Section: European Voice (EU)
An end to the austerity era?
Something is missing from the debate between Brussels, Paris and Rome over France’s budget deficit and Italy’s debt mountain. The European Commission, backed by Germany and many other national capitals, has so far dug in behind the rules of the stability and growth pact (SGP) and insisted that French deficit and Italian debt should be...
Putin does think about partitioning Ukraine
Anyone ill-informed enough to think that Vladimir Putin is punctiliously polite is an unlikely oracle on European security matters. The Russian leader’s conversational repertoire is a notorious mix of bizarre theories, foul language, macho threats and macabre jokes. So I was not surprised by the recent article by Ben Judah in Politico,...
Pro-EU parties set for majority in Ukraine
The parties of President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk are running neck for neck as officials continue to count votes cast in Ukraine’s parliamentary elections yesterday (26 October). With 36.5% of the votes counted, polls suggest Yatsenyuk’s Popular Front has 21.6% and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc 21.5%. They are...
EU to increase Ebola budget to €1 billion
Leaders of the European Union’s member states today (24 October) agreed to increase the money available to combat the Ebola epidemic to €1 billion. This nearly doubles the amount committed by the EU so far. The fresh pledges came after a two-day summit of EU leaders that had seen the UK’s prime minister, David Cameron, castigate other...
EU leaders back €300bn investment plan
European Union leaders today (24 October) formally backed a €300 billion investment scheme proposed by Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming European Commission president. The European Council called on the Commission, together with the European Investment Bank and the Council of Ministers, to present investment options at the next Council meeting,...
Cameron refuses to pay EU budget bill
David Cameron, the prime minister of the UK, said today (24 October) that he will not pay a €2.1 billion bill to top-up the EU budget by a deadline of 1 December. Member states were told during the past week about adjustments to their contributions to the EU budget, but the news did not become known to the public or, apparently, to EU leaders,...
EU leaders call for restraint by Turkey
The national leaders of the European Union’s member states have condemned Turkey for conducting a seismic survey in an area off Cyprus that has been licensed to foreign companies for the exploration of hydrocarbons. The Greek Cypriots, who control the internationally recognised government of the divided island, have suspended reunification...
EU adopts 2030 climate targets
European Union leaders have adopted a package of four climate targets after many hours of intense negotiations at the European Council meeting in Brussels. Poland and other eastern European countries were reluctant to sign off on the deal, but eventually agreed to the following targets: at least 40% emissions reduction from 1990 levels by 2030...
EU prolongs trade benefits for Ukraine
The European Union has agreed to grant Ukraine trade privileges until a recently agreed trade deal between the EU and Ukraine is applied, allowing a wide range of Ukrainian products – chiefly agricultural goods – to continue to enter the EU market without tariffs. The EU’s unilateral decision, which was approved by the European Parliament...
Parliamentary notebook
Out with the old, in with the old MEPs this week said farewell to a familiar face and welcomed another. José Manuel Barroso, the departing president of the European Commission, gave a farewell speech to MEPs on Tuesday (21 October), in which he set out the highlights of his ten years in office. On Wednesday, the next Commission president,...
