European Union

The Austrian Presidency of the EU will aim to reach agreement on two flagship pieces of legislation during its six-month stint at the EU helm – including new CO2 emissions standards for new cars and vans for 2030 and a controversial reform of the electricity market.

Keramag Keramische Werke and Others v Commission
Competition
The General Court upholds the fine of €57 million imposed on Sanitec Europe and its subsidiaries in the context of the cartel on the bathroom fixtures and fittings market

EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has urged Austria's ruling coalition party to break relations with right-wing partners, Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen. "I wish that the FPO would leave this negative association [the ENF group]. For me it does not belong in this category," he said in Strasbourg on Monday. Austria's OVP conservative chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks in parliament on Tuesday, as Austria takes over the rotating EU presidency.

Every year, MEPs spend some €40m of taxpayer money on things like restaurants and hotels amid public pressure for accountability, given numerous scandals. On Monday, EU parliament leaders decided to keep the public in the dark.

"The populists are not popular. It's 14 percent of the vote in Germany and smaller percentages in other countries," says global campaigner Ricken Patel, considering to use his organisation, Avaaz, to raise turnout in next year's European parliament elections.

"International regulation has to be agreed before the development gets completely out of hand," says one MEP as the European Parliament is due to vote on an EU defence fund that could see taxpayer-funded development of the controversial weapons systems.

Quite a few of the Commission's proposals deserve endorsement. Others warrant adjustment and refining.

French president Emmanuel Macron has fired his ambassador to Hungary, Eric Fournier, after he wrote a memo to the Elysee praising the harsh migration policies of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. The document was published by French investigative site Mediapart. Macron was alerted to the publication at an EU summit in Brussels last week and nominated a new ambassador, Pascale Andreani, over the weekend.

German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Monday to build border camps for asylum seekers and to tighten the border with Austria in a political deal with her Bavarian sister party, the CSU, to save her government. She also accepted to keep the CSU's leader, Horst Seehofer, as minister of the interior. The new policy is subject to the approval by the Social Democrats, the third party in Merkel's coalition.

Unemployment in the euro area dropped to 8.4 percent in May 2018 and to 7.0 percent in the whole EU, the lowest rates since 2008, according to Eurostat. The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment (2.3 percent) followed by Germany (3.4 percent). The highest rates were observed in Greece (20.1 percent) and Spain (15.8 percent). In comparison the unemployment rate in the US was 3.8 percent in May.

US president Donald Trump has sent letters to the leaders of Nato countries, including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, demanding that they increase their defence spending. The letters were sent in June and revealed by the New York Times ahead of the upcoming Nato summit in Brussels on 11-12 July. Trump wrote the US may otherwise consider a response, including adjusting the United States' military presence around the world.

The US Chamber of Commerce on Monday (2 July) denounced President Donald Trump's handling of global trade disputes, issuing a report that argued tariffs imposed by Washington and retaliation by its partners would boomerang badly on the American economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives settled a row over migration that threatened to topple her fragile governing coalition late on Monday evening after talks with her rebellious interior minister led him to drop his threat to resign.

Poland’s upper house of parliament approved an amendment to the country's renewable energy law on Friday (29 June) meant to remove obstacles to green energy investment and help Warsaw meet EU targets.

Self-employment is becoming more diversified in Europe and covers an increasing number of activities. But this small revolution raises issues when it comes to social protection. EURACTIV.fr reports.

Thailand has become one of the largest dumpsites for electronic waste from developed countries since China’s January ban on the import of plastic waste. EURACTIV’s partner Le Journal de l’environnement reports.

The attitude that the EU owes something to the candidate countries in the Western Balkans is wrong, as well as the belief that concerns over the growing Russian influence in the region will be enough to bring someone "closer to the EU”, according to the EU Ambassador to Montenegro, Aivo Orav.

The UK government should immediately open talks to secure a Data Adequacy Decision from the European Commission, MPs said in a new report published on Tuesday (2 July).

The European Commission wants future connected vehicles to be able to run both on 5G and Wifi networks, claiming its upcoming legal proposal will remain "technology neutral". But a leading lawmaker warns this will in effect give preference to one technology over another.

The next European Commission should focus on the bloc’s role in the global context of innovation, as China is “decisive” about creating a reliable framework for intellectual property and connecting biotech start-ups and digital companies, EFPIA’s President Stefan Oschmann told EURACTIV.com in an interview.