European Union

The Bank of England looks set to raise interest rates on Thursday (2 August) to their highest level since the financial crisis, defying warnings that it is taking a gamble ahead of Brexit, the terms of which remain unclear.

The number of people with foreign origins living in Germany increased by 4.4 percent in 2017, according to figures published Wednesday by the German statistics office. Some 19.3 million are either not born in Germany or have at least one parent who is not a German citizen, a record high. They represent 23.6 percent of Germany's population and 51 percent of them are German citizens.

France's parliament signed into law a controversial asylum and immigration bill on  Wednesday (1 August), despite opposition on the left which decried an effort to limit arrivals while the far right saw the measure as not going far enough.

Brexit negotiations are "heading for no deal by accident," UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned on Wednesday. A no-deal Brexit would be a "huge geo-strategic mistake," he said during a visit to Vienna, adding it would have "a profound impact" on EU-UK relations "for a generation". Prime minister Theresa May will meet French president Emmanuel Macron on Friday in an attempt to improve the process.

The European Commission says it is ready to boost spending in Morocco when it comes to stop migrant hopefuls from reaching Spain by boat. The money follows demands for help from Madrid as irregular arrival numbers spike in Spain.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is to scale back operations further as it copes with higher than expected staff losses, triggered by the watchdog's forced relocation from London to Amsterdam because of Brexit.

Written by Magdalena Pasikowska-Schnass,

The tragedy of the Holocaust was a crucial consideration in the development of European integration; Simone Veil, the first female President of the European Parliament, described it as the horrible price paid for allowing totalitarian ideologies, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism take hold on the continent, with the resultant dehumanisation of certain groups of people. Veil also deeply regretted the lack of widespread knowledge of the whole history of the period, including that the memory of the Roma Holocaust was not brought to public attention.

It was only in 1982 that Germany recognised the racial grounds for the deportations, imprisonment and extermination of Roma and Sinti people in Nazi concentration camps in Europe. It was also not until 2001 that the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum devoted a permanent exhibition to Roma and Sinti victims, where Romani and Sinti, armed with sticks and stones, had resisted being removed from barracks in May 1944. On 2 August 1944 the Nazis, fearing the rebellion could spread, sent around 3 000 Roma people from the Gypsy Camp to their death.

This was just one of many events that marked the Roma Holocaust, which took a toll of between 220 000 and 500 000 Roma victims – between one quarter and a half of the Roma and Sinti population of the pre-war period. The exact number is not known, since the victims’ families did not officially report their losses and the perpetrators erased the records of their crimes.

In April 2015, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the occasion of ‘International Roma Day – anti-Gypsyism in Europe and EU recognition of the memorial day of the Roma genocide during World War II’. The general term ‘Roma’ covers various groups, such as Roma, Travellers, Sinti, Manouches, Kalés, Romanichels, Boyash, Ashkalis, Égyptiens, Yéniches, Doms and Loms, with diverse cultures and lifestyles. In the context of growing anti-Gypsyism, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia in Europe, the EP called for the establishment of a European day of commemoration of the victims of Roma genocide during World War II ‘The European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day’. This call was reiterated in a further EP resolution adopted in October 2017 ‘Fundamental rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-gypsyism’, designating 2 August as a Memorial Day, as well as appealing for the inclusion of Roma victims in Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp in January 1945.

The European Parliament commemorated the memory of the Roma and Sinti victims of Nazi extermination on 27 January 2018, inviting representatives of Roma people for the commemoration and hosting an exhibition devoted to Roma genocide.

Holocaust education is crucial to keeping the memory of Roma victims alive. EU funding from the Europe for Citizens programme supports projects related to World War II Roma history. The Roma Genocide Remembrance Initiative is one such project, undertaken and coordinated by the ternYpe International Roma Youth Network, aiming at raising awareness of the Roma Holocaust among educators. Macedonia and Hungary participated in a similar project ‘Roma Genocide – Part of European History‘, and commemorated Roma victims on 2 August 2015 in the Csillagerőd (Star Fortress) in Komárom, from where thousands of Roma were deported to concentration camps.

Sweden’s highest peak, a glacier on the southern tip of the Kebnekaise mountain, is melting due to record hot Arctic temperatures and is no longer the nation’s tallest point, scientists said on Wednesday (1 August).

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for diabetes sufferers.

Have you had your blood sugar level checked lately? Did you know that a simple test can diagnose diabetes and spare you a lot of health problems, or even save your life? Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting over 33 million EU citizens, characterised by elevated levels of blood sugar that over time can cause serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 results from a lack of insulin production and type 2 from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes accounts for almost 90 % of diabetes cases and can often be prevented by a healthy lifestyle, regular physical activity and maintaining a normal body weight.

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EU countries are responsible for their own healthcare policies. The EU complements these policies, and focuses on prevention and research, in particular in the context of its work on non-communicable diseases. From 2007 to 2013, projects under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme gave a big boost to diabetes research. The programme funded over 150 projects on diabetes, totalling €376 million. Under the current Horizon 2020 research programme, the EU is still supporting effective efforts to prevent the disease and treat patients. Recent examples include Feel4Diabetes, which is developing a community-based approach for families, because diabetes tends to recur in families with history of the disease. PAMperR involves research into diabetic retinopathy, POWER2DM aims to develop a system for diabetes patient empowerment, while ePREDICE focuses on early prevention of diabetes complications.

Further information

• EPRS publication on World Health Day on diabetes, 2016, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_ATA(2016)580879
• European Commission’s website on diabetes, https://ec.europa.eu/research/health/index.cfm?pg=area&areaname=diabetes
• World Health Organization’s website on diabetes, http://www.who.int/diabetes/en/
• EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service: www.epthinktank.eu

As US President Donald Trump gears up pressure on China for trade concessions by proposing a higher 25% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, the EU hailed a near three-fold jump in soybean imports from the US, attributing the surge to "market forces" and not last week's highly touted trade deal with President Trump.

EU election observers have denounced Zimbabwe’s election commission and state media as the continued delay in releasing the presidential election results increases public fears of a rigged poll.

Ukraine's backsliding on reforms continues a national tradition: a Reuters study of data since 1994 shows it has drawn less than half the IMF funds it could have received, with commitment to change often weakening when economic indicators improve.

A plan to charge journalists up to €100 a year to cover summits in Brussels has been rejected as a violation of press freedom. "We don't like it," says the EU executive.

Imports of US soybeans to Europe increased by 283 percent in July, compared to July last year, according to figures released by the EU Wednesday. Soybeans from the US now represent 37 percent of imports, compared to 9 percent last year. The increase, mainly due to a fall in prices after Chinese tariffs on US products, predates European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker's promise last week to buy more US soybeans.

Germany on Wednesday (1 August) resumed family reunifications for some refugees, drawing ire from leftist groups who said a cap of 1,000 people a month was too little and a far-right party opposed to immigration altogether.

An attack against discus thrower Daisy Osakue has sparked a debate about racism in Italy. The athlete suffered an eye injury when unknown assailants hurled an egg at her from a car. The UN Refugee Agency reports an increase in xenophobic attacks in the country, and the opposition says Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's refugee policy is partly to blame. Europe's press agrees.