been put back several times so we won’t be too surprised if it’s delayed again, especially given the concerns held by travel companies.

The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) will register non-EU citizens each time they cross the external borders of the Schengen Area, by air, land or sea.

The EES will replace the manual stamping of passports with an electronic record of entries and exits. It will register the person’s name, type of travel document, fingerprints and facial images and the date and place of arrival and departure. As people will have to be registered for the first time in front of a border guard, there are concerns the introduction of the scheme will cause major queues at the UK border crossings, in Dover, at the Eurotunnel and at St. Pancras station.

READ ALSO: EES and ETIAS – What are the big changes coming for travel in Europe?

6. The common charger

As regards consumer affairs, by the end of the year all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU that are chargeable by cable will have to be have a USB Type-C charging port, so consumers will no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device.

The decision was made last year to avoid the multiplication of cables and therefore masses of electronic waste. It is estimated consumers will save up to 250 million euro a year on unnecessary charger purchases.

From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to all laptops.

7. The long-term residence of third country nationals

With all changes this year, what is happening to the revision of the directive aimed at making it easier for non-EU citizens to move around EU countries?

Under a 2003 directive, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years.

But that doesn’t work so easily in practice. In 2022 the European Commission proposed to review and simplify these rules. The European Parliament and Council are now negotiating on the final content of the law. It is not clear whether talks will be concluded before the European elections.

If the new law is not passed by spring, it will be postponed to the next parliament, therefore probably until autumn or to 2025.

READ ALSO: EU countries settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

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DRIVING

EU countries to extend range of offences foreign drivers can be fined for

The EU has agreed to extend the number of driving offences for which motorists from other member states can be fined for and to make it easier for authorities to chase up the fines and make foreign drivers pay.

Published: 13 May 2024 17:28 CEST
EU countries to extend range of offences foreign drivers can be fined for

In the last voting session of this term, in April, the European Parliament passed new rules to ensure drivers who breach local traffic rules in another EU member state are found and fined.

The cross-border enforcement (CBE) directive was first adopted in 2015 after it was found that non-resident drivers were more likely to commit speeding offences. The European Commission estimated that in 2008, foreign drivers accounted for about 5 percent of road traffic in the EU but committed around 15 percent of speeding offences.

The directive partially improved the situation, but according to the Commission 40 percent of traffic violations committed in other EU countries are still unpunished “because the offender is not identified or because the fine is not enforced”.

In March 2023, the Commission therefore proposed updating existing measures.

New rules extend the type of offences that will trigger assistance from another member state and seek to improve collaboration among national authorities to identify and fine offenders.

The European Parliament and Council agreed in March on the final text of the directive, which is now being formally approved by the two institutions.

André Sobczak, Secretary-General at Eurocities, a group representing European cities in Brussels, said: “While the final outcome of the discussions is not ideal, we are pleased that EU policymakers have at least put the issue of the enforcement of local traffic rules on foreign vehicles on the table. As we approach an election year, I believe such a practical example can demonstrate why a European approach is necessary to address local issues.”

Which traffic offences are covered?

The previous directive covered eight driving misconducts that would require member states to cooperate: speeding, not wearing seat belts, failing to stop at a red traffic light, drink-driving, driving under the effect of drugs, not wearing a helmet (motorcycles / scooters), using a forbidden lane and using a mobile phone or other communication devices while driving.

The Commission proposed to add to the list not keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front, dangerous overtaking, dangerous parking, crossing one or more solid white lines, driving the wrong way down a one way street, not respecting the rules on “emergency corridors” (a clear lane intended for priority vehicles), and using an overloaded vehicle.

The Parliament and Council agreed to these and added more offences: not giving way to emergency service vehicles, not respecting access restrictions or rules at a rail crossings, as well as hit-and-run offences.

Despite calls from European cities, the new directive does not cover offences related to foreign drivers avoiding congestion charges or low emission zones. In such cases, information about vehicle registration can only be shared among countries with bilateral agreements.

Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General at POLIS, a network of cities and regions working on urban transport, called on the next European Commission to take other local traffic offences, such as breaches of low emission zones, “fully at heart”.

Collaboration among national authorities

For the traffic violations covered by the directive, EU countries have to help each other to find the liable driver. The new directive further clarifies how.

Member states will have to use the European vehicle and driving licence information system (Eucaris) to get the data of the offender.

National authorities will have 11 months from the date of the violation to issue the fine to a vehicle from another EU member state. However, they will not have to resort to agencies or private entities to collect the fine. This was requested by the European Parliament to avoid scams or leaks of personal data.

Authorities in the country of the offender will have to reply to requests from another EU member state within two months.

When the amount of the fine is more than €70, and all options to have it paid have been exhausted, the member state where the violation occurred can ask the country of the offender to take over the collection.

The person concerned will be able to request follow-up documents in a different official EU language.

When will the new rules will be enforced?

Now that the EU Parliament has passed the law, the EU Council has to do the same, although there is no date set for when that will happen. Once the directive is adopted, EU countries will have 30 months to prepare for implementation.

Last year the Commission also proposed a new directive on driving licenses, but negotiations on the final text of this file will only take place after the European elections.

This article has been produced in collaboration with Europe Street news.

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