#Brexit – Britain and EU start penultimate round of talks before key deadline

By Guest contributor Britain and the European Union start their penultimate scheduled round of trade talks on Monday (11 May) with little progress on major sticking points before a June deadline to agree on any extension of negotiations, writes Gabriela Baczynska. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to prolong the current transition period […]

UK plots exit from lockdown but cautions #COVID-19 is here to stay

By Guest contributor Prime Minister Boris Johnson published his plan for exiting the coronavirus lockdown on Monday (11 May), allowing some people back to work but cautioning that all should wear face coverings in enclosed spaces as COVID-19 was here to stay, writes Elizabeth Piper. “This is not a short-term crisis,â€� said the 51-page Our […]

#COVID-19 recovery plan, contingency EU budget, tyres

By EU Reporter Correspondent During a plenary session starting Wednesday (13 May) MEPs will look at how the EU budget can help Europe exit the COVID-19 crisis and will also vote on new tyre labelling rules. Support for the economy The economy has slowed down sharply due to the coronavirus outbreak and the EU is […]

#Coronavirus – Further #rescEU masks delivered to North Macedonia and Montenegro

By EU Reporter Correspondent Following previous deliveries to Italy, Spain and Croatia, more batches of FFP2 masks are being delivered to North Macedonia and Montenegro from rescEU – the common European reserve of medical equipment to help countries affected by the coronavirus outbreak. “I am proud to see further protective equipment is being mobilised from […]

Taxation: Commission proposes postponement of taxation rules due to #Coronavirus crisis

By EU Reporter Correspondent On Friday 8 May, the European Commission decided to postpone the entry into force of two EU taxation measures to take account of the difficulties that businesses and member states are facing at the moment with the coronavirus crisis. First, the Commission proposed to postpone the entry into application of the […]

Commission expands Temporary Framework to recapitalisation and subordinated debt measures to further support the economy in the context of the #Coronavirus outbreak

By EU Reporter Correspondent The European Commission has adopted a second amendment to extend the scope of the state aid Temporary Framework adopted on 19 March 2020 to enable member states to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. This follows a first amendment adopted on 3 April 2020. This second amendment […]

Commission approves €650 million Dutch scheme to compensate companies in the floriculture, specialty horticulture and potato sectors for damage caused by #Coronavirus outbreak

By EU Reporter Correspondent The European Commission has found a €650 million Dutch scheme that compensates companies in the floriculture, specialty horticulture and potato sectors for the loss of revenue or additional costs related to the collapse in demand for their products to be in line with EU state aid rules. Under the scheme, these […]

Commission approves compensation to energy-intensive companies in #Romania for indirect emission costs

By EU Reporter Correspondent The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, Romanian plans to partially compensate energy-intensive companies for higher electricity prices resulting from indirect emission costs under the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The scheme will cover the period 2019-2020, with a provisional budget of approximately €291 million (RON 1397m). The […]

Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans participates in a webinar on ‘A Green Recovery: Which World Do We Want After #COVID-19?’

By EU Reporter Correspondent Today (12 May), Frans Timmermans (pictured), Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, will participate in a webinar organised by the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University to discuss the post-coronavirus world with students and alumni in Europe, America and China. The Commission is working relentlessly and […]

Commission welcomes Eurogroup agreement ESM’s #PandemicCrisisSupport

By EU Reporter Correspondent The Commission welcomes the Eurogroup’s agreement on the establishment of the Pandemic Crisis Support instrument of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) reached at its videoconference on Friday, 8 May. The instrument will be available to all eurozone member states, for amounts of 2% of the respective member’s GDP, to support domestic […]

Media advisory by EU Auditors: Report on #EuropeanInvestmentAdvisoryHub

By EU Reporter Correspondent Today (12 May), the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on the European Investment Advisory Hub. ABOUT AUDIT Launched in 2015 as part of the so-called Juncker Plan, the European Investment Advisory Hub offers technical support to EU project promoters. The auditors examined whether the Hub’s activities, […]

#COVID-19 pandemic as a force to disrupt institutional trust

By Guest contributor On 8 April 2020, after 76 days of lockdown and confinement in Wuhan, China reopened Wuhan City and started resuming production. The temporary victory took place after unprecedented damage suffered in this city and an all-out medical effort to save infected people. China sacrificed Wuhan City and Hubei Province to gain time […]

Fascism and anti-#Serb sentiments in #Croatia

By Guest contributor On 1 May 2020, Croatia’s president Zoran Milanovic left a state ceremony celebrating the 25th anniversary of the reconquest of territories held by rebel Serbs for four years in protest of a Nazi-era salute – writes Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers The president’s reaction was prompted by a war […]

#Ombudsman inquiry finds #EBA should have forbidden executive director’s move to finance lobby group

By EU Reporter Correspondent European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has found that the European Banking Authority (EBA) should not have allowed its former executive director to become CEO of a financial lobby association. The Ombudsman also found the EBA did not immediately put in place sufficient internal safeguards to protect its confidential information when the planned […]

International collaboration in the field of #ICT research is a central cog in the wheel in tackling the global challenges of today.

By Guest contributor Researchers and scientists from all over the world are working together to find a vaccine to combat Coronavirus. Companies from Europe, China, USA, Australia and Canada are at the forefront in seeking to find medical solutions to tackle Covid-19. But there is one common denominator in the work of all these specific […]