Category Archives: European Union

EU deal still possible, PM to be told, as potential fisheries plan emerges

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UK negotiator to tell Boris Johnson that two more weeks of talks could lead to breakthrough

Boris Johnson will be advised by his chief negotiator that a trade deal with the EU is still possible should the prime minister ditch his deadline and continue to negotiate with Brussels as tentative signs of a compromise on fisheries emerged.

David Frost, who has been in talks with the EU team led by Michel Barnier this week, will inform the prime minister that a further two weeks, at least, of daily talks could result in the remaining gaps being bridged.

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Brexit: Barnier mocks Johnson’s ‘third deadline’ on talks

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Chief negotiator says little prospect yet of EU and UK entering ‘tunnel’ negotiations

Michel Barnier has mocked Boris Johnson for issuing a “third unilateral deadline” during a meeting with EU ministers, warning that the Brexit talks remain difficult with little prospect yet of the two sides entering a decisive “tunnel” negotiation.

With 48 hours remaining before an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, by which time the British prime minister has demanded a breakthrough moment, the bloc’s chief negotiator suggested a deal was “very difficult but still possible”, according to diplomatic sources.

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Johnson and Macron hold talks on coronavirus and Brexit

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UK and French leaders spoke as British and EU negotiating teams engage in eleventh-hour trade deal meetings

Boris Johnson has held Brexit telephone talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as the clock ticks down to the deadline for a deal.

The two leaders spoke on Saturday with seemingly just days remaining for an agreement on a future trade deal to be reached, after UK and EU negotiating teams met on Friday for what sources said was a positive meeting.

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EU does not believe UK will walk out on Brexit talks, diplomat says

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Boris Johnson has publicly suggested a Brussels summit next week is his deadline for a deal

Brussels does not believe Boris Johnson will walk out on the Brexit talks next week despite repeated threats from London, with negotiations set to continue deep into the month.

The prime minister has publicly suggested that an EU summit next Thursday is his deadline for a deal. He said in September that without agreement it would be time to “accept and move on”.

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Belgian ambassador throws King Charles II treaty into EU fishing debate

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British king granted 50 Flemish fishermen ‘eternal rights’ to English fishing waters in 1666

All is fair in love and cod war. And with the EU’s coastal states under pressure to give way on Britain’s demands for greater fishing catches in its waters post-Brexit, any old argument is worth a try.

When the issue of the future access of European fishing fleets was being discussed by EU ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday the Belgian government’s representative, Willem van de Voorde, made a notable intervention.

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EU parliament votes for 60% greenhouse gas emissions cut by 2030

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Backing for law demanding 60% reduction from 1990 levels puts capitals under pressure

EU capitals have been put under pressure to agree to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 compared with 1990, after the European parliament voted in favour of an “ambitious” climate law that would also oblige each member state to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The vote, which sets the chamber’s position as it goes into negotiations with the 27 member states and the European commission, won the backing of 392 MEPs, with 161 voting against and 142 abstaining.

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Europe’s migration ‘crisis’ isn’t about numbers. It’s about prejudice

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Reforming the EU’s inhumane refugee policy also means confronting Orbán’s view of Europe as a superior, white Christian club

Fortress Europe is being redesigned – but it is no easy task. European Union home affairs ministers on Thursday began the process of repairing the bloc’s broken migration policy, just weeks after the tragic devastation of the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos. Expect no quick changes, however. The 27 countries are deeply divided over proposals for a new “pact” on asylum and migration.

The European commission’s plan calls for faster pre-entry screening and quick returns of those who fail to quality for asylum. The focus is on ending sometimes deliberately slow, inhumane and inefficient border management procedures, which lead to squalid, overcrowded camps such as Moria, where people can be left in limbo for years. The return of those denied asylum could be managed with a newly appointed “EU returns coordinator”. EU data shows that on average approximately 370,000 applications are rejected each year, but only a third of people are expelled.

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Italian PM urges UK to do right thing on Brexit deal

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Giuseppe Conte under pressure from Italian exporters to ensure favourable outcome on withdrawal agreement

Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, has urged the British government to come good on a Brexit deal but admitted it was currently “difficult to feel optimistic” amid legal wrangling over the withdrawal agreement.

“Obviously the legislative move in the UK creates tension,” said Conte, referring to Boris Johnson’s tabling of a bill that violates key elements of the agreement reached with Brussels last year.

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Boris Johnson set for compromise on Human Rights Act – EU sources

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UK prepared to retain act in order to secure security ties with EU, sources say

Boris Johnson is prepared to make a major compromise to secure security ties with the EU by pledging in a deal on the future relationship not to rip up the Human Rights Act.

The UK is said by EU sources to be “moving” in negotiations on the issue in Brussels after previously insisting that the government would not tie its hands in any agreement on the future relationship.

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EU condemns northern Cyprus plan to reopen beach in no man’s land

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Turkish Cypriot leader’s plan is described as ‘serious violation’ of UN ceasefire agreement

The EU’s diplomatic chief has condemned plans by breakaway northern Cyprus to reopen the beach of an abandoned resort in no-man’s land as a “serious violation” of a UN ceasefire agreement on the divided island.

The Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, backed by Ankara, has vowed to open a coastal section of disputed Varosha, prompting anger from the island’s internationally recognised government.

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EU needs clear sign UK will get real in Brexit talks, says Irish minister

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Simon Coveney says talks will not progress without signal that UK is ready to show some realism

The EU’s Michel Barnier will not move Brexit talks into the so-called “tunnel” of more intense negotiations “unless he gets a very clear signal from the UK that they are willing to show some flexibility and realism” in its approach to a deal, Ireland’s foreign affairs minister has said.

Simon Coveney, who played a significant role in the first three years of talks, also said the talks would blow up completely if the UK went ahead with clauses in the yet-to-be-tabled finance bill giving ministers unilateral powers over the Northern Ireland protocol for a second time.

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EU court rules against Hungary over law that targeted Soros-affiliated university

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Billionaire philanthropist hails ‘victory’ but says court’s decision too late to save university’s presence in Budapest

The European Union’s highest court has ruled that changes by Hungary to its law on higher education, which effectively forced a university founded by George Soros to leave the country, were not in line with EU law.

The European court of justice (ECJ) ruled against prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government, saying in the ruling that “the conditions introduced by Hungary to enable foreign higher education institutions to carry out their activities in its territory are incompatible with EU law”.

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Memo to the Home Office: a little humanity goes a long way | Kenan Malik

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Delivering migrants to an offshore location is more about spectacle than solution

Dump them on Ascension Island. Or in Moldova. Imprison them in disused ferries. Build “marine fences” across the Channel. Deploy water cannons to make huge waves to swamp their boats.

And so it goes on. All apparently ideas from Home Office “brainstorming” sessions on how to deal with asylum seekers and cross-Channel undocumented migrants.

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Johnson and Von der Leyen extend Brexit talks by a month

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UK and EU leaders instruct chief negotiators to work harder to close gaps on deal

Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have approved a further month of Brexit negotiations after agreeing that enough progress has been made to justify a last push to reach a deal on trade and security.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, will travel to London this week for talks with his British counterpart, David Frost, and the two sides will then hold follow-up talks in Brussels the week after.

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Boris Johnson to set fishing ultimatum in crunch EU summit

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Buoyed by support for idea from Angela Merkel, PM hopes to overcome French opposition

Boris Johnson will demand that the increasingly isolated French president, Emmanuel Macron, caves in to UK demands on fishing as the price for a trade and security deal at a key meeting with the European commission president on Saturday.

The prime minister will speak to Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday afternoon in a video-conference call to “take stock of negotiations and discuss next steps”.

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EU imposes sanctions on Belarus officials but not on Lukashenko

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Late-night talks end standoff with Cyprus, which had wanted bloc to get tough with Turkey

European Union sanctions against 40 Belarusian officials accused of vote rigging and political repression have come into force, after the bloc’s leaders resolved a dispute with Cyprus that caused an embarrassing delay to action.

In a standoff that tarnished the EU’s credibility, Cyprus had insisted that its EU partners take a tough stance against Turkey for its energy exploration in disputed eastern Mediterranean waters off its coast, before it would agree to the Belarus sanctions.

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UK coronavirus live: indoor mixing ban extended to Merseyside, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough

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Government recommends no social mixing between people from different households in these areas; NHS Test and Trace going backwards

Council leaders and MPs from Merseyside have issued a joint statement describing today’s new restrictions as “a step in the right direction”.

But they are also saying the government should publish the scientific evidence showing why the government thinks these measures will be enough.

The measures announced today are a step toward restricting the spread but we need to understand if they are enough to arrest the rise cases across our region.

We're asking for Government to share their scientific evidence and provide us with more substantial financial support. pic.twitter.com/8gV1uJs87n

Graham Morgan, the leader of Knowsley council, says the new restrictions announced for Merseyside this morning may not be enough.

I'm still concerned that these new COVID-19 restrictions won't be enough to stop the spread of the virus here. We're at a critical point & need swift, effective solutions to protect our residents. Our conversations with Government will continue. https://t.co/Z5DZ8azYDl

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Angela Merkel to meet Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Berlin

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Announcement comes as EU leaders try to resolve dispute over Belarus sanctions

Angela Merkel has announced plans to meet the Belarusian opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, as EU leaders gathering at a Brussels summit seek to untangle a dispute that has delayed sanctions against Belarus’s authoritarian government.

In a speech in the Bundestag on Wednesday, the German chancellor expressed her admiration for the women protesting against the Belarusian regime “If you see the courage of the women on display in the streets there, for a life of freedom and free of corruption, then I can only say: I admire that,” she said.

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Brexit: EU launches legal action against UK for breaching withdrawal agreement

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UK put on formal notice over internal market bill, which ministers admit breaks international law

The EU has launched legal action against the UK after Boris Johnson failed to respond to Brussels’ demand that he drop legislation that would overwrite the withdrawal agreement and break international law.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, announced that the UK had been put on formal notice over the internal market bill tabled by the prime minister last month.

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