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BRATISLAVA – Shops on Sunday – open or closed?

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:34
As part of the government’s measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, the government decided that shops which were allowed to operate under the lockdown (groceries, pharmacies, drugstores, etc) would be closed on Sundays for sanitation reasons and for employees...
Categories: European Union

BUDAPEST – COVID-19 mostly brought from Europe

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:33
European, Taiwanese and American sources have simultaneously brought the novel coronavirus to Hungarian soil, according to a study from the University of Pécs, which was based on a representative sample of the virus’ presence in the country.  For more on...
Categories: European Union

HELSINKI – Taxation becoming the new ‘hot potato’

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:31
To finance the Finnish welfare state after the coronavirus crisis, 24% of Finns favour raising taxes, 18% want to see social services cut and 6% want to raise the retirement age, according to a survey published on Monday (11 May),...
Categories: European Union

Mobility, transport and coronavirus

Written by Ariane Debyser,

© shintartanya / Adobe Stock

One of the first, and most visible impacts of the Covid-19 crisis was on transport, travel and mobility. In early March 2020, European Union (EU) Member States had already reintroduced border controls at internal Schengen borders on the grounds of an immediate threat to public policy and on 17 March 2020, the Heads of State or Government agreed to reinforce the external borders by applying a coordinated temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU. Travel restrictions and containment measures adopted to limit the spread of the disease, within and at the external border of the EU, have led to drastic reductions in traffic in all transport modes.

In a communication on the coordinated economic response to Covid-19 published on 13 March 2020, the European Commission underlined that the pandemic is having a major impact on transport systems and that disruption in the flow of goods leads to severe economic damage. The Commission mentioned that, in addition to the coordination and guidance efforts and the actions to limit the spread of the virus, it would act to tackle and mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, which are exceptionally strong in the key areas of transport, travel and tourism.

The Commission has already adopted measures on mobility and transport and is working with Member States to stop the spread of the disease; ensure essential goods and services such as food, medicines and protective equipment circulate freely in the internal market; and to guarantee the free movement of workers, especially those that exercise critical occupations such as health professionals and transport workers. To tackle the risk of serious economic downturn, the Commission has adopted a temporary framework for State aid measures that allows EU countries to provide assistance to companies. Some sector specific measures have already been approved, including on transport.

Read the complete Briefing on ‘Mobility, transport and coronavirus‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Categories: European Union

LONDON – More clarity on lockdown easing

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:30
The UK will begin the slow process of easing confinement measures this week and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday (11 May) told MPs that people should exercise “good, solid, British common sense” in adapting their lives to the next...
Categories: European Union

BRUSSELS – A summer by the Belgian sea?

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:29
Mayors of Belgium’s coastal municipalities agreed to follow the guidelines of the National Security Council for reopening the beaches, after disagreement over when and how to allow tourists to return to the seaside. According to the deconfinement plan, coastal tourism...
Categories: European Union

BERLIN – Coronavirus outbreak in a meat plant

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:28
Over the weekend, news broke of a coronavirus outbreak in a meat plant in the northwest of the country near the Dutch border. While the plant was forced to stop production from Saturday (9 May) through 18 May, there are...
Categories: European Union

IEA: Oil crisis is ‘litmus test’ for industry’s resolve on climate

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:28
The April oil market crash will test the determination of majors like Shell and BP, which have recently announced goals to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Categories: European Union

German MEP: Stand by the EU Court to the end

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:26
German Green MEP Sven Giegold said the conflict between Germany and the European Central Bank should come to an end as the eurozone is in danger. Giegold had asked EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen if the executive would...
Categories: European Union

The EU must draw Georgia into its arms

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:08
EU institutions must continue to ensure that countries such pro-European as Georgia see the European Union as their ultimate goal, writes Paul L. Vandoren.
Categories: European Union

Migrant workers regularisation puts strain on Italy’s ruling coalition

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 08:02
A standoff between Italy's ruling parties on the regularisation of illegal migrants working as agricultural labourers is slowing down the adoption of the latest aid package aimed at supporting families and companies during the lockdown.
Categories: European Union

Hungary summons Nordic diplomats over rule-by-decree row

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:41
Hungary summoned the ambassadors of four Nordic countries on Monday (11 May) over their countries' criticism of a controversial law that empowers Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to act by decree against the novel coronavirus.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] EU airline CO2 regime to stay in place after UN scheme

Euobserver.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:22
Flights between EU states will still be subject to the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which forces them to buy CO2-emission permits, after the UN launches a similar, but global scheme, called Corsia, in 2021, the EU's transport commissioner, Adina Valean, said on Monday. The UN had wanted to have just one carbon-offsetting scheme worldwide. But Corsia "will not replace the ETS. It will complement the ETS," Valean said.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] EU airlines urged to give 12-month vouchers

Euobserver.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:16
EU airlines and travel companies should give people vouchers valid for 12 months for contracts cancelled due to the pandemic, the European Commission is planning to recommend Wednesday, according to a draft paper seen by Reuters. Vouchers should "the same type of services or of equivalent quality as the terminated package" or be changeable for a "full refund," it said. National governments should also guarantee them in case of bankruptcies.
Categories: European Union

UN aviation scheme to supplement, not replace EU carbon trading

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:15
The UN aviation agency's planned scheme for offsetting emissions from international flights will supplement, not replace, the European Union's carbon market, the bloc's transport Commissioner said on Monday (11 May).
Categories: European Union

France pushing for tough EU response to any West Bank annexation

Euractiv.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:15
France is urging its European Union partners to consider threatening Israel with a tough response if it goes ahead with a de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, three EU diplomats said.
Categories: European Union

[Ticker] Most Germans blame China for pandemic, poll says

Euobserver.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:13
Some 77 percent of Germans thought China was partly to blame for coronavirus and 34 percent thought it was significantly to blame, according to British pollster Redfield & Wilton Strategies. The findings come after US leader Donald Trump and other populists referred to it as "the Chinese virus", despite UN appeals not to. The virus originated from natural causes in Wuhan, China, last December, according to the scientific consensus.
Categories: European Union

Pandemic 'shock' could destabilise Middle East, EU fears

Euobserver.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:12
The economic "shock" of the pandemic could aggravate crises on Europe's southern fringe, EU diplomats fear, amid other concerns on Israeli annexation.
Categories: European Union

Commission struggles with German court challenge

Euobserver.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:06
While the EU commission has suggested there could be EU probes becasue of the German consitutional court's decision, chancellor Angela Merkel argued to her party that a clash is avoidable.
Categories: European Union

[Coronavirus] New warning on virus apps' digital privacy safeguards

Euobserver.com - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 07:05
Authorities have already released or plan to roll out contact-tracing apps across the EU. However, the coronavirus pandemic has brought into focus the risks of these surveillance technologies - and their potential negative impact on human rights.
Categories: European Union

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