European Union

EU-Singapore agreement to enter into force on 21 November 2019

EU Member States endorsed the trade agreement between the EU and Singapore. This means the agreement will enter into force as soon as 21 November. President of the European Commission…

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EU should drop oil, gas and coal funding, say ministers

The European Union should halt funding of oil, gas and coal projects, EU finance ministers said, potentially cutting €2bn of yearly investments. The finance ministers called upon the European Investment…

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EU heavyweight states push for joint supervisor against money laundering

The European Union’s largest states are pushing for the establishment of a new supervisory authority that would take over from states the oversight of money laundering at financial firms, after…

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EU creates permanent force to help manage borders

The EU on Friday formally established its first standalone border force, boosting the Frontex service with a new permanent corps that will number 10,000 officers by 2027. The adoption by…

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Von der Leyen: ‘Europe must learn the language of power’

The European Union needs to take a more active role in global politics if it wants to protect its interests, incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on…

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DiscoverEU: 20,000 travel passes available for 18-year-olds to explore Europe next summer

The Commission is launching a new application round for DiscoverEU travel passes, which allows participants to travel across Europe, learn about its cultural heritage, whilst developing their own knowledge and…

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EU to pay Turkey millions to boost its coast guard

The European Union is preparing to pay Turkey tens of millions to help bolster its coast guard, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as increasing numbers of migrants and refugees…

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Maltese heroes in EU-wide Campaign

Six people from Malta have been selected as ‘local heroes’ in an ongoing campaign by the EU Commission. The EU Protects campaign features 274 individuals from the 28 EU states…

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Erasmus+: EU will invest over €3 billion in young Europeans to study or train abroad in 2020

The European Commission published its 2020 call for proposals for the Erasmus+ programme. 2020 is the last year of the current European Union programme for mobility and cooperation in education, training,…

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EU-China agreement protects 26 Italian products

The European Commission said Wednesday that it has reached a landmark agreement with Beijing to protect 100 European Geographical Indication (GI) products, including 26 Italian ones, in China and 100…

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UK, US could take part in EU military projects under draft plan

A post-Brexit U.K. and the United States could take part in projects under the EU's new military pact while leaving China — and possibly Turkey — on the outside, according to a…

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EU countries should admit that the euro was a strategic error – Hungary’s National Bank governor

European Union member states, both in and outside the euro zone, should admit that the euro has been a "strategic error", the Governor of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) Gyorgy…

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EU weighs new anti-money laundering body in wake of scandals

The EU is to explore the creation of a central authority to crack down on money laundering activity after a series of high-profile scandals have underlined Europe’s weaknesses in preventing…

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EU has agreed Brexit delay until January 2020

EU Council President Donald Tusk says the bloc has agreed to delay the Brexit deadline until 31 January 2020 at the latest. The decision will now be "formalised through a…

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EU ready to sign off Brexit extension to 31 January 2020

The EU is ready to sign off on a Brexit extension to 31 January 2020 with an option for the UK to leave earlier if a deal is ratified, according…

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EU ‘very unlikely’ to decide on Brexit extension before Tuesday

Sky News quotes a senior EU official saying the EU is "very unlikely" to decide on an extension to Brexit negotiations before Tuesday. EU leaders are deciding whether to opt…

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Additional €2 million in humanitarian aid from the EU for refugees and migrants in Bosnia

With winter approaching and thousands of migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina living outside of adequate facilities, the European Commission has today announced an additional €2 million in humanitarian…

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EU ambassadors meet in Brussels over Brexit delay talks

European Union ambassadors are meeting in Brussels Friday to discuss what kind of extension to the Brexit deadline they could propose to Britain. There is a large consensus among the…

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Discrimination falls, but wide differences remain across EU

Support for LGBTI relationships has grown in Europe, but it varies considerably between EU member states, according to a new Eurobarometer survey on discrimination in Europe. Also, the report highlighted…

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European Commission paves way for new scheme enabling European artists to work abroad

The Commission has successfully tested a new scheme to promote the mobility of artists and cultural professionals. i-Portunus, a pilot funded through the EU's Creative Europe programme, is a concrete…

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EU calls for runoff vote in Bolivia

The EU, Colombia, United States and others have urged Bolivia to hold a second election round amid protests and delays in reporting results. Official results put President Evo Morales…

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EU’s decision on whether to grant Brexit extension will depend on how MPs will vote tonight – Tusk

The EU will grant a further Brexit extension on the basis of how MPs will vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, the European Council president Donald Tusk…

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Brussels insists business as usual amid Brexit delay request from UK

As he emerged from a "short and normal" meeting with EU Ambassadors in Brussels this morning, the EU's Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier joked with waiting reporters saying, "you are very…

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North Macedonia calls snap election after EU talks setback

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has called snap elections following a decision by EU leaders to postpone opening membership talks with his country and neighbouring Albania. French President Emanuel…

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European Labour Authority starts its work

The European Labour Authority this week started its activities with an inaugural ceremony and the first meeting of its Management Board. The launch took place two years after European Commission…

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Europe air pollution caused 400,000 premature deaths

Poor air quality caused 412,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2016, the most recent year data is available, according to a report released this week by the European Environment Agency…

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France to pause EU enlargement

France blocked a European push to launch membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania yesterday, saying it could not approve negotiations until Brussels reformed the “endless soap opera” of admitting…

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No Brexit deal yet

British government sources quoted by the BBC and Sky News said that so far there is no deal on Brexit as officials continue to work on the technical details in…

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Brexit talks enter last day before crunch EU summit

EU and UK officials have resumed Brexit talks in the hope of reaching a deal that can be agreed by leaders at a key summit on Thursday. Prime Minister Boris…

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EU sees spike in arrivals of Afghan asylum-seekers

Reuters reports that so far this year, Afghans have made up the largest number of asylum-seekers arriving to the European Union, outnumbering Syrians. According to EU and Iranian officials, many…

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Big gap’ remains in UK-EU Brexit deal discussions

The UK is willing to make concessions to its plans for the Northern Ireland border after Brexit but "a big gap" remains over customs arrangements, EU ambassadors have been told.…

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Brexit talks ramp up in Brussels

Intense Brexit negotiations are continuing in Brussels this weekend after Boris Johnson proposed a compromise to break the deadlock. Sky News reports that indications are that the prime minister's plan…

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EU sounds alarm on foreign interference in 5G networks

European cybersecurity authorities warned Wednesday that state hacking groups are a major threat to the security of 5G networks, increasing pressure on telecom operators to take action against new risks…

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Reports that the EU ready to make ‘major concession’ on Brexit deal

The European Union is ready to make a “major concession” on a Brexit deal by offering a mechanism for the Northern Irish assembly to leave a new so-called backstop after…

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EU may offer to extend deadline for Brexit deal to June

The European Union is poised to extend Brexit talks into as late as next summer after the European council and commission presidents dismissed Boris Johnson’s strategy as a “blame game”.…

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EU to remove Switzerland from tax haven lists

European Union finance ministers are set to remove Switzerland from the bloc’s lists of countries deemed to act as tax havens, an EU document said. On October 10 they are…

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EU decision on Boris Johnson’s deal could happen by ‘end of the week’

French President Emmanuel Macron has told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the EU could make a decision by the end of the week on the latest Brexit proposals. The…

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EU Member States governments agree that new Brexit proposals ‘do not provide basis’ for agreement

European Union member states have agreed that the government's new Brexit proposals "do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement", the Independent quoted a European Commission spokesman saying. A representative…

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Warning new American tariffs on EU food will boost prices, cost U.S. jobs

New 25% U.S. tariffs on Italian cheese, French wine, Scotch whisky, British biscuits, Spanish olives and thousands of other European food products will lead to higher prices ahead of…

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EU launches negotiations to deepen trade relations with Eastern and Southern Africa countries

In Mauritius, the EU started negotiations with five Eastern and Southern Africa partners (so-called ESA: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe) to deepen the existing Economic Partnership Agreement. Given the…

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Europe third-quarter earnings outlook deteriorates as trade war, Brexit bite

European companies are heading for their worst quarterly earnings in three years as revenue drops for the first time since early 2018, according to the latest Refinitiv data, underscoring concerns…

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Zagreb to See Over 160 Events During EU Presidency

The coordinator of Croatia's EU presidency, Gordan Markotić, said that during the country's chairmanship of the EU 161 events would be organised in the Croatian capital city and that around…

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Reports indicate no chance of Croatian Schengen entry for at least two more years

Croatian media is reporting that the Republic of Croatia will not be part of the Schengen area for at least another two years, despite the fact the European Commission is…

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Corporate Dispatch Europe Explained – The Week Ahead

A quick glance at the main forthcoming events in the European Union including EU Council, Commission and Parliament meetings and other EU-related conferences and events. Events for the week of…

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European economy faces growing risks from Brexit

Economic growth in the European Union is slowing down as the bloc faces increasing risks from global trade tensions and the unclear outcome of Brexit, the EU’s top economic commissioner…

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MEPs reject Romanian and Hungarian nominees for European Commission

Members of the European Parliament on Thursday rejected the Romanian and Hungarian nominees for the next European Commission over concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The decisions by the Parliament's…

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Joint AU-EU-UN Taskforce tries to find a solution to the migrant and refugee situation in Libya

The AU–EU–UN Tripartite Taskforce on the Situation of Stranded Migrant and Refugees in Libya met this week in New York in the margins of the high-level General Debate of…

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Nantes is European Capital of Innovation 2019

The city of Nantes in north-west France is the European Capital of Innovation 2019, the Commission announced at the European Research and Innovation Days. The title was awarded to Nantes…

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English the most popular foreign language studied in the EU

The latest Eurostat figures show that English is, by far, the most popular foreign language to be studied in the EU. Nearly 98% of pupils learned English in lower secondary…

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Activist protest during Malta Ministerial Meeting on Migration at Fort St. Angelo

Activists set banners 'EU Get your Ships Together!' during a Ministerial Meeting on Migration at Fort St. Angelo in Vittoriosa, Malta, 23 September 2019. Interior ministers of Germany, France, Finland,…

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EU Council vote backs Romania’s Kovesi for European prosecutor job

COREPER, the executive body of the Council of the European Union, voted on September 19 in favour of Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi’s candidacy for the position of chief prosecutor of…

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Fake and potentially dangerous goods worth nearly €740 million stopped at EU customs in 2018

New figures released by the European Commission show that the number of interceptions of fake goods being imported into the EU increased in 2018 due to many small parcels in…

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Britain shares partial plans with EU to break Brexit deal deadlock

Britain has submitted some written documents to the EU to try and break the Brexit deadlock. A UK government spokesperson confirmed the "confidential technical non-papers which reflect the ideas the…

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Apple takes fight against 13-billion-euro EU tax order to court

Apple will launch a legal challenge on Tuesday to a European Commission order to pay 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in Irish back taxes in a landmark case in the…

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No 10 plays down hopes of Brexit breakthrough

Downing Street has played down the prospect of an early breakthrough in Brexit talks despite hopes of a compromise on the Irish backstop, as Boris Johnson prepares to meet the…

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The European Union continues to lead the global fight against climate change

The European Commission has adopted a Communication reaffirming the EU's commitment to accelerated climate ambition. Preparing for the Climate Action Summit by the United Nations Secretary General in New York…

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Serbia determined to join Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union in spite of EU warnings

Serbia’s plan to join a Russian-led economic union is drawing ire from the European Union, which the Balkan nation says it wants to be part of. The EU’s executive commission…

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