European Union

Donors have pledged more than $1.1 billion to help Afghanistan, where poverty and hunger have spiralled since the Islamist Taliban took power, and foreign aid has dried up, raising the spectre of a mass exodus.

Uber drivers in the Netherlands are entitled to the same employment benefits as taxi drivers, a court in Amsterdam has ruled, AP reported. The court argued the legal relationship between Uber and its drivers "conforms to all the characteristics of an employment contract". The Dutch workers' organisation that brought the case called the decision a major victory for Uber drivers.

People from the Western Balkans could create the next EU migration crisis, if Europe lets enlargement promises fail, the EU's enlargement commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, said Monday. "We must keep our promises to the Western Balkans. For me, this is one of the most important lessons of the Afghan situation," he told Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet. The EU and Turkey also needed "a new kind of partnership," on migration, he said.

French president Emmanuel Macron's ex-bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla, arrived at a Paris court on Monday, for trial for allegedly assaulting two people during a 2018 protest while posing as a police officer, AFP reported. The incident caused deep embarrassment for Macron, who was forced to fire Benalla. The presidency also held off reporting the assault to authorities, and it came to light only after the daily Le Monde revealed it.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament is to adopt a report calling on the EU Commission to propose laws to better protect platform workers. The S&D want to ensure platform workers can be considered employees, with full social and worker's rights.

Pope Francis on Monday in Slovakia warned against too much focus on individual rights and culture wars at the expense of the common good. Francis reiterated the message he made during a stopover on Sunday in Hungary, on how nations should avoid a selfish, defensive mentality, as he recalled the region's communist past, according to Reuters. "Fraternity is necessary for the increasingly-pressing process of (European) integration," the pope said.

A report by the European Court of Auditors, the EU's Luxembourg-based watchdog, suggests the current, ineffective, EU agreements to return migrants may end up encouraging people to come.

The European Commission is planning to ask companies selling certain products in the EU, like palm oil or soya, to prove that they are not contributing to deforestation, a leaked document shows. Environmentalists, however, foresee loopholes in the regulation.

Improvements in automation technology may soon eliminate the need for a co-pilot in commercial flights, a disruptive development that has already sparked criticism from pilots and cabin crew groups on safety grounds.

Some 227 climate activists were killed in 2020. European financial institutions have in the past contributed to the problem by financing infrastructure projects that later were linked to the targeted killing of environmental activists.

EU customs-check delays for British food imports were a "fandango of bureaucracy" because the two sides' food standards were aligned anyway, Archie Norman, the chairman of British retailer M&S said Monday. "Our fresh sandwiches and ready meals, going to Ireland or France are delayed by about a day - that is not good if you are a sandwich," he said on LBC radio, adding: "the French, predictably, are draconian".

Effiecient, technological and smarter buildings should be the cornerstone of Europe's decarbonisation, but more effort needs to go towards renovating the bloc's current building stock, writes Seán Kelly.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has urged the EU, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK to stop blocking coronavirus vaccine patent-waivers ahead of a World Trade Organisation meeting on the issue on Tuesday. "People in [poorer] countries, facing life or death in this pandemic, can no longer rely on charitable or voluntary measures dictated by a small number of high-income countries and the pharmaceutical industry they host," MSF said.

Russian mercenary firm Wagner could send up to 1,000 fighters to Mali to train soldiers and protect VIPs under a new deal with its military junta, according to diplomatic sources speaking to Reuters. The deployment could jeopardise France's 5,000-man strong counter-terrorist mission in the region, which was to involve more EU states. "Public opinion in Mali is in favour of more cooperation with Russia," a Mali defence-ministry spokesman said.

Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has renewed her call for a second independence referendum, but was immediately shot down by the British government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday (13 September) that EU membership of the Western Balkans region, a theatre of competition between the West, China and Russia, is of absolute geostrategic interest for the bloc.

A digital platform connecting companies that want to pursue the sustainable development of their businesses. It is called Open-es, an innovative initiative established by the collaboration between Eni, Boston Consulting Group and Google Cloud.

Political contacts between Spain’s central government and Catalonia’s pro-independence executive are due to start on Thursday or Friday, with both sides expressing opposing views on the prospects of independence for the prosperous Spanish region, a red line for Madrid, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.

Washington hopes EU countries "understand" that the Western Balkans should be part of Europe "full stop" and is worried about the weak message coming from European capitals, the newly appointed department of state official responsible for the region said on Monday (13 September).

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to create a new crop insurance system, with a budget of €600 million per year, which will be simpler, faster and more efficient.