Page 40 - European Union

At its lowest level in three years, German inflation eases to 2.5% in June

Economists pay close attention to German inflation data, as the euro zone's biggest economy publishes its figures before the euro zone inflation data release

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta faces EU charges for Digital Markets Act breach

After Apple, the European Commission is preparing to charge Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook for its 'pay or consent' model

Euro rises after first-round of France's snap elections, yen struggles

The euro, which has fallen some 0.8% since Prez Emmanuel Macron called the election on June 9, was last 0.24% higher at $1.0737

French voters give strong lead to far-right in first-round of elections

French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections on Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the surprise elections just three weeks ago, urged voters to rally against the far right in the second round of balloting. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen called on voters to give the National Rally an absolute majority at parliament. She said a National Rally majority would enable the far right to form a new government with party President Jordan Bardella as prime minister in order to work on France's recovery. Projections by polling agencies suggest the National Rally stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time, with an estimated one-third of the first-round vote, nearly double their 18 per cent in the first round in 2022. The party is building on its success in European elections

Hungary's Orbn to take over EU presidency as many issues hang in balance

When Hungary takes over the helm of the European Union on July 1, many politicians in Brussels will have the same thing on their minds: whether populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbn will use the role to further his reputation as the bloc's main spoiler. Orbn in recent years has seemed to relish opportunities to block, water down or delay key EU decisions, routinely going against the grain of most other leaders on issues like the war in Ukraine, relations with Russia and China, and efforts to defend democracy and the rule of law. His public opposition to EU policies and stances has long frustrated his partners in the bloc and pushed him to the margins of the continent's mainstream. Hungary's motto for its presidency Make Europe Great Again raised eyebrows for its resemblance to the famous tagline of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The EU presidency rotates among its member countries, and while the post holds little real power, it does allow countries to put their priorities high

Microsoft's $13 billion investment into OpenAI faces extra EU scrutiny

Margrethe Vestager, the bloc's antitrust chief, announced Friday that the EU has ruled out an investigation under the EU's merger rules into the deal

China's Xi calls for 'bridges' amid trade, diplomatic & territory disputes

China will never leave the road of peaceful development, Xi said at a conference commemorating China's guiding principles for foreign affairs first formulated 70 years ago

EU leaders agree on officials who will be face of European Commission

European Union leaders signed off on a trio of top appointments for their shared political institutions on Thursday, reinstalling German conservative Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission for another five years. At the side of von der Leyen, who heads the EU's executive branch, would be two new faces: Antonio Costa of Portugal as European Council president and Estonia's Kaja Kallas as the top diplomat of the world's largest trading bloc. Mission Accomplished, outgoing EU Council President Charles Michel told reporters after chairing a summit of the bloc's leaders, as von der Leyen and Kallas accompanied him at a joint a news conference. Costa took part via video-link. Von der Leyen expressed her gratitude for a shot at a second term of office, saying: I'm very honored and I'm delighted to share this moment. Kallas, who as the EU's top diplomat will lead the bloc's foreign and security policy with Russia's war on Ukraine in its third year, noted that there is

EU leaders to agree on top jobs, strategic agenda amid Russia-Ukraine war

They will also ask EU institutions to work out the details of a 50 billion euro loan for Ukraine that would be serviced by profits generated by Russian central bank assets frozen in the West

Indians lost over 12 million euro on rejected Schengen visas in 2023

Schengen states rejected a total of 1.6 million euros visa applications in 2023, out of which a staggering 151,752 Indian nationals were denied

Russia bans distribution of dozens of EU news outlets in retaliation

The European Union said in May it was suspending the distribution of what it described as four 'Kremlin-linked propaganda networks'

Microsoft hit with EU antitrust charge for linking Teams app with MS Office

Two decades after Microsoft's last EU fine, the EU competition watchdog's latest action was triggered by a 2020 complaint from rival workspace messaging app Slack

Ukraine set for symbolic start of EU membership talks, alongside Moldova

The two countries will have to navigate not just technical and legal obstacles to membership but also political hurdles

EU adopts 14th package of sanctions against Russia, including LNG: Report

The new restrictions on gas aim to reduce Russia's revenues from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports by banning trans-shipments - transferring cargoes from one ship to another - off EU ports

EU targets Russia's LNG ghost fleet in new round of Ukraine war sanctions

The European Union on Monday slapped new sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, targeting Moscow's shadow fleet of tankers moving liquefied natural gas through Europe as well as several companies. In a statement issued at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the bloc said that it will forbid reloading services of Russian LNG in EU territory for the purpose of transshipment operations to third countries. The EU estimates that about 4-to-6 billion cubic metres of Russian LNG was shipped to third countries via EU ports last year. Russia is suspected of running a ghost fleet to evade sanctions and keep up the flow of energy earnings so that it can finance the war. The measures will target ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transfers as well as reloading operations. It also involves a crackdown on the re-export of LNG to third countries via the EU, plus a ban on new investments to help Russia complete LNG projects it is working on. A total of 61 new entities often companies, banks, ..

Apple's App Store rules violate EU's Digital Markets Act, say regulators

European Commission, which also acts as the EU antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to Apple following an investigation

Costly election pledges in France may push country deeper into debt

The promises are appealing - and expensive. Vying to oust the centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron in an upcoming two-round parliamentary election June 30 and July 7, French political parties of both the far right and far left are vowing to cut gasoline taxes, let workers retire earlier and raise wages. Their campaign pledges threaten to bust an already-swollen government budget, push up French interest rates and strain France's relations with the European Union. The snap election could well replace Macron's limping centrist government with one led by parties whose campaigns have abandoned any pretence of fiscal discipline,' economist Brigitte Granville of Queen Mary University of London wrote Thursday on the Project Syndicate website. The turbulence began June 9 when voters handed Macron a defeat at the hands of Marine Le Pen's hard right National Rally party in EU parliamentary elections. Macron promptly and surprisingly called a snap parliamentary election, convince

Ukraine inches closer to joining EU after decade of devastating war

Kyiv filed its request to join the EU days after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022

Ukraine on irreversible course of Western integration, says top official

Ukraine's top official for Europe says the war-torn country is on an irreversible course of Western integration after the European Union agreed to formally start entry negotiations this week. The decision to launch accession talks this week is a big day for her country, Olga Stefanishyna, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said. This is the utmost will of the Ukrainian people. And this is the irreversibility. And you've seen Ukrainians stand up for their choice, Stefanishyna said, speaking in Kyiv Sunday. It was her first interview since being appointed chief negotiator for EU accession. EU leaders agreed Friday to start the entry talks with Ukraine and Moldova overcoming vocal opposition led by Hungary which takes over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1. Stefanishyna will head the opening of the accession talks in Luxembourg Tuesday, joined by several top government officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to give a sp

China, European Union agree to hold talks on move to impose EV tariffs

Earlier this month, the EU announced plans to impose levies as high as 48% on EVs shipped from China as of July, fueling trade tensions with the Asian nation