Category Archives: European Union

Confidence in UK’s global role plunges after Brexit, poll finds

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Belief that Britain is force for good in world is down 10 points from April 2019 in UK

Belief that Britain is a force for good in the world has plunged in the last 18 months, a national poll has found, with under half of the UK now convinced of the country’s positive impact.

As negotiations on the UK’s future relationship enter a key week in Brussels and with the country set to leave the EU’s single market and customs union at the end of the year, a poll by Ipsos Mori suggests there is a lack of confidence in Britain’s global role.

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‘Catastrophe for human rights’ as Greece steps up refugee ‘pushbacks’

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Human rights groups condemn practice as evidence reviewed by the Guardian reveals systemic denial of entry to asylum seekers

At about 1am on 24 August, Ahmed (not his real name) climbed into a rubber dinghy with 29 others and left Turkey’s north-western Çanakkale province. After 30 minutes, he said, they reached Greek waters near Lesbos and a panther boat from the Hellenic coastguard approached.

Eight officers in blue shorts and shirts, some wearing black masks and armed with rifles, forced the group – more than half women and including several minors and six small children – to come aboard at gunpoint. They punctured the dinghy with knives and it sank. “They said they would take us to a camp,” said Ahmed. “The children were happy and started laughing, but I knew they were lying.”

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Firms plead for Brexit deal as coronavirus leaves industry reeling

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With only three months until the transition ends businesses say they have been unable to prepare for restrictions on EU trade


Almost half of British companies have warned that their Brexit preparations have been hit by the pandemic, as business leaders demanded a last-minute compromise to reach a trade deal and avert chaos at the border.

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Belarus accuses western nations of sowing ‘chaos and anarchy’

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Country’s foreign minister attacks western ‘interference’, as Emmanuel Macron says president Lukashenko must go

Belarus’s foreign minister, Vladimir Makei, has accused western countries of attempting to sow “chaos and anarchy” in the former Soviet republic, which has been rocked by street protests since a contested election last month that was claimed by President Alexander Lukashenko.

“We are seeing attempts to destabilise the situation in the country,” Makei told the UN general assembly in a video statement on Saturday. “Interference in our internal affairs, sanctions and other restrictions on Belarus will have the opposite effect, and are harmful for absolutely everyone.”

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Brexit: Brussels punctures optimism that deal is in sight

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EU sources fear Boris Johnson hasn’t yet got backing for compromises on state aid to business

Brussels has sought to puncture an outbreak of optimism over an imminent Brexit deal, amid fears Boris Johnson has not secured the backing of key advisers and his party for the compromises needed in the final stretch of negotiations.

With the UK government yet to offer a way forward on the most contentious issues, and trust in Downing Street at a low ebb, senior EU officials treated with scepticism reports that the UK could see a way to secure a deal.

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European commission to appeal against €13bn Apple tax ruling

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Brussels seeks to overturn decision over alleged unpaid taxes to Irish government

The European commission is appealing against a court ruling that said Apple did not have to pay €13bn (£11.9bn) in alleged back taxes to the Irish government, reopening a landmark battle in the EU’s campaign to stop sweetheart deals for multinationals.

The bloc’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said on Friday she would appeal to the EU court of justice to try to oblige Ireland to collect the alleged unpaid taxes and interest from the tech giant.

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Masked Spanish councillor’s English accent proves to be a dub misstep – video

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A councillor from Valencia surprised listeners with a minute-long speech in stunningly fluent English and without the slightest trace of a Spanish accent for the city's bid to become the European Capital of Innovation 2020, an honour later awarded to Leuven in Belgium.

Carlos Galiana was being live-dubbed by a native English speaker – with a noticeable regional accent. The Spanish newspaper El Español reported the council did not have an interpreter stand next to Galiana because of strict commission instructions

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Dominic Cummings’ data law shake-up a danger to trade, says EU

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Exclusive: proposed rewriting of data protection rules said to put vital cooperation in doubt

A radical “pro-tech” plan championed by Dominic Cummings to rewrite Britain’s data protection laws is endangering future cooperation with the EU worth billions to the British economy, Brussels has warned.

The government’s newly published national data strategy, promising a “transformation” long sought by Boris Johnson’s chief adviser and the former Vote Leave director, has sparked concern at a sensitive time with the continued flow of data between the UK and EU member states in question.

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Swiss to vote on whether to end free movement deal with EU

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Sunday’s referendum with echoes of Brexit proposes limits on number of foreign workers

Switzerland will vote on Sunday whether to end its agreement with the EU on the free movement of people, in a referendum with echoes of the pro-Brexit campaign that led to Britain’s decision to leave the bloc.

The largest party in the Swiss parliament, the rightwing, anti-immigration Swiss People’s party (SVP), has called for the vote, arguing that the country must be allowed to set its own limit on the number of foreigners coming in to work.

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EU’s migration proposals draw anger on left and leave questions unanswered

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One Dutch MEP compared the plans to the far right while Von der Leyen’s party called them ‘a good starting point’

The EU home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, hopes migration will become just another “normal policy area”, even “boring”.

Since more than 1 million refugees arrived in Europe in 2015, migration has been neither “boring” nor easy for the bloc. Leaders have flung accusations at each other, exposing painful divisions. In 2015, Italy’s then prime minister told his fellow leaders they were “time wasters”, who didn’t deserve to call themselves Europeans. Central European countries accused their neighbours of trying to “blackmail” them.

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EU proposes to ditch refugee quotas for member states

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Countries would be offered €10,000 an adult to take people in under ‘solidarity à la carte’ plan

The European commission is abandoning the idea of mandatory refugee quotas, as it revives an attempt to change Europe’s asylum and migration rules after more than four years of deadlock.

The long-awaited migration proposals, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, would allow EU member states to choose whether to accept refugees, or take charge of returning those denied asylum to their home countries.

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‘Cutting it tight’: Dover port still awaiting Brexit infrastructure funds

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Head of EU exit at the port says money needs to be ‘issued rather than talked about’

Dover port is not Brexit ready because it is still waiting for government funds to be released for vital infrastructure for the new border operations, it has been revealed.

It comes as it emerged that the government was considering forcing drivers to obtain a special Brexit passport before entering Kent in a bid to avert queuing chaos in January.

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Theresa May says ‘reckless’ Brexit bill risks UK’s reputation

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Ex-PM says internal market bill could lead to a united Ireland and undermine trust in UK

Theresa May has launched a blistering attack on the government’s plan to give itself powers to renege on the special arrangements for Northern Ireland in the Brexit deal.

She described the plans as “reckless” and “irresponsible” and said they “risked the integrity of the United Kingdom”, as they would not only tarnish Britain’s reputation globally as an upholder of the law but could contribute to a reunited Ireland.

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Amal Clooney quits UK envoy role over ‘lamentable’ Brexit bill

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Exclusive: prominent human rights lawyer writes to foreign secretary with stinging denunciation

Amal Clooney, the high-profile human rights lawyer, has resigned from her position as the UK’s special envoy on media freedom in protest at the government’s intention to breach international law through the internal market bill.

In a stinging denunciation of Boris Johnson’s threat to override Britain’s international treaty obligations in the EU withdrawal agreement, the barrister described the government’s actions as “lamentable”.

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Brexit: consortium of companies led by Fujitsu wins £200m Irish Sea contract

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Deal is the first concrete implementation of the special arrangements for Northern Ireland

A £200m contract to implement Brexit checks on goods in the Irish Sea has been won by a consortium of companies led by Japanese company Fujistu.

HMRC announced on Friday that a two-year contract for the new trader support service (TSS) had been awarded to a consortium led by the tech company and its partners, the Customs Clearance Consortium, an organisation run by customs expert Robert Hardy and the Institute of Export and International Trade.

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Belarus could bring down ‘another iron curtain’ across Europe

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UN investigator warns of ‘catastrophic’ stiuation with more than 10,000 protesters ‘abusively arrested’

A United Nations investigator has warned of the danger of “another iron curtain” falling across Europe during an ill-tempered debate in Geneva on alleged human rights violations in Belarus.

“Let’s not allow another iron curtain to descend on the European continent,” Anaïs Marin, the UN’s special rapporteur on Belarus, said, in an urgent session of the body’s 47-member human rights council that also heard from the Belarus opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

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‘No place in EU’: Ursula von der Leyen speaks out against Poland’s LGBT-free zones – video

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In her first ‘state of union’ speech, the European commission president said Poland’s LGBT-free zones were ‘humanity-free zones’ that had no place in the EU in her strongest criticism yet of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.

It comes amid a dispute between the EU and Poland over the rule of law, since the country embarked on policies that weaken independent courts.

Von der Leyen said the EU was ‘a union where you can be who you are and love who you want to without fear and recrimination’.

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Ursula von der Leyen says Poland’s ‘LGBT-free zones’ have no place in EU

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In her first ‘state of union’ speech, European commission president delivers criticism of Polish ruling party

The head of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said Poland’s “LGBT free zones” are “humanity-free zones” that have no place in the European Union in her strongest criticism yet of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.

In a wide-ranging 77-minute speech spanning from coronavirus to the climate emergency, Von der Leyen pledged to build “a union of equality” and criticised European member states that watered down EU foreign policy messages on human rights.

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Biden and Pelosi warn UK over risking Good Friday agreement

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Leading Democrats tell UK foreign secretary that Northern Ireland peace deal cannot be casualty of Brexit

Joe Biden on Wednesday joined the clamour of Democrats warning Boris Johnson not to let the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement become a casualty of his Brexit talks.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, is in Washington trying to repair relations with pro-Irish Democrats amid concerns that the UK’s attempt to leave the EU on its own terms will undermine the Good Friday peace agreement.

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