European Union

A communication channel set up in 2018 to discuss incidents along the front lines could be used for sharing preventative information to protect farmers and minimise risks of escalation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, a recent report from the International Crisis Group  (ICG) suggests.

Anti-Western messages in Georgia have doubled in number, with a particular increase in anti-American and anti-NATO messages related to the US support on security issues and the post-Soviet country’s integration into the transatlantic defence alliance, a recent report has found....

Social media giant Facebook has come in for heavy criticism as part of a US congressional hearing into the dominance of online tech platforms, being accused of ‘copy, acquire and kill’ tactics as part of its history in acquiring smaller...

World Trade Organization members are likely to refrain from appointing an interim director-general to succeed Roberto Azevedo when he steps down at the end of August, two sources following the process said on Wednesday (29 July), after Washington's insistence on a US candidate caused a deadlock.

Authorities in the Spanish capital Madrid backtracked on Wednesday (29 July) over a highly-criticised plan to give an "immunity card" to people testing positive for coronavirus antibodies so they can enjoy higher-risk areas like gyms, bars and museums.

European airline and airport executives urged the Canadian government this week to allow a safe "restoration of travel" between Canada and Europe, adding industry pressure on Ottawa to remove coronavirus-related restrictions that have discouraged international air travel.

AMENDMENTS 1 - 323 - Draft report Report on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with the Republic of Moldova
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Dragoş Tudorache

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The German meat industry has been under fire for years over its low working standards and workers rights. The coronavirus clusters in slaughterhouses have now offered the government an opportunity to intervene. EURACTIV Germany reports.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper outlined plans on Wednesday (29 July) to take thousands of US troops out of Germany by shifting some of the forces to Italy and Belgium, ending weeks of uncertainty over US troop withdrawal strategy in Europe.

An amendment tabled in the new UK agriculture bill, designed to allow access to new gene-editing technology, has been withdrawn but the government has pledged to conduct a public consultation on the issue, amid indications that it could eventually be in favour.

Though the coronavirus is still on our radars, countries have been gradually easing lockdown all over Europe and getting back to work, even going on holidays, and reuniting with their families. The Martens Centre wants to hear from its like-minded...

Have leading politicians in the grand coalition up to the Chancellor been involved in a fraudulent scheme? The Bundestag's finance committee is looking into it.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to hire more people from racial minorities after meeting anti-racist MEPs on Tuesday

Maltese health authorities said 65 migrants from a group of 94 brought to Malta this week have tested positive for coronavirus and been placed in isolation, the Times of Malta reported on Tuesday. This cluster represents the biggest outbreak in Malta since the beginning of the pandemic.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who is running for a sixth presidential term, told military officials on Tuesday that he recovered from Covid-19, Reuters reported. "Today you are meeting a man who managed to survive the coronavirus on his feet. Doctors came to such a conclusion yesterday: asymptomatic," he said. Lukashenko avoided strict lockdowns and, instead, suggested remedies such as drinking vodka. Belarus has registered 67,366 coronavirus cases and 543 deaths.

The European Court of Auditors on Tuesday launched a probe to assess whether the European Commission improved cooperation with priority third countries after 2015 - when an action plan on returns was in place. EU auditors found less than 40 percent of irregular migrants ordered to leave the EU return to their home country, or a third country.

The head of the Robert Koch Institute for health, Lothar Wieler, said on Tuesday that he was "very concerned" by the surge of new coronavirus infections in Germany, the BBC reported. "We don't know yet if this is the beginning of a second wave, but of course it could be," Wieler said. Last week, Germany recorded 3,611 new infections.

EU states have agreed to curb exports of "sensitive equipment and technologies for end-use in Hong Kong" repression, including for "interception of internal communications or cyber-surveillance" in reaction to China's security crackdown in the semi-autonomous former British colony. They also agreed, on Tuesday, to help Hong Kong citizens resettle and study in Europe and to increase support for pro-democracy NGOs trying to oppose the new measures, risking China's wrath.

British businesses are to be hit by the "simultaneous impact" of anti-coronavirus lockdowns and Brexit in autumn, according to a new study by the London School of Economics out Wednesday. The net downturn in business due to coronavirus in April and June ranged from -124 percent for the rubber and plastics sector to -41 percent for retail. But Brexit would subtract a further 15 percent from the chemicals sector.

The new spike in Covid-19 infections in Europe is due to the general public having become "negligent" on hygiene rules, Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute, a Public health body, told press Tuesday, the BBC reports. "We are in the middle of a rapidly-developing pandemic," he noted, while urging people to wear masks and respect social distancing. The recent increase in infections made him "very concerned".