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After what is being called the hijacking of a Ryanair flight from Athens-Vilnius on Sunday, heads of state and governments of the European Union on Monday rushed to agree a fresh wave of economic sanctions against Belarus. The European Council meeting document “strongly condemns the forced landing of a Ryanair
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Following extensive debate between the European Parliament and Council, lawmakers in Brussels have reached an agreement on QR code Covid certificates that will be valid for EU citizens across the Union beginning 1 July. Presenting such passes will indicate that travelers in Europe have been vaccinated, tested, or have recovered
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Following two failed attempts in 2011 and 2016, this week the EU Commission presented its plans for the unification of the corporate tax rule book of member states. Decision-makers in Brussels decision intend to bring a halt to the race among EU member states to lower corporate taxes in their
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After being halted in April due to environmental concerns, the construction of 2 km of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline has been given the go-ahead by the German maritime authority (BSH) with the continuation of works in Danish waters. Two German environmental NGOs, Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union
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Public opinion in the EU strongly supports more ambitious national climate targets, according to a poll conducted in 12 European countries. The online poll commissioned by Transport&Environment from leading institute YouGov reveals that 68% of respondents would support their country’s climate target to be increased. The survey
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Slovakia now has plans for a drastic reduction of the emissions of its steel mill in the city of Košice, following Slovakia’s finance minister (and former PM) Igor Matovič’s high-level visit to the US owner of the facility, US Steel. The plan would replace the operation’s hydrocarbon-powered
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As head of the new Luxembourg-based European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Laura Codruta Kovesi is poised to lead a Europe-wide effort to curtail losses due to corruption, which she estimates amount to EUR 60 billion each year. From 2015-18, she led similar efforts in her native Romania, where she
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Exiled businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky at a public hearing of the European Parliment told to MEPs: Russia has recruited allies in Angela Merkel’s German chancellor’s “inner circle” so as in the Austrian intelligence services. One of the earliest and most well known Russian ologarch, Khodorkovsky with his UK-based pro-democracy
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Ahead of the EU foreign ministers council meeting on Monday, a working document entitled “EU reinforced engagement in the Western Balkans” details the region’s disillusionment with the slow, stop-and-go European Union enlargement process. The diplomatic paper comes in the wake of a political storm over a series of phantom
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Welfare and unemployment are on the agenda in Porto, Portugal, where this weekend EU leaders are getting together for the first time in 5 months for a 2-day summit that started today. The leaders gathered in Portugal – minus German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Netherlands’ prime minister Mark Rutte – will
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Eleven of the 27 member states want the EU to stop funding cross-border fossil-fuel energy projects. The related provisions are currently under review in Brussels. The group of countries lead by Denmark also includes Austria, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. They argue that to
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EU sanctions being in place against China, and vice versa, have doused the approval prospects for a massive investment deal between the two sides, says European trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who said the issue is not conducive for ratification. Observers point out the deterioration of the relations between Brussels and