European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has written to the president of the European Commission concerning a video clip she featured in endorsing the election campaign of a Croatian political party. Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ) is affiliated to the European Peoples’ Party (EPP), which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also belongs to. However, it is […]
Chinese tech titan Huawei is to be banned from supplying new kit to Britain’s 5G network from the end of the year. The decision is a major U-turn by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The National Security Council (NSC) also ruled that existing Huawei equipment must be stripped from 5G networks by 2027. Some rebellious Conservative […]
The Court of Justice of the European Union has annulled the 2016 decision of the European Commission that ordered Apple to return €13 billion ($14.5bn) to the Irish government. In 2016 the European Commission found a selective tax advantage given to Apple by the Irish government to be illegal state aid. Ireland and Apple challenged […]
Each state has its own conditions, mentality, social environment, economy and, accordingly, the ability to combat the epidemic. Some countries were able to overcome the epidemic relatively quickly, while some are still in crisis. COVID-19 has had a different impact on the development of countries and their plans. Kazakhstan, like all countries of the world, […]
Belarussians are demonstrating against the decision of their electoral commission to reject the candidacy of two possible rivals (Viktar Babaryka and Valery Tsapkala) of the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko who has been in office 26 years. The European Commission has called for transparency and respect for the OSCE’s recommendations for ensuring that elections are fair […]
Dozens of senior religious leaders in the Church of England have expressed solidarity with the Iranian people, condemning the regime for its human-rights violations and praising the main opposition for its humanitarian platform for Iran’s future. In a public statement released in June 2020, the 38 signatories, ranging from former archbishops to lord bishops and […]
Welcome, colleagues to the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) midweek update. As July reaches the middle of the month, and all thoughts turn to the well-deserved break that August will hopefully bring, EAPM has nevertheless been very busy thus far this week, which has already included (14 July) EAPM’s hugely successful online Global Conference, […]
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has warned that Armenia’s political and military leadership will “bear the entire responsibility for the provocation.” His comments come after the latest deadly clashes between the two sides. The clashes occurred some 300 km from the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh which Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over for decades. The […]
In the last week of June, Spanish publications reported that after a year under the ownership of Mikhail Fridman, the relationships between DIA and its franchisees have not only not improved, but worsened. Fridman’s relationship with franchisees continues along the same lines as his predecessors. The Asociación de Afectados por Franquicias de Supermercados reports that “The […]
Paschal Donohoe elected #Eurogroup president
Paschal Donohoe The Eurogroup today (10 July) elected Paschal Donohoe (pictured), minister for finance and public expenditure and reform of Ireland, as president of the Eurogroup, in line with Protocol 14 of the EU treaties. The new president will take office as of 13 July 2020 and will serve a two-and-a-half-year term. The first Eurogroup […]
#EUOmbudsman questions political endorsements by commissioners
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has written to the president of the European Commission concerning a video clip she featured in endorsing the election campaign of a Croatian political party. Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica (HDZ) is affiliated to the European Peoples’ Party (EPP), which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also belongs to. However, it is […]
#Huawei exclusion is bad news for mobile phone users, warns company
Chinese tech titan Huawei is to be banned from supplying new kit to Britain’s 5G network from the end of the year. The decision is a major U-turn by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The National Security Council (NSC) also ruled that existing Huawei equipment must be stripped from 5G networks by 2027. Some rebellious Conservative […]
#Apple – ‘All companies should pay their fair share of tax’ Vestager
The Court of Justice of the European Union has annulled the 2016 decision of the European Commission that ordered Apple to return €13 billion ($14.5bn) to the Irish government. In 2016 the European Commission found a selective tax advantage given to Apple by the Irish government to be illegal state aid. Ireland and Apple challenged […]
#Kazakhstan – New measures at a new stage in the fight against the #Covid-19 epidemic
Each state has its own conditions, mentality, social environment, economy and, accordingly, the ability to combat the epidemic. Some countries were able to overcome the epidemic relatively quickly, while some are still in crisis. COVID-19 has had a different impact on the development of countries and their plans. Kazakhstan, like all countries of the world, […]
#Belarussia – Protests continue against 26 year reign of Lukashenko
Belarussians are demonstrating against the decision of their electoral commission to reject the candidacy of two possible rivals (Viktar Babaryka and Valery Tsapkala) of the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko who has been in office 26 years. The European Commission has called for transparency and respect for the OSCE’s recommendations for ensuring that elections are fair […]
Church of England leaders condemn #Iran regime’s suppression, voice support for opposition
Dozens of senior religious leaders in the Church of England have expressed solidarity with the Iranian people, condemning the regime for its human-rights violations and praising the main opposition for its humanitarian platform for Iran’s future. In a public statement released in June 2020, the 38 signatories, ranging from former archbishops to lord bishops and […]
#EAPMGlobalConference – Getting in stride for cautious summer
Welcome, colleagues to the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) midweek update. As July reaches the middle of the month, and all thoughts turn to the well-deserved break that August will hopefully bring, EAPM has nevertheless been very busy thus far this week, which has already included (14 July) EAPM’s hugely successful online Global Conference, […]
Time for “Big Brothers” in the Karabakh conflict?
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has warned that Armenia’s political and military leadership will “bear the entire responsibility for the provocation.” His comments come after the latest deadly clashes between the two sides. The clashes occurred some 300 km from the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh which Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over for decades. The […]
Something is rotten in the chain of DIA – Mikhail Fridman’s retail asset in #Spain faces more claims
In the last week of June, Spanish publications reported that after a year under the ownership of Mikhail Fridman, the relationships between DIA and its franchisees have not only not improved, but worsened. Fridman’s relationship with franchisees continues along the same lines as his predecessors. The Asociación de Afectados por Franquicias de Supermercados reports that “The […]
EGBA Publishes #EU GDPR code of conduct for Online Gaming Companies
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has put out a code of conduct to the industry specifically dealing with how gaming operators should handle the processing of personal information in line with GDPR. Even though the gaming operators on Casino Billions Ireland are known for their strong data protection, this update will directly affect […]
Worst-case’ UK winter could see 120,000 #COVID-19 deaths in second wave
Britain faces a potentially more deadly second wave of COVID-19 in the coming winter that could kill up to 120,000 people over nine months in a worst-case scenario, health experts said on Tuesday (14 July), writes Kate Kelland. With COVID-19 more likely to spread in winter as people spend more time together in enclosed spaces, […]
#Terrorism in the EU: Terror attacks, deaths and arrests in 2019
The number of terrorist attacks and victims of terror in the EU continued to decrease in 2019. Check out our graph to see the evolution of jihadist terrorism since 2014. There were 119 terrorist attempts in Europe in 2019 counting the ones that were successfully carried out and those that failed […]
Citizens call for a bigger EU budget to tackle #Coronavirus crisis, new survey shows
A majority (56 %) says the EU should have more financial means to overcome the impact of the pandemic. Public health tops the priority list, with economic recovery and climate change. In a new survey commissioned by the European Parliament and conducted in the second half of June 2020, nearly seven out of ten respondents […]
Antitrust: Commission fines ethylene purchasers €260 million in cartel settlement
The European Commission has fined Orbia, Clariant and Celanese a total of €260 million for breaching EU antitrust rules. Westlake was not fined as it revealed the cartel to the Commission. The companies took part in a cartel concerning purchases on the ethylene merchant market. They colluded to buy ethylene for the lowest possible price. […]
The European Commission invites comments from all interested parties on commitments offered by Aspen to address the Commission’s concerns over excessive pricing. Aspen proposes to reduce its prices in Europe for six critical cancer medicines by 73% on average. In addition, Aspen proposes to ensure the continued supply of these off-patent medicines for a significant […]
The European Commission has approved under EU state aid rules a DKK 1.1 billion (approximately €148 million) Danish scheme to compensate damages suffered by companies whose activities are still subject to the restrictive measures implemented by the Danish Government to limit the spread of the coronavirus, while the rest of the economy is progressively re-opening. […]
Postal services: Commission opens consultation on the needs of the EU postal sector
The Commission launched an open public consultation on the Postal Services Directive. The public consultation aims to assess the impact of the Directive and better understand the needs of the postal sector, especially in the light of the growing e-commerce economy. Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said: “Postal services are a crucial enabler for our […]
The European Commission has welcomed a list of ‘best practices’ agreed by the financial sector, and consumer and business organizations, to help further mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It sets out concretely how different market participants can support citizens and businesses throughout the crisis. Today’s ‘best practices’ cover several issues such as payment […]
