European Union

France needs to push back the retirement age and the government will continue its pension reforms as soon as the Covid-19 situation is under control, French president Emmanuel Macron said in a televised speech Monday. His initial proposals for pension reforms provoked weeks of protests and strikes just before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Macron put it on hold as he ordered France into lockdown a year and a half ago.

EU foreign-affairs chief Josep Borrell said Slovenia's prime minister Janez Janša did not speak for the EU, despite holding the EU presidency, when he went on an anti-Iran regime rant in video-talks with an Iran opposition group this weekend. Janša's comments "did not represent the European Union, most definitely not ... they were certain opinions of the Slovenian prime minister," Borrell said Monday, amid sensitive, EU-chaired Iran nuclear non-proliferation talks.

The Council and European Parliament today reached a provisional political agreement on a proposal to revise the Aarhus Regulation, which aims to guarantee access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters.

Remarks by Paschal Donohoe following the Eurogroup meeting of 12 July 2021 on the exchange of views with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, fiscal stance of the euro area and the digital future of the euro.

Representatives of the EU Member States, the Western Balkans and Turkey, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, as well as representatives of the central banks of the Western Balkans and Turkey met for their annual economic policy dialogue . The dialogue aims at preparing the Western Balkans and Turkey for their future participation in the European Semester.

The Council approved conclusions setting out the EU's priorities at the United Nations during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (September 2021 – September 2022).

The Council approved conclusions on “A Globally Connected Europe” stressing the importance of connectivity for promoting the EU’s geostrategic interests and values globally.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

The Council prolonged the sanctions targeting specific economic sectors of the Russian Federation for a further six months, until 31 January 2022.

The Council has decided to set up an EU military training mission in Mozambique to support local armed forces in protecting the civilian population and restoring safety and security in Cabo Delgado.

The Cuban government should listen to its people's grievances instead of reacting with a crackdown on the biggest demonstrations there in 30 years.

As the first anniversary of the deadly Beirut explosion approaches, the EU said it hopes to develop the legal framework for sanctions targeting Lebanese leaders by August. More than 11 months since Lebanon's government resigned in response to the blast in August 2020, the country is still headed by a caretaker government. The EU said the sanctions would be "balanced" against people from Lebanon's various ethnic, sectarian, and political divides.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday (12 July) urged member states to consider imposing sanctions over the crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray, as the bloc looks to increase aid deliveries to the region.

Prime minister Mark Rutte admitted on Monday coronavirus restrictions had been eased too early, reimposing restrictions in a bid to halt the surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, Reuters reported. "We had poor judgement, which we regret and for which we apologise," Rutte said. Infections have increased eightfold in a week, reaching their highest level in 2021. Meanwhile, several organisations joined a lawsuit aiming to overturn the restrictions.

The EU has temporarily paused its own plans to create a new tax on online sales, targeting US firms such as Google, in order to help forge new minimum-tax rules at the global level, the European Commission said Monday. "We will work together to reach this global agreement," EU economic affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said, referring to an emerging G-20 level accord on how to tax tech giants more.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Monday that the gap in Covid-19 supplies is "hugely uneven and inequitable," Reuters reported. He added countries and regions should not order more millions of doses before other countries have supplies to vaccinate their health workers and most vulnerable, specially when the Delta variant is "driving a new spike in Covid-19 cases and death".

The EU is to send 200 to 300 military-training officers to Mozambique by 2022 to train its forces to fight jihadists, EU foreign ministers agreed Monday. Portugal is to supply half the personnel and the commander for the two-year long mission to its former colony, Reuters reported. It already sent 60 soldiers in May for an initial four-month period to teach local forces how to use drones.

Facebook's decision to share users' data from its WhatsApp messaging firm across the group in January "put an undue pressure on users" and impaired "freedom of choice', violating EU laws, the European Consumer Association in Brussels (Beuc) and eight national members said in a complaint to the European Commission, Reuters reports. Facebook's "unintelligible" WhatsApp policy made matters worse, it added, but Facebook said Beuc's concerns were based on a "misunderstanding".

The EU executive is analysing the latest replies it received from the Hungarian authorities which only arrived last Friday. MEPs have urged the commission not to approve Hungary's plan until an effective anti-fraud system is in place.

The European Commission will unveil its 'Fit for 55' package of revised climate and energy laws this week. We take a look at what is expected to be in it - and why it matters.