European Union

Liviu Dragnea, head of Romania's Social Democratic Party (PSD) and of the Chamber of Deputies, is refusing to step down despite having been sentenced last week in the first instance for abuse of power. Thousands took to the streets in protest on the weekend. Romania's press hopes that the growing pressure will topple Dragnea eventually.

In the World Championship game between Sweden and Germany the Swedish player Jimmy Durmaz fouled in the last minute leading to a free kick and victory goal for Germany. This in turn prompted a storm of racist abuse on social media against Durmaz, who has Turkish roots. The Swedish press is appalled.

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EU Ministers of Foreign and European Affairs meet on 26 June 2018 in Luxembourg to discuss draft conclusions of the June European Council and hold a first hearing on the rule of law in Poland. They are expected to adopt conclusions on enlargement and the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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European cities are currently toying with various types of urban vehicle access restrictions. Though these cities mean well, such restrictions are burdensome and come at a cost for motorists, so smart mobility measures need to be proposed instead, writes Laurianna Krid.

Two years after voting to leave the EU, the United Kingdom is split down the middle about what Brexit should look like, whether it should happen, and whether they should have another vote on it.

French defence minister Florence Parly told Le Figaro in an interview ahead of a joint EU defence and foreign minister in Luxembourg on Monday that nine countries - France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal - would sign a 'letter of intent' supporting the European Intervention Initiative, championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, creating a European military intervention force and including the UK after Brexit.

The European Union should support France’s proposal to add compliance with the Paris Agreement as an essential element of EU trade accords, writes Steve Herz.

Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured on Sunday a new five-year term after winning the majority (53 percent) of votes in the first round of a presidential elections, ahead of his closest rival Muharrem Ince on 31 percent. Erdogan was prime minister for 11 years before becoming president in 2014. Under Turkey's new constitution, adopted in a tight referendum last year, Erdogan could run again and potentially hold power until 2028.

Support for French president Emmanuel Macron dropped one percentage point in June to 40 percent, according to an Ifop-JDD poll published over the weekend. Macron suffered a remarkable eight-point fall in one month to 38 percent among elderly French over 65 years of age, highlighting pensioners' frustration over the higher tax bills they have been paying since the start of the year.

EP president Antonio Tajani has called for bigger investment in Africa to avoid that "hundreds of thousands of immigrants will turn into millions, with devastating consequences for Europe". In an article published by several European media on Sunday he said investment of at least €6bn to shut down the Mediterranean routes was needed and urged closer cooperation with transit countries Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya.

Two years after the Brexit referendum, pro-EU demonstrators called on Saturday in London for a new vote to have the final say on the country's departure deal with the European Union. A petition to have a 'People's Vote on the Brexit Deal' was signed by more than 100,000 people within 48 hours.

Written by Marketa Pape (1st edition),

© olrat / Fotolia

The European Union’s efforts to reduce the negative impacts of transport include promoting a shift from road freight transport to lower-emission transport modes. This also includes combined transport operations, which consist of at least one road leg for initial or final haulage and one non‑road leg on rail or water. The 1992 Combined Transport Directive set out measures that were meant to increase the competitiveness of combined transport against road-only transport.

In 2017, 25 years after the directive entered into force, the Commission conducted a legislative review and proposed to simplify the existing rules and make combined transport more attractive by means of economic incentives. The initiative is part of the ‘mobility package’, a set of legislative proposals presented by the Commission to make EU transport safer, greener and more modern.

In the European Parliament, the TRAN committee is due to vote on its report in July, while the Council has found solutions to several issues, and published a progress report on 18 May 2018.

• June 2018: ‘Combined transport directive review: Getting more goods off EU roads‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Directive 92/106/EEC on the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined transport of goods between Member States Committee responsible: Transport and Tourism (TRAN) COM(2017) 648
8.11.2017 Rapporteur: Daniela Aiuto (EFDD, Italy) 2017/0290(COD) Shadow rapporteurs:

 

  Claudia Schmidt (EPP, Austria)
Isabella De Monte (S&D, Italy)
Kosma Złotowski (ECR, Poland)
Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (ALDE, Spain)
Marie-Pierre Vieu (GUE/NGL, France)
Jakop Dalunde (Greens/EFA, Sweden)
Georg Mayer (ENF, Austria) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Vote on draft report in committee

We see the new CAP as spelling the death of rural communities, the acceleration of the rural exodus, the consolidation of big agribusinesses, jeopardising public health standards and turning binding climate change targets into optional goals for member states.