[Analysis] Verheugen went off-script in VW cheat testimony
Former EU commissioner thought emissions cheating was "technically impossible", even though the current administration said that it was common knowledge.
Former EU commissioner thought emissions cheating was "technically impossible", even though the current administration said that it was common knowledge.
It was unacceptable that European states had not sent high-level officials to visit Turkey since a failed coup attempt, Turkey's presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin said on Wednesday. EU states have urged Ankara to excercise restraint over the crackdown of alleged perpetrators of the putsch, straining ties further. The spokesman's comment comes as EP president Martin Schulz and migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos are to visit Turkey on Thursday.
Unemployment in the eurozone is standing unchanged at 10.1 percent, the lowest since July 2011, Eurostat, the EU's statistical office reported Wednesday. The number of people out of work in the euro area fell by 43,000 to 16.3 million in July. At the same time, eurozone unemployment remains higher than in the EU of the 28 member states, where the jobless rate was unchanged at 8.6 percent in July.
Eurozone annual inflation is expected to be 0.2 percent in August 2016, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office. The rate is the same as in July. The core inflation (stripped from volatile commodities, like food), also remained unchanged at 0.8 percent. The data could strengthen speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) might decide on more stimulus next week to kickstart the eurozone economy.
The UK will not hold a second referendum on EU membership and there will be "no attempts to sort of stay in the EU by the back door", British prime minister Theresa May said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "We must continue to be very clear that 'Brexit means Brexit', that we’re going to make a success of it," she said.
Amid a long-lasting dispute over the functioning of Poland's constitutional court, a senior Law and Justice MP suggests removing judges who obstruct parliament.
Despite the need to break the political deadlock, Spanish parties are wary of backing caretaker prime minister Rajoy's bid to form a government.
Top executives from Russian energy firm Gazprom will in Turkey on Wednesday resume work on a potentially divisive gas pipeline project.
Two MEPs returning from a fact-finding mission to Turkey said they had underestimated effects of the foiled coup on Turkish society.
The Estonian parliament failed on Tuesday to elect a new president as none of the candidates received the 68 votes necessary. Former EU commissioner Siim Kallas came closest with 45 votes followed by Mailis Reps, deputy chairman of the opposition Centre Party, with 32 votes. A special 335-strong electoral college will now be convened to elect the new president on 24 September by a simple majority vote.
The European Commission's ruling that Apple must pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland has prompted a potential split in the Dublin government. Finance minister Michael Noonan wants to appeal against the decision. He has the backing of prime minister Enda Kenny and ministers from Fine Gael, the main coalition party. But Independent Alliance ministers were undecided, reports Irish Times.
Talks on Britain leaving the EU must be finished by 2019, French president Francois Hollande told an annual gathering of French ambassadors on Tuesday. “For France, everything must be concluded by 2019 – preparation and negotiations," he said, adding that the decision to leave the bloc was "irreversible".
France will top up EU farm support for French milk farmers to encourage them to produce less milk, farm minister Stephane Le Foll announced on Tuesday. Under EU plans, farmers will receive a subsidy of €140 for each tonne of milk not produced. France will add an extra €100 per tonne, for a maximum volume of 5 percent of the farmer's initial production, he said.
A senior official from Cairo said a spike in the number of refugees and migrants in Egypt is a direct result of the EU's migrant swap deal with Turkey.
The Donetsk People’s Republic, one of two self-proclaimed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine, is set to open its first consulate on Thursday in Ostrava, the third biggest city in the Czech Republic. The office will be "the first official representation in the EU", it has announced. The Czech government does not officially recognise it.
If EU states, including Germany, had acted earlier and in concert to share burdens and protect external boundaries, the crisis would have been less severe, says the German chancellor.