European Union

Plenary session, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

The United States has warned intelligence sharing with Germany could be restricted should Berlin move ahead with plans to allow Huawei help set up its 5G mobile network, according to the Wall Street Journal. The warning comes amid US claims that Huawei, a Chinese firm, may offer a backdoor for Chinese state espionage.

Uncertainty continued to hang over Tuesday night's big vote on Brexit, as British MPs and their lawyers tried to make sense of last-minute tweaks to the exit deal.

The European Banking Authority says 3,567 UK bankers are paid more than €1m a year, taking home some €10bn when factoring in bonuses. At least 30 bankers are paid €10m each, it said in a report. The EU state with the second highest number of big banker wages was Germany, with 390 generous beneficiaries, followed by France (233), and Italy (201).

The future of the Viktor Orban's Fidesz party inside the European Parliament's centre-right EPP political group hangs in the balance. On Tuesday, Orban and EPP chief Manfred Weber meet in Budapest in a final effort to iron out differences.

Fears are mounting that more extreme militants, possibly linked to the Islamic State, will gain a foothold in the Gaza Strip as trapped youth lose all sense of hope in a conflict that is on the verge of boiling over.

Any new regime should focus on individual perpetrators, such as the prison guards and low-level administrators and officers - but it must also similarly allow the listing of individuals higher up in the command chain.

Plenary session, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Written by Katrien Luyten,

Entering the EU as a non-European is not too difficult for people from stable countries. Those planning to visit one or more EU Member States can get in as a tourist, with or without a visa. If the intention is to live and work for a longer period, they can use the many possibilities offered by labour migration. Regular mobility schemes also include provisions for other categories such as students, researchers, au pairs and voluntary workers. People wishing to join a family member who is already residing legally in the EU might even be eligible for family reunification. However, for people coming from countries at war or where democracy is in serious peril, or who happen to live in a non-EU country after fleeing their own country, or who are simply looking for a better life, the options are more limited. Moreover, even when options exist, gaining access to them is not always possible for people who find themselves in precarious, dangerous or even life-threatening situations.

In 2015, a record number of people tried to reach Europe by all means, often risking their lives along their journeys. Although the number of irregular arrivals in the EU is back to pre-crisis levels, immigration remains one of the key concerns of European citizens and is expected to remain a challenge for years to come.

Visit the European Parliament homepage on migration in Europe.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/refugees/20170629STO78632/migration-in-europe

In order to address this challenge, the EU has embarked on a process of reform aimed at rebuilding its common asylum policies on fairer and more solid ground, strengthening its external borders by reinforcing the links between border controls and security, and renewing cooperation with third countries on migration issues. A forward-looking and comprehensive European immigration policy, based on solidarity and respect for European values, requires a balanced approach to dealing with both irregular and legal migration. The EU is committed to help create more, safe and controlled channels to migration both to help people in need of protection and to address labour market needs and skills shortages adequately.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Legal migration to the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Click to view slideshow.

More than two years after the failed putsch, evidence is trickling out to support what the EU initially suspected - that Erdogan knew what was going to happen and let it go ahead as a pretext to create one-man rule.

Ahead of the European elections the leader of Germany's CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has set out her own vision for Europe in response to Emmanuel Macron's reform ideas in an article published in the German paper Welt am Sonntag. She rejects Macron's proposed EU-wide minimum wage and makes no mention of several other of his proposals. What does Europe's press think of the CDU leader's contribution to the debate on Europe's future?

According to the BBC the newborn son of IS supporter Shamima Begum has died of pneumonia in a Syrian refugee camp. Begum had asked to be allowed to return to Britain with him but London classified the young woman as a security risk and withdrew her citizenship. Begum went to Syria and joined the IS at the age of 15. Should Britain have stepped in to save her child?