European Union

The European Commission is to work alongside the European Central Bank (ECB) in probing a range of 'policy, legal and technical' pitfalls that could emerge as part of plans to introduce a digital euro crypto-currency in mid-2021.

Montenegro will be pursuing a "zero problem doctrine" with its neighbours, while accession remains its main priority, Djordje Radulović, the newly appointed foreign affairs minister of the EU hopeful that recently had its first democratic change of power in 30 years told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

New opening in the EU-US relations is currently viewed to be one of the top priorities of EU’s foreign policy. Poland advocates and supports a special kind of relationship with the US by focusing on the issues that unite both...

Brexit prompted some 50 entities, 2,500 financial services jobs, and "at least €170bn in assets" to move from the UK to France by the end of 2020, French central bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told press Tuesday. The exodus came "despite the pandemic", he noted. "Other relocations are expected and should increase over the course of this year," he said, while calling for a new "union of capital markets".

Italy's prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, on Tuesday won a confidence vote in the Senate, with 156 senators supporting him, 140 against, and 16 abstentions, after having won a vote in the lower house earlier. It ended a government crisis after a small coalition party, led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, left the government. In a speech, Conte attacked Renzi for "placing mines" under the coalition in difficult times.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has washed his hands of an EU statement, on 6 January, which called Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó part of an "outgoing National Assembly", instead of "interim president", as in the past, over rigged elections. Guaidó's EU-downgrade was "not a statement [by me] but … a unanimous statement by the 27 EU member states. They're the ones who approved this," Borrell told MEPs Tuesday.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday it was "completely legal" under a 1982 'Law of the Sea' for Greece to extend its territorial waters for 12 nautical miles from its islands, Ekathimerini reports. He spoke amid a dispute between Greece and Turkey over the move, which Lavrov said ought to be settled through "dialogue". Lavrov's remarks came as a surprise after Moscow and Ankara had recently forged closer ties.

MEPs urged the EU to stop a Russian gas pipeline and invoke 'Magnitsky Act' sanctions on oligarchs over the arrest of Alexei Navalny, but was anyone listening in Paris or Berlin?

Coronavirus infections in Switzerland plus the principality of Liechtenstein passed 500,000 on Tuesday, data from Swiss health authorities showed, as new infections rose by 2,260, Reuters reports. Switzerland was a popular destination for other Europeans during Christmas holidays as it kept its ski slopes open. The death toll in Switzerland and Liechtenstein rose by 75 to 8,166, while 129 new hospitalisations kept pressure on the health care system.

German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and heads of the 16 states, agreed on Tuesday to extend the country's lockdown until 14 February. The new rules have made the use of "clinical masks" compulsory in shops and public transport. Netherlands and Denmark are also expected to extend their lockdown restrictions amid concerns over a more contagious variants of Covid-19, first detected in the UK and South Africa, the Guardian reported.

Former EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will become special adviser to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen starting February, the commission said on Tuesday. The French politician will advise her on the implementation of the EU-UK withdrawal agreement and on the finalisation of the EU's ratification process of the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, both of which he negotiated with his British counterparts.

European Commissioner for home affairs Ylva Johansson will be visiting the destitute Lipa migrant camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina in February. "I intend to visit Lipa and visit Bosnian authorities in February," she told MEPs on Tuesday. Some 2,000 people were left stranded and exposed to harsh winter conditions. Of those, around 900 have returned to Lipa, following pressure for the army to set up tents and heaters.

The European Commission has announced targets to accelerate the roll-out of vaccination, and the intention of "a common approach" on possible vaccine certificates. Both topics will be discussed by EU leaders on Thursday.

Portugal's prime minister António Costa will on Wednesday discuss with European Parliament president David Sassoli and MEPs and try to resolve the issue of who will chair the conference.

MEPs are drumming up support for an inquiry into the EU's controversial border and coast guard agency, Frontex. So far, the Greens, the left-wing GUE, and Renew Europe are on board - amid expectations the centre-left S&D will also join.

The time has come to address the enduring flaws of the single market and to launch the necessary reforms to create a stronger and more prosperous Union.

Washington's dazzling security-dominated Asian engagement may get all the attention - but the EU has done a pretty good job of hammering out its own Asia policy over the last few years.

The greatest mistake the EU institutions can possibly make at this juncture, is to turn the Conference on the Future of Europe into yet another round in the outdated feud between the federalists and the inter-governmentalists.

Europe aspires to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050, and we believe that for the transport sector this will be possible with a mix of solutions including electric vehicles, carbon neutral liquid fuels, hybrid options as well as e-/bio-based fuel ethers.

Reducing air pollution to World Health Organisation recommended levels would prevent more than 50,000 deaths a year across European cities, according to a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.