European Union

Council adopts regulation on South Pacific regional fisheries management organisation

Council adopts a new multiannual management plan for the North Sea

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has defied calls for the European People's Party to expel his 'illiberal' Fidesz party - instead telling the group they need to reform to fit his 'Christian democracy' stance.

More than 3000 organisations and a group of senior MEPs have urged EU employment ministers to broker a common deal to open talks with MEPs on the Work-life Balance Directive next Thursday (21 June).

The theme of Europe and refugees is the main cause for division in the French conservative party Les Républicains. The leader of the party has dismissed its vice-president Virginie Calmels, who accused him of “defending his own ideas”. EURACTIV.fr reports.

Yet another visit by Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans to the Polish capital resulted in no breakthrough in the spat between Brussels and Warsaw over the rule of law.

The European Fiscal Board has discredited the Commission’s proposed fund to protect investment as “very modest”, “narrow” and not well designed, its chair Niels Thygesen said on Monday (18 June).

After a thorough analysis in cooperation with EU countries we have identified many regulatory restrictions that hamper innovation and investment in the retail sector.

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

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Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, visits EU leaders in preparation of the June 2018 European Council.

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The leaders of France and Germany’ will meet in Berlin on 19 June for a preparatory summit ahead of the European Council at the end of the month. But the two countries continue to hold different views on the subject of the economy. EURACTIV.fr reports.

The Council requested the Commission to explore options for improving the EU's compliance with the Aarhus Convention.

On 18 June 2018, the Council extended the restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia until 23 June 2019.

Five years ago, the founders of ‘Teachers on the Road’ started visiting fifty refugee homes in the German states Rhineland-Palatine and Hesse. A lot has changed since then – and not always for the better. EURACTIV Germany reports.

German media report that Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was arrested on Monday in relation to the investigation into the 'Dieselgate' emissions-cheating scandal. Newspaper Handelsblatt said prosecutors were worried that he would obstruct the investigation by talking to witnesses. The illegal defeat devices which parent company Volkswagen Group was revealed in September 2015 to have used in millions of diesel cars, were first developed at Audi.

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Police fired tear gas against protesters in Greece and Macedonia over the weekend, as diplomats signed a name deal to unlock EU enlargement.

EU states, plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein, registered 728,470 asylum applications last year, a 44 percent drop compared to 2016. Germany had the highest registrations at 222,560, followed by Italy and France.

Non-citizens from Nigeria to Afghanistan get a binding 'vote' on whatever the EU's internal debates submit to them. They will vote with their feet on whether to keep trying their luck when faced with a new system.

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On 18 June 2018, Federica MOGHERINI, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, hosts the annual G5 Sahel Ministerial Meeting in Brussels.

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