Category Archives: European Union

Definitely no or maybe yes: what tipped the Icelandic referendum | Miranda Bryant

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The no campaign was well-funded and accused of scaremongering, but the wording of the question may also have made a difference

It was always going to be a close contest. But on the night, the figures showed just how divided Iceland was on the issue of whether or not to restart negotiations with the European Union.

After a nail-biting overnight count, the well-funded no campaign rejoiced on Sunday morning as the broadcaster RUV declared it the winner with about 52.8% of the vote. Given the size of Iceland’s population – barely 400,000 – the margins were tiny.

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‘Winter panic’: EU gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years

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As one of Europe’s biggest consumers of gas the UK may be particularly exposed to heightened price volatility

Europe is on course to enter the cooler months with gas stores at their lowest level in 13 years, which has triggered “winter panic” among energy traders, experts have warned.

The EU’s gas stocks were 63% full in the last week of August, well below the 80% average for late August over recent years and among the lowest levels ever recorded for this time of year.

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Guns, axes, explosives: violent museum heists are on the rise, says Europol

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EU police agency says shift could point to involvement of new criminal networks focused on specific artefacts

Robberies at European museums are becoming increasingly violent, with thieves sometimes brandishing guns, assaulting staff and using sledgehammers, axes and even explosives to smash their way into buildings and display cases, according to a report by Europol.

The EU police agency said that while museum thefts were generally seen as a non-violent form of organised property crime, member states had detected a recent shift “towards violent and forceful methods” that could point to the involvement of new criminal networks focused on specific cultural artefacts.

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Spain to allow 500 children in Ceuta to go to mainland in immigration U-turn

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Madrid government changes stance after previously saying anyone who entered territory illegally would be sent back

The Spanish government has U-turned and said it will allow 500 migrant children in Ceuta to relocate to the mainland.

The majority of the estimated 70,000 people who crossed into Ceuta – a Spanish territory on the coast of north Africa – on 30 July have returned to Morocco. However, under Spanish law, the state has a duty of care to young, unaccompanied migrants until they reach the age of 18.

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French court blocks Macron’s social media ban for under-15s

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Constitutional council says curbs infringe freedom of expression and privacy as president vows to rework legislation

France’s top court has blocked a ban on social media access for under-15s, ruling that it infringed freedom of expression and privacy.

The decision is a blow to President Emmanuel Macron as momentum builds around the world for Australian-style restrictions on children’s use of social media.

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Italy condemns Spain’s ‘unacceptable’ border controls as Ceuta fallout intensifies

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Travellers caught up in migration row as Madrid introduces checks on visitors from Italy in retaliation for Rome’s move

Italy’s foreign minister has called Spain’s decision to impose retaliatory checks on travellers from Italy “incomprehensible and completely unacceptable” as people making their way between the two EU countries were left grappling with the effects of the escalating feud.

Spain started carrying out spot checks on visitors from Italy at midnight on Saturday. The tit-for-tat move came after Rome infuriated Madrid by launching checks on 1 August for travellers from Spain in response to the recent influx of about 72,000 people into Ceuta, a Spanish territory in north Africa.

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Video game maker EA bought by Saudi-led group for $55bn

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Company acquired in deal involving Affinity Partners, a firm run by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner

Electronic Arts, the maker of video games such as The Sims, Madden NFL and Battlefield, has been bought by Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund and a group of investors for $55bn (£41bn).

The company announced the completion of the deal on Tuesday evening, only days after the EU gave its approval, the final regulatory green light needed.

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EU chief criticises Spain’s migrant plan after Ceuta crisis meeting

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Migration commissioner says scheme regularising undocumented people ‘not a good signal’ for Europe

The EU’s top official on migration has criticised Spain’s plan to regularise undocumented migrants as “not a good signal” for Europe, after an emergency meeting intended to draw a line under divisions on the Ceuta crisis.

Magnus Brunner, the European commissioner for migration, said that while the EU could not currently see a direct link between events in Ceuta and Spain’s regularisation plan, the policy was “definitely not a good signal for the rest of Europe”.

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Price of olive oil expected to rise again as European crops feel the heat

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Farmers warn impact of high temperatures, drought and wildfires on range of foodstuffs means costs will increase

Farmers across Europe are warning of a slump in food production and rising prices as crops from maize to salads suffer as a result of extreme heat, drought and wildfires.

Olive groves have also been hit as the climate crisis drives temperatures across the continent to fresh record highs, meaning the cost of olive oil – already at elevated levels – is expected to start rising again.

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Stronger EU borders needed after Ceuta crisis, von der Leyen says

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European Commission president says work needed in five areas of migration control including returning more people

The president of the European Commission has called for action to strengthen Europe’s borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries.

In a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said: “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points, including vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.”

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Callas, Beethoven, bee-eaters or storks: competition seeks to redesign euro notes

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The EU is using a currency redesign as an opportunity to be less neutral and try some finely balanced identity-building

Is Europe best represented by the bold intellect of Marie Curie, the sprawling imagination of Miguel de Cervantes and the intense musical genius of Ludwig van Beethoven? Or by a migrating stork and a bee-eater, swooping across borderless plains and enjoying freedom of movement across European countries?

The quest to settle this issue has engaged a surprising number of people across the continent, after more than 6 million people voted in a survey within just a week of its launch to determine whether the newly redesigned euro bank notes should depict either cultural figures or birds and waterways.

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AI labels to be compulsory on authentic-looking content under EU rules

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Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look real

From apparently conspiring to steal elections to abusing staff or performing embarrassing dance moves, the last few years have seen plenty of fake content made about politicians intended to malign its targets and mislead the public.

Now EU rules aim to stem the flood of this deceptive content: starting from Sunday, artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look authentic must be labelled.

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Race to extinguish blazes across Europe as fire weather breaks records

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Figures show hot, dry, windy conditions in EU are 43% more severe than the average over last 20 years

Fire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean.

Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU from the start of the year until the end of July has been 43% more severe than the average for the same period over the last two decades, data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) shows.

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Burnham urged to lobby EU leaders directly to waive EES border controls

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Lib Dems call on PM to push for suspension of ‘bungled, malfunctioning’ system as overseas holiday travel peaks

Andy Burnham has been urged to lobby EU leaders directly to suspend the new entry-exit system, EES, as the peak weekend for overseas holidays begins.

About 2.2 million British holidaymakers are expected to head abroad between Friday and Monday, the majority to Europe, with all schools in the UK now on their summer break.

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​Andy Burnham’s ​domestic ​revolution ​could ​unobtrusively pull Britain ​closer to Europe

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The new PM talks less about the continent than his predecessor, but his agenda is more closely aligned with the EU’s

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Europe’s leaders queued up this week to welcome Andy Burnham as Britain’s seventh prime minister since the Brexit vote – all expressing the hope that his tenure would continue the thaw in EU-UK relations initiated by his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, said she was looking forward to strengthening cross-Channel ties, adding that a “very good” first discussion had confirmed a common commitment to “bringing the EU and UK closer and closer”. France’s Emmanuel Macron said he hoped for a deeper relationship that gave “new momentum to the partnership” between the EU and the UK. Germany’s Friedrich Merz said he, too, was looking forward to forging an even closer bond.

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Food price fears after Europe’s heatwave destroys estimated €2bn of crops

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Record June temperatures expected to cut grain harvest by 9m tonnes to its lowest level since 2018

The heatwave that swept across Europe in June is estimated to have cost the continent’s grain farmers €2bn (£1.7bn) in lost revenue and destroyed 9m tonnes of crops, sparking concern about the impact on the price of food.

Coceral, the European cereals and oilseeds trade association, made the estimate for the harvest of crops such as wheat, barley, maize and oats following the heatwave.

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EU border chaos feared at Dover crossing as busiest summer weekend looms

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British domestic holidays are being pushed to their highest levels since Covid

The start of the peak summer season is set to bring millions of drivers on to British roads, with concerns of traffic chaos as the port of Dover faces its biggest test yet of new EU border controls.

The semi-functioning entry-exit system (EES) is credited, along with the heatwaves and fears about flights after the war in Iran, with helping push British domestic holidays to its highest levels since Covid halted international travel.

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As Russia’s assault continues, Ukraine’s politics shift and an old alliance begins to fray

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Beneath the ​drone strikes and ​talk of ceasefires lies a battle over history that is testing ​Kyiv’s chances for an end to the conflict

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I’ve just come back from a trip to Kyiv, where after more than four years of war, it can feel like the political and diplomatic news agenda has become cyclical: a suggestion that some kind of peace deal could be around the corner, followed by the swift intervention of reality that the Kremlin has no interest in abandoning its maximalist goals, and we all go back to the drawing board.

We are now in a period where Russia has again stepped up its air attacks on the Ukrainian capital. Frequent mass drone and missile attacks keep Kyiv residents awake, and some even get through to the city centre, whereas in the past Ukrainian air defences were usually able to repel them. Nights can be noisy and scary: one attack while I was there killed 27 people. Thousands head into the metro to get some sleep.

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Spain and Gibraltar celebrate as border fence falls after signing of ‘historic deal’

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Treaty came into effect at midnight, eliminating border controls on land frontier with British overseas territory

Spain and Gibraltar are celebrating the fall of the last frontier fence in western Europe after the signing of a post-Brexit deal that brings an end to border checks for residents, tourists and the thousands of Spanish workers who cross into the British overseas territory every day.

The agreement, which was signed in Brussels on Tuesday and came into effect at midnight, marks the conclusion of more than four years of negotiations between the UK, Spain, Gibraltar and the EU after Britain’s departure from the bloc.

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Dua Lipa calls Albanian protests against Jared Kushner-backed resort ‘inspiring’

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Pop star, whose parents are Kosovan Albanian, expresses admiration for demonstrations, which are entering their sixth week

Albania’s “flamingo revolution” has won its most prominent supporter yet after the pop star Dua Lipa expressed admiration for the protest movement against a Trump family-backed resort in the Balkan state.

As demonstrations against the €1.6bn (£0.85bn) real estate project entered a sixth week, the London-born singer, who was partially raised in Pristina, home to her Kosovan Albanian émigré parents, described the civic unrest as “inspiring”.

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