European Union

The United States is pushing for a late change to the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) landmark cap on sulphur emissions, throwing into doubt the 2020 implementation date.

EU-funded efforts to boost the uptake of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies have failed largely because of a lack of coordination and long-term strategies that scared away investors, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors.

Canada will host trade officials from the European Union, Japan and others for two-day talks starting Wednesday (24 October) aimed at shaping long-delayed reforms to the global trading system that have sparked tensions among major economies.

Ecuador, the world's largest banana exporter, is urging Latin American producers to fight German hard discounter supermarket chain Aldi's bid to pay one euro less per case in 2019.

As the debate on the French finance bill for 2019 kicks off, the discussion will focus on growth. Once again, the French government has failed to publish its assessment of the new wealth indicators on time. EURACTIV France reports.

The EU has long frowned at China’s action in Africa for not requiring respect for human rights as a condition for aid and thus promoting a Chinese-inspired authoritarian Africa. But in recent years the EU is not better, writes Fabian Wagner.

Romania’s Former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who has left the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) and established his own ProRomania party, blamed EU socialist leaders (PES) for their "guilty silence" over the grave breaches of rule of law by the Romanian government.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan could leave Britain in a “long running” multiyear transition period, the London Times reported on Wednesday (24 October) citing leaked documents seen by the newspaper. According to the leaked documents, the plan “could...

The European Union Political and Security Committee and the African Union Peace and Security Council held their 11th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

The European Commission rejected Italy’s 2019 budget in an unprecedented decision on Tuesday (23 October), after the government in Rome failed to give a substantial response to the executive's allegations of a breach of the EU law.

Written by Stefano Spinaci (1st edition),

© v.poth / Fotolia

Cross-border payments are crucial for the integration of the EU economy, and play an important role in ensuring that citizens and enterprises from all EU Member States enjoy the same rights offered by the single market. Currently, restrictions and excessive costs affecting cross-border payments are an impediment to the completion of this market.

Since the introduction of the euro, the EU has launched various initiatives to reduce the cost of cross-border transactions, among them a set of single euro payments area (SEPA) standards, regulations on cross-border payments, and the Payment Services Directives.

Nevertheless, cross-border euro payments made in non-euro-area Member States are still subject to high fees. Furthermore, when paying with a card or making an ATM withdrawal in a country using a currency other than the euro, it is almost impossible to know exactly how much it is going to cost.

On 28 March 2018, the European Commission presented a proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 and aimed at making cross-border payments in euros cheaper across the entire EU, while also bringing more transparency to currency-conversion practices.

Versions

• October 2018: ‘Cross-border euro transfers and currency conversions: A step forward in favour of the single market‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 as regards certain charges on cross-border payments in the Union and currency conversion charges Committee responsible: Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) COM(2018) 163
28.3.2018 Rapporteur: Eva Maydell (EPP, Bulgaria) 2018/0076(COD) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

  Olle Ludvigsson (S&D, Sweden)
Stanisław Ożóg (ECR, Poland)
Petr Ježek (ALDE, Czech Republic);
Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL, Portugal)
Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Barbara Kappel (ENF, Austria) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Vote on report in committee

The EU executive has asked Italy to resubmit its budget in an unprecedented rebuke, while warning Rome that public debt was the "enemy of the people".

The European Commission on Tuesday took an unprecedented step and decided to send back Italy's budget plan for 2019 for reconsideration, as it says the proposed plan is breaking EU rules. It gave Italy's populist government three weeks to tweak its plans, although Rome has said before it would not back down. The commission is concerned that the planned spending boost would make Italy's high debt-to-GDP ratio unsustainable.

Centrist parties, particularly those on the centre-left, were hammered at the European elections in 2014, in part because of their handling of the eurozone debt crisis. Social Democrat governments found themselves imposing Europe's deepest spending cuts.

Chinese’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd will open a new information security lab in Germany next month that will enable source code reviews, in a step aimed at winning regulators’ confidence before the country’s 5G mobile spectrum auction.

The chief of French oil firm Total attended a Saudi Arabian investment forum in Riyadh on Tuesday despite its murder of a dissident journalist. The heads of other firms - banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, transport firm Uber, and German engineering firm Siemens - sent lower-level delegates. Financial media Bloomberg, CNN, and the Financial Times withdrew support, but Russian and Asian CEOs and media stepped in, the BBC reports.

The European Commission is unhappy with the lack of progress in negotiating its proposal for a mandatory transparency register with the European Parliament and Council and has urged the Parliament to consider making "meaningful" proposals before "our next political meeting", according to an official letter seen by EURACTIV.com.

The European Union on Tuesday warned Romania to respect EU democratic values before it assumes the bloc's rotating presidency in January, or risk undermining its bid to join Europe's passport-free zone.

A funeral wreath, a severed ram's head and threatening notes were sent to the Novaya Gazeta's Moscow office this week in what the newspaper said in an editorial statement were the latest threats against its journalists.

The European Commission's new strategy is seeking to create a sustainable bioeconomy and build a carbon-neutral future. Rather than just find a replacement for petroleum-based products, the strategy addresses broader cyclic challenges, including food and nutrition security.