European Union

Four people were found dead on Sunday as a huge fire raged for a second day in Cyprus, razing tracts of forest and gutting dozens of homes in a blaze one official called the worst on record, Reuters reports. "Its one of the most destructive [fires] we have experienced, unfortunately, with victims," Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters from the area. The state would support all those affected, he said.

The EU is planning to tax high-polluting aviation fuels in a new package of climate-change measures due out on 14 July, Reuters writes. An aviation-fuel exemption "is not coherent with the present climate challenges and policies", the draft paper said. The minimum EU-wide tax for aircraft fuels used on trips inside Europe was to be phased in over 10 years, it added, without giving a figure for the final amount.

French health minister Olivier Veran warned Sunday that the 'Delta variant' of coronavirus was sweeping through his country. "For five days, [the infection rate] hasn't come down - it's rising again. Because of the Delta variant, which is very contagious. The British example shows that a fourth wave is possible from the end of July," he said. "We must move even faster [on vaccination]," he added.

Former Polish prime minister and EU Council president Donald Tusk has made a comeback into national politics, by taking his over his former political party, the centre-right Civic Platform opposition party. "The evil that PiS is performing is evident, shameless and permanent. It's happening every day, in almost every matter," he said in a speech in. Warsaw Saturday, referring to the ruling and nationalist-populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The EU will have to strike harder at Belarus' top company, Belaruskali, to influence the regime, its workers have said.

Slovenia will give special attention to the discussion on the Western Balkan integration into the EU during the six months that it will hold the presidency of the EU Council, its prime minister Janez Janša said.

Azerbaijan on Saturday (3 July) handed over to Yerevan 15 Armenian troops captured last year in the wake of an armed conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, officials said.

The European Parliament will debate in Strasbourg the breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ people in Hungary, and adopt resolutions on the issues.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor has criticised Interior Minister Aleš Hojs for using the term "swine" in a comment interpreted as targeting a senior member of the EU Commission, urging the minister to apologise.

The migrant workers are exploited (by landlords and dairy-businessmen) like slaves. They work up to 14-hours per day, every single day non-stop without any leave, for barely €400 per month. If they get injured, their bosses hide these incidents.

The Libyan coast guard actively works with smugglers and are run by a militia, an ex-Libyan lieutenant police officer. The EU is buying the guard three new P150 high speed patrol boats.

Spain has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases, with the 14-day average of infections per 100,000 residents climbing to 152.8, according to the latest data provided by Spanish health authorities. EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.  

The European Commission has drafted plans to set an EU-wide minimum tax rate for polluting aviation fuels, as it seeks to meet more ambitious targets to fight climate change, a document seen by Reuters shows.

The unprecedented push for renovation across Europe needs to be in line with its climate ambition and work in synergy with the rest of the EU's climate legislation in order to fulfil its potential, writes Adeline Rochet and Pedro Guertler.

A carbon border adjustment measure (CBAM) cannot provide carbon leakage protection for aluminium. Consequentially, it will not contribute to emission reductions in Europe or globally.  Aluminium must remain under the current carbon leakage framework, at least in the initial phase.

Cyprus said a deadly forest fire that was the worst to hit the island in decades was close to being brought under control Sunday (4 July) after water bombing by Greek and Israeli aircraft.

Britain has announced it will seek harsher sentences for migrants caught entering the country without permission amid a record-breaking surge in arrivals over the English Channel.

European Union targets to boost biofuel use are likely to have led to the deforestation of an area roughly the size of the Netherlands over the last decade to expand soy, palm and other oil crops, a report said on Monday (5 July).

Italian police said on Saturday (3 July) they had broken up a number of online schemes offering to sell fake European Union digital COVID-19 status certificates or purported coronavirus vaccines.

Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday (2 July) ordered the closure of the border with Ukraine, seeking to block what he called an inflow of weapons to coup-plotters detected by his security services, BelTA state news agency reported.