Page 2 - European Union

Ukraine, EU extend deal on road transport liberalisation till June 2024

Ukraine and the European Union (EU) have extended a deal on road transport liberalisation for one year till June 30, 2024, the Ukrainian government press service has reported

EU asks UEFA to ban Belarus from Euro 2024 due to its human rights record

A group of more than 100 European Union lawmakers is urging European soccer's governing body to ban Belarus from qualifying for the 2024 European Championship. MEPs from across the political spectrum wrote in a letter sent to UEFA president Alexander Ceferin that the Belarusian national team should not be able to compete because of the country's terrible human rights record. "These are not only UEFA values at stake, but also UEFA's reputation and image within democratic societies and international community," they said. Last week, a court in Belarus sentenced exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 15 years in prison after a trial in absentia on charges including conspiring to overthrow the government, the latest move in a months-long effort by the government to suppress dissent. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine. Russia used Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine more than

EU closer to end trade dispute with US, moves on Green Deal funds

The European Union moved closer to ending a trade dispute with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday following months of wrangling over the billions of America-first incentives in his clean technology plans and said it would ramp up a similar subsidy-laden effort at home. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the parliament plenary that in its attempt to produce at least 40 per cent of the clean tech needed by 2030 in the 27-nation bloc, it would allow for the tax breaks and the flexible use of EU funds on top of simplifying and speeding up industrial approvals. She spoke of a striking symmetry between the US efforts and the European Green Deal plans. Both of them are simultaneously a climate strategy and a strategy for investment and growth, von der Leyen said. Her upbeat comments came on the eve of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, tabling plans for the Net-Zero Industry Act on industrial incentives and a Critical Raw Materials Act, which seeks to .

Credit Suisse leads Europe bank stock rout after short-lived SVB respite

A fresh 18% drop in embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse led the wider European banking index lower

European bank stocks under pressure; Credit Suisse tumbles to a new low

Investors rushed back into safe-havens, with two-year German bond yields down 21 basis points at 2.71%

In European Union's inflation crisis, the humble egg takes the cake

The humble egg has become a star performer for all the wrong reasons as inflation has hit households across the European Union extremely hard over the year. The EU's statistical agency Eurostat announced Friday that the average price of an egg that important staple for poor families and gourmet cooks alike had risen by 30 per cent over the year to January 2023, becoming a symbol of how the cost of living has hit everyone in the 27-nation bloc. Even if the latest inflation figures show that annual inflation in the 20-nation eurozone has started to decline to 8.5 per cent in February, the sector of food, alcohol and tobacco continued to rise and stood at 15 per cent. And then, eggs outperform just about all. Two years ago, egg inflation still stood at a lean 1 per cent, rising to 7 per cent the year after before reaching 30 per cent in February. Egg prices were whipped up the most in the Czech Republic, rising 85 per cent over the year, followed closely by two other central Europea

EU considers sending more military support to Ukraine as war rages on

European Union (EU) defence ministers discussed the idea of sending further military support to Ukraine, at an informal meeting in the Swedish capital Stockholm

China's trade contracts again in Jan, Feb as Western demand weakens

China's trade contracted again in January and February as US and European demand weakened in the face of interest rate hikes, adding to pressure on official efforts to revive economic growth following the end of anti-virus controls. Exports sank 6.8 per cent from a year earlier to USD 506.3 billion, an improvement over December's 10.1 per cent decline, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports fell 10.2 per cent to USD 389.4 billion, deepening December's 7.3 per cent contraction. China's global trade surplus for the two months edged up 0.8 per cent over a year earlier to USD 116.9 billion. Forecasters expected trade to weaken as the likelihood of a recession in Western economies increased following rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank to cool economic activity and record-setting inflation. We don't expect exports to rebound, Iris Pang of ING said in a report. That adds to complications for President Xi Jinping's government, which is trying to revive economic grow

Hungarian delegation supports Sweden's Nato membership application

A parliamentary delegation from Hungary said Tuesday that it supports Sweden's NATO membership bid after meeting the speaker of the Swedish parliament to iron out what Hungary's governing party has called political disputes. Some Hungarian lawmakers have raised doubts about whether to support the NATO membership applications by Sweden and Finland, citing what they call blatant lies from Stockholm and Helsinki on the state of Hungary's democracy. But the Hungarian delegation indicated Tuesday that the parliament in Budapest would ultimately ratify Sweden's NATO bid. We support Sweden's NATO membership, Hungary's deputy parliamentary speaker, Csaba Hende, told Swedish news agency TT. We made it clear that the Hungarian government, the Hungarian president, the prime minister and most of the Hungarian parliamentarians clearly support Swedish NATO membership, Hende said, according to TT. He added that it was necessary to improve bilateral relations between Budapest and Stockholm. Hunga

WhatsApp to clearly outline how its privacy updates will affect EU users

WhatsApp confirmed that users' personal data are not shared with third-parties or other Meta companies -- including Facebook -- for advertising purposes

Ukraine, Latvia agree to Ukraine's Euro, Euro-Atlantic integration

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his visiting Latvian counterpart, Egils Levits, have signed a joint declaration confirming Latvia's support

EU postpones vote on combustion engine ban amid opposition from Germany

The adoption by European Union member countries of new carbon dioxide emission standards for cars and vans has been postponed amid opposition from Germany and conservative lawmakers, the Swedish presidency of the EU ministers' council said Friday. The vote initially scheduled for next week will take place at a later council meeting on a date yet to be announced, according to the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union. Germany's transportation minister said last week that his country would not back a proposed EU ban on the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035. He wanted assurances from the bloc's executive arm that there would be an exemption for synthetic fuels. The conservative European People's Party group, which is the largest bloc in the European Parliament, is also opposing the ban and called on member countries to do the same. The ban prevents innovation and doesn't reduce additional CO2 emissions, the group said Friday. "The EPP Group is convin

US nominee to head World Bank, Ajay Banga, to visit China, other countries

Banga said he believes the scientific evidence on climate change, and underscored the need for the bank to continue to work on poverty reduction and inequality

European inflation eases slightly, consumer pain from higher costs persists

Inflation eased only slightly in the 20 countries that use the euro currency as the pain from higher costs for food and fuel persists and gives the European Central Bank no reason to slow interest rate increases aimed at getting prices back under control. The consumer price index reached 8.5 per cent in February compared with a year earlier, a drop from 8.6 per cent in January, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday. The figure was higher than analysts' expectations of 8.3%. Inflation is down from its peak of 10.6 per cent in October but its persistence has surprised economists, with figures from Germany, France and Spain coming in higher than expected this week. Prices for food, alcohol and tobacco rose 15 per cent, up from an already painful 14.1 per cent in January, outpacing even energy costs amid Russia's war in Ukraine. Energy prices grew 13.7 per cent from a year ago but were lower than the 18.9 per cent boost in January. Higher prices for natural gas,

Stocks, Euro register fall after stubborn Euro zone inflation data

MSCI's broadest index of world shares dipped 0.2%, hovering near 7-week lows. The STOXX 600 index slid 0.3% and Wall Street's S&P futures were down 0.6%

Oil gains on demand growth from China, but European inflation remains high

China's seaborne imports of Russian oil are set to hit a record high this month as refiners take advantage of cheap prices

European Union's carbon tax may hurt metal exports, says GTRI report

"High tariff walls will disrupt world trade," the think tank said

India feeling 'little challenged' about EU's carbon tax: Official

India on Wednesday said it is concerned about the European Union's announcement of imposing carbon tax, saying such measures require New Delhi to recalibrate its approach towards a free trade agreement. In January last year, India and the EU resumed negotiations for a free trade agreement, investment protection and Geographical Indications (GI). "Apart from the sustainability and all other issues, we are also a bit, I would not say perturbed but we are feeling little challenged with the announcement of CBAM recently and it is going to cover 5-6 sectors which are key to Indian industry and supply chains," Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Nidhi Mani Tripathi said. The EU is introducing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from October 1 this year. CBAM will translate into a 20-35 per cent tax on select imports into the EU starting January 1, 2026. Speaking at an event organised by industry body CII, she said there is also another regulation which is to come up -

UK PM travels to Belfast to convince his toughest audience on Brexit deal

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Belfast on Tuesday to sell his landmark agreement with the European Union to its toughest audience: Unionist politicians who fear post-Brexit trade rules are weakening Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom. The UK and the 27-nation EU announced Monday that they had struck a deal to resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland trade that has vexed relations since the UK left the bloc in 2020. The agreement will ease customs checks and other hurdles for goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. that were imposed after Brexit to maintain an open border between the north and its EU neighbour, the Republic of Ireland. The deal, dubbed the Windsor Framework, was hailed by London and Brussels as a breakthrough. But Northern Ireland's British unionist politicians have yet to give it their blessing. Their support is key to restoring Northern Ireland's semi-autonomous government, which has been toppled by the trade feud, leaving 1

India expects Free Trade Agreement with EU to be 'game-changer': Jaishankar

India expects its proposed free trade agreement with the European Union to be a "game-changer" and is looking forward to a mutually advantageous conclusion to the negotiation process for the pact within a "short planned timeline", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday. In an address at an event at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Jaishankar also said that Europe and India can strengthen each other's strategic autonomy by reducing dependencies, cooperating on critical technologies and ensuring supply-chain restructuring. "We expect the India-EU FTA will be a game-changer for the India-EU relationship. We look forward to a mutually beneficial, mutually advantageous conclusion to the negotiation process within a reasonably short planned timeline," he said. In June last year, India and the European Union restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement after a gap of over eight years. Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for t