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.

EU sees sabotage of Nord Stream, warns against attacks on ‘active infrastructure’

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) - European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the leaks of the Nord Stream pipelines were caused by sabotage, and warned of the "strongest possible response" should active European energy infrastructure be attacked. "Spoke to (Danish Prime Minister Mette) Frederiksen on the sabotage action Nordstream," von der Leyen said on Twitter, adding it was paramount now t...

ECB boss pledges to MEPs to fight inflation and restore confidence

Members of the European Parliament voiced concerns about rising energy and food prices, and mortgage rates during a hearing with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. MEPs in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee discussed how to avoid fragmentation between member states and reduce inflation uniformly across the euro area. MEPs focused on a planned deployment of the Transmis...

Asylum applicants in Europe up 4% in June 2022, largest group are Syrians

In June 2022, 65 645 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in the EU Member States, up 66% compared with June 2021 (39 515) and 4% compared with May 2022 (63 105). Data released by Eurostat shows that the increase from May to June 2022 can be mainly attributed to increases in first-time applicants from Tunisia (+990 people; or +82%), Turkey (+850;...

Ukraine urges EU to help make emergency food routes permanent

Ukraine on Monday urged the European Union to support its plans to make the emergency paths for grain exports through the bloc permanent, with investment in at least five border terminals and a pipeline through which sunflower oil would flow. Ukraine's agriculture minister Mykola Solsky told EU counterparts and the European Commission his country needed financial support to reduce its rel...

Asked about Italy, ECB’s Lagarde says she won’t fix ‘policy errors’

The European Central Bank won't use its latest emergency scheme to buy the bonds of countries that make "policy errors", its President Christine Lagarde said on Monday in response to a question about Italy's likely next government. A right-wing alliance led by Giorgia Meloni triumphed in Italy's general elections on Sunday, inheriting one of the euro zone's heaviest debt burdens at a time of r...

ECB eyes blockchain for settling bank transactions, Panetta says

FRANKFURT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is studying ways of settling transactions between banks on a blockchain in a bid to keep control of money even if lenders switch to distributed ledgers, ECB board member Fabio Panetta said on Monday. The ECB is among a number of central banks around the world working on digital versions of their currency in response to the popularity...

EU has “serious questions” as Serbia enters regular consultations with Russia

BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The EU on Monday denounced a decision by Serbia to hold regular foreign policy consultations with Russia, saying the move raised "serious questions" at a time when Brussels has told membership candidates not to continue business as usual with Moscow. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic signed a document on Frida...

Hungary PM Orban says EU sanctions on Russia have “backfired”

BUDAPEST, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Hungary should prepare for a prolonged war in neighbouring Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday, sharply criticising European Union sanctions imposed on Russia which he said were driving up energy prices. Orban said the EU sanctions have "backfired" and it was no surprise that governments were falling in Europe, referring to the Itali...

Group of countries to push EU for gas price cap -letter

BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A group of European Union countries want to push Brussels to produce plans this week for a bloc-wide cap on the price of gas, according to a draft letter seen by Reuters. The EU proposed a package of emergency measures to tackle soaring energy prices earlier this month, but has steered clear of a gas price cap, an idea which has split the bloc's 27 member stat...

Banks in the euro zone will have to raise provisions to cope with economic slowdown

MADRID, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Banks in the euro zone will have to raise provisions to cope with the consequences of the economic slowdown due to the fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine, ECB Vice-president Luis De Guindos said on Monday. "The economic slowdown will lead to a potential increase in insolvencies (...) we are already trying to get the banks to bring forward their plans because it is...

Eyes on Belgium as some EU states push for Russian diamond ban

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union must stop importing diamonds from Russia, five of the bloc's 27 countries said in a joint proposal seen by Reuters, as the EU prepares new sanctions against Moscow for waging war against Ukraine. The EU, which has so far implemented six rounds of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, needs unanimity to agree any such ban that Belgium - h...

UPDATED: EU crisis response meeting to discuss developments in Russia

BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ambassadors of European Union member states have been invited to a meeting of the bloc's crisis response working group on Monday to discuss concerns about an escalation of the war in Ukraine, an EU official and an EU diplomat said. The talks will also touch upon the ongoing referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine aimed at annexing territory to Russia, and on ...

EU’s green shift depends on mammoth investment in energy grid – draft

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Investments of more than half a trillion euros will be needed to modernise Europe's energy grid this decade, if countries are to succeed in ramping up wind and solar power to break free from Russian gas, a draft EU document showed. The European Commission is set to publish next week a plan to "digitalise" Europe's energy system, as well as laying out new emergency meas...

Charles Michel favors opening EU to fleeing Russians

The Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said the country will not be granting asylum to Russians fleeing the country. “Russians should stay and fight. Against Putin.,” he wrote on Twitter on Friday. https://twitter.com/GLandsbergis/status/1573389737741918209 The number of border crossers from Russia into Finland has doubled in recent days compared to last week, Sat...

Borrell: Putin not bluffing about nuclear weapons

The EU must take Vladimir Putin's threats he could use nuclear weapons in the conflict in Ukraine seriously, the bloc's foreign policy chief has said. Josep Borrell told the BBC's Lyse Doucet that the war had reached a "dangerous moment". His remarks come as Russia begins a partial mobilisation and moves to annex four regions of Ukraine. Mr Putin has faced setbacks on the battlefield...

European Council President calls for Russia’s suspension from Security Council

“Every war is a denial of humanity,” European Council President Charles Michel told the UN General Assembly on Friday, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he said has threatened hundreds of millions of people with starvation, heat deprivation or energy constraints. “This is hybrid warfare. It combines the violence of weapons with the poison of lies,” Mr. Michel stated, desc...

ECB seeks to cut subsidy to banks as rate hikes leave it on hook, sources say

FRANKFURT, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is studying ways of cutting a subsidy to banks that stands to cost it tens of billions of euros in interest, four sources told Reuters, in a move that is likely to attract a backlash from lenders. To fight runaway inflation, the ECB has raised the rate it pays on the 4.6 trillion euros ($4.5 trillion) worth of banks' reserves that exceed...

EU’s von der Leyen delivers veiled warning to Italy’s right wing

BRUSSELS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has warned Italy of consequences should it veer away from democratic principles, issuing a barely veiled threat ahead of Sunday's election that a rightist bloc led by Giorgia Meloni is expected to win. The comments highlighted concern in some European capitals over the forthcoming election and suggested that relat...

Euro zone likely entering recession as price rises hit demand -PMI

LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A downturn in business activity across the euro zone deepened in September, according to a survey which showed the economy was likely entering a recession as consumers rein in spending amid a cost of living crisis. Manufacturers were particularly hard hit by high energy costs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices rocketing, while the bloc's dominant...

EU considers more action to tame energy prices, fix liquidity squeeze

BRUSSELS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The European Commission is working on more measures to tame sky-high gas prices and support energy firms facing a liquidity crunch, and may lay out its plans to EU countries next week. The European Union's executive last week proposed emergency energy measures, including bloc-wide windfall profit levies on energy firms. EU countries are now negotiating the proposa...

Hungary PM Orban says EU’s Russia sanctions should be scrapped

BUDAPEST, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told his ruling Fidesz party that sanctions against Russia imposed by the European Union should be scrapped, the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet reported late on Wednesday. Orban, a harsh critic of EU sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, made the remarks at a closed-door meeting of his party members on Wedn...

EU ministers agree to press ahead with new Russia sanctions

UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers agreed on Wednesday to prepare new sanctions on Russia and increase weapons' deliveries to Kyiv after President Vladimir Putin ordered the country's first wartime mobilisation since World War Two to fight in Ukraine. The bloc's 27 foreign ministers are in New York for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. ...

EU gives green light for $5.2 bln in state aid for hydrogen development

AMSTERDAM, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday said it has approved 5.2 billion euros ($5.15 billion) in public funding by 13 EU member states aimed at boosting the supply of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen. The state aid is expected to unlock 7 billion euros in private funding for a total of 35 projects involving 29 companies, the commission said. ($1 = 1.0089 eu...

Recession alone won’t subdue euro zone inflation – ECB’s de Guindos

COLOGNE, Germany, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The euro zone may suffer a recession over the winter as risks to the growth outlook are intensifying, but even that is not enough to reduce inflation without further rate hikes, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Wednesday. Growth has been suffering due to high energy costs and a loss of Russian gas, raising the risk of en...

European governments spend half a trillion euros on energy crisis – Bruegel report

BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Governments in Europe have earmarked nearly 500 billion euros in the last year to cushion citizens and companies from soaring gas and power prices, according to research published by think-tank Bruegel on Wednesday. Months of surging prices have seen governments roll out measures to curb retail power prices, slash energy taxes and give subsidies to bill-payers...

EU drugs agency to Biden: The pandemic is not over

The European Medicines Agency’s top scientist stated Tuesday that the pandemic is “ongoing” after U.S. President Joe Biden declared that the health crisis was over. “I cannot honestly answer why President Biden came to that conclusion,” the regulator’s chief medical officer, Steffen Thirstrup, told journalists during a briefing. “What is clear to me … is that we in Europe still consider...

EU says support for Ukraine steadfast in face of Russian aggression

BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Union's support for Kyiv will remain steadfast in the face of Russian aggression, the president of the council representing the bloc's 27 member states said on Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated the war in Ukraine. President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter from the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in New York this week...

EU, France see no better deal for Iran

France said on that there would not be a better offer for Iran to revive a nuclear deal with world powers and it was up to Tehran to decide now with the EU coordinator for the talks saying he saw little chance of progress this week. Months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States have foundered over several issues, including Tehran's insistence the International Atomic Energy Agenc...

ECB wants banks to review capital plans given downturn

The euro zone banking sector is robust ahead of a possible recession but the European Central Bank is still asking lenders to review capital projections given what is likely to be a difficult winter, ECB supervisor Andrea Enria said on Monday. Banks have built ample capital over recent years and also stand to benefit from rising interest rates but an almost certain recession and sky high ...

35% of Maltese never exercise or play sport – EU survey

More than one-third of respondents from Malta told a Eurobarometer survey that they never practice any sport or undertake any physical exercise at all. Malta is also the only country where a majority of respondents say they seldom engage in other physical activity (39%) 38% of Europeans play sport or exercise at least once a week, the survey found. Respondents in Finland (71%), Luxembourg ...

EU plans to upgrade its Paris Agreement climate target

The European Union plans to raise its target to tackle global warming under the Paris climate agreement, although the upgrade is unlikely to happen in time for this year's U.N. climate summit, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. A draft of the EU's negotiating mandate for the COP27 summit in November, seen by Reuters, said the 27-country bloc intends to update its "nationa...

ECB to buy fewer bonds from polluting companies

FRANKFURT, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will tilt its purchases of corporate bonds towards companies that emit less carbon, giving each firm a score based on their performance, goals and climate disclosures. Hoping to play a part in the fight against climate change, the ECB unveiled a host of measures from bank supervision to monetary policy last year, and favouring co...

Europe races to prepare for energy crunch this winter

PARIS/MADRID/BERLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - European governments outlined new measures on Monday to cope with potential energy shortages this winter and raced to improve energy networks to share power, with Russian gas flows still running at severely reduced rates amid the Ukraine war. Spain drew up plans that could force energy-intensive industries to shut at peak demand times, France said i...

EU proposes emergency powers to avert supply crisis

BRUSSELS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Europe-based companies could be made to prioritise production of key products and stockpile goods under draft EU rules that would give Brussels emergency powers to tackle supply chain crises. The Single Market Emergency Instrument put forward by the European Union executive on Monday is a response to bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's Ukraine...

UPDATE – In a first, EU moves to cut money for Hungary over damaging democracy

BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The European Union executive recommended on Sunday suspending some 7.5 billion euros in funding for Hungary over corruption, the first such case in the 27-nation bloc under a new sanction meant to better protect the rule of law. The EU introduced the new financial sanction two years ago precisely in response to what it says amounts to the ...

EU calls for tribunal over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The European Union presidency has called for an international tribunal over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The call, from the Czech Republic which currently holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, came after the discovery of hundreds of graves in Izyum, a town recently liberated by Ukrainian troops. Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them. "We stand for the pun...

UPDATE – ECB to inflict pain as it hikes rates into next year, Lane says

WEXFORD, Ireland, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank could raise interest rates into next year, causing pain for consumers as it tries to depress demand that is now increasingly adding to sky high inflation, chief economist Philip Lane said on Saturday. With inflation approaching double digit territory, the ECB delivered two oversized rate hikes in July and September, and ...

Hungary to submit new laws to unlock EU funds next week -PM aide

BUDAPEST, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Hungary's government will submit new laws to parliament next week to end a stand-off with the European Commission and unlock access to European Union funds, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Saturday. The EU executive will recommend suspending billions of euros earmarked for Hungary over corruption concerns, two officials told Reuters ...

Malta to get €817 million in EU Cohesion Policy funding

Malta will benefit from €817 million in Cohesion Policy funding in 2021-2027 to support the sustainable development of its economy as set out in the Partnership Agreement just adopted by the Commission. The Commission said that Cohesion Policy investments will further contribute to address the disparities in the country and make the Maltese economy more innovative and competitive. EU funds wil...

ECB’s Lagarde says price stability priority before growth

PARIS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's action may weigh on growth but price stability is the main priority, President Christine Lagarde said on Friday at an event with French high school students. Speaking at the French central bank, she said that in setting its monetary policy the ECB had to take into account all elements affecting inflation, as well as the risks weighing on g...

Smiles – and no talk of Brexit – as Macron and Johnson warm up at G7

SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany, June 26 (Reuters) - After clashing last year over sausages and submarines, France's Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Boris Johnson were all smiles at a G7 summit on Sunday, with disputes over Brexit not even coming up ...

Irish PM Martin urges Britain to resume talks with EU over its N.Ireland law

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Sunday a new British law to change part of a Brexit deal to try to ease trade with Northern Ireland was "unilateralism of the worst kind" and urged the government to r...

Britain to bolster competitiveness in finance after Brexit

Britain said on Tuesday it will require its regulators to help the City of London remain a globally competitive financial centre after being largely cut off from the European Union due to Brexit. The government outlined planned legislation markin...

Explainer: What Northern Irish political turmoil means for Brexit deal

Northern Ireland's First Minister Paul Givan resigned on Thursday in protest at post-Brexit trade rules, a day after an attempt by one of his colleagues to halt some checks on goods arriving from Britain drew anger from the EU and Ireland. read more...