DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Apple's iPad caught in EU's crosshairs as it clamps down on 'gatekeepers'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The European Commission said users are "locked in" to iPadOS and it's hard for them to switch. It comes as a part of a broader crackdown on "gatekeepers" and a market investigation into Apple. The DMA was designed to ensure fairness and healthy competition in the digital landscape and hold Big Tech "gatekeepers" accountable. In September, the EU Commission designated Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft gatekeepers. The EU said Monday that its iPadOS investigation found it has "features of a gatekeeper."

Persons: —, Apple's iPadOS, Margrethe Vestager, Apple didn't Organizations: EU, Digital, European Commission, Apple, Service, European, Big Tech, Business, EU Commission, Meta, Microsoft

☆ TikTok suspends TikTok Lite rewards program in the EU amid regulatory scrutiny
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —TikTok said Wednesday it would suspend a controversial program in the European Union that has prompted growing alarm among EU regulators. The program at issue appears within TikTok Lite, a less data-intensive version of TikTok’s main app, and which contains a feature that rewards users with cash for engaging with TikTok content and app features. “TikTok always seeks to engage constructively with the EU Commission and other regulators,” TikTok said in a post on X. “We are therefore voluntarily suspending the rewards functions in TikTok Lite while we address the concerns that they have raised.”The EU warnings to TikTok reflected an exercise of new oversight powers granted by the Digital Services Act, the trading bloc’s recently enacted law governing online platforms. TikTok also faces further, additional fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue if the TikTok Lite feature is determined to be in violation of the DSA.

Persons: Washington CNN — TikTok, TikTok, “, “ TikTok, ” TikTok, Joe Biden Organizations: Washington CNN, European Union, European Commission, EU Commission, Digital Services, TikTok, Commission, DSA, Wednesday Locations: European, Europe, United States, Israel, Ukraine

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Romania and Bulgaria partially joined Europe’s ID-check-free travel zone on Sunday, marking a new step in the two countries’ integration with the European Union. After years of negotiations to join the Schengen area, there is now free access for travelers arriving by air or sea from both countries. The Schengen Area was established in 1985. Before Bulgaria and Romania’s admission, it was comprised of 23 of the 27 EU member countries, along with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Truck drivers are frequently stuck in kilometers-long queues at the borders of both Romania and Bulgaria.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, Siegfried Muresan, ”, Marcel Ciolacu, ” Kalin, “, ___ McGrath Organizations: —, European Union, EU, Schengen, Associated Press, European Commission, The Union of International Carriers Locations: SOFIA, Bulgaria, — Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Romania, Croatia, Romanian, Europe, Sofia, The, Sighisoara

☆ Even Apple's $2 billion fine seemingly hasn't stopped its beef with Spotify
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Apple still hasn't responded to Spotify's request to update its EU app with price information. Spotify claims the silence is Apple's way of "avoiding" compliance with the DMA, per The Verge. Spotify issued the update a day after the EU hit Apple with a nearly $2 billion fine. AdvertisementNot even a nearly $2 billion fine from the European Commission seems to be able to stop Apple from beefing with Spotify. Apple reportedly hasn't acknowledged the update Spotify made to the European version of its app, according to an email Spotify sent to the EU Commission The Verge obtained.

Persons: —, hasn't Organizations: Apple, Spotify, EU, Service, Business

☆ Europe is trying to regulate AI. That could backfire.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One AI expert said it risks creating "AI policy tax havens" as countries try to attract investment. "Europe is NOW a global standard-setter in AI," Thierry Breton, the European internal market commissioner, said on X. Other countries, including China, have already brought in rules around specific uses of AI. AdvertisementThe legislation has been questioned by some commentators, such as AI and deepfakes expert Henry Ajder, who called it "very ambitious." The EU legislation plans to assign the risks of AI applications into three categories, with applications that cause unacceptable risk set to be banned.

Persons: —, Thierry Breton, Henry Ajder, Neil Serebryany, Avani Desai, Schellman, Marcus Evans, Norton Rose Fulbright Organizations: EU, Intelligence, Service Locations: Europe, China, EU, California

☆ Apple backs down against ‘Fortnite"-maker Epic Games amid EU investigation threat
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Apple relenting means Epic will be able to bring “Fortnite” back to iPhones in Europe, Epic said in a blog post. “Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account. Apple said it reached the decision “following conversations with Epic” in which Epic committed to following Apple’s new EU-focused policies. “Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program,” Apple said in a statement. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote back to Apple promising to abide by its terms, but Apple rescinded the developer account anyway.

Persons: “, Fortnite, Fortnite ”, Apple, ” Apple, Thierry Breton, Tim Sweeney, ” Organizations: CNN, Apple, European Union, European Commission, Markets, Apple Developer, EU Locations: Europe, iPhones, pushback

☆ Battle for the Red Sea expands with U.S. strikes, EU stepping up its efforts against Houthis
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Defense officials tell CNBC as of February 21, there have been at least 59 attacks on commercial shipping interests in the Red Sea. But the EU said the Red Sea moves reflect the need for a stronger European presence in protecting ships from Houthi attacks. Trade leaders have urged more countries to join the military effort in the Red Sea. A war of misinformation in the Red Sea crisis also continues. On February 2 in Brussels, Borrell informed Yemeni Prime Minister Bin Mubarak about the plans to launch a new EU maritime operation in the Red Sea and about its mandate.

Persons: Mason, Torm Thor, Good Hope, Peter Stano, Josep Borrell, Mark Montgomery, Sen, John McCain, Steven Lamar, Hussein, Azzi, Stano, Houthis, Borrell, Bin Mubarak, Rashad Al, Carl Bentzel, Bentzel, Tesla Organizations: European Commission, United States Central Command, Command, U.S, CNBC, European Union's Naval Force, EU, French Navy, Prosperity, Prosperity Guardian, EU Commission, Navy, Foundation, Defense of Democracies, Senate Armed, NATO, U.S . Central Command, UK, Prosperity Guardian . Trade, American Apparel and Footwear Association, Central Command, Yemeni, Presidential, Council, UN, Federal Maritime, Foreign Shipping, State Department, FMC, Walmart Locations: Aden, Iranian, Yemen, Red, Libyan Coast, Good, Somalia, European, EU, U.S, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Houthi, Europe, Suez, Belize, Brussels, Yemeni, United States, Egypt, Germany, Israel

European leaders have paid tribute to jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny following reports of his death in prison on Friday. It is terrible that a courageous, fearless voice that stood up for his country has been silenced by terrible methods." Meanwhile, President of the European Council Charles Michel wrote in a post on X: "Alexey Navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was "deeply disturbed and saddened" by news of the death of Navalny. "Navalny fought for democratic values and against corruption.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Olaf Scholz, Navalny “, Scholz, Angela Merkel, Navalny, Charles Michel, Alexey Navalny, Ursula von der Leyen, Putin, Mark Rutte Organizations: European, EU Commission Locations: Russian, Russia, Germany, Soviet, Siberian, Omsk, Berlin, Berlin’s Charite

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — World leaders and Russian opposition activists wasted no time Friday in blaming the reported death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on President Vladimir Putin and his government. Navalny was “brutally murdered by the Kremlin,” said Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Other Russian opposition activists echoed him. “If it is confirmed, the death of Alexei is a murder. Organized by Putin,” opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov said on social media.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “ Putin, —, ” Zelenskyy, Olaf Scholz, ” Scholz, Navalny, “, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Ivan Zhdanov, hasn’t, Alexei, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Dmitry Gudkov, Garry Kasparov, ” Kasparov, Pyotr Verzilov, “ Navalny, Verzilov, Ursula von der Leyen, Jens Stoltenberg, ” Stoltenberg, Jake Sullivan Organizations: Kremlin, EU, NATO, National, NPR Locations: TALLINN, Estonia, Russian, Berlin, Russia, Navalny, Germany

☆ EU to 'Spare No Effort' to Hold Russia Accountable for Navalny's Death, Commission Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

(Reuters) - The EU will do whatever it can to hold Russia accountable for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President Josep Borrell said on Friday. "He was slowly murdered by President Putin and his regime, who fear nothing more than dissent from their own people", von der Leyen and Borrell said. "We will spare no efforts to hold the Russian political leadership and authorities to account." The EU commission leaders demanded Russia established all facts around Navalny's death and "immediately release all other political prisoners". The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 ImagesPhotos You Should See View All 33 Images(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell, Putin, von der Leyen, Borrell, Bart Meijer, Alex Richardson Organizations: Reuters, EU Locations: EU, Russia

☆ Dutch far-right Geert Wilders' hopes of becoming prime minister sink after coalition talks collapse
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON — Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders' hopes of becoming prime minister of the Netherlands are dwindling after coalition talks fell into disarray Tuesday. Wilders took to social media Tuesday evening to berate Omtzigt's withdrawal, calling the decision "incredibly disappointing." I don't understand it at all," Wilders wrote in a post on X, according to a Google translation. However, former Labor Party minister Ronald Plasterk, who has been leading the talks, earlier flagged finances as a major sticking point in talks. Alternatively, if no combination of parties can agree to form a coalition, a new election could be called.

Persons: Geert Wilders, Pieter Omtzigt, vexing Wilders, Wilders, Omtzigt's, Omtzigt, Mark Rutte, Caroline van der Plas, Ronald Plasterk, European Union —, Plasterk, Frans Timmermans Organizations: Party for Freedom, NSC, BBB, Labor, Reuters, European Union, Labour, Green Locations: Netherlands, Dutch, Europe

☆ EU Commission unveils a plan to slash emissions by 90%. Can it deliver?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The announcement will kick off months of talks that could take up to a year before the European Parliament rubber stamps the target. The European Greens — a faction of environmentally conscious lawmakers from several countries — are expecting big losses in the vote, after making sweeping gains in the 2019 election. “We’re looking at a European Parliament that is more in favor of regulatory freedom for member states,” Dufour said. The Greens had been successful in achieving a strong climate agenda through the EU parliament, he added. She said new conservative or even far-right lawmakers may also back some ambitious climate policies because so many make sense in terms of economics and security, as well.

Persons: —, Wopke Hoekstra, Andreas Solaro, Manon Dufour, ” Dufour, Dufour, Bas Eickhout, ”, Eickhout, Olivier Chassignole, ” Eickhout, I’m, Linda Kalcher, Kalcher Organizations: CNN, European Commission, EU, Parliament, European Greens —, Getty, Conservative, European People’s Party, EPP, Deal, European Greens, Greens, European Greens Party, ”, Green Locations: Lugo , Italy, AFP, Brussels, Bas, Dutch, Lyon, France, Brussel, Ukraine

☆ Finns go to the polls to elect a new president at an unprecedented time for the NATO newcomer
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Polls across the country opened at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) and will close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). The president also acts as the supreme commander of the Finnish military, a particularly important duty in Europe's current security environment. They are picking a successor to hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March. Recent polls suggest that former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, 55, and ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, 65, are the leading contenders. Advance vote results will be confirmed soon after polls close and initial results from Sunday's voting are expected by around midnight (2200 GMT).

Persons: Sauli Niinistö, Eve Kinnunen, Alexander Stubb, Pekka Haavisto, Stubb, Haavisto, Jussi Halla, Olli Rehn, Niinistö, Vladimir Putin of Organizations: Nordic, NATO, Union, National Coalition Party, United Nations, Finns, Bank of Finland, Associated Press, Green League Locations: Espoo, Finland, Russia, United States, China, Helsinki, Sunday's, Europe, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Nordic, Finland's, Sweden, Hungary

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland protested Sunday a mistake in a social media post by the head of the European Commission that wrongly suggested the World War II Auschwitz death camp was Polish. That post by Ursula von der Leyen on X, formerly Twitter, was later corrected to say that Auschwitz was a Nazi German extermination camp. In the original post, the Auschwitz camp was described only as “Poland.”Phone and text messages left Sunday with Christian Wigand, EU Commission spokesman, were not immediately returned. Beginning in 1940, the Nazis were using old Austrian military barracks in the southern town of Oswiecim as a concentration and death camp for Polish resistance members. During that time, Poland was under brutal German occupation and lost some 6 millions citizens, half of them Jews.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, von der Leyen, Christian Wigand, Radoslaw Sikorski, penalizes Organizations: —, Sunday, European Commission, Twitter, European Union, EU, Foreign Locations: WARSAW, Poland, — Poland, Auschwitz, Nazi, Germany, Oswiecim, Birkenau

HELSINKI (AP) — Ex-Prime Minister Alexander Stubb was projected to win the first round of Finland's presidential election on Sunday and face runner-up Pekka Haavisto in a runoff next month. Finnish public broadcaster YLE projected that Stubb won the first round of the presidential election with 27.3% of the votes, while Haavisto, an ex-foreign minister, took second place with 25.8%. Recent polls suggest that former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, 55, and ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, 65, are the leading contenders. The president also acts as the supreme commander of the Finnish military, a particularly important duty in Europe's current security environment. About 4.5 million citizens were eligible to vote for Finland’s new head of state from an array of nine candidates — six men and three women.

Persons: —, Alexander Stubb, Pekka Haavisto, Stubb, Jussi Halla, aho, Sauli Niinistö, “, ”, Eve Kinnunen, Haavisto, Olli Rehn, Niinistö, Vladimir Putin of, ___ Kostya Manenkov, Sergei Grits Organizations: HELSINKI, YLE, Legal, Nordic, NATO, Union, National Coalition Party, Finns, Bank of Finland, Halla, Associated Press, Helsinki, Green League Locations: Finnish, Stubb, Finland, HELSINKI, Russia, United States, China, Helsinki, Sunday’s, Europe, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Nordic, Finland’s, Sweden, Hungary

☆ Ukraine begins EU accession talks; U.S. military aid hangs in the balance
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine formally started the screening process to begin talks over its future membership of the European Union on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. In a post on X, the Ukrainian leader said he welcomed the start of "substantial preparations for Ukraine's EU accession talks" in Brussels, following an agreement reached with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The thorough work of assessing the conformity of Ukrainian legislation with EU norms, the formation of Ukraine's delegation, and our negotiating position are all ahead of us," Zelenskyy added. "I expect full engagement of Ukrainian government team and the first intergovernmental conference to be held already this spring." The White House said last week that the U.S. money supply to Ukraine has now run out, which could leave Kyiv ill-equipped to repel the Russian invasion.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ursula von der Leyen, Zelenskyy, John Thune Organizations: European Union, EU, Economic, U.S, Republican, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Brussels, Davos, Switzerland

Macron's opponents are seizing on the farmers' demonstrations to bash his government's record ahead of European elections in June. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose National Rally party is polling strongly, blamed free-trade agreements, imports and bureaucracy for farmers' economic woes. Roads hit Thursday morning by drive-slows included a highway west of the French capital and seat of power. “We are getting progressively closer to Paris,” farmer David Lavenant said to broadcaster BFM-TV. In recent weeks, farmers have staged protests in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.

Persons: Gabriel Attal, Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le, ”, David Lavenant, Ursula von der Leyen, von der Locations: Paris, Agen, France, Brussels, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Romania

☆ EU Commission's Jourová on AI's potential to disrupt elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEU Commission's Jourová on AI's potential to disrupt electionsVěra Jourová, the European Commission's VP for Values and Transparency, discusses AI and its potential ramifications on forthcoming elections. The potential for voter manipulation, disinformation, foreign interference and cybersecurity are all concerns, Jourová told CNBC.

Persons: Věra Jourová, Jourová Organizations: EU, European, CNBC

☆ Dutch minister calls for an EU commissioner dedicated to defense
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailDutch minister calls for an EU commissioner dedicated to defenseKajsa Ollongren, minister of defence of the Netherlands, discusses the most recent elections in her country, the need for additional defense funding for the EU, and what her country is doing to continue supporting Ukraine.

Persons: Kajsa Ollongren Organizations: EU Locations: Netherlands, Ukraine

COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during the Transforming Food Systems in the Face of Climate Change event on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit at Dubai Expo on December 1, 2023. "We delivered world first after world first," the UAE summit presidency said in a further social media update. And we have language on fossil fuels in our final agreement." Many believed the COP28 summit could only be considered a success if it resulted in a deal to phase out all fossil fuels. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber sparked a backlash earlier this month after he claimed there is "no science" behind calls for a phase-out of fossil fuels.

Persons: Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Ludovic Marin, Licypriya Kangujam, Sean Gallup, Wopke Hoekstra, Alok Sharma, Sharma, CNBC's, Simon Stiell, We're, John Kerry, Selma de Montgomery, Avinash Persaud, Mikhail Gitarskiy, Sultan al, Jaber, he'd, Al Organizations: Food Systems, Dubai Expo, Afp, Getty Images, UAE Consensus, UAE, United Arab Emirates, Getty, Russian, BBC, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co Locations: Dubai, UAE, United Arab, United Arab Emirates, Pacific, Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Asia, North America, Paris, United States, China, Denmark, Barbados, Moscow, Abu Dhabi

☆ EU clears up to 1.2 bln euros of aid for cloud computing
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

European flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The European Commission approved on Tuesday up to 1.2 billion euros ($1.30 billion) of state aid for a European cloud computing project to try to boost the involvement of EU business in a field dominated by U.S. companies. Those countries will provide up to 1.2 billion euros in public funding, which in turn is expected to unlock 1.4 billion euros in private investments, the European Commission said. The European cloud technology project features 19 companies, including French companies Atos (ATOS.PA) and Orange (ORAN.PA), Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and Germany's SAP (SAPG.DE), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and Telefonica Espana (TEF.MC). The three biggest players in cloud computing are Amazon (AMZN.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Google (GOOGL.O).

Persons: Yves Herman, Didier Reynders, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Piotr Lipinski, Philip Blenkinsop, Barbara Lewis Organizations: European Commission, REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Infrastructure, Services, IPCEI CIS, Union, Deutsche Telekom, SAP, Telecom Italia, Telefonica Espana, Microsoft, Google, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain

Foundation models like the one built by Microsoft (MSFT.O)-backed OpenAI are AI systems trained on large sets of data, with the ability to learn from new data to perform various tasks. In a meeting of the countries' economy ministers on Oct. 30 in Rome, France persuaded Italy and Germany to support a proposal, sources told Reuters. Until then, negotiations had gone smoothly, with lawmakers making compromises across several other conflict areas such as regulating high-risk AI, sources said. France-based AI company Mistral and Germany's Aleph Alpha have criticised the tiered approach to regulating foundation models, winning support from their respective countries. Other pending issues in the talks include definition of AI, fundamental rights impact assessment, law enforcement exceptions and national security exceptions, sources told Reuters.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Thierry Breton, Geoffrey Hinton, Alpha, Mistral, Mark Brakel, Supantha Mukherjee, Josephine Mason, Alexander Smith Organizations: Technology, Intelligence, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Foundation, Microsoft, European Commission, Mistral, Lawmakers, Life Institute, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, Rights STOCKHOLM, BRUSSELS, LONDON, France, Germany, Italy, Rome, Spain, Belgium, Stockholm

☆ EU states push against 'no Russia clause' in sanctions package -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - EU countries are digging in against parts of the Commission's latest proposed package of sanctions on Russia, namely the so-called "no Russia clause", retaliatory financial limits and dual-use goods for personal use, six sources said. The package, which would be the bloc's 12th since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, also seeks to close more loopholes on sanctions circumvention. They justify the moves based on a sanctions list of items that could be used a "potential revenue" for Russia. On the oil side, the EU and G7 are trying to tighten the trade of Russian oil under their $60 per barrel crude oil price cap. Western countries said while it worked for a while, Russian oil revenues were rising thanks to growing "shadow fleet" of tankers made up of aging Western ships.

Persons: Julia Payne, Alison Williams Organizations: Russia, EU Commission, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, EU, Russian

The Commission's legal service did not think a statement of objections regarding the deal was warranted, in contrast with antitrust officials handling the case, the people said. Without such a charge sheet, the deal would have been cleared unconditionally. The lawyers subsequently changed their mind and backed antitrust officials' decision to send the charge sheet setting out their concerns, the sources said on condition of anonymity, declining to provide confidential details. Antitrust officials can override objections from the legal service by either tweaking or narrowing their concerns to get their backing or by appealing to the top officials. While Amazon might still gain unconditional approval to buy iRobot, the charge sheet indicates that officials are looking to remedies from the company to address their concerns.

Persons: Pascal, Foo Yun Chee, Richard Chang Organizations: Rights, European Commission, Antitrust, Reuters, EU, Google, Digital, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: Boves, France, Rights BRUSSELS

☆ Slovak truckers to block Ukraine crossing, joining Polish protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Yan Dobronosov/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 29 (Reuters) - Slovak truckers will block the main border crossing with Ukraine from Friday, the country's truckers association UNAS said, joining Polish protests to win restrictions against Ukrainian drivers. Polish truckers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since Nov. 6 to demand tougher conditions for Ukrainian peers. Polish and Slovak truckers complain Ukrainian truckers offer cheaper prices for their services and also transport goods within the European Union, rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine. They say their business has been undercut since truckers from Ukraine gained exemptions from seeking permits to cross following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Polish truckers started protests this month, demanding the EU reintroduce a permit system for Ukrainian truckers entering the bloc and for EU truckers entering Ukraine, with exemptions for humanitarian aid and military supplies.

Persons: Yan, UNAS, Vysne Nemecke, Transport Adina Valean, Jason Hovet, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, EU, Transport, Thomson Locations: Poland, Ukraine, Korczowa, Slovakia, Kyiv, Prague

Search resuls for: "EU Commission"

25 mentions found