European Union leaders on Saturday celebrated their coronavirus vaccination programme reaching a higher proportion of its people than in the US, which had outpaced the bloc for months. “We promised it and it’s done. The EU this week overtook the US as the continent with the most first doses in the world,” Commissioner Thierry Breton […]
EU
EU chief backs international mediation to Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
The European Union supports international efforts to ease tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan following their war last year over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, chief Charles Michel said on Saturday. On a visit to Yerevan, Michel expressed “the European Union’s support for the Minsk Group” — which consists of French, Russian and US diplomats — as […]
EU puts digital tax plan ‘on hold’ during OECD talks
The European Commission said Monday it would delay its plan to propose an EU digital tax in order to not jeopardise efforts to secure a global deal on fairer taxation. After an “extraordinary” breakthrough at G20 talks on Saturday, “we have decided to put on hold our work on a proposal for a digital levy”, […]
Brussels sets stage for battle over emissions cuts
The European Commission will unveil on Wednesday a vast package of draft green legislation designed to govern a faster transition to a low carbon economy. A dozen legal texts — already under attack from political interests, industry lobbies and environmentalists — will seek to ensure emissions are cut by 55 percent over 1990 levels by […]
Consumer group lodges EU complaint against WhatsApp
The European Consumer Organisation announced Monday it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission against Facebook’s attempt to modify the terms of service for the WhatsApp messenging service. The US tech titan has sought to nudge users of its messenger platform to accept new terms of service, but Facebook denies that this would allow […]
EU slaps VW, BMW with 875-mn-euro antitrust fine
The EU’s antitrust authority on Thursday fined German auto giants Volkswagen and BMW 875 million euros for colluding on the development of anti-pollution technology for diesel cars. Launched after anti-cartel raids in 2017, the case marked yet another blow against the German auto-making sector, which was rocked by the devastating “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal that […]
Poland helping Putin’s agenda: opposition leader
Polish opposition leader and former EU chief Donald Tusk on Sunday accused the country’s government of pursuing an international agenda in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies. Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party earlier this week signed a joint declaration with other European right-wing eurosceptic parties calling for greater “sovereignty” for EU member […]
EU encourages Pakistan to follow steps outlined by FATF to curb money laundering
BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) has said that the fight against money laundering is its top priority. It is why, the EU says, they encourage all countries, including Pakistan, to follow the steps outlined by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The statement from the EU came after its spokesperson was asked why Pakistan has […]
Greece boosts test demands for Russian tourists
Athens on Sunday announced that all Russian travellers, vaccinated or not, would have to show a negative PCR or rapid test result on arrival in Greece. According to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism on Sunday “because of the propagation of the Delta variant in Russia from June 30th travellers arriving in Greece from […]
Merkel says ‘sovereign’ EU should be able to talk to Putin
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday insisted that the EU should be able to talk to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, after other leaders from the bloc thwarted her push for a summit. “The president of the US met for a serious talk with Vladimir Putin, which I did not have the impression was a reward […]