European Union

No one knows the exact figure but the authorities in Madeira consider that about 6,000 Venezuelans of Portuguese descent have taken refuge on their island, where they found themselves in an extremely precarious situation. Euroefe reports.

Banks and firms participating in a special EU initiative to protect trade with Iran risk US sanctions, US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, warned in Brussels Thursday. The EU is working on a 'Special Purpose Vehicle' (SPV) to enable European non-dollar trade with Iran to preserve a nuclear arms control treaty. Brussels wanted the SPV in place this month but no country has offered to host it, Reuters reported.

German chancellor Angela Merkel personally intervened and called Romania's president Klaus Iohannis in April urging him to stop plans by Romania's social-democrat lead government to move Romania's embassy to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post reports that Merkel also called other European politicians as part of a campaign to block the relocation of European embassies to Jerusalem. The US relocated its embassy to Jerusalem in May.

Thousands protested in Prague Thursday demanding that Czech prime minister Andrej Babis resign over suspected criminal corruption and EU subsidy fraud. Public criticism of Babis has spiked after his mentally-ill son told media that he was held in Crimea in an attempt to hinder corruption investigations into his father. Babis leads a minority government composed of his ANO party and left-wing Social Democrats supported by the Communists.

A spokeswoman for Germany's foreign ministry "strongly condemned" a website labelling former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as an "enemy of the state" in Ukraine. "We have informed Ukraine of our position in the past and have insisted the Ukrainian government delete this website," she said, German media report. The controversial Ukrainian website Myrotvorets (Peacemaker) denounced Schroeder for chairing the supervisory board of Russian oil company Rosneft.

A group of French-led EU member states including Denmark, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands on Thursday called for changes to fishing arrangements in the draft Brexit deal agreed between London and Brussels. More than 50 percent of fish caught in UK waters last year were caught by non-UK vessels. The draft Brexit deal states that the two sides would try to agree on the future of fisheries by July 2020.

Former employees in Danske Bank's Estonian branch are suspected of having received illegal cash payments in return for helping criminals to whitewash billions through the bank, Berlingske Tidende reports. Large and suspicious deposits on their own accounts are being investigated, it said. Danske Bank's €200bn money-laundering scandal might be only the "tip of the iceberg" in a scandal involving other major banks, Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson's lawyer told Reuters.

Written by Gisela Grieger, graphics: Eulalia Claros,

© ISTANBUL2009 / Fotolia

In November 2017, the EU and Chile launched negotiations on a modernised trade pillar of the 2002 EU-Chile Association Agreement, based on a Council negotiating mandate which is the first-ever to have been published prior to the start of negotiations with a view to enhancing transparency and inclusiveness.

After having operated smoothly for 15 years and led to a significant expansion of bilateral trade in goods and services and investment, the trade pillar needs to be broadened and deepened in order to unlock untapped potential, break new ground and keep pace with new trade and investment patterns in a global competitive environment that has fundamentally changed with the growing global footprint of countries like China.

Against the backdrop of rising protectionist trends, the EU and Chile – two like-minded partners – seek to reassert their commitment to keeping their economies open to trade and investment. Both intend to shape, pioneer and promote state-of-the-art trade(-related) and investment rules of the 21st century, including on trade and sustainable development (TSD), trade and gender equality, and the fight against corruption.

Given the large convergence of the EU’s and Chile’s interests and level of ambition, the negotiations are expected to make rapid progress.

Modernisation of the trade pillar of the EU-Chile Association Agreement Committee responsible: International Trade (INTA) Rapporteur: Inmaculada Rodríguez- Piñero Fernández (S&D, Spain)

Read the complete briefing on ‘Modernisation of the trade pillar of the EU-Chile Association Agreement‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Despite facing a fierce backlash to her draft Brexit deal, British Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to fight on. Amid cabinet resignations and moves by her own MPs to oust her, the battle to save the EU withdrawal agreement and her own political career could have a number of outcomes.

Telephone operators will no longer be able to charge more than 19 euro cents per minute for calls within Europe from 1 May 2019. The end of roaming charges has already boosted the phone usage of holiday-makers. EURACTIV France reports.

Whether it’s for heating their swimming pools or to power their air conditioning systems and home appliances, regulated electricity prices “give the greatest potential benefit to richer households” who consume the largest amounts of energy, says Klaus-Dieter Borchard.

Companies like the Boston Consulting Group, Google and Uber are pushing the EU to join the race for autonomous (self-driving) cars. But one key question is missing from the debate: should we?

UK Prime Minister Theresa May was defiant on Thursday (15 November), as she dismissed claims from government ministers that her draft withdrawal agreement does not deliver the Brexit that the British public voted for.

The published deal is nearly 600 pages, in the House of Commons argument rages, and as ministers resign, no one knows what the next stage is.

Former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who fled the country to avoid prison, used a Hungarian diplomatic vehicle to escape through Albania, police in Tirana said on Thursday (15 November) after Budapest formally denied any involvement.

European actions have had a clear positive impact on animal welfare, according to the European Commission, as part of its reaction to a European Court of Auditors (ECA) report, which questioned the implementation of the second EU Strategy for the Protection and Welfare of Animals.

Each year Europe wastes millions of tonnes of valuable metals by landfilling or exporting them. How can policy measures increase the recovery of these materials?

The new EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will give an economic boost and help European firms access markets that are technology-rich and can pay for innovation. It is an agreement that can help overcome pessimism about trade and global cooperation, and show that countries can work constructively together, writes Fredrik Erixon.

With biodiversity in drastic decline, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh is a crucial moment. As the international community negotiates a new global biodiversity framework, the EU must become a leader for nature conservation, both globally and at home, argues Ester Asin.

The EU issued a declaration expressing its concern about recent political developments in Tanzania.