French service sector drives growth but experts warn strong figures mask disappointing performance elsewhere
The Paris Olympics have provided a boost to the eurozone economy after a sharp rise in spending as athletes and spectators descended on the French capital for the summer sporting event.
Figures from a closely watched survey of businesses showed monthly French private sector output rose to its highest level in 17 months in August.
Continue reading...Inquiry into eight EU countries is latest chapter in hostility between Beijing and EU over trade
Chinese authorities have launched an anti-subsidy investigation into European dairy imports, in the latest sign of escalating trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing.
The announcement from China’s commerce ministry on Wednesday came a day after the European Commission revealed revised duties on Chinese electric vehicles as part of its examination into what it viewed as artificially cheap cars that posed a threat to jobs in Europe’s motor industry.
Continue reading...Tomato and pepper growers call for UK to strike deal with EU to avoid disruption and duplicate testing
Vegetable growers in the UK have said crops could be adversely hit this year after post-Brexit border changes resulted in delays to seed imports.
Trade bodies representing UK tomato and pepper growers said new rules for seed imports from the EU were causing delays of up to six weeks for deliveries, disrupting their growing schedules and finances.
Continue reading...Change in policy means developers will be able to communicate with customers outside App Store
Apple on Thursday changed its policy in the European Union to allow developers to communicate with their customers outside its App Store after the commission charged the iPhone maker in June for breaching the bloc’s tech rules.
The commission had said that under most of the business terms, Apple allows steering only through “link-outs”, meaning that app developers can include a link in their app that redirects the customer to a web page where the customer can conclude a contract.
Continue reading...Trade bodies blame lack of lab facilities at Brexit border posts for longer delays and shorter shelf life of food
Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said.
The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.
Continue reading...Secretary of state says suspension is due to ‘anti-democratic’ actions from the Georgian government
The US has suspended $95m in assistance to Georgia after its parliament adopted legislation related to foreign agents that critics say was inspired by a Russian law used to crack down on political dissent and that sparked weeks of mass protests.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that he had decided to pause the Georgian aid, which would directly benefit the government, in response to “anti-democratic” actions the government has taken.
The US has also already imposed visa bans on a number of Georgian politicians and law enforcement officials for suppressing free speech, particularly voices in favor of Georgia’s integration with the west.
Continue reading...Fundamental rights body warns of flawed approach to credible accounts of ill-treatment and loss of life
Authorities in EU member states are not doing enough to investigate credible reports of violations of human rights, including deaths, on their borders, an EU human rights body has said.
The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said human rights agencies and NGOs were reporting “serious, recurrent and widespread rights violations against migrants and refugees during border management” but despite “credible” reports many were not investigated.
Continue reading...Far-right leader talks of new Asia-oriented world order and throws support behind Donald Trump
Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said on Saturday that the EU was sliding toward oblivion, in a rambling anti-west speech in which he warned of a new, Asia-oriented “world order” while throwing his support behind Donald Trump’s US presidential bid.
“Europe has given up defending its own interests,” Orbán said in Băile Tuşnad, a majority ethnic Hungarian town in central Romania. “All Europe is doing today is following the US’s pro-Democrat foreign policy unconditionally … even at the cost of self-destruction.
Continue reading...EU officials ask Giorgia Meloni to guarantee independence and funding of public broadcaster amid growing worries
The European Commission has raised the alarm about the independence of Italy’s public service media and Rome’s failure to reform the country’s strict defamation law, which is widely seen as silencing government critics.
In a report issued on Wednesday EU officials identified “persisting challenges related to the effectiveness of [the] governance and funding” of Italy’s public service media, urging Giorgia Meloni’s government to guarantee both its independence and its funding.
Continue reading...Group of finance ministers call for sanctions to be ratcheted up amid signs Moscow’s war machine is weakening
Vladimir Putin is “peddling lies” about the strength of the Russian economy that must be refuted, finance ministers from eight EU member states have said, with growing signs of deterioration in the face of biting sanctions.
They say there are signs that the economy is being “sovietised” with many hallmarks of the former USSR including expropriation of private assets to fund public spending, a “total disregard to the social and economic wellbeing of the population” and reorientation of the economy towards its war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Former leader rallies pro-EU MPs who German ambassador says now vastly outnumber ERG group of Eurosceptic Tories
Neil Kinnock has delivered a rallying cry to pro-EU Labour MPs, telling them that “fortune favours the brave” when it comes to forging closer ties with Europe.
The “tide is shifting”, the former party leader told a reception of the Labour Movement for Europe (LME), where there was applause when Germany’s ambassador told of his delight that the grouping’s more than 100 MPs now vastly outnumbered the Conservatives’ European Research Group of Eurosceptic MPs.
Continue reading...Dani says his £26,000 salary is not high enough to sponsor his wife so she can join him in Britain
A police officer working in Manchester says he has been forced to quit his job after Rishi Sunak raised the salary threshold to sponsor his Italian wife to live in the UK in the post-Brexit immigration scheme.
Campaigners have warned that his tale of Brexit anguish is being repeated up and down the country in low-paid public sectors where many EU citizens work.
Continue reading...Greek Cypriots in south wake to air raid sirens reminiscent of invasion while Turkish-occupied north celebrates
Cyprus has marked the landmark anniversary of 50 years of ethnic division amid markedly contrasting scenes: mourning in the south and celebration in the north.
At 5.20am Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised south awoke to air raid sirens reminding them of the arrival of thousands of invading Turkish troops on the eastern Mediterranean island five decades ago. In the Turkish-occupied north, the milestone event was cause for joy, with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, flying in to attend a military parade and fly-past commemorating the “peace operation”.
Continue reading...PM’s promise to draw line under years of fractious relations greeted with plaudits and relief by European media
Keir Starmer’s promised “reset” of the UK’s ties with the rest of Europe has drawn a positive response in European media, with one longtime journalist rejoicing that she will never again have to cover “Britain as a basket case”.
The prime minister told leaders at a meeting of the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on Thursday that he wanted to draw a line under years of fractious relations with the rest of Europe. The relaunch was greeted with a sense of relief that after years of chaotic leadership in London a new age of cooperation was beginning.
Continue reading...PM wants to rethink UK’s immigration policies but did not make progress on returns deal at summit with EU leaders
Keir Starmer is looking into plans to process asylum seekers outside the UK as part of a rethink of the government’s immigration policies, even as a returns agreement with the EU appears more distant than ever.
The prime minister said on Thursday he was open to the idea of Britain processing claims offshore, after a day spent discussing illegal migration with fellow European leaders at Blenheim Palace. Those talks, as part of the European Political Community summit, included a meeting with Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister, whose country processes asylum claims on behalf of Italy.
Continue reading...Secret ballot for MEPs to decide whether the European Commission president will serve another five-year term
Renew Europe’s leader, Valérie Hayer, has posted a photo with Ursula von der Leyen, ahead of the vote.
The Greens group said it will back Ursula von der Leyen, a centre-right politician, for a second term as European Commission president.
Continue reading...Prime minister says summit has been ‘successful and productive’ as world leaders discuss Ukraine and European security
Some more of the arrivals pictured at Blenheim Palace for a summit for the European Political Community (EPC) today, courtesy of the newswires:
Here are some of the discussions that have taken place at previous EPC summits, according to the gov.uk website:
At the last meeting in Granada, the UK led discussions on AI and illegal migration. In Moldova, the focus was on supporting the host country in the face of Russian hybrid threats, as well building energy resilience. While at the first EPC meeting in Prague, talks centred around Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the need for Europe to stand united against his aggression.
Continue reading...Digital border system that will require fingerprint and facial scans postponed until November
The date for the introduction of the EU’s new entry-exit system has been pushed back again until November, allaying fears of long queues at the border during the October half-term holidays.
The launch of the new biometric checks for foreign travellers, including Britons, entering the EU, has been delayed from 6 October until at least 10 November, with many smaller airports yet to have facilities in place.
Continue reading...Knife-edge vote set to result in another five-year mandate for commission’s first female leader or a crisis for EU
Ursula von der Leyen has spoken out against “the extreme polarisation of our societies” as she appealed to the European parliament to give her a second term as European Commission president.
MEPs will hold a knife-edge vote later on Thursday that will either result in another five-year mandate for the EU executive’s first female leader or tip the bloc into a summer crisis.
Continue reading...PM meets Simon Harris at Chequers on eve of European Political Community gathering
Keir Starmer is hoping to reverse almost a decade of strained relations with Ireland over dinner with the taoiseach, Simon Harris, at Chequers on Wednesday on the eve of the biggest summit of European leaders in the UK.
Greeting Harris, Starmer said he was “very pleased to have this very early opportunity to, what I see as resetting, strengthening and deepening our relationship”.
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