Europe Explained

EP concerned with human rights situation in Kenya, Cuba and the UAE

The European Parliament has adopted three resolutions on the human rights situation in Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba expressing concern on developments in these countries on three different…

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EP says China should be engaged by EU on climate, health, human rights issues

The EU should continue talking to China about global challenges like climate change and health crises, while raising its concerns over systemic human rights violations. In a report adopted by…

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Supply fears lead EU vaccine industry to seek home comforts

European companies playing key supporting roles in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing are working to move production and supply chains closer to their customers to guard against trade restrictions that have interrupted…

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MEPs call for stronger ECDC mandate after Covid experience

MEPs voted to extend the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was adopted with 598 votes in favour, 84 against and 13 abstentions. EU member…

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SOTEU Speech: MEPs join Von der Leyen in calls for a stronger EU voice in trade, economy and defence

Thank you for following this live blog. The President put the focus of her speech on Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis and on what the European Union needs to…

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European Commission disburses €237 million in pre-financing to Latvia

The European Commission has today disbursed €237 million to Latvia in pre-financing, equivalent to 13% of the country's financial contribution as established in the Council Implementing Decision. The pre-financing payment…

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EU joining discussions organised by the United Nations on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan

Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič participated on behalf of the European Commission, at the High-level Ministerial Meeting on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan. The meeting, convened by the United Nations Secretary-General António…

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European Commission disburses €157 million in pre-financing to Cyprus

The European Commission has today disbursed €157 million to Cyprus in pre-financing, equivalent to 13% of the grant and loan component of the country's financial allocation. The pre-financing payment under…

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European Commission concludes Italian loans worth €900 million to Alitalia are illegal aid

The European Commission has concluded that two State loans for an amount of €900 million, granted by Italy to Alitalia in 2017, are illegal under EU State aid rules. Italy…

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EU seeks penalties on Poland in dispute over judicial reform

The European Commission said on Tuesday it had asked the EU's top court to impose financial penalties on Poland over the activities of a judges' disciplinary chamber, stepping up a long-running dispute with…

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EU adopts Green bonds framework, plans to issue first tranche in October

The European Commission has today adopted an independently evaluated Green Bond framework, thus taking a step forward towards the issuance of up to €250 billion green bonds, or 30% of…

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EU calls for immediate release of Belarus protest leader Kolesnikova

The European Union has called for the immediate release of Belarus protest leader Maria Kolesnikova after she was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Kolesnikova and her fellow oppositionist Maxim Znak, who…

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Key Polish ruling on primacy of EU law delayed

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal again postponed on Tuesday a planned ruling on whether the country's constitution or European Union treaties take precedence, a verdict that could call into question the bloc's legal order.…

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Vice-President Jourová in Poland to commemorate anniversary of the outbreak of the 2nd World War

Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová is today in Poland, where she will meet Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the Ombudsman Marcin Wiącek. She will also meet the President of European People's…

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European Commission disburses €2.25 billion in pre-financing to Germany

The European Commission has today disbursed €2.25 billion to Germany in pre-financing, equivalent to 9% of the country's financial allocation under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). This corresponds to…

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EU Humanitarian Air Bridge to deliver emergency aid to Haiti following earthquake

An EU Humanitarian Air Bridge operation consisting of two flights is delivering more than 125 tonnes of life-saving materials to humanitarian organisations active in Haiti, as part of the EU…

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Lead MEPs condemn barbaric attack at Kabul airport

Chairs David McAllister (EPP, DE, Committee on Foreign Affairs), Maria Arena (S&D, BE, Subcommittee on Human Rights), and Petras Auštrevičius (Renew, LT, Delegation for relations with Afghanistan) issued the following statement on Friday: “We condemn in…

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European Commission disburses € 2.25 billion in pre-financing to Germany

The European Commission has today disbursed € 2.25 billion to Germany in pre-financing, equivalent to 9% of the country's financial allocation under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). This corresponds to…

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Afghanistan: provide humanitarian help to locals, MEPs urge

Europe must provide humanitarian aid, and reach unity on handling migration, according to MEPs speaking at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday morning. Speaking at the extraordinary meeting of the Committees…

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MEPs push for cancer survivors’ right to be forgotten in accessing financial services

The number of cancer survivors in the EU has now reached some 12 million people and is growing every year. Because of their medical history, some cancer survivors experience an…

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23 charged over Covid-19 business email compromise fraud

A sophisticated fraud scheme using compromised emails and advance-payment fraud has been uncovered by authorities in Romania, the Netherlands and Ireland as part of an action coordinated by Europol. On…

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Euro zone banks left flying solo by new glitch in ECB payment system

Several euro zone commercial and central banks were left flying solo by a new glitch in the European Central Bank's payment system late on Monday as they lost access to their online…

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European Commission disburses €4 billion in pre-financing to Greece

The European Commission has today disbursed €4 billion to Greece in pre-financing, equivalent to 13% of the country's grant and loan allocation under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Greece…

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€662 million of additional Cohesion Policy resources for the recovery in Germany and Poland

The European Commission has approved the modification of six Operational Programmes (OP) for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund in Germany and Poland under REACT-EU for a total of €662 million. In…

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European Commission publishes proposals inclusive primary and secondary education

Today, the Commission published a proposal for a Council Recommendation on blended learning to support high quality and inclusive primary and secondary education. ‘Blended learning' in formal education and training is the…

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European Commission approves Italian scheme to compensate ski lift operators following coronavirus outbreak

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €430 million Italian measure to compensate ski lift operators for the damages suffered due to the restrictive measures introduced…

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European Commission disburses €12.1 million in pre-financing to Luxembourg

The European Commission has today disbursed €12.1 million to Luxembourg in pre-financing, equivalent to 13% of the country's financial allocation. Luxembourg is one of the first countries receiving a pre-financing…

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European Travel Information and Authorisation System on track for entry into operation by end 2022

The rules making the future European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) interoperable with other EU information systems enter into force on Tuesday. This is an important step towards the…

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European Commission approves Vatican and San Marino Covid-19 vaccination certificates

The Commission has adopted decisions ensuring that COVID-19 certificates issued by the Vatican City State and San Marino will be considered equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. This means that…

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European Commission launches call worth €12 million in support of news media

The Commission published four new calls for proposals aiming to stimulate a lively and diverse public sphere and promoting citizens' access to reliable information across the EU. One call will…

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18 arrested for smuggling more than 490 migrants across the Balkan route

Officers from the Romanian Police (Poliția Română) and Border Police (Poliția de Frontieră Română), supported by Europol, dismantled an organised crime group involved in migrant smuggling across the so-called Balkan…

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EU supports Member States with transport of essential Coronavirus supplies

The Commission continues to provide further financial support to six Member States through the Mobility Package of the Emergency Support Instrument amounting to over €14 million, for the transport of…

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No conclusive evidence of Frontex involvement in migrant pushbacks but human rights violations witnessed

A scrutiny group established by the European Parliament to investigate the actions of EU border agency Frontex found that there was no conclusive evidence, from the restricted evidence analysed, of…

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EP proposes new regulation on tackling cross-border threats

The European Parliament wants the EU to strengthen crisis prevention, preparedness and response when addressing future serious cross-border health threats. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety…

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18 arrests in Europol sting against migrant smugglers

An investigation led by the Spanish National Police, with close cooperation with the Albanian Police and law enforcement and immigration authorities in Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia, Kosovo, Portugal, the United…

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12 EU countries to have recovery plans approved today

European finance ministers are set to adopt the recovery plans of 12 EU states on Tuesday, including those of Italy, Spain and France, paving the way for the first disbursements…

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EU moves closer to new legislation on motor insurance

The Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee gave its support to the political agreement reached between the Council and the European Parliament’s negotiators during the trilogue on 22 June 2021 on the…

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Malta joins EU push for Guinness World Record

Malta is taking part in the European Climate Pact Day of Action on June 29, officially launching a drive to reach 141,000 pledges and smashing a Guinness World Record for…

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Delta variant to represent 90% of infections in EU by September, says EU disease agency

The European centre for disease control her warned that by the end of August the Delta strain will represent 90% of all SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the EU, and that…

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ECB policymakers at odds on inflation strategy, hope for September deal – sources

European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers are still some way apart on their new inflation strategy but hope to reach an agreement before debating the future of their pandemic-fighting programme in…

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Top EU lawyer says Poland is pressuring lawyers illegally

Polish government pressure on lawyers is incompatible with EU law, an adviser to the European Union’s top court said in an opinion that follows earlier condemnation of Warsaw by the…

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Euro zone trade surplus surges, but less than expected, in April

The euro zone's unadjusted trade surplus was almost five times higher in April than a year earlier, mainly thanks to a strong rebound in exports of machinery and cars, but…

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After NATO, Biden turns to EU for renewal of transatlantic ties

U.S. President Joe Biden will intensify his post-Trump push to renew transatlantic relations on Tuesday, meeting with European Union leaders to cool trade tensions and join forces to beat COVID-19, uphold democracy and…

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Google loosens its search engine grip on Android devices in Europe

Google has bowed to pressure from rivals and will let them compete for free to be the default search engines on Android devices in Europe, widening a pledge to EU…

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Over 800 persons detained global crackdown on organised hi-tech crime

Global law enforcement agencies hacked into an app used by criminals and read millions of encrypted messages, leading to hundreds of arrests of organised crime figures in 18 countries, officials…

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Malta among beneficiaries as Commission disburses €14bn under SURE programme

The European Commission has today disbursed €14.137 billion to 12 EU Member States in the seventh instalment of financial support under the SURE instrument. As part of today's operations, Belgium…

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EU eyes another go at more unified European business taxation

The European Commission wants to propose in 2023 a more unified way of taxing companies in the European Union, hoping that such rules, which have failed to win support in…

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Commission launches consultation and discussion on EU digital principles

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the formulation of a set of principles to promote and uphold EU values in the digital space. The consultation, open until…

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Amazon wins court fight against $303 million EU tax order

Amazon on Thursday won its fight against an EU order to pay about 250 million euros ($303 million) in back taxes to Luxembourg as Europe's second highest court dealt a blow…

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EU countries want emissons target to remain linked to wealth

European Union countries will ask the European Commission to keep national emissions targets linked to their levels of wealth as it crafts plans to overhaul EU climate policies, according to a draft document. The…

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Metsola leads EP push for stronger protection of journalists

The European Parliament is strengthening its efforts at increasing the protection of journalists and combat efforts by organisatons, corporations and powerful individuals in silencing them. Through a report drawn up…

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AstraZeneca reaches vaccine shipping milestone as EU sues again

AstraZeneca Plc has delivered 50 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to European Union countries, according to EU supply data, a milestone the company had originally been expected to hit in January. The…

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EU negotiator Barnier spills Brexit secrets in new book

The EU's pointman on Brexit, Michel Barnier, releases a book Thursday recounting the insider track on Britain's acrimonious departure and teasing his ambition to become France's next president. Written with…

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MEPs deplore military build-up, attack in Czechia and jailing of Navalny

Parliament is deeply concerned by the recent Russian military build-up on Ukraine border and revelations of Russian agents behind explosions in Czechia In a resolution adopted on Thursday, MEPs confirmed…

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EP insists COVID-19 certificate must facilitate free movement without discrimination

MEPs agreed that the new “EU COVID-19 certificate” - instead of Digital Green Certificate, as proposed by the Commission - should be in place for 12 months and not longer.…

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Death of over 100 migrants off Libya – Italy, Malta and Libya were immediately alerted – Frontex

"We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Once again, criminal gangs have crammed desperate people onto an unseaworthy boat in terrible weather conditions and pushed them overboard, putting profits above…

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At least 12 EU countries confident of July vaccine target -EU’s Breton

At least 12 of the European Union's 27 member states have said they are confident of being able to vaccinate 70% of their adult population by mid-July, the EU executive's vaccine task…

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