European Union

Ethiopia's EU embassy has complained about EU Commissioner Janez Lenarčič's recent statement to MEPs, in which he said Ethiopia was laying "siege" to its rebellious Tigray region and using "starvation as a weapon". Lenarčič's "regrettable" comments "ignore the facts on the ground," the embassy told EUobserver in a letter Wednesday. Similar recent comments by EU envoy and Finnish minister Pekka Haavisto would also "not help alleviate the crisis", it said.

Italy has promised to give battle after Croatia's request to get EU protection for its sweet dessert wine, prošek, produced in the southern area of Dalmatia whose name resembles the iconic Italian bubbly wine prosecco.

Belarus has expelled the head of mission at the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk and the consul general in the town of Grodno, prompting Lithuania to take similar action, and leaving just one consular official from each country in place. "Regretfully [Belarus president Aleksander] Lukashenko chooses to close the door of diplomatic relations with Lithuania," Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said. The EU ambassador in Minsk was also recently expelled.

The EU is planning to create a new anti-money laundering watchdog in the wake of several bank scandals before the pandemic.

A record-breaking heat wave that hit the western United States and Canada at the end of June would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, according to an analysis by a group of leading climate scientists.

Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven on Wednesday returned to office - one week after he resigned - on the back of a parliament vote-of-confidence, in which 176 out of 349 MPs supported his leadership. The centre-left Löfven has held power since 2014 in a coalition with the Greens. He resigned after a clash with his political allies over housing policy and faces general elections next year.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that the EU economy is set to expand by 4.8 percent this year - around half a percentage point higher than provisions under the spring forecast. Growth is predicted to reach 4.5 percent in 2022. However, inflation is now forecast at 2.2 percent this year and 1.6 percent in 2022. From 2022, pressures on consumer prices should moderate gradually, the commission said.

Some 2,087 people died between January and June this year trying to reach Spain from Africa by sea, compared to 2,170 for all of last year, Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras has said, in what makes 2021 the deadliest year in the NGO's 14-year records. The Atlantic route to the Canary Islands was the most lethal, with 1,922 fatalities in 57 shipwrecks. The Alborán sea route also claimed 93 lives.

"This is a crime against journalism and an attack on our values of democracy and rule of law," EU Council president Charles Michel said Wednesday on the shooting, Tuesday in Amsterdam, of Dutch investigative reporter Peter R de Vries. EU Parliament president David Sassoli and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen echoed Michel. "Journalists must be able to do their important work freely," the Dutch royal family also said.

EU member states spent €273bn last year on environmental protection, according to new statistics on Wednesday from Eurostat. Such national expenditure by EU countries has been rising on average by over two-percent each year, but overall has increased by 40 percent since 2006. As percentage of GDP, however, environmental protection has remained relatively stable over the last 50 years (between 1.8 and 2.0 percent of GDP).

The EU Commission and most MEPs have called on Hungary on Wednesday (7 July) to repeal discriminatory new laws against LGBTIQ people or face legal consequences. Meanwhile, the commission is assessing Budapest's Covid-19 pandemic recovery plan.

The European Institute for Gender Equality has estimated that the annual cost of gender-based violence against women in the EU at €290bn. One-in-three women in the EU aged 15 or over has experienced physical and/or sexual violence.

In the countries worst hit by Covid-19, hydrogen and renewable gases are set to receive more money than much-needed intensive care units and new medical equipment (Italy) or the entire national health system (Spain).

“Local and regional governments in Spain and across Europe are paving the way to the active implementation of the global goals”, writes Carlos Martínez Mínguez Mayor of Soria (Spain), CEMR Vice-President & Spokesperson on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable...

The list of EU-approved sustainable fuel sources should be expanded to meet the higher targets for second-generation biofuels under the updated renewable energy directive, according to the advanced biofuels industry.

Hungary on Wednesday (7 July) rejected a demand from the European Commission and many EU lawmakers to repeal new legislation banning schools from using materials deemed to promote homosexuality.

The European Union will propose a new agency to crack down on money laundering and new transparency rules for transfers of crypto-assets, EU documents showed as the bloc responds to calls for tougher action to fight dirty money.

Swedish Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven was re-elected as prime minister by parliament on Wednesday (7 July), ending weeks of political turmoil since his resignation last month.

EU officials on Wednesday condemned the shooting of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, who was fighting for his life after the attack in central Amsterdam. “This is a crime against journalism and an attack on our values of...

The funds will help manage migration flows, ease integration of third-country nationals and improve border management.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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