European Union

EPP calls for EU to step up action on health

The Group of the European People's Party in the European Parliament called for stronger commitment by the European Union with regard to health. In a statement, the Group said that…

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UK’s Johnson feels more optimistic than EU officials on post-Brexit deal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was more optimistic than European officials that a post-Brexit trading deal could be struck but said Britain could leave the bloc without a comprehensive agreement…

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Boosting the EU’s green recovery: Commission invests €1 billion in innovative clean technology projects

The European Commission the first call for proposals under the Innovation Fund , one of the world's largest programmes for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies, financed by revenues from the…

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EU sues Austria, Belgium, Netherlands over anti-money laundering rules

The European Commission said it was suing Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands because the three countries had not fully integrated EU rules on anti-money laundering into their national laws. The 27-nation bloc's…

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Merkel calls for EU resolve and unity as Germany takes the helm

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged European Union leaders to reach agreement on a multi-billion euro coronavirus recovery fund, calling for resolve and saying Europe was facing the most difficult situation in its history. Echoing Merkel's…

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Investment Plan for Europe exceeds €500 billion investment target ahead of time

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group have delivered on their pledge to mobilise €500 billion in investment under the Investment Plan for Europe. Some 1,400 operations have…

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EU Commission presents European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience

The European Commission has launched the European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience. It sets ambitious, quantitative objectives for upskilling (improving existing skills) and reskilling (training in…

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Euro area unemployment in May rises to 7.4%

In May 2020, a third month marked by COVID-19 containment measures in most Member States, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 7.4%, up from 7.3% in April 2020. The…

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South American countries push for trade agreement with EU

Mercosur ministers reported progress on the final text of a trade agreement with the European Union on Wednesday on the eve of a summit meeting overshadowed by French President Emmanuel Macron's latest comments…

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Commission launches Youth Employment Support: a bridge to jobs for the next generation

The European Commission is taking action to give young people all possible opportunities to develop their full potential to shape the future of the EU, and thrive in the green…

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EU consumers to achieve broader opportunity for redress

Consumers across the EU are about to be granted broader opportunities for the collective defence of their rights. Member states’ ambassadors have approved a deal concluded between the Croatian presidency…

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Financing the recovery must not burden the next generation – EP

Financing the recovery must not burden the next generation. The European Parliament stressed this point prior to the final decisions that need to be taken by the EU Member…

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Major Albanian-Italian drug trafficking network dismantled with support from Eurojust

With the timely support provided by Eurojust, judicial authorities and police in Italy and Albania have arrested 37 members of an organised criminal group (OCG) responsible for international trafficking of…

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Venezuela’s Maduro orders EU envoy to leave the country

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the European Union envoy to leave the country, hours after the EU announced sanctions against several officials loyal to the socialist leader. The EU subjected 11…

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Coronavirus: EU to allow in visitors from 14 ‘safe’ countries

The EU has announced the 14 countries whose citizens are deemed "safe" to be let in from 1 July, despite the pandemic still raging in parts of the world, but…

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Malta’s 6 MEPs jointly nominate Charmaine Gauci, team for prestigious European award

Malta and Gozo’s six representatives in the European Parliament have come together to jointly nominate Professor Charmaine Gauci, her team and all the healthcare professionals and volunteers that helped coordinate…

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Merkel-Macron insist again for need of effective agreement on European reconstruction plan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for an "effective" agreement on the European reconstruction plan to deal with the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic after a meeting at…

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European Socialists reaffirm fight against gender inequality and racism

The fight against discrimination was in focus in the Presidency meeting of the European Socialists, as Presidency members received a campaign update from PES Women and adopted a declaration reaffirming…

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“We can beat cancer together” – EPP

Cancer kills about 9 million people a year in the world. In the European Union alone, 1.3 million people die of cancer every year and 3.5 million new cases are…

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EU mobilises emergency assistance following floods in Ukraine

Intensive rains resulted in the largest flooding in the south-west of Ukraine in the last 50 years, with several casualties and damage to hundreds of homes. To alleviate the first…

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EU: Average CO2 emissions from new cars and new vans increased again in 2019

The EEA has published the provisional data for the average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars and vans registered in the EU, Iceland, Norway and the UK in 2019. The provisional 2019 data on new registrations can be…

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EU countries agree their green transition fund will not pay for move to nuclear or fossil gas

European Union countries agreed that the bloc's flagship fund to wean regions off fossil fuels should not finance nuclear or natural gas projects, despite calls from some Eastern countries for gas…

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COVID-19: Both WHO and Europe must learn from the current pandemic, say MEPs

The need for stockpiling of key protective equipment, solidarity and common indicators to serve as an early warning system for a pandemic where the three key lessons learnt from the…

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EP insists Green Deal is key to a climate-neutral and sustainable EU

. During the coronavirus pandemic economic activity slowed, causing a reduction in carbon emissions but leaving the EU facing recession. In a resolution adopted on 15 May 2020, Parliament called…

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Malta with third highest share of non-nationals in the EU

On 1 January 2019, 21.8 million citizens of a non-member country lived in one of the 27 EU Member States, representing almost 5% of the EU population. According to data…

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EU Commission tackles companies investing in Europe with state support

State-backed foreign firms will have a harder time buying European Union companies under a proposal by the the European Commission. New measures were needed because the existing foreign direct investment screening…

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EU adopts legislation to boost private sector investment in green and sustainable projects

The European Commission has today welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament of the Taxonomy Regulation – a key piece of legislation that will contribute to the European Green Deal…

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Ireland, Luxembourg need more muscle to police tech giants, EU report says

Ireland and Luxembourg, European headquarters to Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, need a substantial boost in resources to deal with data breaches by U.S. tech giants, a European Union report said. The report by the European Commission,…

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Four in ten women in Europe aged 65 or over live alone

In the EU, similar shares of men and women aged 15 - 64 live alone (both 19%), in a couple (48% for men, 51% for women) and with another adult…

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EU leaders to meet in Brussels on 17-18 July in hope to finalise economic stimulus plan

European Union leaders will meet in Brussels on July 17-18 to haggle over a proposed COVID-19 economic stimulus and their next joint budget, a spokesman said, the first such in-person talks in…

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New rules allow EU consumers to defend their rights collectively

The European Union introduced a harmonised model for representative action in all member states that guarantees consumers are well protected against mass harm, while at the same time ensuring appropriate…

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EU and Japan sign agreement on civil aviation safety

The European Commission and Japan have signed an agreement on civil aviation safety, which will further boost the EU's already strong cooperation with Japan and reinforce the competitiveness of the…

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EU claims breakthrough in battle against online hate speech speech

The EU's battle against illegal hate speech made important strides forward during the past year, with 90% of all flagged content being assessed within 24 hours, while 71% of the…

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EU becoming safer, better-off and healthier – but less gender-equal

Crime, violence, poverty, ill health and air pollution have all declined in the European Union over the last five years - but gender inequality has worsened and efforts to fight climate change have…

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Europe’s recovery needs solidarity and smart spending – EPP

The centre-right EPP Group in the European Parliament is insisting that solidarity and responsibility go hand in hand by addressing both the economic recovery as well as by ensuring Europe…

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EU and China to seek to cool tensions at video summit

The European Union and China will seek to cool tensions on Monday at a video summit, their first formal talks since ties soured over European accusations that Beijing has spread disinformation about the novel coronavirus.…

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Bold measures needed to protect cross-border and seasonal workers in EU, MEPs say

The COVID-19-crisis has further exposed and exacerbated social dumping and the existing precariousness of the situations of many mobile workers employed in the EU’s agri-food, construction and healthcare sectors.…

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COVID-19: Boosting aid for farmers from the EU rural development fund

The European Parliament has approved increased funding for farmers through the EU's rurarl development fund in a bid to support the sector through the current challenging times. The emergency…

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EU leaders agree to ambitious common response but again fail to iron out details

EU leaders agreed on Friday that urgent action was needed to haul their coronavirus-hit economies from the deepest recession since World War Two, but made no progress on a massive…

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Parliament condemns all forms of racism, hate and violence and calls for action

In a resolution adopted on Friday with 493 votes to 104 and 67 abstentions, the Parliament “strongly condemns the appalling death of George Floyd” in the US, as well as…

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EU seeks unity over coronavirus stimulus in virtual meeting this morning

European Union leaders hope to unite behind an unprecedented stimulus to inject billions of euros into their coronavirus-ravaged economies at a virtual meeting this morning - but many fights still separate…

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COVID-19 crisis is a potential geopolitical game-changer, warn MEPs

A global pandemic needs global solutions, and the EU has to be at the centre of this response, said High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell…

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Competing vaccine strategies and alliances create concern in Europe

As a growing number of pharmaceutical companies worldwide announce important breakthrough in the development of vaccines against the coronavirus, the global race for procuring these vaccines is now heating up.…

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EU President: no post-Brexit deal without ‘level playing field’

he European Union's chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday that the bloc will do its best to seal an agreement on new ties with Britain by the end of…

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MEPs will not back Brexit deal at any cost

Parliament will not back a Brexit deal at any cost, warned several MEPs commenting on the ongoing negotiations about the future relationship between the EU and the UK. They…

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EU Council calls for further improvements in the fight against serious and organised crime

The Council of Ministers of the European Union has pushed for a stronger legal framework in the fight against serious and organised crime. According to estimates, the proceeds of organised…

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EU Commission launches European strategy for development of vaccines against COVID-19

The European Commission has launched a European strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and deployment of vaccines against COVID-19. In a statement, the Commission said that "an effective and safe…

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Malta’s Largest Transport & Logistics Operator reacts to new EU Mobility Package

The EU Mobility Package will have an adverse effect on Maltese businesses due to the inevitable increases in freight costs if freight operations are to remain feasible,” according to Franco…

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EU member states agree specs for coronavirus app interoperability

European Union member states have agreed technical standards for interoperability between smartphone apps that track the risk of coronavirus infections, a step that could help revive travel and tourism, the…

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EU Progressives urge swift agreement on recovery financing

Swift adoption of the recovery plan and the revamped financial framework will be vital for our economies and our Union, PES Europe ministers agreed as they met by videoconference to…

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Eurojust coordinates EU-wide action against illegal pay-tv streaming

Authorities in Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Germany have arrested 11 suspects for offering illegal access to over 40 000 streaming services, subscription television channels and films, violating audiovisual copyright on…

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Merkel expects decisions on future EU finances in July

German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not expect European Union leaders to reach an agreement on the bloc's future finances at a summit on Friday, participants at a meeting of her conservative parliamentary bloc…

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Drop in job vacancies experienced around Europe, Malta with largest drop

In the first quarter of 2020, the quarter when COVID-19 containment measures began to be widely introduced by Member States, the job vacancy rate in the euro area was 1.9%,…

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European Defence Fund: €205 million to boost the EU’s strategic autonomy and industrial competitiveness

The European Commission has announced 16 pan-European defence industrial projects and three disruptive technology projects that will benefit from €205 million financing aimed at enhancing the EU's strategic autonomy. In a…

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EU Bank to provide BioNTech with up to €100 million in debt financing for COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and BioNTech has concluded a €100 million debt financing agreement to support the development of BNT162, the company's COVID-19 vaccine programme. The deal will also…

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EU Commission launches web platform for safe return of tourism

The European Commission has launched 'Re-open EU', a web platform containing essential information for a safe relaunch of tourism in Europe in the post-Covid period. Europeans will now be able…

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EU state aid regulators to ease bailout rules for small firms, startups

EU competition regulators plan to loosen the bloc's state aid rules to make it easier for private investors to team up with EU governments to bail out virus-hit start-ups and…

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