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25th Aug 2017

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Russia targets UK activist via Interpol

EU states should put financial pressure on Interpol to stop countries such as Russia abusing the system, a prominent human rights campaigner has said. Bill Browder, a London-based figure who has fought for tighter EU and US sanctions on Russia, spoke after ...

Investigation

EU probe into VW loan remains opaque

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the conclusion of an anti-fraud investigation into a €400-million European Investment Bank (EIB) loan provided to Volkswagen, which cheated on EU vehicle emission tests. The EU's anti-fraud office, Olaf, finished ...

Ticker

Greece expects first migrant returns next month

EU countries are set to begin returning migrants to Greece. The country's migration minister, Yannis Mouzalas, told the Guardian that he expects the returns "to begin over the next month". Germany has reportedly made nearly 400 resettlement requests, with ...

Focus

Estonia tests water for own virtual currency

People around the world can already become a digital resident of Estonia. Perhaps in the future they will also be able to pay into a new Estonian digital currency. On Tuesday (22 August), the managing director of Estonia's e-Residency programme, Kaspar ...

Opinion

Terrorists do not sit still, and nor should we

In the past week, Europe has once again been struck by terror. In Barcelona and Cambrils, Spain, and in Turku, Finland, attacks have killed and injured citizens from across the continent, and across the world. Those sad events remind us that, today, no ...

Ticker

Migrant surge noted on Greek islands

The European Commission said it was aware of a recent surge in migrants arriving at Greek islands from Turkey, but declined to speculate on the cause. Almost 400 people arrived in Chios, Kos, Leros, and Samos on Tuesday after some 650 arrived in Chios, ...

Ticker

EU and Poland lock horns on migrant quotas

A European Commission spokesman said "absolutely not" in Brussels on Thursday when asked if the Commission would stop legal action against Poland over migrant quotas in line with fresh Polish demands. He said Poland should "comply with decisions they ...

Ticker

Net migration to UK drops 25%

The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced Thursday that in the 12 months preceding March 2017 net migration to the UK was 246,000, down from 327,000 in the same period the year before. Some 588,000 people moved to the UK, while 342,000 left ...

You can't escape that 'The Future is Europe'

Many Belgian locals, tourists, and even EU officials see the European Union district in Brussels as an ugly growth among the city’s townhouses. A five-lane road that separates the European Commission and EU Council HQs, the Rue de la Loi, is part of the ...

Poland vows legal battle on migrant quotas

Poland has vowed to fight the EU in court over migrant relocation quotas, while accusing the European Commission of creating a security risk. “Poland has sent a motion to the European Commission requesting it to discontinue its ongoing infringement ...

Opinion

Refugees in limbo on Greek island

Since the beginning of August, over 550 refugees have made the crossing to the Greek island of Chios, including nearly 200 children. These new arrivals alone make up nearly half the official capacity of the entire island. As they arrived, local authorities ...

UK to 'align' with EU on data protection

The United Kingdom will propose in a position paper on Thursday (24 August) to maintain a “strong future data relationship” with the European Union after exiting the bloc. “In the modern world, data flows increasingly underpin trade, business and all ...

Ticker

Germany asks EU to strengthen foreign takeover rules

In a letter to European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, German economy minister Brigitte Zypries has requested stronger rules to allow EU countries to block Chinese takeovers of European companies. "Open markets cannot be a one-way street," she wrote ...

Ticker

Poll shows tight race in Norway's upcoming elections

Less than three weeks before parliamentary elections on 11 September, Norwegian polls point to a close race between conservative prime minister Erna Solberg's minority right-wing government and the centre-left opposition, led by labour leader Jonas Gahr ...

Ticker

Macron slams EU posted workers rules

French president Emmanuel Macron kicked off a three-day European tour on Wednesday. At his first stop in Austria, he began by criticising EU rules that allow companies to send workers to other member states without paying local social charges. "The ...

Ticker

Air Berlin insolvency talks begin amid 'stitch-up' accusation

"We would be very happy to bid for the whole of Air Berlin," Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, told Reuters. Air Berlin has filed for bankruptcy, flying on schedule now only due to a German government bridge loan of €150m. A creditors' committee ...

UK seeks to end 'direct' rule of EU court

The UK is preparing to say that a new set of tribunals should enforce EU law after Brexit instead of the EU’s Court of Justice (ECJ). “We have long been clear that in leaving the EU we will bring an ​end to the direct jurisdiction of the Court of Justice ...

Ticker

EU calls on Serbia and Macedonia to remain calm

The European Commission called on Serbia and Macedonia "to exercise restraint" and to deal with their diplomatic spat "calmly", Balkan Insight reported Tuesday. Serbia withdrew its embassy staff from Skopje after accusing Macedonia of planning "very ...

Ticker

Schulz wants US to remove nuclear weapons from Germany

Former European Parliament president Martin Schulz said on Tuesday that the United States would have to withdraw nuclear weapons stored on German soil if his centre-left party, SPD, won the upcoming federal elections on 24 September. At a campaign rally, ...

Ticker

Ukraine and Russia to announce another ceasefire

Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE will announce a ceasefire Wednesday, according to a joint statement by Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine. Respective leaders Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, and Petro Poroshenko said they hope it would lead " ...

Opinion

Managing migration: a European responsibility

Europe continues to face migratory pressures, but the difference between now and just two years ago is like night and day. The European Commission is not just discovering this issue now. When Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker took office, he created ...

Ticker

EU to investigate Monsanto-Bayer merger

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday that she is opening an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of biotechnology company Monsanto by Bayer. "I am convinced that we need to take more time to investigate the ...

Interview

Guerot: Germany could lose its role in Europe

As the largest EU member state, Germany enjoys unmatched influence in the bloc. But Europe isn't a topic in the country's parliamentary election campaign, something which German political thinker Ulrike Guerot lamented in a recent interview with EUobserver ...

UK to recognise rulings by EU states' courts

The UK is prepared to recognise some court rulings by judges in EU states after Brexit, but its trade ideas continue to attract ridicule. The British government will say in a position paper to be published on Tuesday (22 August) that it will recognise the ...

EU commissioner calls for new Turkey policy

EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn has called for a change of course for the EU on Turkey's accession to join the bloc, after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks living in Germany not to vote for the county's two ruling parties in the ...

Ticker

US will ask Nato allies to send more troops into Afghanistan

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the US will ask Nato countries to join his new Afghanistan strategy. "We will ask our Nato allies and global partners to support our new strategy with additional troop and funding increases in line with our own. ...

Ticker

Greece to be absent at event on Communism and Nazism

Greek justice minister Stavros Kontonis on Monday defended his decision not to attend Wednesday's Estonian event on the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Communism and Nazism. "Communism in whatever form cannot be put on the same level as the ...

Ticker

Czechs want observer status in Eurogroup meetings

Czech foreign minister Lubomir Zaoralek told Reuters on Monday he supported his country acquiring "observer status" in the Eurogroup, the forum of eurozone finance ministers. "It is undoubtedly beneficial for us to have the possibility to take part in ...

Ticker

Putin sends EU-blacklisted ambassador to US

Russian president Vladimir Putin has appointed Anatoly Antonov as the country's new ambassador to the United States, the Kremlin announced on Monday. He is a former deputy minister of foreign affairs and of defence. Antonov has been on an EU blacklist ...

'Killer robots' are not about Terminator

Photo editors of news media worldwide must have had a field day on Monday (21 August), when selecting an image to accompany the news that technology experts warned the world of killer robots. Elon Musk, a billionaire CEO of space and electric car companies ...