European Union

A war of words between China and the United States showed no signs of let up on Monday (16 March), with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a phone call with a top Chinese diplomat expressing “strong US objections” over what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to shift blame for the spread of the coronavirus.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday (16 March) ordered stringent restrictions on people's movement to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and said the army would be drafted in to help move the sick to hospitals.

On the day that France's President Emmanuel Macron announced sweeping plans to go into a 15-day period of enforced lockdown from Tuesday, concerns also arose as to the potential increase in cases of gender-based domestic violence, following a previous surge in China under similar conditions.

French president Emmanuel Macron said France was "at war" against "an invisible and elusive enemy" [coronavirus] in a TV address on Monday. He warned people to "severely restrict movements for the next 15 days at least," limiting social contacts, and said any violation of the new regime would be "punished". He also called for a "general mobilisation" of anti-virus workers and postponed a second round of French local elections.

Global infections of coronavirus have passed 180,000 and currently stand at 182,406, the Johns Hopkins University in the US, which is keeping a global tally, has said. There have been 7,154 deaths and 79,433 recoveries. The countries with the highest number of cases were China (81,050), Italy (27,980), Iran (14,991), Spain (9,942), South Korea (8,320), Germany (7,272), France (6,650), the US (4,661), Switzerland (2,330), and the United Kingdom (1,553).

The European Commission said on Monday (16 March) it offered up to €80 million of financial support to German company CureVac to scale up development and production of a coronavirus vaccine in Europe.

The Netherlands will not impose a national lockdown over coronavirus because it would have to be in place for too long to make a difference, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said on TV on Monday. "It wouldn't be a matter of days or weeks. In that scenario, we would actually have to shut down our country for a year, or even longer, with all the consequences that follow," he added.

"As of tomorrow noon, external borders of the European Union and the [passport-free] Schengen area will be closed. All travel between non-EU countries and the European Union will be suspended for 30 days," French president Emmanuel Macron said on TV on Monday. EU leaders are holding a video-summit on Tuesday to formally agree the anti-coronavirus measure, proposed by the European Commission. French nationals will be allowed to return home.

US tech firm Apple has been penalised €1.1bn by French anti-trust regulator, the Autorité de la Concurrence, in the biggest such fine in French history. "Apple and its two wholesalers [French firms Tech Data and Ingram Micro] agreed to not compete against each other," it said. Apple denied wrongdoing and pledged to appeal. The move comes after EU regulators also levied record fines against US tech firms in recent years.

The European Commission has put forward a plan - which it says has strong support among member states - to deny non-essential travellers entry into the European Union for up to 30 days.

Malta has let the Libyan coastguard drag a boat of migrants from Maltese waters back to Libya, violating international law, a UN agency said.

What are Italy's mistakes and achievements in the fight against Covid-19? What are the biggest challenges? What are the citizens' greatest concerns? And how are people reacting?

EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton said "We are at war with the virus. An economic war."

Spain's lockdown involves never-before-seen measures, such as nationalisation of private health providers and closure of non-essential shops, but crowds on Monday morning showed teleworking was being only partly implemented.

Unprecedented scenes in the Romanian parliament, where interim prime minister Ludovic Orban was reinstated amidst a full medical lockdown.

Belgium's King Philip has given interim prime minister Sophie Wilmès the task of forming a government, after seven opposition parties agreed to support it. The agreement came after a political drama - and there are doubts if it will hold.

Far fewer people have been trying to cross the Greek border than in the last few weeks - but Turkey says migrants are still welcome to have a go.

Gender equality is a core value of the European Union. There is empirical evidence that this serves sustainable corporate governance. However, the representation of women in corporate (supervisory) boards varies from country to country. A Europe-wide equality strategy is therefore...

Poland has cancelled a hearing by its new disciplinary board on whether it can jail a government-critical judge called Igor Tuleya, citing coronavirus. The hearing, originally due Friday, was to be held behind closed doors, but was also expected to draw a large group of street protesters. The EU court is currently deliberating an injunction on the Polish disciplinary board, amid fears it is being used for political purposes.

Spain on Monday closed its borders to contain the coronavirus. "We are concerned about the health of citizens who are in Spain, with no distinctions made based on ethnicity or religion," said interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who explained that the measure will last for 30 days. The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia have also closed borders. Germany and others have partly closed them.