Category: EU Reporter

Germany is preparing a bill to impose a levy on households and industry for their gas consumption to help suppliers facing skyrocketing prices, Reuters reported on Thursday. The levy will enter into force on 1 October, affecting all consumers with long-term contracts until the end of September 2024. The tax would be between 1.5 cents […]

The Irish government announced on Wednesday it will appoint two extra commissioners to the country’s Data Protection Commission, Reuters reports. The move is significant because most major Big Tech platforms — Alphabet (ie Google), Meta (ie Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Apple, Microsoft, and Twitter — are based in Ireland. The country hosts the US multinationals […]

The Spanish government is to ask the European Parliament to allow Catalan to be used in the chamber, a first for a regional language, Reuters reports. The request could then be extended to Basque and Galician, if regional governments request it. Unanimous approval will be needed first from the EU Council. The move is seen […]

French president Emmanuel Macron hosts Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris on Thursday, despite criticism the invitation is inappropriate four years after the murder by Saudi agents of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, AFP reported. Energy concerns will dominate the agenda as fears over power shortages rise. It is the prince’s (referred […]

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday unveiled a centre in Istanbul to oversee the export of Ukrainian grain, after a UN deal last week between Russia and Ukraine. The first shipment is expected to depart from Black Sea ports within days. The joint coordination centre (JCC) will oversee departures from three Ukrainian ports, with […]

It comes a day after EU governments approved a watered-down plan to curb gas demand by 15 percent, aimed at lowering consumption, building storage, and sharing supplies if Russia in future cuts all exports.

The European Commission put forward a new proposal to reduce pesticides in mid-June. But experts warn that it is based on weak rules, and that European agriculture is stuck in a “permanent pesticide-dependence.”

Hotel Giardino, in the tiny skiing resort of Breno, Italy, is run by a staff of refugees as part of a good-news programme aimed at integrating migrants.

Bulgaria is preparing for snap elections, likely in October, after the Socialist party abandoned plans to form a new coalition. “It became clear that there is no majority willing to fight corruption … In that case we will return the mandate to form a government to the president unfulfilled tomorrow,” Georgi Svilenski, a senior party […]

An internal investigation by the EU Commission found “indicators of compromise” — signs that some staff smartphones were hacked using Israeli-made ‘Pegasus’ malware — according to a letter from EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders to Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld on 25 July, seen by Reuters. The probe was triggered when Apple warned Reynders […]