European Union

The Stabilisation and Association Council between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina held its fourth meeting on 13 July 2021 in Brussels.

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with the Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/1031 of 24 June 2021 amending Council Decision 2012/642/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus.

On 13 July 2021, the Council approved conclusions on the 2021 in-depth reviews under the macroeconomic imbalance procedure.

The Council today adopted the first batch of Council implementing decisions on the approval of national recovery and resilience plans.

The Council today adopted an amendment to the VAT directive introducing a temporary VAT exemption on importations and certain supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Council regulation that paves the way for the development of the next generation of supercomputers in Europe.

Britain's top domestic spymaster will caution the population on Wednesday (14 July) to treat the threat of spying from Russia and China as vigilantly as terrorism, warning that foreign spies were seeking to pilfer technology, sow discord and attack infrastructure.

The main priorities of Slovenia's EU presidency in transport are e-mobility and alternative fuels, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec said as he presented the presidency agenda to the European Parliament's Transport Committee on Tuesday.

Russia has failed to provide the European Medicines Agency (EMA) with clinical data on adverse effects of its Sputnik V anti-corona vaccine and on its drug's "master cell bank", its biological core, in what amounts to a "major" problem for EU approval, according to EMA sources speaking to Reuters. Russia said there were "no reported serious adverse events", while blaming the "Western pharmaceutical lobby" for sowing anti-Sputnik V "disinformation".

NASA and the European Space Agency joined forces Tuesday (13 July) in the battle against climate change, a move they said paves the way to a global response to the problem.

Spain’s most “feminist” executive in the Iberian country’s history started its work with the economic recovery topping the agenda officially on Tuesday, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday said Bosnia and Herzegovina has to do better in its efforts to align with the European Union. "I have to regret that the rate of alignment has dropped in the first months of this year and this is, certainly, not in line with the aspirations to become a European Union candidate country," he said.

Over 100 intellectual-property experts and academics called on Tuesday on the UK, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the EU to stop blocking the proposal demanding the temporary lifting of intellectual properties rights for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. The call comes ahead of this week's round of the 'TRIPS Waiver' negotiations at the World Trade Organization. The proposal is currently supported by over 100 countries, including the US.

Poland has postponed a Constitutional Court verdict, on whether EU or Polish law has primacy in the country, from Tuesday until at least Thursday. The EU Commission has urged Poland to scrap the procedure, in a court stuffed with political loyalists of the ruling, eurosceptic PiS party. Polish human rights Ombudsman Adam Bodnar also said Tuesday the process "sooner or later will lead to Poland's removal from the EU".

France's anti-trust watchdog has handed Google a €500m fine for using French news agencies' material, Reuters reports. Google must now present proposals within two months on how it will compensate the agencies, and other publishers, for the use of their news. If it does not, Google could face additional fines of up to €900,000 per day. Google said it was disappointed at the decision.

EU finance ministers on Tuesday approved investment plans from 12 member states - including Italy, Spain and France - paving the way for the first payments of grants and loans from the bloc's €800bn Covid-19 recovery fund to boost the economy. Plans from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Slovakia were also given the green light. The next group of plans could be approved on 26 July.

Lithuania's parliament has approved the mass detention of asylum-seekers and restricted their rights to appeal, in a bid to deter the newly-high numbers crossing the border from Belarus. Reuters writes. Some 84 members of the 141-seat parliament voted to pass the law, brushing aside protests from Red Cross and other non-government organisations saying it violates Lithuania's international obligations and migrants' rights.

The European Medicine Agency told Reuters on Tuesday that it is analysing data on rare cases of nerve disorder, discovered among some of those who receive the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in the US. The review comes after the US Food and Drug Administration added a warning for a rare side-effect called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which occurs when one's immune system damages the nerves. Most people recuperate from it.

The spread of the more contagious Delta variant has prompted authorities in member states to accelerate inoculation campaigns, and even make vaccination mandatory - in a bid to halt the new surge of cases and avoid lockdowns in the autumn.

The NGO search-and-rescue vessel Ocean Viking was the only civilian ship at sea. In the span of just four days, it saved nearly 600 people - often in a race with an aggressive Libyan coast guard.