European Union

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about German Chancellor Angela Merkel now supporting solidarity measures beyond the ESM, residents of Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, breaching the Easter lockdown, and so much more.

The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator said after the first day of renewed talks with Britain that the bloc is aiming for "tangible progress" by June on the shape of a new relationship before London severs its ties with the bloc at the end of the year.

While pro-Russian separatists in occupied Georgian territory are taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak to press on with illegal borderisation, the population of these areas puts hopes in the success of Tbilisi in fighting the pandemic.

Beta News Agency stated that it had not been sending any questions for the Crisis Headquarters’ regular press conferences for several days now. “We will continue with this practice as long as the conditions under which the conferences are organised...

EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak said on Monday (20 April) that the EU-mediated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia provides both countries with an opportunity to tackle and overcome their past problems and turn toward a better...

Written by Costica Dumbrava,

© petovarga / Adobe Stock

Governments around the world have turned to digital technologies to tackle the coronavirus crisis. One of the key measures has been to use mobile devices to monitor populations and track individuals who are infected or at risk.

About half of the EU’s Member States have taken location-tracking measures in response to the spread of the coronavirus disease, mainly by working with telecommunications companies to map population movements using anonymised and aggregate location data and by developing applications (apps) for tracking people who are at risk. The European Commission has called for a common EU approach to the use of mobile apps and mobile data to assess social distancing measures, support contact-tracing efforts, and contribute to limiting the spread of the virus.

While governments may be justified in limiting certain fundamental rights and freedoms in order to take effective steps to fight the epidemic, such exceptional and temporary measures need to comply with applicable fundamental rights standards and EU rules on data protection and privacy.

This briefing discusses location-tracking measures using mobile devices in the context of the Covid‑19 crisis. It describes initiatives in EU Member States and provides a brief analysis of fundamental rights standards and the EU policy framework, including applicable EU rules on data protection and privacy.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Tracking mobile devices to fight coronavirus‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Using mobile phones to track location and trace contacts in order to fight Covid 19

While it is yet to be approved by Slovakia’s National Council, the new government of Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) has adopted its programme statement, which foresees strong pro-EU and transatlantic orientation. The COVID-19 related developments will be testing the EU, the...

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel has opposed the idea of 'coronabonds', German MEPs from her own political faction have spoken out in favour of 'recovery bonds', a position that could weigh heavily on the EU summit next Thursday. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide, turns out to be harmful to animals, according to a new study by the University of Turku. The new, year-long study, is the first of its kind to have tested the weedkiller on...

Belgium’s National Security Council and the Group of Experts for an Exit Strategy (GEES) is meant to come up with clear guidelines and decisions this Friday regarding the country’s plan for the end of lockdown measures. Especially Flanders is currently...

The EU executive will propose borrowing from the markets in order to finance a recovery plan that will come on top of the EU budget, the European Commission's vice-president for the economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, told EU lawmakers on Monday (20 April). 

The Eurogroup’s decisions taken on 9 April were a necessary and overdue collective EU response, as well as a welcome but flawed and incomplete compromise. If European leaders are to save the EU economy when they meet on 23 April, they need to think outside the box, write Carlos Closa, George Papaconstantino, and Miguel Poiares Maduro.

Wine consumption in the European Union is expected to fall this season due to the decision to close bars and restaurants to contain the coronavirus, with exports hit by extra US tariffs, the EU's executive said on Monday (20 April).

Spain's government has announced plans to ease its coronavirus lockdown measures as Monday's death toll dropped under 400, the lowest since 22 March. EURACTIV's partner EFE reports.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signalled readiness on Monday (20 April) to finance economic recovery in Europe from the coronavirus pandemic through a bigger European Union budget and the issuance of joint debt via the European Commission.

The Romanian government adopted on 9 April an emergency ordinance that changes the regulations on fuel sales and allows the sale of gasoline and diesel without the mandatory quotas including biofuels, EURACTIV.ro reported.

Germany might let EU institutions borrow money on the international markets using the EU budget as security chancellor Merkel has said. "I can imagine such instruments further down the line ... More generally I would like to say that Germany not only wants to act in solidarity, but that it will act in solidarity," she said. Germany and The Netherlands have previously opposed issuing joint debt to fight the slowdown.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has attacked US handling of the pandemic. He said it was "weak ... and now they are seeing the consequences", but "blaming China is not the solution". The US was wrong to defund the WHO, he added. It was also unhelpful that US sanctions were stopping humanitarian supplies from getting into Iran and Venezuela, with Borrell pledging to advocate for more access.

US oil prices turned negative for the first time on record on Monday after oil producers ran out of space to store the oversupply of crude left by the coronavirus crisis, triggering an historic market collapse which left oil traders reeling, the Guardian reports. The price of US crude oil crashed from $18 a barrel to -$38 in a matter of hours on Monday but recovered to $1.10 on Tuesday.

Only a tiny proportion of the global population – maybe as few as 2% or 3% – appear to have antibodies in the blood showing they have been infected with Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization, diminishing hopes that herd immunity will ease the exit from lockdown, the Guardian reports. "Easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country," the WHO said.