Category Archives: European Union

Porsches and Bentleys fill Helsinki airport as Russian tourists head to Europe

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Discontent grows over Finland’s visa policy as country becomes key transit route for Russian travellers

Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars with Russian licence plates are filling the parking garage at Helsinki airport as Finland becomes an important transit country for Russian tourists flying to Europe.

The EU shut its airspace to Russian planes after Moscow invaded Ukraine, forcing anyone who wants to travel to Europe to drive across the border or take a circuitous route using non-western airlines.

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Number of EU citizens moving to UK plunges post-Brexit – report

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Data shows just 43,000 EU citizens received visas for work, family, study or other purposes in 2021

The number of EU citizens moving to the UK has plunged since Brexit closed the doors to low-paid workers, according to a report.

The dramatic decline in migration from the EU has hit hospitality and support services hard. But the Migration Observatory (MO) at the University of Oxford and ReWage, a group of independent experts, have said that while Brexit “exacerbated” chronic labour shortages in Britain, it was not the only cause.

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Gazprom has increased gas supply to Hungary, says official

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Russian state-owned firm delivering more gas through TurkStream pipeline than ‘contractually obliged’

Gazprom has ramped up flows to Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline that transports gas via Bulgaria and Serbia, a Hungarian foreign ministry official has said.

The Russian state-owned company started delivering more gas than it was contractually obliged to on Friday, Menczer Tamás, an official in Hungary’s ministry of foreign affairs and trade, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.

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EU border agency accused of exploiting interpreters ‘paid under €2.50 an hour’

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Petition accuses Frontex of violating European standards by using contractor that offers low wages

The EU border agency Frontex has been accused of exploiting staff by using a contractor who it is claimed offers interpreters an effective wage of less than €2.50 (£2.11) an hour.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the EU’s best-funded agency with a budget of €754m, is being petitioned by interpreters who work with vulnerable asylum seekers in places such as Greece, Italy and the Canary Islands.

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Viktor Orbán’s grip on Hungary’s courts threatens rule of law, warns judge

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Csaba Vasvári’s claims of ‘overreach’ follow freeze on EU funds over concerns about judicial independence

Viktor Orbán’s government is “constantly overreaching” its authority to sway the courts, a senior judge has said, in an intervention that will deepen alarm about the rule of law in Hungary.

In rare comments that lift the lid on the Hungarian government’s assault on judicial checks and balances, Csaba Vasvári, a senior judge at the Budapest metropolitan court, told the Observer that he and his colleagues on the bench “have been witnessing external and internal influence attempts” for several years. Vasvári, who has worked as a judge for 18 years, is a spokesperson for the National Judicial Council, a self-governing body that has been battling to defend judges’ independence for more than a decade.

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Brexit threatening endangered species as red tape hits zoo breeding programmes

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Transferring critically endangered species within Europe to broaden the gene pool is more difficult with Britain outside the EU

Breeding programmes designed to save critically endangered species are being jeopardised by Brexit, with zoos warning they are being prevented from transferring animals such as rhinos and giraffes by red tape created by the UK’s departure from the EU.

The animal health regulation was passed in 2016 before the EU referendum, but came into force in April 2021. There have been no reports that the UK dissented from the regulation.

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Ryanair boss blames Brexit for airport chaos and says era of €10 airfares over

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Michael O’Leary warns of rising cost of fuel and says policymakers need to get inflation back to about 2%

The boss of Ryanair has warned the era of ultra-low airfares is over and said Brexit is partly to blame for a shortage of airport workers that has created chaos during the peak holiday period.

The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said surging oil prices would make it impossible to keep offering promotional tickets for less than €10 (£8.50). He added that Ryanair’s average fare would rise from about €40 towards €50 over the next five years as the company adjusted to rising inflation.

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Brexit stage left: British band tells of farcical barriers encountered on EU tour

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Groups such as Walt Disco are struggling to make ends meet – or giving up – because of new obstacles, a musicians’ charity says

Night after night, the Beatles honed their harmonies in the clubs of Hamburg.

But now, British bands trying to fine-tune their sound by playing in Europe are struggling to make ends meet – or giving up entirely – because of the barriers created by Brexit, a charity for musicians has said.

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Italy taking Slovenia to court over balsamic vinegar name row

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Government says Slovenian plans to ‘standardise’ use of name threaten traditional producers in Modena

The Italian government is launching infringement proceedings against Slovenia in an attempt to defend the authenticity of its famed, geographically protected balsamic vinegar.

Relations between the two countries turned sour last year when Slovenia notified the European Commission of its plans to “standardise” its vinegar production, essentially seeking to market any wine vinegar mixed with concentrated fruit juice or must as “balsamic vinegar”.

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Poland threatens to turn ‘all our cannon’ on EU in rule-of-law row

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Ruling party steps up rhetoric by suggesting it could unseat European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen

Poland’s national-conservative government has significantly toughened its rhetoric in its rule-of-law standoff with Brussels, threatening to turn “all our cannon” on the European Commission and if necessary build a coalition to unseat its president.

If the EU executive “tries to push us against the wall we will have no choice but to pull out all the weapons in our arsenal” and respond “an eye for an eye”, said Krzysztof Sobolewski, the general secretary of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

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EU team submit ‘final text’ at talks to salvage 2015 Iran nuclear deal

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Revival of agreement awaits ‘political decisions’ in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agree text

The European Union has submitted a “final text” at talks to salvage the 2015 deal aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The revival of the agreement now awaits “political decisions” in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agreed the text thrashed out between Iranian and European representatives over the past five days was the final text and could not be amended further.

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Truss-Sunak contest leaves Brussels pessimistic about relations with UK

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EU officials see little hope of escape from post-Brexit low under either Tory candidate

European officials are pessimistic about a reset in post-Brexit relations with the UK, whoever becomes Britain’s next prime minister in September.

Whether it is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak who is handed the keys to Downing Street on 5 September, officials in Brussels have little hope of a rapprochement with the new government.

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British farmers face paying for border checkpoints in EU after Brexit halts exports

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Pedigree livestock breeders in Britain could be forced to spend millions of pounds to build facilities in France for ‘red tape’ checks by vets so their animals are allowed to enter the single market

British farmers are trying to set up red tape and border checks in France costing millions of pounds – and may even pay for it themselves.

Breeders in Britain are unable to export their pedigree cattle, sheep and pigs to the EU because no one has built any border control posts where vets can check the animals before they enter the single market.

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Almost 35,000 Britons in limbo as Portugal fails to issue post-Brexit ID cards

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British nationals living in country are unable to access healthcare, change jobs or travel in and out

British nationals living in Portugal are unable to access healthcare, change jobs, or travel in and out of the country as its ministers have not issued them with post-Brexit residency cards, it has emerged.

The UK government has raised the issue at ministerial level and urged Portugal to implement fully the withdrawal agreement and protect the rights of the 34,500 Britons who made the country their home before Brexit.

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Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan: calls for calm in Asia as US-China tensions rise

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South Korea calls for dialogue and Japan conveys concerns over drills, while North Korea praises China

The historic visit to Taiwan of the US House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has provoked a furious response from China, and heightened fears of a crisis in the Taiwan strait. In Asia and beyond, the visit has put governments on edge.

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Scottish salmon industry urges ministers to act over Dover delays

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Action urged over Brexit-related delays of up to 48 hours caused by queues on the UK side of Channel

The Scottish salmon industry has called on ministers to urgently intervene to stop Brexit-related delays to the transportation of fresh fish to France.

It comes after the Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, admitted he was wrong to say there would be no delays at the port of Dover caused by the UK leaving the EU.

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Eurozone inflation hits record high of 8.9% as energy prices soar

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Cost of living crisis comes as 19-member currency bloc beats growth forecasts in second quarter

Inflation in the eurozone reached a record high of 8.9% this month, closing the gap with the UK’s 9.4% rate.

Dearer energy was blamed for the lion’s share of the increase from 8.6% in June, as the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to hammer European economies.

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Germany accuses Russia of ‘power play’ as gas pipeline supply drops by half

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State-run Gazprom reduces flow through Nord Stream 1 to around 20% of its capacity

Germany has accused Moscow of engaging in “power play” over energy exports, as Russian state-run Gazprom further throttled gas supplies into Europe.

As announced two days earlier, the energy giant on Wednesday reduced the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s total capacity and half the amount it has been delivering since resuming service last week after 10 days of maintenance work.

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How does the EU plan to cut gas usage by 15% this winter?

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Industry to feel pinch first after all countries in bloc except Hungary agreed to voluntary reduction

The EU has agreed to cut its gas consumption by 15% in an attempt to stave off a winter crisis triggered by a sharp reduction or total shutdown of Russian gas supplies to the bloc.

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EU agrees plan to ration gas use over Russia supply fears

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Despite most energy ministers backing the scheme the EU was forced to water down proposals

The EU has been forced to water down its plan to ration gas this winter in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply.

Energy ministers from the 27 member states, except Hungary, backed a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, a target that could become mandatory if the Kremlin ordered a complete shutdown of gas to Europe.

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