Category Archives: European Union

Revealed: EU plans loans and grants to help rebuild Ukraine

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Leaked report also suggests assessing feasibility of using assets seized from sanctioned Russians

Ukraine could receive loans, grants and possibly the proceeds of seized Russian oligarch property to help pay the multibillion-euro cost of rebuilding the country after the ruinous war launched by the Kremlin, according to a leaked EU reconstruction plan.

In the plan drafted in Brussels, the European Commission states that the Ukrainian government will have to take out loans to pay for rebuilding its war-ravaged country. Non-repayable grants from EU member states would provide another tranche of the funds needed to rebuild destroyed homes, schools, roads, railways, airports and bridges.

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Ireland says UK risks sending message it will break treaties in Brexit row

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Foreign minister criticises ‘sabre-rattling’ from UK amid signs British rhetoric is softening over Northern Ireland protocol

Plans to shred parts of the Northern Ireland protocol “would send headlines around the world” that the UK is prepared to break treaties, Ireland’s foreign minister has said, as a British cabinet minister insisted the UK did not intend to break the law.

The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said the UK had “the right to act in a sovereign way” and to “reopen or re-examine the protocol” but denied the actions would constitute a breach of international law.

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The Northern Ireland protocol is said to be a blight on regional economy. That’s just not true

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After an initial shock to businesses, manufacturing jobs are growing four times faster here than the UK average

Whenever Boris Johnson’s government wades into battle over the Northern Ireland protocol, it wields one assertion like a broadsword: that the protocol is ruining the region’s economy. Checks on goods entering Northern Ireland are disrupting trade, increasing prices and bankrupting businesses, and the damage will worsen unless the protocol is changed, goes the argument.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a rightwing thinktank, joined the fray last week with a report that estimated the annual cost of the agreement at £850m.

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Police issuing more than 100 fines over Partygate is a ‘non-story’, says Jacob Rees-Mogg – UK politics live

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Latest updates: Jacob Rees-Mogg says ‘we need to look at whether these rules were right in the first place’

Jacob Rees-Mogg has become the second minister to distance himself from the comments connecting food bank usage with an inability to cook made on Wednesday by Lee Anderson in the House of Commons.

Anderson caused outrage after suggesting food bank usage has risen in part because of “generation after generation” of people who are unable to cook or budget properly.

Rees-Mogg told Sky News:

Somebody in my position cannot possibly say things like that, I can’t cook myself and it wouldn’t be right for me to lecture people on how to live their lives.

I think human nature is about empathising with people who live different lives from oneself.

Prospect represents highly skilled civil servants, many of whom have better paid comparators in the private sector. We also represent roles across the private sector and quite frankly would not expect to see those employers behave in the way the government is towards its civil servants.

To be clear: without these civil servants you will not be able to effectively help our country recover from the pandemic, nor tackle the cost-of-living crisis. It will also not be possible to achieve your levelling up ambitions

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UK should not fear EU trade war, says Frost as he backs ripping up protocol

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Former Brexit minister says UK ‘cannot be defeated’ by Brussels in provocative Telegraph column

The former Brexit minister David Frost has said the UK should not fear a trade war with the EU.

In a provocative newspaper column, he said the UK “cannot be defeated” by Brussels and needed to “make sure it is ready” for the consequences of a unilateral move to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland protocol.

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DUP vows to paralyse Stormont as Northern Ireland protocol row deepens

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Refusal to nominate speaker will derail legislature and raise stakes in London’s dispute with Brussels

The Democratic Unionist party has vowed to paralyse the Stormont assembly and block the formation of an executive in a dramatic escalation of its campaign against the Northern Ireland protocol.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said his party would refuse to nominate a speaker when the assembly meets for its inaugural session on Friday afternoon, a move that will derail the legislature and raise the stakes in a dispute over the protocol between London and Brussels.

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US congressmen to fly to London as Northern Ireland protocol concerns grow

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Exclusive: Influential delegation likely to underline Biden’s commitment to defend Good Friday agreement

A delegation of influential US congressmen will fly to London within days amid growing concern in the White House about spiralling tensions over the Northern Ireland protocol, the Guardian can reveal.

With the UK government poised to table legislation next week which could revoke parts of the protocol, arrangements are being made for at least half a dozen representatives from the US Congress to fly to Europe for a series of meetings in Brussels, Dublin, London and Belfast.

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Experts scorn UK government claim it can ditch parts of NI protocol

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Lawyers reject Liz Truss’s claim that UK is able to dump parts of treaty with EU without its agreement

Claims that the UK government has discovered a legal justification for tearing up large parts of Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland have been greeted with scorn by expert lawyers.

The attorney general, Suella Braverman, has reportedly approved overriding the Northern Ireland protocol on the grounds that it is being unfairly enforced by the EU. Her submission, understood to be based on external advice, claims the EU’s “disproportionate and unreasonable” implementation is undermining the Good Friday agreement (GFA), according to the Times.

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Liz Truss to hold talks with EU amid threats to tear up NI protocol

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Foreign minister will meet Maroš Šefčovič as attorney general said to approve overriding Brexit deal

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is to hold talks with the vice-president of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, in the first meeting since the UK threatened to remove parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol.

The attorney general for England and Wales, Suella Braverman, is said to have approved the scrapping of large parts of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal, according to reports.

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Tory MP says no massive need for food banks in UK and real problem is people’s cooking skills – live

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Latest updates: Conservative Lee Anderson says people just need to be shown how to cook nutritious meals that cost less

Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s leader in Northern Ireland, has criticised the DUP for refusing to commit to backing the election of a speaker for the Northern Ireland assembly. (See 11.25am.) She said:

What we need to see is the positions filled - first minister, deputy first minister, all the ministerial positions filled, and let’s get down to doing business.

I don’t think it is good enough. It is not good enough for the people here that the DUP is holding society to ransom, punishing society, preventing the establishment of a speaker and an executive to actually respond to the things people are worried about.

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Sinn Féin celebrates victory but DUP warns over Northern Ireland protocol

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DUP will refuse to join new administration until UK government addresses post-Brexit trade border deal

Sinn Féin was celebrating a historic victory in the Stormont assembly election on Saturday despite warnings from the Democratic Unionist party that it would block the formation of a new power-sharing executive until the Northern Ireland protocol was changed.

As counting resumed ahead of the allocation of final seats, it was clear that Sinn Féin, with 29% first preference votes, had overtaken the DUP, which won 21.3%. It meant the all-Ireland republican party would be entitled to nominate its deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, as the Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister.

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EU plans to put Putin’s rumoured girlfriend on sanctions list

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Alina Kabaeva likely to join Patriarch Kirill, who supports war in Ukraine, on draft document of travel bans and asset freezes

The European Union plans to impose sanctions on Alina Kabaeva, long rumoured to be Vladimir Putin’s girlfriend, and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church.

Two sources said the EU has proposed sanctions on Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast whose appearance on a draft sanctions list was first reported by Bloomberg. Kirill, a long-serving Kremlin ally who has given his blessing to the war in Ukraine, appears on a draft document seen by the Guardian.

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EU bureaucrats being trained to meditate to help fight climate crisis

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Exclusive: ‘Inner green deal’ courses are part of new wave of mindfulness that applies practice to hard politics

Brussels bureaucrats are being trained to meditate to help them tackle the climate crisis as part of a new wave of “applied mindfulness” that seeks to take the Buddhism-inspired practice “off the cushion” and into hard politics.

EU officials working on the 27-country bloc’s green deal climate policy are attending “inner green deal” courses intended to foster a deeper connection among decision-makers and negotiators tasked with tackling the crisis. The courses incorporate woodland walks near Brussels and meditation sessions, including one that invites participants to feel empathy for trees and animals to boost “environmental compassion”.

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Ursula von der Leyen says Putin must pay ‘high price’ as she proposes oil ban

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European Commission chief says Russian supply of crude would be prohibited in EU within six months

Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a total ban on Russian oil imports to the EU, saying Vladimir Putin had to pay a “high price for his brutal aggression” in Ukraine.

Member states in Brussels are scrutinising a proposed sixth package of sanctions, but in a speech on Wednesday the European Commission president said Russian oil flows had to stop.

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‘Embarrassed to be British’: Brexit study reveals impact on UK citizens in EU

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Exclusive: Survey of Britons on continent shows ‘deep transformations’, shame and disappointment

The first major study since Brexit of UK citizens living in the EU has revealed its profound impact on their lives, with many expressing serious concerns over their loss of free movement and voting rights – and a very different perception of Britain.

The survey, of 1,328 British nationals across the continent, showed that if “the public narrative suggests Brexit is done and dusted, it has brought deep transformations to the lives of British citizens in the EU and EEA”, the study’s co-lead, Michaela Benson, said.

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European Council president ‘confident’ of imminent sanctions on Russian oil

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Pivot by Germany bolsters support for phased-in import ban as Charles Michel says goal is to ‘break Russian war machine’

The aim of EU sanctions is to “break the Russian war machine”, with measures on Kremlin oil now imminent, the president of the European Council has said, as Germany pivoted to back the move.

A proposal to phase in a prohibition on Russian oil imports will be discussed by member state ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday, with the most dependent, such as Slovakia and Hungary, seeking exemptions.

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EU comes to the crunch over Russia’s demands to pay roubles for gas

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Brussels commissioner says energy ministers accept bowing to Moscow’s demands would breach sanctions, as payment date looms

Europe is facing a crunch point in mid-May when EU member states will have to reject Moscow’s demands for fuel payments to be made in roubles – despite being without alternative gas supply, Brussels has warned.

Kadri Simson, the European commissioner for energy, said on Monday that the Kremlin’s demands had to be rebuffed despite the risks of an interruption to supply at a time that the shortfall cannot be made good.

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Head of EU border agency Frontex resigns amid criticisms

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Fabrice Leggeri under fire over agency’s human rights record and anti-fraud investigation

The head of the EU border agency Frontex has resigned after being investigated by the union’s anti-fraud agency, amid numerous reports of its complicity in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers.

Fabrice Leggeri, who has been criticised by the European parliament for failure to protect the human rights of people seeking asylum in the EU, announced his resignation shortly before Frontex’s management board were to decide whether to take disciplinary action against him.

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Revealed: EU border agency involved in hundreds of refugee pushbacks

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Investigation suggests Frontex’s database recorded incidents of illegal pushbacks in Aegean Sea as ‘prevention of departure’

The EU’s border agency has been involved in the pushbacks of at least 957 asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea between March 2020 and September 2021, according to a new investigation.

Frontex, the EU’s best-funded agency with a budget of €758m, is being investigated over previous allegations of complicity with Greek authorities in illegal pushbacks of asylum seekers, something the organisation has denied.

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MPs criticise ‘top-down’ approach to UK-US trade talks

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Fears grow in UK that any proposals could downgrade workers’ rights despite assurances on both sides

Britain’s trade talks with the US are moving ahead with only “minimal” input from workers, small businesses and thinktanks, according to MPs who accused the UK trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, of shielding her department from outside scrutiny.

Conservative and Labour MPs on the trade select committee also said scrutiny of a deal struck with Australia and New Zealand was in danger of being “rushed through” parliament before they could make an assessment of its impact on imports and exports to and from the Commonwealth countries.

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