Europe

Europe’s coronavirus smartphone contact tracing apps explained

More than 20 countries and territories in Europe have launched or plan smartphone apps that seek to break the chain of coronavirus infection by tracking encounters between people and issuing…

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Carnival cancels planned restart of AIDA Cruises

Carnival Corp said on Monday it had to cancel short trips on AIDA Cruises while it still waits for approvals from Italy. In July, the cruise line said it would…

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UK had Europe’s highest rate of excess deaths during COVID-19 pandemic

The United Kingdom suffered the highest rate of excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic in a comparison of 21 European countries, an analysis from Britain's statistics office showed on Thursday.…

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Vacation trips, easing of travel rules fuel hopes of business jet rebound

A pick-up in leisure trips and easing European travel restrictions are driving demand for business jet flights this summer, fueling cautious hopes for a rebound in an industry hit hard…

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WHO warns about worrying coronavirus trends in southern Europe, Balkans

Worrying trends of coronavirus infection are emerging in southern Europe and in the Balkan region, Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organization's emergencies programme, said on Wednesday. "Obviously the…

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“Exceptional EU package for Malta” – PM Robert Abela as Govt announces allocation of €2.25bn

€2.25bn is the allocation of EU funds for Malta and Gozo for the next seven years. Prime Minister Robert Abela announced this on Twitter this morning, saying this will double the…

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More than 30% Maltese cannot afford a one-week holiday – Eurostat

In 2019, 30.6% of Maltese said that they could not afford paying for an annual one-week holiday away from home. This was slightly more than the EU average, which stood…

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EU leaders show first signs of compromise on stimulus plan

Signs emerged that leaders of northern European Union countries were willing to compromise on a 1.8 trillion euro coronavirus stimulus plan on Monday as talks in Brussels extended to a fourth day.…

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Very low interest rates significantly affecting the European insurance sector

The ultra-low interest rate environment remains a key concern for the insurance market, EIOPA, the sector's European regulator said, describing it as one of the most important sources of systemic…

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EU leaders struggle with ‘mission impossible’ at deadlocked recovery summit

EU leaders stood at an impasse on Monday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them…

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EU recovery fund plan hangs in balance on day three of deadlocked summit

A European Union plan to breathe life into economies throttled by the coronavirus pandemic hung in the balance on Sunday as leaders quarrelled over how to carve up a vast recovery…

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Comuniq.EU – Health

by Keith Zahra Health As part of the EU’s efforts to hasten the availability of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, the European Parliament has adopted a regulation allowing such…

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CiNext – Digital Transformation The future is now!

by Silvan Mifsud Digital transformation. The mother of all buzzwords. However, as Simeon Preston once said, “The biggest part of digital transformation is changing the way to think.” You mention…

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Azerbaijan flags alarm on oil and gas supplies to Europe

Azerbaijan warned on Saturday about security risks to the oil and gas it supplies to European markets due to the outbreak of hostilities at its border with Armenia. Elshad Nassirov,…

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CiNext – The EU’s green renaissance

by Ci Consulta At the end of June, the European Commission took a bold step towards its ambitious climate neutrality objectives by launching the Just Transition Mechanism. The platform…

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European Parliament green lights major reform of road transport sector

The new trucking and road haulage rules proposed by the European Commission were given their thumbs up by the European Parliament despite opposition by MEPs from a number of countries,…

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Abela insists with EU High Representatives on need for solidarity and automatic relocation of migrants

Prime Minister Robert Abela has shared Malta's concerns on migration and insisted on the need for automatic relocation of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean during a meeting with Josep Borrell,…

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Malta’s GDP expected to contract 6% in 2020 – EU Economic Forecast

After several years of high growth fuelled mainly by domestic demand, Malta’s economy was beginning to slow down even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease and the containment measures it…

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Diplomacy and politics vs Science – Europe’s travel re-opening debate

Diplomacy and politics took a central role in the issue of travel restrictions and re-opening at EU level. But was it a safe way? The list of where countries could…

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CorporateDispatchPRO – Sustainability is everybody’s business

The latest issue of Corporate Dispatch Pro is out, pitching multiple perspectives on the relationship between business and sustainability side by side. Traditionally, mainstream business models have been accused of…

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IAEA says North Europe radiation likely linked to reactor

The U.N. nuclear agency said Friday that slightly elevated levels of radioactivity detected in northern Europe likely were related to a nuclear reactor that was either operating or undergoing maintenance,…

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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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Ryanair to cut 3,500 jobs if pay cuts not agreed

Ryanair is planning around 3,500 job losses if it cannot agree pay cuts with its staff, the airline's boss Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday. Europe's biggest budget airline had previously…

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Europeans’ trust in US as world leader collapses during pandemic

The coronavirus crisis has caused a dramatic deterioration in the European public perception of the US, extensive new polling from across Europe reveals. More than 60% of respondents in Germany,…

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‘Slight’ radioactivity rise in Nordic countries

Russia's power operator Rosenergoatom has downplayed observations by Nordic nuclear safety agencies of slightly increased levels of radioactive isotopes across parts of Finland, southern Scandinavia and the Arctic in recent…

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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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WHO alarmed by resurgence of coronavirus cases in Europe

Europe has seen an increase in weekly cases of Covid-19 for the first time in months as restrictions are eased, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. In 11 places, accelerated…

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Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg eyeing Eurogroup leadership

Finance ministers of Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg are in the running to chair meetings of the powerful Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, with euro zone officials saying it is…

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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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Disney+ to debut in eight more countries in Europe

Walt Disney Co announced it would launch Disney+ in eight more countries in Europe, as millions of people stuck at home due to coronavirus-induced restrictions turn to streaming services for…

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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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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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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 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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Europe starts to reopen borders

European countries ease some border controls on Monday after coronavirus lockdowns, but Spain's continued closure, a patchwork of restrictions elsewhere and new ways of working mean pre-pandemic levels of travel…

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Deliveries of potential vaccine for Covid-19 in Europe to start by the end of 2020

AstraZeneca Plc has signed a contract with European governments to supply the region with its potential vaccine against the coronavirus, the British drugmaker's latest deal to pledge its drug to…

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Malta: Second lowest decline in Europe in industrial production

Statistics released by the European Union's statistical office, Eurostat, showed how our country had the second lowest decline in industrial production. Source: One News Updated 16:05pm

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Earlier coronavirus second wave feared in Europe after mass protests

Europe could face a surge of COVID-19 infections in the coming weeks caused by mass protests in the continent over the last days, politicians, European Union officials and experts have…

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EU action against money laundering in the banking sector to go under auditor scrutiny

The scale of money laundering is difficult to assess, but it is considered to be significant. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that between 2 and 5% of global GDP…

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Health threats: boosting EU readiness and crisis management

The EU is proposing to substantially increase its health funding by €9.4 billion through a new Europe-wide programme, EU4Health, which aims to strengthen Europe’s health systems to respond better to…

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European Parliament revises rules to encourage banks to lend to companies and households

The European Parliament has approved new rules to temporarily ensure favourable conditions for banks in order to support credit flows to companies and households and absorb losses, mitigating the severe…

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Which countries lifted their travelling and border restrictions?

Austria will reopen its borders to Italy and lift a quarantine requirement for travellers from over 20 other European countries next week, officials said on Tuesday, in a further easing of restrictions imposed…

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EU free trade agreement with Vietnam to eliminate 99% of tariffs between the two

Vietnam ratified a free trade agreement with the European Union on Monday that will cut or eliminate 99% of tariffs on goods traded between the Southeast Asian country and the bloc, and provide…

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CorporateDispatchPro eJournal Edition 4

CorporateDispatchPro Edition 4 - CiGroup's fortnightly eJournal giving you Insights, Views and News is out. Geopolitics analysis, ComuniqEU #European news and views, #Insights on #Malta, International News views and news…

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Science and space among the industries of the future – EU Council

Space policy can play an important role in achieving a sustainable EU economy. Earth science and European space data, services and technologies may contribute to the European Green Deal, enabling…

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EU Commission consults with social partners on fair minimum wages

The European Commission has launched the second-stage consultation of European trade unions and employers' organisations on how to ensure fair minimum wages for all workers in the European Union. This…

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Eurojust steps up the fight against migrant smuggling

To further strengthen the fight against migrant smuggling, Eurojust, the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, has launched a new initiative, the Focus Group for Prosecutors on Migrant Smuggling. In…

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EU proposes financial instrument to support private investment

Private industry and investment need to be at the forefront of the recovery, according to the European Commission. In this context, it has proposed a new instrument to mobilise private…

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WHO warns second more deadly wave of coronavirus expected ‘to hit Europe this winter’

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Dr Hans Kluge, director for the WHO European region warned European countries should brace themselves for a deadly second wave of coronavirus infections…

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European deaths spike since March linked to COVID-19

About 159,000 more people in 24 European countries have died since early March than would have ordinarily been expected, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday, with a…

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EU Commission launches new global fundraising campaign to finance development and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19

The European Commission launched a new global fundraising campaign on Thursday to finance the development and worldwide distribution of testing, vaccines and treatments against COVID-19, seeking to address concerns they may not be…

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