European Union

The shipping industry has railed against plans to expand the EU carbon market to the maritime sector ahead of a crucial vote in the European Parliament on Tuesday (15 September) that risks putting lawmakers on a collision course with shippers.

The European Union will press China to aim for climate neutrality by 2060 or eventually face punitive carbon tariffs during a summit on Monday (14 September) aimed at concluding a bilateral trade agreement by the end of the year.

COVID-19 has fuelled anti-Semitism in Europe. We need to take it seriously or risk losing the Jewish community, writes Michael O'Flaherty.

A Turkish research ship at the centre of a row with Greece over gas exploration has left disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean and returned to the coast in a move hailed as a "positive first step" by the Greek prime minister.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recorded a record one-day rise in the number of new coronavirus infections, with 307,930 reported over 24 hours, the BBC reports. The agency said that deaths rose by more than 5,500, bringing the global total to 917,417. The biggest increases in infections were reported in India, the US, and Brazil. Countries across Europe are recording a rising number of daily cases too.

The EU foreign service has "welcomed" the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Israel, following a similar, historic announcement with the United Arab Emirates under US diplomacy. The US-brokered Arab deals "represent a positive contribution to peace and stability in the Middle East", the EU said. It also urged a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict over Palestine, amid ongoing fears of Israeli annexation, however.

Some 6,000 yellow vest-wearing protesters against social injustice took to the streets of Paris and other leading French cities on Saturday, prompting 250 arrests, in a throwback to pre-coronavirus events. Protesters had wanted to block the Champs-Élysées boulevard in Paris, but were forbidden. The demonstrations came as French infection rates jumped to more than 10,000 per day - the highest levels there since the pandemic first struck Europe.

European Council chief Charles Michel warned Britain Sunday (13 September) its international credibility is at stake, saying it must fulfil its responsibility to implement the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Some 100,000 people took to the streets of Minsk for the sixth Sunday in a row to call for free and fair elections, even though masked security forces had snatched dozens of women protesters off the streets Saturday and arrested another 400 people Sunday. The EU foreign service said diplomats were "staying ... intermittently" at the home of Svetlana Alexievich, a writer and activist, to try to prevent her arrest.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan harangued French president Emmanuel Macron in a TV speech Saturday. "Don't mess with Turkey," Erdoğan said, referring to French pressure against Turkish strategy in the eastern Mediterranean. "Mr Macron, you're going to have more problems with me," Erdoğan added, saying Macron was "on his last legs" politically. Turkey also announced a live-fire naval drill in Cypriot-claimed waters starting this weekend and lasting through Monday.

Greece is to buy six new and six second-hand F18 Rafale fighter jets from France as well as new frigates, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced this weekend, amid heightened tensions with Turkey. He praised as a "positive first step" Turkey's decision to return an oil-drilling ship from Greek-claimed waters. "We want to talk with Turkey but in a climate without provocations," he said.

Perpetrators of genocide and torture, but not corruption, are to face new-model EU human rights sanctions, a leaked document says.

Von der Leyen's first annual speech launches the autumn political semester in the EU, in which she is expected to address the Covid-19 pandemic, migration and key foreign political issues.

The European Commission's long-awaited pact on migration and asylum is now set to be unveiled on 30 September. Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas has likened it to a "house with three floors".

EU regions say the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe is a "timely opportunity" to debate how to make local and regional authorities full- involved in the EU response to Covid-19 - even including possible EU treaty changes.

For too long we have defined our relationship with China solely on trade, in which Europe mainly regarded China as an interesting export market and low-cost producer.

The micro-targeting of narrow, homogenous groups of people with very specific messages that exploit their vulnerabilities, makes it easier than ever to distort political debate, pushing people deeper into their echo chambers and stimulating single-issue voting.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó will be the only EU diplomatic leader to attend the signing ceremony on Tuesday in Washington for the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal, his spokesman said on Sunday (13 September).

European Sunlight Association (ESA) has published its Manifesto tackling a number of critical issues and sharing indoor tanning industry’s key objectives for the future. ESA remains being the European voice of the industry and it commits to pooling its resources...

The head of Iran's atomic agency said Sunday (13 September) that 1,044 centrifuges were active at the Fordow uranium enrichment plant, in line with steps to reduce its commitments to the nuclear deal.