European Union

Saudi Arabia is considering clemency for jailed female activists ahead of its hosting of the G20 summit this month, the Saudi ambassador to the UK has said, the Guardian writes. "The G20, does it offer an opportunity for clemency? Possibly," he said. One of the jailed women, Loujain al-Hathloul, has been on hunger strike in Al-Hayer high security prison since 26 October in protest at her conditions there.

The UK has criticised Belarus for expelling two of its diplomats, as the crisis following rigged election on 9 August continues to deepen. "The expulsion of two UK diplomats from Belarus for legitimately observing protests is wholly unjustified. [Belarus president Alexander] Lukashenko can't hide the oppression of his own people," British foreign secretary Dominic Raab said Tuesday. Belarus has also threatened to expel foreign media in response to EU sanctions.

Migrants ought to learn EU languages and "integrate" their children, while encrypted messaging apps should give keys to authorities to combat terrorism, EU ministers are preparing to say.

The European Union should quickly set up a new body to oversee the training of imams and make sure their messages to Muslim followers do not contribute to spreading an "ideology of hatred", a top European Union official said on Monday (9 November).

Estonia's far-right interior minister, Mart Helme, 71, has resigned after groundlessly accusing US president-elect Joe Biden of election-rigging and predicting "bloodshed" in a US civil war in a radio show Sunday, prompting a backlash by the Estonian prime minister and former Estonian leaders. His son Martin Helme, 44, who is Estonia's finance minister, said the same on Sunday and repeated the conspiracy theories on Monday also, but has not resigned.

French president Emmanuel Macron will host Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz for talks on Tuesday ahead of a videoconference with German chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel. Macron wants to discuss a joint EU response to recent terrorist attacks carried out by Islamists in France and Austria. EU leaders could discuss a joint response next week at their online summit.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban on Monday announced the country's strictest measures taken to date to slow the spread of the coronavirus amid surging number of hospitalisations and deaths. A general curfew will be imposed between 8PM and 5AM while secondary schools, universities and restaurants will be closed. Sport events will be held in empty stadiums, and family gatherings will be limited to 10 people.

EU states have imposed €3.4bn of tariffs on US agricultural and industrial products, as of Tuesday, in retaliation against US tariffs imposed a year ago on European whisky and other imports in a dispute about aviation industry subsidies. "This step was logical," German economy ministry Peter Altmaier said. "They should cut him some slack," Peter Chase, from the German Marshall think tank, told AP, referring to US president-elect Joe Biden.

After an experimental Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by the American giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was found to be more than 90 percent effective, the EU announced that it will sign a contract for up to 300 doses.

"Strategic autonomy" has become the mantra for European Union officials. But now with Joe Biden as US president-elect, and prospects for a renewal of trans-Atlantic ties, the urgency and relevance of the concept are again up for debate.

Some 30 percent of the world's tourists go on holiday in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Good for the economy - but a disaster for ecosystems.

Now, in a country which the European Union often holds up as an example of its success story - Georgia - something has gone very wrong.

Today, the green and digital transitions are reshaping our way of life, work and interactions – and the COVID-19 outbreak has dramatically accelerated most of these changes. Nicolas Schmit is the European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights. The impact...

On Monday, MEPs adopted the Recovery and Resilience Facility, an instrument designed to help EU countries tackling the effects and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

On Monday, MEPs adopted the Recovery and Resilience Facility, an instrument designed to help EU countries tackling the effects and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

A new set of rules for exporting dual use products and technologies, including cyber-surveillance tools, were agreed on Monday.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

A new set of rules for exporting dual use products and technologies, including cyber-surveillance tools, were agreed on Monday.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

AMENDMENTS 1 - 488 - Draft report Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy – annual report
Committee on Foreign Affairs
David McAllister

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

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Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

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Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP