European Union

The UK's ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson is coming under increasing pressure from within his party after his contentious remarks about women wearing burqas (he described them as resembling "letter boxes" and "bank robbers"). Several leading Tory politicians, including Prime Minister Theresa May, have demanded that he apologise. Johnson refuses to do so. Is he right to stick to his guns?

Jordan warned on Wednesday (8 August) that a severe financial shortfall facing a United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees could have a "catastrophic" impact on the lives of millions of refugees in the region.

Drought is causing severe problems for farmers in the Nordic region and the Baltic countries. This is the third year in a row that the region has experienced extreme weather conditions, pushing farmers' financial situation to a breaking point.

Belarus on Wednesday (8 August) detained at least six more journalists in Minsk including a freelance correspondent for Deutsche Welle in an ongoing crackdown on independent media, ostensibly over unauthorised access to a state news agency.

A petition urging multinational Bayer to withdraw an appeal against a top EU court decision on banning neonicotinoids has gathered more than 150,000 signatures in just two days, increasing pressure on the German firm.

Washington said on Wednesday (8 August) it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.

French-Algerian businessman and activist, Rachid Nekkaz, has pledged to pay fines issued in Denmark for breaches of a new law against face-masking garments, known as the 'burqa ban', after a 29-year-old woman became the first to be penalised under the law, which came into effect last week. Nekkaz told Berlingske he already paid hundreds of thousands of euros for women fined in Belgium, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and Germany.

Greek defence minister Panos Kammenos threatened on Wednesday to pull his nationalist Independent Greeks (ANEL) party from the government if a name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is put to a vote in the parliament, rather than a referendum. "I will not allow this deal to go through," he told the Greek internet radio. Greek MPs are set to vote on the deal in September.

With 60 percent of babies born outside marriage, France leads a trend in Europe of more births occurring in non-marital relationships, cohabiting couples and to lone parents. In contrast, 80 percent of live births in Greece, Croatia and Cyprus were registered within marriage, 2016 figures from Eurostat showed. Overall, 43 percent of births in the EU were outside marriage, up 15 percent since 2000.

Italy on Wednesday (8 August) cut its forecasts for economic growth and said the country's public deficit this year and in 2019 would be larger than previously forecast, potentially lining it up for a clash with Brussels.

The summer's extreme heat, drought and fires has lifted the environment to become the second most important political issue among Swedish voters one month ahead of general election, according to a new Demoskop survey published by Swedish daily Expressen. Some 23 percent of voters consider immigration to be the most important issue, but 16 percent now view the environment as the most important, ahead of healthcare at 13 percent.

Hundreds of migrant farmworkers walked off tomato fields in Foggia in southern Italy on Wednesday protesting their working conditions after two road accidents killed 16 African workers. The accidents happened when lorries carrying tomatoes collided with vans carrying the labourers home after their day's work. Interior minister Matteo Salvini reacted by declaring war on the mafia networks exploiting foreign agricultural workers, saying they had benefited from "uncontrolled immigration".

Germany announced on Wednesday a new agreement with Spain that migrants who are already registered there will be refused entry at the German border and deported within 48 hours. Similar talks with Italy and Greece are underway. Spain has become the new preferred route for migrants attempting to reach Europe in recent months, but does not share any direct borders with Germany.

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 hairdressers.

The hairdressing sector in Europe employs more than a million people. Together with other owners of small and medium-sized companies, as a hairdresser you can benefit from the EU’s small business-friendly legislation. You can access EU-backed loans for small businesses and European market information. Enterprise Europe Network makes it easier to find a new business partner in Europe. Moreover, EU laws allow EU countries to apply reduced value added tax rates to various services, including hairdressing. This reduction, if applied, helps to increase profit margins for the sector.

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© JackF / Fotolia

It is estimated that there are around 400 000 hairdressing salons in the EU. Customers tend to view salons as safe and relaxing places, probably not realising that for hairdressers themselves the workplace can, in fact, be very harmful. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), exposure to chemicals and the nature of hairdressing work more generally can lead to various skin and respiratory diseases, chronic pain, physical injuries and even cancer.

The EU has already funded two projects focused on researching and implementing the prevention of occupational skin diseases in the hairdressing sector – SafeHair 1.0 (2010) and SafeHair 2.0 (2011). In addition, there is a growing body of EU occupational safety and health legislation that aims to protect all people, including hairdressers, from exposure to dangerous substances and other health threats at work.

Further information

• The Small Business Act for Europe, http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/business-friendly-environment/small-business-act_en
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) report on ‘Occupational health and safety in the hairdressing sector’, 2014, https://osha.europa.eu/en/tools-and-publications/publications/literature_reviews/occupational-health-and-safety-in-the-hairdressing-sector
• European Commission, VAT rates applied in the Member States of the EU, 2018, https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/resources/documents/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/rates/vat_rates_en.pdf
• EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service: www.epthinktank.eu

The arrest of two Greek soldiers at the border with Turkey was “pre-planned” and ordered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Greek defence minister Panos Kammenos has claimed.