European Union

The secretary-general of the European Economic and Social Committee, an EU institution, has been accused by a trade union representing staff for perpetuating a "law of silence" amid a flurry of abuse allegations against its likely future president Jacek Krawczyk.

MEPs demanded the European Commission ensure immediate EU regulatory action on common chargers for all mobile devices by July, enabling users to easily re-use old devices and reducing e-waste.

The EU commission vice-president pledged to tackle disinformation by regulating platforms and cleaning up online political advertising rules. She also pointed to Russia and China as wanting to undermine European democracy.

Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, has released figures showing that unemployment in the EU is at its lowest since 2000. The unemployment rate in the 28 EU states was 6.2 percent in December 2019, the lowest in almost 20 years. The Czech Republic (2.0 percent) as well as Germany and the Netherlands (both 3.2 percent) had the lowest while Greece (16.6 percent) and Spain (13.7 percent) had the highest.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has announced some €76.4m in EU funding to provide filters on the Kosovo B power plant. "Air pollution is one of the most acute environmental problems affecting the Western Balkans, including Kosovo," said Borrell. Kosovo B, a thermal power plant, is the largest electricity-generator in Kosovo.

The Greek government unveiled a plan to test floating sea barriers to stop migrants sailing from Turkey to its Aegean islands, German dpa news wire reported. "We want to see whether it can be implemented and whether it can work," defence minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told Skai TV on Thursday. Migrants stranded on Greek high seas, nevertheless, will have to be rescued under international maritime rules.

In the final legal act of approving the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the EU Council of member states adopted on Thursday the decision on the conclusion of the deal. This comes after the EU Parliament's vote of consent Wednesday and the signature of the divorce pact by the UK and the EU earlier. The agreement will enter into force on midnight, 31 January, when the UK becomes a "third country".

EU regulators fined NBCUniversal €14.3m on Thursday for illegally restricting sales of merchandise linked to films such as "Minions" and "Jurassic World". Such restrictions included out-of-territory sales by licensees, restricting sales beyond allocated customers and restricting online sales to particular territories or websites. The EU commission opened an investigation in 2017 following an inquiry into the e-commerce and cross-border practices in Europe in an effort to boost cross-border online trade.

The reaction of the EU is horror over the level playing field. My reaction is the total opposite. Britain's cocky and ambitious goals for its business climate is one of the best things that can happen to Europe.

Ministers are outlining the priorities of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Culture and Education
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on International Trade
Committee on Fisheries
Committee on Regional Development
Committee on Transport and Tourism

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Ministers are outlining the priorities of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Culture and Education
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on International Trade
Committee on Fisheries
Committee on Regional Development
Committee on Transport and Tourism

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The Circular Economy Action Plan and the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) have the same overarching objective of reducing unsustainable resource use by promoting sustainable production and consumption and reducing waste generation, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius told EURACTIV.

For all of us who lived through the collapse of Yugoslavia, the moment when the Slovenian delegation walked out on a 1990 Communist Party congress in Belgrade stayed ingrained in our collective consciousness. The emotional scenes witnessed in the European Parliament on Wednesday brought back those memories.

A UK farming technology company has teamed up with leading space industry engineers and soil biologists to create a new tool to accurately assess biodiversity and soil health on farms.

The Budapest Capital Court ruled Wednesday that Hungary's competition authority had unlawfully approved the merger of the pro-government press empire, comprising a total 476 media outlets under the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA), the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union said. The merger was declared to be of national strategic importance by PM Viktor Orban's government and thus excluded from scrutiny. The competition authority then gave the green light.

Irish Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has hit out at recent comments made by the EU Commissioner Phil Hogan, accusing him of making a 'coded partisan intervention,' in Irish politics, ahead of next week's general election.

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Global Europe Brief, your weekly update on the EU in the global perspective from our foreign affairs news team: Georgi Gotev and Alexandra Brzozowski.

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Auditors (ECA) is set to probe the EU's border and coast guard agency Frontex and will publish its findings next year. "Our audit will ascertain whether it is carrying out its tasks effectively," said Leo Brincat, the ECA member responsible in a statement. Along with expanded powers, Frontex has been slated an €11bn budget for the 2021-2027.

In Burgenland's state elections, socialist Hans-Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) won the absolute majority, bringing a ray of hope to the Austrian socialist party which has suffered a multitude of defeats recently. One would think the party could learn something from this, but a party insider thinks this is unlikely. EURACTIV Germany reports.

MEP approved a resolution on Thursday calling on the European Commission to make "equal pay for equal work" the founding principle of the new European gender strategy to be presented in March. The text was adopted by 493 votes in favour, 82 against and 79 abstentions. According to the commission, the EU gender pay gap in hourly pay is 16 percent, while in pension income it is 37 percent.