European Union

EU ambassadors today endorsed a Council negotiating mandate on amending the Union’s bank resolution framework. The so-called ‘Daisy Chain’ proposal introduces targeted adjustments that will play an essential role in improving an institution’s resolvability.

EU ambassadors today endorsed the provisional political agreement reached between the Presidency and the European Parliament's negotiators on a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology (DLT).

EU Court of Justice: nine judges of the General Court appointed

Europe will soon produce a strategically vital component in the modern global economy as US semiconductor giant Intel chooses the site for a new cutting-edge chip factory.

Congratulations! You made it to the end of one of the most thrilling, exhausting, hopeful and depressing years in the history of climate policy. 2022 will be the Year of Negotiation – or the Year of Infighting.

Written by Piotr Bakowski (1st edition).

On 20 July 2021, the European Commission presented a package of legislative proposals in the area of anti-money-laundering efforts and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The package includes a proposal for a regulation on preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing. The proposed regulation would be the central element of what is commonly referred to as an EU ‘single rulebook’ on AML/CFT. Its detailed and directly applicable provisions would replace the minimum rules of the EU AML directives currently in force.

The package has been adopted in response to repeated calls by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to enhance the EU’s regulatory framework on AML/CFT. The aim is for the framework to become more coherent, keeping in step with technological innovations and related new forms of crime, as well as remaining in line with international standards in the field. In Parliament, the Committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs are jointly responsible for the file.

Versions

• December 2021: Proposal for a regulation to fight money laundering and counter terrorist financing (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing Committee responsible:Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) (jointly under Rule 58)COM(2021) 420
20.7.2021Rapporteurs:Eero Heinäluoma (S&D, Finland) and
Damien Carême (Greens/EFA, France)2021/0239(COD)Shadow rapporteurs:Ralf Seekatz (EPP, Germany); Franco Roberti (S&D, Italy); Dragoş Pîslaru (Renew, Romania); Ramona Strugariu (Renew, Romania); Kira Marie Peter‑Hansen (Greens/EFA, Denmark); Jean-Paul Garraud (ID, France); Jadwiga Wiśniewska (ECR, Poland); Roberts Zīle (ECR, Latvia); Clare Daly (The Left, Ireland); Martin Schirdewann (The Left, Germany)Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Publication of draft report

In an exclusive interview he gave to ‘Groupe d’études géopolitiques’, former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker advocated for the EU to directly engage with Russia, instead of simply relying on Russia-US relations to solve the continent’s security threats.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday (21 December) said the EU's withholding of funds was "the most brutal sabotage" as he insisted his country would stick by harsh asylum rules.

If a second carbon market for transport and heating fuels is implemented, then the EU’s related Social Climate Fund would need to be bigger, write Imke Luebbeke and Ludovic Voet.

Countries across Europe considered new curbs on movement on Tuesday (21 December) while US President Joe Biden appealed to all Americans to get vaccinated to fight the Omicron variant sweeping the world days before the second Christmas of the pandemic.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Finland's government being undecided about what to do with undocumented migrants, Romania's parliament building being targeted by people protesting COVID-19 measures, and so much more.

The Belgian federal and regional governments will decide on Wednesday on new measures to stop the rapid surge of the Omicron variant, De Standaard reports. There would be no hard lockdown on the table, saving Christmas gatherings for most families. However, New Year parties might be restricted as the closing hour for bars and restaurants would remain 11PM. Indoor and outdoor activities might be cancelled.

An EU travel ban on southern African states due to the Omicron variant was "inefficient", but member sates were reluctant to scrap it, EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders told Reuters Tuesday. "We [the EU Commission] will continue to push not only for diplomatic reasons, but also because it [the ban] is becoming inefficient. We have other tools," he said. South Africa was creating "huge pressure" over the ban, he said.

Germany's new chancellor Olof Scholz did not mention human rights in his first phone call with Chinese president Xi Jinping Tuesday, according to readouts, while focusing on improving trade relations instead. Scholz said he hoped a new China-EU Investment Agreement "will take effect as soon as possible", even though the European Parliament has blocked this because China blacklisted dozens of MEPs and EU officials in a sanctions dispute.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (21 December) that Russia had no room to retreat in a standoff with the United States over Ukraine and would be forced into a tough response unless the West dropped its “aggressive line”. Putin...

The United States has endorsed Slovenia in its effort to win a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2024-2025, a candidacy that pits it against Belarus. The US considers Slovenia a very suitable candidate which would be “a...

Epidemiologist Predrag Kon estimated that a new leap in coronavirus infections awaits Serbia in the second half of January. Kon appealed to the citizens of Serbia to avoid mass gatherings for the holidays if they are not vaccinated because the...

Hungary has organised a major military exercise along its border with Serbia and agreed with Ankara on the deployment of Turkish police forces to suppress further inflows of migrants from the Middle East, portal Balkan Security Network wrote on Tuesday....

The US is keen to start security talks with Russia in January, while threatening "immediate" sanctions in the event of a new attack on Ukraine.

EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi and SNSD leader Milorad Dodik “agreed” on the date of the special session of National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Serb entity (RS), as well as the dynamics of the “entry into force” of...