European Union

US technology giant Facebook is suing EU regulators after a spat between the two parties erupted over access to company documents as part of an ongoing antitrust probe.

The heads of US tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple are set to testify in a US congressional hearing on Wednesday (29 July) as part of an ongoing probe into the dominance of digital platforms. For the EU, the hearing could provide a valuable insight into how to address competition challenges in the digital economy.

US pipeline sanctions suggest a deliberate misreading of the European gas market and a paternalistic “America knows best” view of how Europeans should manage their energy commerce, writes Danila Bochkarev.

Bulgarian farmers forecast weaker yields, with lower quality, and hence lower incomes, as a result of the new green policies of the EU. At the heart of their concerns is the significant reduction in the use of pesticides and fertilizers by 2030, writes EURACTIV Bulgaria.

The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier expressed confidence at a closed-door meeting with member state envoys to the bloc last Friday that a new deal with Britain was possible, diplomatic sources have told Reuters.

Spain's foreign minister said that talks in Turkey on Monday (27 July) had helped to reduce tensions between some EU members and Ankara over Turkish energy exploration in the Mediterranean, adding that a one-month pause in drilling was possible.

Poland's right-wing government on Monday (27 July) played down a bid by its justice minister to withdraw from a landmark international treaty combating violence against women.

The European Commission's Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy has pleased environmentalists, but that is not enough - we have to look at the big picture and address its economic and social impact as well, writes Hermann Tertsch.

An investigation into state aid for Hungary's media sector is still being investigated by the European Commission four years after the complaint was first submitted, the EU executive confirmed today (27 July).

Covid-19 is an unprecedented challenge for all businesses. For startups at the most vulnerable phase of their development, however, it is a potential existential crisis. Despite this, government aid during the crisis has often neglected startups, favouring incumbents and national champions.

Several businesses around Naples have been hit with €1,000 fines as they were responsible "during a commercial transaction" for customers and clients who did not wear a mask in an enclosed space, France24 reported. Besides the fines, businesses could be forced to close for a period between five to 30 days. France will also introduce fines of €135 for people who do not wear a mask in public spaces indoors.

Poland's state-owned coal-mining firm, Polska Grupa Górnicza (PGG), is to announce sweeping mine closures following talks with trade unions on Tuesday, industry sources told the Reuters news agency. Reductions in output could be in the 10 percent to 50 percent range, amid ideas to phase out coal power in the Silesia region entirely by 2036, the two sources said. Poland produces 80 percent of its electricity from the CO2-pollluting source.

Poland might uphold a treaty against domestic violence after all, its ruling party has said, amid an outcry by the EU and Council of Europe.

Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann has questioned the landmark agreement on the EU's €750bn recovery package reached by EU leaders last week - calling for control mechanisms that can ensure funds "are used sensibly and efficiently," DW reported. "I consider joint debt for wide-ranging transfers to be fundamentally dubious," Weidmann said in an interview published Sunday. Weidmann also said the EU still needs to show its ability to respond in crisis.

French far-right protesters, from the Normandy branch of Generation Identity, on Saturday held a racist protest outside the office of black politician Sira Sylla, holding banners that read "help the French, not the Africans," BBC reported. The signs reference a proposal for the reduction in fees on money transfers to African countries. Responding to the protests, Sylla tweeted that she is determined to continue working for African-French relations.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that his country's navy would be armed with hypersonic nuclear-strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones, Reuters writes. "The widespread deployment of advanced digital technologies that have no equals in the world, including hypersonic strike systems and underwater drones, will give the fleet unique advantages and increased combat capabilities," Putin said, adding that the navy would get 40 new vessels this year.

Oleh Koretskyi, an investigator who has recently been sacked from Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), gave an interview to EURACTIV after stating publicly last month that he was being pressured to continue investigations into former president Petro Poroshenko.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control decided over the weekend to turn Belgium to 'Code Orange' for the coronavirus, after a surge of new infections in several regions across the country. The incidence for the whole of Belgium is now at 21.2 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the previous 14 days. This follows the decision of the Belgian government to make face masks mandatory from Saturday.

Ukraine's military officials said on Sunday that their troops "have begun preparations" for the latest ceasefire between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, due to start on Monday, DW reported. This follows an agreement reached by Ukrainian, Russian and OSCE negotiators last week. Moscow occupied Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and backed the rebellion in the east.

The UK's government has decided to reimpose a two-week quarantine on all travellers arriving from Spain after a surge of coronavirus cases in the Spanish regions of Catalonia and Aragón. The quarantine requirement took effect from midnight on Saturday, but failure to comply could result in fines of up to €1,000. The UK also changed its travel recommendations and now recommends avoiding any non-essential trips to Spain.