European Union

Domestic tourism recovers faster than foreign tourism – Eurostat

During the early part of 2020, the tourism industry suffered as a result of travel restrictions implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourist numbers dropped sharply during March and…

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EU cuts Canada, Georgia and Tunisia from safe traveller list

The European Union is set to cut Canada, Georgia and Tunisia from a “white list” of countries from which travellers can visit the bloc without COVID-related restrictions such as quarantines…

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EU leaders to hold COVID-19 video-conference Oct.29

European Union leaders will hold a video-conference next week to discuss how to better cooperate against the COVID-19 pandemic as infections rise, European Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter,…

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UK unveils new rules to bar entry to EU criminals

Britain said it would introduce new rules from January to bar entry to people from the European Union with a criminal record, meaning those from the bloc would be treated…

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Roberta Metsola nominated as European Parliament Vice President

The centre-right European Popular Party has formally announced the nomination of PN MEP Roberta Metsola to serve as Vice President of the European Parliament. She will replace the Irish Mairead McGuinness…

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EU signs supply deal with J&J on potential COVID-19 vaccine

The European Commission said on Wednesday it had signed a contract on behalf of EU states with U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson for the supply of 400 million doses of…

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EU countries back binding green farming schemes

European Union agriculture ministers agreed on Wednesday to set aside part of the bloc's massive farming policy budget for programmes that protect the environment. The EU is nearing the end…

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Global powers push to end Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

Armenia's president headed to Brussels for talks with the European Union and NATO military alliance on Wednesday in a renewed drive to end the heaviest fighting since the 1990s over…

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UPDATED: EU’s Barnier says trade deal with UK “within reach”

The European Union's Brexit negotiator said on Wednesday that a new trade deal with Britain was "within reach" if both sides work hard to overcome the sticking points in the…

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EU ready to approve new measures for economies if necessary – Dombrovskis

The European Union will be ready to approve new measures to support its member states should the economies suffer further after a new surge in COVID-19 cases, its Vice President…

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Brussels opts for English for COVID vaccines in the EU

COVID-19 vaccines should have labels and packages with information only in English, European Union regulators have agreed, loosening multilingual requirements that could slow the roll-out of shots in the continent.…

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EU reacts to Turkish Cypriot Community leader’s Ersin Tatar’s election

The Turkish Cypriot community selected Mr. Ersin Tatar as its new leader. "It is important now to see a constructive engagement with a view to reaching a comprehensive settlement and…

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EU needs long-term plan to tackle 5G fake news, 15 EU countries say in joint call

The European Union needs to come up with a strategy to counter disinformation about 5G technology or risk false claims derailing its economic recovery and digital goals, a group of…

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EU leaders to hold almost weekly video-conferences on COVID-19 pandemic

European Union leaders have agreed to hold video conferences almost on a weekly basis to coordinate national measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, as the continent battles a spike in infections.…

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EU leaders aim for deal in December on climate change target

European Union countries edged closer to agreement on a new climate target at a summit on Thursday but deferred a deal on the emissions-cutting goal to a meeting in December.…

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Some movement on Brexit, Merkel says after EU summit talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reported "some movement" on Thursday in talks between European Union leaders about an agreement with the United Kingdom on their post-Brexit relations. "In some places there…

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UK expresses disappointment at EU Summit Conclusions

U.K. chief negotiator David Frost has expressed disappointment in his first reactions after the conclusions of the European Council on Brexit. In a tweet this afternoon, Frost said that he…

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European Union agrees to help Mozambique tackle insurgency

The European Union has granted Mozambique’s request for assistance in tackling a wave of attacks in the country’s north by rebels with links to Islamic State, the EU delegation in…

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EU imposes sanctions on 6 individuals over poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny

The EU imposed sanctions on Thursday on six individuals and one entity it believes was involved in the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The individuals are some of…

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New Swiss chief negotiator seeks “good will” to resolve EU impasse

Switzerland swapped out its chief negotiator with the European Union on Wednesday, aiming for what Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called "new elan" in talks over a stalled bilateral treaty with…

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Russia’s economic ties with EU need to be preserved despite strained relations, foreign minister says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow's ties with the European Union did not look very optimistic, but that economic interests needed to be preserved. European Union…

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Europe plans greener buildings to cut emissions, fight poverty

The European Union set out plans on Wednesday to launch a wave of green building renovations across Europe to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help people struggling to pay energy…

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EU countries adopt common travel guidelines amid pandemic

European Union countries on Tuesday approved a series of guidelines including a “traffic-light” system aimed at facilitating free movement across the bloc and avoiding further travel disruption during the coronavirus…

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EU plans 9 billion euros investment for Balkans

The European Union's enlargement commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, said on Thursday that the bloc has designed a 9 billion-euro ($10.6 billion) investment plan to aid the economic recovery of the six…

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European Parliament wont accept “little MFF” – rapporteur

MEPs have maintained their hard positions on refusing any reductions from the proposed EU's multi-annual budgetary framework, after breaking off talks yesterday with the Council, lamenting that long-term EU priorities…

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EU must wean itself off Asia for key drug ingredients to avoid shortages

European drugmakers will struggle to bring production back to the region, but the industry needs to diversify supplies to avoid shortages, a top EU official said on Wednesday, as worries…

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Lithuania blocks millions of euros of EU funding to Belarus

Lithuania has blocked 5.8 million euros ($6.83 million) in payments to Belarus for an EU-funded cross-border development programme, fearing the money could be misused, the Lithuanian government revealed. The European…

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UPDATED: EU seals supply deal with Johnson & Johnson on COVID-19 vaccine

The European Commission said on Thursday it had sealed a supply deal with Johnson & Johnson for the supply of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for up to 400 million people.…

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France, Germany push for EU sanctions on Russians over Navalny poisoning

France and Germany said they would propose European Union sanctions against Russian individuals after receiving no credible answers from Moscow over the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny with a…

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EU has agreed supply of 20,000 additional doses of Remdesivir

The European Commission said on Wednesday it had agreed with U.S. company Gilead the supply of more than 20,000 additional doses of its COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, in a bid to…

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Navalny demands EU crackdown on oligarchs close to Kremlin

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called on the European Union on Wednesday to take tough action against oligarchs close to the Kremlin as he continues his recovery in Germany after being…

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Turkey says EU Commission report ‘biased’, reiterates commitment to EU membership

Turkey dismissed a report by the European Commission as “biased, far from constructive”, saying Ankara rejected the criticisms directed at its economy, democracy and courts, and remained committed to the…

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EU member states urged to agree on Rule-of-Law to safeguard trust among member states

Vera Jourova, European Commission vice-president for values and transparency, was reported on the Financial Times urging the 27 countries and EU parliament now debating the new rule aimed at protecting…

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EU accuses Italian food company of cartel behaviour

Food company Conserve Italia has run a cartel to distort competition in canned vegetables in the European Union, breaking EU antitrust rules, the European Commission said on Monday in a…

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Turkish official says Ankara unswayed over EU sanctions on Eastern Mediterranean

Turkey would be even more determined to protect its territorial rights in the Eastern Mediterranean if the European Union ultimately decides to impose sanctions on it over offshore oil and…

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European leaders ask Commission to name areas of strategic EU weakness

European Union leaders asked their Brussels-based executive on Friday to name strategic areas where the bloc relies too much on countries such as China and the United States, and to…

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City of London will have “less fluid” trade with EU, says EU official

The flow of financial services between the European Union and Britain will be less fluid from January whatever happens in talks on a future free trade deal, the EU's financial…

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Brexit trade talks to go on until mid-October EU summit -sources

Britain and the European Union will continue trade talks next week and until a summit of the bloc's leaders on Oct. 15-16, sources told Reuters. This week's round of negotiations…

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Belarus announces sanctions list in retaliation against EU

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said on Friday it had compiled a list of people barred from entering Belarus in retaliation against sanctions imposed by the European Union. The ministry said…

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Europe lays ground for fast-tracking COVID-19 vaccine reviews

The European health regulator has started reviewing data on AstraZeneca and Oxford University's potential COVID-19 vaccine in real time, the first of such moves aimed at speeding up any approval…

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EU leaders to impose sanctions on Belarus, to review Turkey’s behaviour in December

EU leaders broke a diplomatic deadlock on Friday and imposed sanctions on Belarus after hours of summit talks, assuring Cyprus that the bloc would also punish Turkey if it continues…

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EU representatives discussed possible election delay with Venezuelan government: statement

A European Union mission that visited Venezuela last week discussed with authorities the possibility of delaying a parliamentary vote scheduled for Dec. 6, in the hopes of improving electoral conditions,…

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EU faces summit impasse on Belarus sanctions as Cyprus stands firm

Cyprus will stand firm at a summit of European Union leaders over the bloc's proposed sanctions on Belarus on Thursday, insisting that they can only be imposed if sanctions are…

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UPDATED: EU launches legal case against UK over Internal Market Bill

The European Union on Thursday launched a legal case against Britain over its new Internal Market Bill that undercuts London's earlier legal commitments under its Brexit divorce treaty, the head…

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EU financial services chief will cut off City of London if necessary

The European Union is ready for every type of Brexit, including granting no further EU access to Britain's financial sector, the bloc's candidate for financial services chief said in a…

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EU leaders to press Cyprus to lift veto over Belarus sanctions

European Union leaders will try to break a stalemate over Belarus on Thursday by untangling a separate standoff with Turkey that has exposed the paralysis in the bloc's decision-making. Meeting…

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Amid COVID-19 pandemic, EU warns about outbreaks of bird flu

European Union nations should step up surveillance against possible outbreaks of avian flu among wild and domestic birds, the EU said on Wednesday. The disease is highly contagious for birds,…

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Child poverty likely to increase in EU amid virus pandemic

Child poverty has reached an “unacceptable” level across the European Union, the world’s largest trading bloc, a situation likely to worsen during the coronavirus pandemic, the EU’s external auditor said…

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EU drafts rules to force big tech companies to share data

The European Union (EU) is preparing to force big technology companies to share their customer data with smaller rivals, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing an early draft of…

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Turkey expects concrete steps from EU summit – foreign minister

Turkey expects concrete steps to be taken at a European Union summit on Oct. 1-2 regarding issues including the updating of a 2016 migrant deal and customs union with the…

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EU’s first-ever democracy report zeroes in on courts, media deficiencies

The first-ever report by the European Union's executive on rule of law gaps across the bloc, seen by Reuters ahead of official release later on Wednesday, singled out challenges to…

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EU fines German car parts makers 18 million euros for cartels

The European Commission said on Tuesday that it had fined German car parts makers Brose and Kiekert a combined 18 million euros (16.33 million pounds) for taking part in two cartels. Brose…

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Trust in EU increases during coronavirus pandemic

Trust in the European Union has gone up since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, a study has found. Interestingly, the same study, carried out by the Eurofound agency, shows…

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Poland expects EU to approve more public aid for coal mines

Poland expects the European Commission to approve a plan to gradually close mines owned by its biggest coal producer PGG and provide more public aid for the industry, although experts…

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MEPs call for specific regulations governing large Internet players

MEPs’ demands on how digital services, including online platforms and marketplaces, should be regulated were set out in a vote in the Internal Market Committee on Monday. Ambitiously, MEPs want…

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Erdogan spokesman says Turkey sees EU summit as chance for reset

Turkey sees a European Union summit this week as an opportunity to reset relations between them, but the bloc must produce specific proposals and a timetable to work on a…

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Britain and EU finalise temporary derivatives clearing accord

The Bank of England and the European Union's securities watchdog said on Monday they have agreed on the information-sharing arrangements needed for the bloc's banks to continue using clearing houses…

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