Comuniq.Eu

CDEIU‘s Comuniq.eu is the only Malta-based platform offering a one-stop shop for EU-affairs, from research to in-depth analysis of developments and the dissemination of news related to the European institutions and their activities.

Through its research arm, it constantly looks for the latest developments from across the EU institutions through various channels, whether contacts within the institutions themselves, international media agencies and portals, and local representatives and offices of the said institutions.

The team at Comuniq.eu looks beyond the news which makes the media headlines, understanding the stakes at play, the positions being taken, the likely scenarios and the potential impact on the Maltese economy and businesses.

After identifying how developments, such as proposed legislation or regulation can affect your business, we also support you in makign your voice heard should it be in your business’ interest to support or challenge such proposals. We also look at the positions being taken by international organisations and other countries thereby allowing our clients to strengthen their position where possible.

Over the past months, Comuniq.eu has extensively looked into all facets of Brexit, and is supporting local business in understanding the impact of this important change on their operations and supporting them in identifying the right channels to get their concerns across. Similarly, Comuniq.eu raises advance note of legislative and regulatory processes which are still in the pipeline at EU level, which would have barely made news portals, to allow businesses to react at an advanced stage to such developments.

Comuniq.eu also disseminates EU-related news, both sourced through its exclusive arrangements with interntational news agencies as well through its own research and networks. It also produces exclusive content on matters related to EU affairs.

Malta President calls for European consensus on migration and a ‘coalition of the willing’ among EU partners

President of Malta George Vella commended the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), the only European Union agency based in Malta, for having been a success story since it was established in 2011, while urging it to continue delivering results with the same level of commitment and high standards. At the same time, he expressed his disappointment at the lack of progress that has been made at the ...

Spanish police arrests 5 people on suspicion of terrorist attack

With the active support of Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre, the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) has arrested in Barcelona and Madrid five suspected members of an Islamic State cell. The suspects – all Algerian nationals, are believed to have been preparing a terrorist attack. The police swooped on the members of this terrorist cell after it became known that they were tryin...

Bulgaria submits recovery plan to EU Commission

SOFIA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Bulgaria will submit its recovery plan to the European Commission on Friday to allow access to billions of euros of pandemic aid, interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev said. The plans are a prerequisite to receive cash from the EU's 800-billion-euro fund, set up to help member states recover from the coronavirus pandemic and give the continent a greener, more digita...

EU executive summons Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian envoys over migration

The European Union's executive summoned envoys from member states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia on Thursday over the fate of migrants stuck on their border with Belarus. "I'm very concerned about reports of people including children stuck in forests in dire situation at external EU borders with Belarus," European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said in demanding a meeting with the ...

ECB sees risk of housing bubbles in some countries: Enria

Asset quality at euro zone banks is deteriorating and housing bubbles may be developing in several countries, European Central Bank supervisor Andrea Enria said on Thursday. "While (non-performing loan) numbers still appear favourable, asset quality seems to be deteriorating," Enria told the European Parliament's committee on economic affairs. "We are also seeing a build-up of residential ...

What’s in the EU plan for future Britain-to-Northern Ireland trade?

The European Union proposed measures on Wednesday that could halve customs paperwork required to move goods from Britain to Northern Ireland and cut checks on food imports by 80%. Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market despite Brexit because of its open border with EU member Ireland. This has snagged trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom and Britain sa...

Forbidden Stories win first edition of The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize

Updated 1240: The winners of the first edition of The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism are Forbidden Stories, for their work on The Pegasus Project. A team of independent judges hailing from the journalistic and media sectors chose the winner, after a period of submissions earlier this year. Representative of Forbidden Stories received the award during a ceremony held in the ...

Northern Ireland’s DUP and business groups react cautiously to EU proposals

Northern Ireland's largest pro-British party said on Wednesday the European Union's proposed measures to ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland from Britain are a "starting point" but "appear to fall far short of the fundamental change needed". Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP, said his party "will take time to study the detail of the papers produced" while repeating its positio...

Russia, EU to discuss terms for recognising COVID-19 vaccine certificates

Russia and the EU will discuss terms for the mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccine certificates for their respective shots at talks, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's health ministry as saying on Wednesday. The EU's ambassador to Moscow last week said Russia has repeatedly delayed inspections by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) necessary for the certification of its Sputnik V COV...

Leaders warn about poor involvement of regions and cities in cohesion policy programmes

A real partnership between different levels of governance is key to identifying priorities and targeting effective investments in European territories The plenary of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted the opinion on the effective engagement of local and regional authorities in the cohesion policy programmes for the 2021-27 period, drafted by Juraj Droba (SK/ECR), President of ...

EU proposes easing checks on British trade to N. Ireland

BRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The European Union offered Britain a package of measures to ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland, but it looked unlikely to end tensions over post-Brexit trading rules for the province as it stopped short of the overhaul that London has demanded. The EU's executive said the measures could halve customs paperwork and cut checks on meat, dairy and other food...

Euro zone future inflation gauge at 7-year high

A market-based gauge of long-term euro zone inflation expectations surged to seven-year highs on Wednesday, as high energy prices continue to fan expectations of higher future price growth for consumers and businesses. The five-year, five-year forward inflation swap rose to 1.8694%, the highest since November 2014, moving nearer to the ECB's 2% inflation target. The gauge has risen sharply...

Gas reserves, subsidies and tax cuts: EU’s tools to combat energy price spike

The European Commission outlined measures on Wednesday the EU could use to combat surging energy prices, and said it would explore joint gas purchasing among countries as a way to cushion price spikes. Record-high electricity and gas prices this year have curtailed industrial production and hiked consumers' heating bills, prompting 20 EU countries to draw up emergency measures, including e...

Why are the EU and UK arguing over Northern Ireland?

British Brexit minister David Frost called in a speech in Lisbon on Tuesday for the European Union to allow "significant change" to post-Brexit rules governing trade with Northern Ireland. He was speaking a day before the EU presents its proposals to solve a standoff over part of the Brexit divorce deal. Here is an explanation of what is at stake in talks between Britain and the EU on t...

Slovak ECB policymaker Kazimir charged with ‘corruption-related crime’

Slovak prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday that ECB policymaker and Slovak central bank Governor Peter Kazimir had been charged with a corruption-related crime. "A prosecutor at the special prosecution office brought charges against P.K. for corruption-related crime on Oct. 8," said Jana Tokolyova, spokesperson for the Special Prosecutor's Office. She gave no further details. Kazimir den...

EU plans stricter drugs supply rules to avoid reliance on ‘autocracies

Drugmakers may face stricter rules to ensure the supply of medicines in the European Union, EU officials said, as the bloc tries to reduce its imports of pharmaceutical products from China and other foreign "autocracies". At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the 27-country bloc encountered protracted problems in obtaining a wide range of medicines and their ingredients from Ind...

EU will give ‘firm answer’ to Polish court ruling – EU’s Josep Borrell

The European Union will give a "firm answer" to a ruling by Poland's top court challenging the primacy of EU law, and will tell Warsaw to "abide by the rules of the club," the EU's top diplomat said. In comments to Reuters in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated the executive European Commission's concern about last week's ruling, but did not indicat...

UPDATED: EU to unveil measures to ease British goods flow to N. Ireland

The European Commission will on Wednesday put to Britain a package of measures to ease the transit of goods to Northern Ireland, while stopping short of the overhaul London is demanding of post-Brexit trading rules for the province. The EU executive's measures are designed to ease customs controls, such as the clearance of meat, dairy and other food products and the flow of medicines to the Br...

EU starts sales of first ever green bond

The European Union started selling its first ever green bond on Tuesday, Refinitiv news service IFR reported, taking its first step to potentially becoming the biggest issuer of environmentally-friendly debt with a record-sized deal. The 15-year green bond, due February 2037, will raise 12 billion euros ($13.87 billion), lead managers said on Monday, making it the largest gr...

EU agenda

Here are the main events going on in the EU this week Tuesday 12 October- Fundamental rights forum 2021 Wednesday 13 October- a Civil Liberties Committee delegation will travel to Ljubljana to assess the situation regarding the rule of law and media freedom in the country. Thursday 14 October - the Civil Liberties and the Legal Affairs committees will propose measures to strengthen medi...

MEPs call for a future-proof EU pharmaceutical policy

MEPs call for national and EU measures to guarantee all patients have safe and timely access to essential and innovative medicines. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted on Tuesday, with 62 votes in favour, 8 against and 8 abstentions, its recommendations on the implementation of the EU’s pharmaceutical strategy and upcoming revisions to the legisla...

83% of Maltese use internet every day – Eurostat

The percentage of adults (16 to 74-year-olds) in Malta who use the internet every day has risen in line with EU levels, to 83% in 2020, three points above the EU average. Data published by Eurostat, which focused on regions, found that in 2020, the majority of northern and western regions of the EU reported relatively high proportions of adults using the internet on a daily basis; the high...

EU to study joint natural gas buying to protect against price surges

The European Union will look into an option for member states to jointly buy natural gas as the bloc considers ways to protect itself against surging energy prices, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The European Commission will this week publish a "toolbox" of measures that European Union countries can take to respond to soaring energy price...

EU ‘will start collapsing’ unless it takes on Polish challenge – official

The European Union "will start collapsing" unless it challenges a ruling by Poland's top court that national legislation trumps European laws, a senior official with the bloc said on Monday. Poland's constitutional tribunal ruled against the central tenet of European integration last week, sharply escalating a row over fundamental values between eurosceptics ruling...

Ewropej: Freedom of expression ‘crucial in the EU’, Casa says

Member of the European Parliament David Casa has promised to work to ensure freedom of expression in Malta and the European Parliament. In view of the recent fake websites as part of the disinformation campaign, MEP Casa will continue working on measures which address disinformation as well as SLAPP lawsuits against journalists,” a spokesman for the MEP said. Strategic Lawsuits ...

Ewropej: Polluters must bear the cost of their environmental footprint, Cyrus Engerer says

Polluters must bear the cost of their environmental footprint, Member of the European Parliament Cyrus Engerer said. He added that this was a European Union principle. The European Court of Auditors questioned the degree to which polluters were being held accountable in different Member States. This would lead to tax-paying citizens footing the bill for irresponsible organisations. ...

EU rejects UK call to end bloc’s court oversight over post-Brexit Irish trade

Oct 11 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday that removing the oversight of the bloc's top court from the UK's Brexit deal in parts governing trade on the island of Ireland would effectively cut Northern Ireland off the European market. "Our focus should be on those issues that matter the most to the people of Northern Ireland and not on requests such as removing the role of the Europe...

European climate group says EU needs tougher truck CO2 targets

(Reuters) - The European Union needs to dramatically toughen up CO2 targets for truckmakers to spur a shift to zero-emission models as current goals do not provide the incentive to do so, European campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E) said on Monday. In a study entitled "Easy Ride: why the EU truck CO2 targets are unfit for the 2020s," the climate group found that improvements in ...

French EU presidency to push for worldwide end to death penalty, says Macron

France will launch a campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as part of its upcoming presidency of the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday. A conference will be held in Paris gathering civil society groups from countries where the death penalty is in use or suspended, Macron said in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of France's abolition of the ...

EU faces crisis over Polish court ruling

A Polish court ruling challenging the supremacy of European Union law plunged the EU into an existential crisis on Friday, increasing fears among EU policymakers and many Poles that Poland could eventually leave the bloc. Politicians across Europe voiced dismay at the ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal on Thursday that parts of EU law are incompatible with the Polish constitution, ...

Australia sees trade deal with EU by end-2022

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said he expected to finalise a free trade agreement with the European Union by the end of next year, despite the EU's anger over Canberra's cancellation of a submarine contract with France. Brussels postponed the latest round of talks, which were due to start on Oct. 12, until November in solidarity with France after Australia scrapped the multi-billion ...

EU top diplomat says Bulgaria should be more flexible on EU expansion to Western Balkans

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Bulgaria should be more flexible on EU expansion to Western Balkans. Bulgaria is against North Macedonia, already a NATO member, joining to EU because of a language dispute. "I think Bulgaria should show more flexibility on this problem that is blocking the start of the negotiation," Borrell said at an event in Madrid. Earli...

Malta records third largest drop in new residence permits in 2020

Residence permits granted by Maltese authorities were slashed almost by half in 2020, going down from 21,200 in 2019 to 11,100 last year. This was the third largest drop in the European Union, with the largest decrease being recorded in Czech Republic, at 54% (from 117 000 permits in 2019, to 54 300 permits in 2020), followed by Greece at 53%. In the year during which the coronavirus p...

EU Code of Conduct against illegal hate speech online: results remain positive but progress slows down

Today the European Commission has released the results of its sixth evaluation of the Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. The results show a mixed picture as IT companies reviewed 81% of the notifications within 24 hours and removed an average of 62.5% of flagged content. These results are lower than the average recorded in 2019 and 2020. While some companies have improv...

Von der Leyen calls on global partners to set global standards and support sustainable investment

This morning, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen delivered the opening address at the EU Sustainable Investment Summit, the first annual event on sustainable finance hosted by the European Commission. In her speech, the President spoke about the current rise in energy prices: “In these very weeks, we all see how crucial it is to reduce our dependenc...

EU to finalise N. Ireland package next week, eyes year-end resolution

The European Commission will finalise next week a package of measures it believes can lead to a resolution of problems with the trading situation of Northern Ireland by the end of the year or early in 2022, a senior EU official said on Thursday. Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said at a seminar on Northern Ireland that the EU executive aimed to complete its work on the package by ...

Google rivals want EU lawmakers to act via new tech rules

DuckDuckGo and three other search engine rivals to Google on Thursday urged EU lawmakers to take action against the Alphabet unit via new tech rules, saying they have yet to see positive results from an antitrust ruling against Google. The European Commission in 2018 levied a record 4.24- billion-euro ($5 billion) fine on Google for unfairly using Android to cement the dominance of i...

EU to back five-year targets at COP26 climate talks

The European Union agreed to back five-year climate targets at the COP26 climate change conference, where countries will attempt to finalise the rules needed to put the Paris Agreement into effect. At the COP26 summit, to be held in Glasgow from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, countries will attempt to unblock years of negotiations on the technical rules. One issue they will address is whether their c...

EU health agency advises dropping traffic light travel map

The European Union's public health agency is proposing a revision of COVID-19 rules which could ease travel for vaccinated people and drop a colour-coded system that limits trips to and from areas with high levels of infections. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) made its non-binding proposal at meetings of EU health specialists this week, EU diplomats said, part...

After Pandora Papers, EU says it plans new rules against tax avoidance

The European Commission will present by the end of the year new legislative proposals to tackle tax avoidance and tax evasion, the EU tax commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told the European Parliament on Wednesday. The tax discussion at the plenary session of the EU parliament was added to the agenda after reports this week on a large leak of tax data, known collectively as the "Pandora Papers"...

Germany rejects negotiations over Northern Ireland Protocol

Germany rejects new negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which stipulates Northern Ireland's will continue to follow EU rules on product standards to prevent checks along the border, a German government spokesperson said on Friday. On...

Britain calls for 800 foreign butchers to avoid pig cull

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Britain will offer six-month emergency visas to 800 foreign butchers to avoid a mass pig cull, it said on Thursday, after farmers complained that an exodus of workers from abattoirs and meat processors had left the pork se...

EU proposes easing checks on British trade to N. Ireland

Britain ‘shifting playing field’ on N.Ireland trade talks – Dublin

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland accused Britain on Monday of "shifting the playing field" in talks to resolve post-Brexit trading issues in Northern Ireland after London emphasised the need to remove EU judicial oversight of the issue. On Saturday, Br...

EC Malta Representation launches EU Green Deal campaign

The European Commission Representation in Malta teamed up with the swimming record breaker Neil Agius and the NGO Wave of Change to launch the EU Green Deal Campaign. On Saturday 25 September several...

Malta’s Recovery and Resilience Plan: a gamechanger for the country’s economic transformation

The European Commission has recently greenlighted Malta’s recovery and resilience plan, a crucial step in accessing more than €316m in funding made available under the Recovery and Resilience Fac...

Strengthening Cottonera’s communities through EU funding

The walled cities of the Cottonera regions is one of the most densely-rich area of the Maltese islands. Despite this immense cultural and historic heritage, following extensive wartime damage, the re...

Financing young people’s dreams through EU funding

Young people are considered as one of the most valuable assets for the European Union as they represent an important source of skills, creativity and dynamism, qualities which are fundamental in help...

EU Funds Encouraging Sustainable Waste Practices in Households and Beyond

According to a recent Eurobarometer survey, climate change ranks among the biggest concerns of the Maltese population, with citizens asking for more action to protect the environment. Research shows ...

A new life to the Chadwick Lakes with EU funding

The mention of the term Chadwick Lakes is likely to take most Maltese readers on a trip down memory lane, with many sharing childhood memories of heading to the area particularly after rainy days eag...

Forbidden Stories win first edition of The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize

Updated 1240: The winners of the first edition of The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journ...

Ewropej: Freedom of expression ‘crucial in the EU’, Casa says

Member of the European Parliament David Casa has promised to work to ensure freedom of expression i...

Ewropej: Polluters must bear the cost of their environmental footprint, Cyrus Engerer says

Polluters must bear the cost of their environmental footprint, Member of the European Parliament Cy...

EU must do more on tax havens, says Von der Leyen, as MEPs pile pressure on blacklisting

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the Pandora Papers revelations are embar...

Roberta Metsola touted as the next European Parliament President consensus choice – POLITICO

On January 17th, the European Parliament Members will select their next president for a two-and-a-h...

S&D group meets to discuss EU agenda after Covid-19

Socialists and Democrats President Iratxe García Pérez said Malta was chosen as the location f...

Malta allocated €40m from Brexit Adjustment Fund

MEPs approved the €5 billion Brexit Adjustment Reserve to help member states deal with the econ...

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...

Von der Leyen expected to focus on economic recovery, rule of law and geopolitical challenges in State of the Union speech

A big day ahead tomorrow for the European Union as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wi...