European Union

In an effort to calm fierce protests across France, the government plans to announce on Tuesday the suspension of fuel tax increases slated for January, AFP reported. Emmanuel Macron's presidency has been facing its biggest crisis after the grassroots 'yellow vests' movement was sparked by the hike in diesel duties. Prime minister Edouard Philippe is also expected to unveil other measures to help boost the living standards of low-income households.

After the riots at the margins of the “yellow vests” movement, the carbon tax adopted under François Hollande is expected to be revised downwards. EURACTIV France reports.  

Right now, the way we live, learn, work and play is being reimagined. But the technology of the near future will require powerful networks with the speed and capacity to support rich, immersive experiences.

The French government wants to have a free hand in order to react effectively to Brexit. Whether it is with respect to ports or fishing, maritime issues are at the centre of concerns. EURACTIV France reports.

EURACTIV’s media partner Dnevnik has asked Bulgarian MEPs about the difficulties and achievements of the current European Parliament and their expectations for the European elections in May next year. It now publishes what three of them had to say.

"Mr Selmayr's appointment did not follow EU law, and did not follow the Commission's own rules," the European Ombudsman has concluded after looking into the controversial appointment of the commission's highest-ranking official, secretary-general Martin Selmayr, in February 2018. "The commission created an artificial sense of urgency to fill the post of secretary-general in order to justify not publishing a vacancy notice," the ombudsman said, recommending a new appointment procedure.

British MPs will now vote on Brexit in the knowledge that their ballots could halt the whole process - if the EU court follows the opinion of one of its top jurists.

The EU treaty "allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU", an EU jurist said Tuesday, opening the way for British MPs to block Brexit if they do not like the deal. The EU advocate general's "opinion" is non-binding, but the court usually follows suit. It has promised a "quick" verdict, as MPs prepare to vote on the deal on 11 December.

US tech giants AirBnB, Amazon, Apple, and Swedish company Spotify look set to get off the hook on new EU taxes, but Facebook and Google are still in the crosshairs.

Wightman and Others
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Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona proposes that the Court of Justice should declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU

The centre-right Ciudadanos and the Popular Party (PP) are in talks to form a new government in Spain's Andalusia region, with support from the far-right party Vox. For the first time since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Vox secured seats for the far-right in a Spanish parliament on Sunday. The secretary general of Ciudadanos, Jose Manuel Villegas, said on Monday a deal with Vox was a possibility.

Hundreds of right-wing extremists are at large in Germany, despite arrest warrants against them, according to a response to a parliamentary request from leftwing MP Ulla Jelpke. In total, 467 sought-after right-wing extremists not been found by police by the end of March, the Neue Osnabruecker newspaper reported. The number of neo-Nazis wanted by police nearly doubled in the past four years, according to the response.

Top managers from German car makers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are up for talks with US government officials in the White House in Washington on Tuesday - prompting questions in Europe over the purpose of the meeting, as only the European Commission has the authority to negotiate trade and customs with other countries under EU treaties. President Donald Trump has long accused German automakers of an unfair trade imbalance.

The UK will be "indefinitely committed" to the Irish backstop, UK attorney general Geoffrey Cox told MPs on Monday. Cox, who gives legal advice to the government on the Brexit deal, said there would be no unilateral right for the UK to pull out of the backstop, which is designed to prevent a new Irish border if no trade deal is reached with the EU after Brexit.

The political crisis in France sparked by the 'yellow vest' movement is set to continue after representatives of the protesters pulled out of a meeting with prime minister Edouard Philippe, scheduled for Tuesday. Over the weekend Paris was hit by the worst riots since 1968. A Harris Interactive poll found 72 percent of French people support the yellow vests' tax protests but 85 percent are against the violence.

Nato foreign ministers arrive in Brussels on Tuesday for a two-day meeting likely to focus on security around the Black Sea, after Russia fired on Ukrainian vessels last week in the Azov Sea and detained several Ukrainian naval personnel. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for what it called a "provocation". Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko wants Nato to send warships to the Azov Sea, rising risks of a naval confrontation with Russia.

Cambodia’s parliament is reviewing a five-year ban on more than 100 members of the main opposition party, which could allow them to return to politics, following threats by the European Union to deny duty-free trading access to the Southeast Asian...

Germany will not withdraw its political support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Russia, its foreign minister said on Monday (3 December), as some lawmakers suggested curtailing the project to punish Moscow for its seizure of Ukrainian ships and their crew.

The Czech attitude towards the eurozone is only a small part of a bigger problem called “searching for the right approach to the EU”, says Czech MEP Luděk Niedermayer (EPP).