European Union

The Paris correctional court on sentenced Alain Griset, France’s minister for small and medium-sized enterprises on Wednesday after he was convicted of filing an “incomplete” or “false” asset declaration. The minister will face a six-month suspended prison sentence, the court ruled....

Cluster 4 in Serbia’s EU accession negotiations will be opened on 14 December, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) confirmed at its regular meeting on Wednesday. The decision takes place amid the backdrop of nationwide environmental protests that have seen...

The first British soldiers have begun operations supporting the Polish military on the border with Belarus, Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said on Wednesday. “British soldiers are tasked with repairing the temporary fence and maintaining and clearing road links,” Błaszczak wrote...

Portugal plans to donate another four million COVID-19 vaccines to Portuguese-speaking countries, bringing the total to six million so far, Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Tuesday. “It is very important for us while vaccinating our people, to have...

Suffering from rapidly rising energy prices, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are discussing importing more electricity from Belarus and Russia. Due to safety concerns at the the Astravyets power plant in Belarus, Lithuania suspended electricity imports last year. As a sign...

President Miloš Zeman, who is currently holding talks with candidates for the ministerial posts in the future Czech government, recommended that the candidate for the foreign minister post, Jan Lipavský (Pirates, Greens/EFA), withdraw, Frekvence 1, reported. After meeting with Zeman on...

The United States will swiftly determine whether Tehran is acting in "good faith" in talks about reviving the Iran nuclear accord, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday (8 December), one day before negotiations were due to resume.

Joe Biden said on Wednesday (8 December) that putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine to deter a Russian invasion was "not on the table," as tension between Moscow and Washington eased slightly after a virtual summit this week.

The “Roam like at Home” scheme will be renewed for another ten years, under plans informally agreed between MEPs and the Slovenian Presidency of the Council, on Thursday.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The “Roam like at Home” scheme will be renewed for another ten years, under plans informally agreed between MEPs and the Slovenian Presidency of the Council, on Thursday.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Despite a ‘gentlemen's agreement’ between the main political groups in the European Parliament, a number of alternative amendments to the proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) have been tabled ahead of the plenary vote due on 14-15 December, and more surprises might come later in the week.

Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, sworn in as Germany's new chancellor on Wednesday (8 December), will already be embarking on a series of inaugural visits across Europe, accompanied by his foreign minister, Green co-leader Annalena Baerbock

National MPs and MEPs will gather to discuss the state of play of EU migration and asylum policy as well as cooperation with third countries in this field.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

National MPs and MEPs will gather to discuss the state of play of EU migration and asylum policy as well as cooperation with third countries in this field.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Dyson and Others v Commission
Law governing the institutions
Energy consumption of cyclonic bagless vacuum cleaners: the General Court dismisses Dyson Ltd’s claim for compensation for alleged loss

"Work is already underway for ... disconnection of Russia from the Swift banking system, sanctions on the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 [to Germany]," if it invades Ukraine, Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said in The Guardian Tuesday. "If [Russian president] Vladimir Putin wants to see gas flow through that pipeline, he may not want to take the risk of invading Ukraine," US national-security adviser Jake Sullivan told Reuters.

The majority of Europe's population living in urban areas is exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution, said the European Environment Agency on Tuesday. Over 90 percent of urban population is exposed to high levels of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone above those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The European Commission has launched a revision of EU air quality standards to align them to WHO recommendations.

The UK suffered a record rise in the number of deaths caused by alcohol misuse in 2020, Reuters reports. Public health officials said the rise was linked to the wider social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, some 8,974 people died of alcohol-specific causes, 18.6 percent more than in 2019 and the largest increase since records began in 2001, the Office for National Statistics said.

The European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Tuesday that evidence suggest that different vaccines against Covid-19 can be mixed and matched for both initial courses and boosters. "[This approach] may offer flexibility in terms of vaccination options, particularly to reduce the impact on the vaccine rollout should a vaccine not be available for any reason," the EU agencies said in a statement.

Slovak MEP Michal Wiezik from the Progresívne Slovensko party has joined the liberal Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, leaving the centre-right European People's Party, Renew announced on Tuesday. Wiezik has been an MEP since 2019 and worked on environmental issues. With his addition Renew Europe, which is the third-largest faction in the parliament, grows to 101 MEPs from 23 member states.