Page 6 - European Union

India makes USB Type-C charging must for device makers from March 2025

Deadline follows EU's timeline for uniform charging ports' standards, says civil servant

Fourth Reich to be created: Russia's Dmitry Medvedev makes 2023 prediction

Medvedev also said that a war is likely to break out between France and the Fourth Reich. In the process, Europe will be divided, whereas Poland repartitioned

Top headlines: Telcos get green signal, states start mock drills, and more

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

EU condemns Taliban's ban on women working for NGOs over dress code issue

The European Union condemned the Taliban's ban on women working for NGOs and said that it was assessing the impact of its aid in Afghanistan

Germany nationalises Uniper after EU approval to prevent gas shortage

The German government said on Thursday that it has nationalised energy company Uniper after the European Union gave its blessing for it to rescue the gas supplier. The government announced its plan to nationalise Uniper in September, expanding state intervention in the energy sector to prevent a shortage resulting from Russia's war in Ukraine. The deal built on an initial rescue package agreed in July and features a capital increase of 8 billion euros (USD 8.5 billion) that Germany is financing. Uniper's existing shareholders approved the measures on Monday. The EU's executive Commission gave its conditional approval on Tuesday. The government is obliged to reduce its stake to 25 per cent plus one share by 2028, a deadline that can only be extended with the Commission's approval. Germany's finance and economy ministries said Thursday that the government has now taken a stake of some 99 per cent in the company. Uniper's existing management remains in place. Uniper was controlled u

EU probing $61 billion acquisition of software firm VMware by Broadcom

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of enterprise Cloud software company VMware by Broadcom

Best of BS Opinion: Unilateral carbon pricing, cyber threats, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

EU states agree $191 natural gas price cap to contain energy crisis

European Union (EU) member states have agreed to cap natural gas prices in the bloc at 180 euros ($191) per megawatt-hour (MWh) in an effort to ensure the security of energy supply

Amazon promises equal visibility to products from rival sellers in EU

Amazon has agreed to make major changes to its business practices to settle antitrust investigations that found the ecommerce giant gave itself an unfair advantage over rival merchants, European Union regulators said Tuesday. Amazon promised to give products from rival sellers equal visibility in the buy box, a premium piece of real estate on its website that leads to higher sales. The company also pledged to stop using non-public data from independent sellers on its platform to provide insights into its own products to compete against those merchants. Amazon also agreed not to discriminate against sellers in its Prime membership service and let Prime members freely choose any delivery service. The commission said it has accepted the commitments from Amazon, which allows the company to avoid a legal battle with the E.U.'s top antitrust watchdog that could have ended with huge fines, worth up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue. We are pleased that we have addressed the European

Unilateral carbon pricing

India needs to work on carbon border tariffs

Smartphone makers may be forced to bring back removable batteries: Report

This move comes after making USB Type-C charging ports mandatory on all smartphones, tablets, and laptops

Data-giant Google's revenues from APAC growing faster than elsewhere

The company's profits in India have multiplied three-fold in the last five years

EU ministers trying, again, for compromise on natural gas price cap

European Union ministers were trying again on Monday to finalise a long-awaited deal to implement a natural gas price cap that they hope can help households and businesses better weather excessive price surges. The ministers have previously failed at overcoming their differences at five previous so-called emergency meetings, but several EU leaders said last week that fixing a maximum ceiling to pay for gas was likely to be achieved this time. We have defined the political framework that will allow our ministers to finalise the issue of a gas price cap," French President Emmanuel Macron said last week after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels." The 27 nations have stuck together through nine rounds of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine and energy-saving measures to avoid shortages of the fuel used to generate electricity, heat homes and power factories. But they have not been able to close a deal on setting a complicated price cap that had been promised in October as a

European Union govts reach deal on emissions trading, social climate fund

European Union governments and lawmakers have reached a deal on key elements of the 27-nation bloc's green deal, reforming the EU's trading system for greenhouse gas emissions and creating a new hardship fund for those hardest-hit by measures to curb climate change. The two sides on Sunday agreed to push European industries and energy companies to cut their emissions by speeding up the phase-out of free pollution vouchers. Doing so makes each ton of carbon dioxide that's released into the atmosphere more expensive for polluters. The EU's executive Commission said the measure would require European industries to reduce their emissions by 62% by 2030 from 2005 levels, compared to a target of 43% under the previous rules. To ensure a level playing field, the EU will also introduce a tax on foreign companies that want to import products which don't meet climate-protection standards European companies have to comply with. The so-called Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism was agreed to las

More questions than answers as EU-Qatar corruption scandal unfolds

No one answers the door or the phone at the offices of the two campaign groups linked to a cash-for-favours corruption scandal at the European Union's parliament, allegedly involving Qatar. No light is visible inside. No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), a pro-human rights and democracy organisation, and Fight Impunity, which seeks to bring rights abusers to book, share the same address, on prime real estate in the governmental quarter of the Belgian capital. The heads of the two organizations are among four people charged since December 9 with corruption, participation in a criminal group and money laundering. Prosecutors said in a statement that they suspect certain European lawmakers and aides were paid large sums of money or offered substantial gifts to influence parliament's decisions. Qatar rejects allegations that it's involved. The Gulf country that's hosting the soccer World Cup has gone to considerable trouble to boost its public image and defend itself against extensive ...

New European Union sanctions target Russian military-industrial complex

The European Union said Friday its latest round of sanctions will hit Russia's military-industrial complex, as well as people and groups that are attacking Ukrainian civilians or kidnapping children. Valdis Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, said the package will deal a blow to 168 entities companies or state organizations as well as some two dozen individuals. The ninth package of EU punitive measures against Russia for its war in Ukraine was approved by EU leaders at a summit Thursday. It was formally adopted Friday by written procedure. European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the package also focuses on tech, finance and media to push the Russian economy and war machine further off the rails." Von der Leyen added that the new sanctions target almost 200 individuals and entities involved in attacks on civilians and kidnapping children." Russia's open effort to adopt Ukrainian children and bring them up as Russian is already well underway, in one of the mos

European Union approves new sanctions against Russia over war in Ukraine

The European Union said it approved a new package of sanctions Thursday aimed at ramping up pressure on Russia for its war in Ukraine. The package, whose details have not been revealed, was approved after days of deliberations during a meeting of the 27-nation bloc's ambassadors. The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, said the package will be confirmed by written procedure on Friday. Details will then be published in the bloc's legal records. The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, last week proposed travel bans and asset freezes on almost 200 more Russian officials and military officers as part of the new round of measures. The targets of the latest recommended sanctions included government ministers, lawmakers, regional governors and political parties. In addition to sanctions on various entities, banks and individuals, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of his family, the EU previously approved an embargo on co

Super League case: European Union legal adviser sides with UEFA, FIFA

UEFA and FIFA should have backing from the European Court of Justice to block Super League, an EU senior legal adviser proposed on Thursday. Advocate General Athanasios Rantos dealt the blow to Super League promoters who want to break from traditional European competitions. He proposed the court recognize that FIFA-UEFA rules under which Super League should be subject to prior approval are compatible with European Union competition law. While promoters were entitled to set up an independent competition outside UEFA and FIFA, they can't also continue to play in events sanctioned by UEFA and FIFA without their blessing, Rantos said. Advocates general routinely provide legal guidance to the ECJ. Their opinions aren't binding on the Luxembourg-based court but are followed in most cases. Rantos acknowledged UEFA and FIFA could restrict competitors' access to the European market of organizing soccer competitions. But he insisted such a fact, if established, does not manifestly mean that

Swedish PM Kristersson presents priorities of EU Council Presidency

Sweden will hold the EU Council Presidency between January 1 and June 30 next year

EU pledges to mobilise 10-billion-euro investment in ASEAN by 2027

The European Union (EU) has pledged to mobilise 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion) by 2027 to accelerate infrastructure investments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)