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☆ EU's Centre-Right Expects to Nominate Von Der Leyen for Second Term - EPP's Caspary
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union's main centre-right alliance will nominate Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission president at a congress in March if she wants to continue in the post, a senior EU lawmaker told Reuters. Von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat, has not yet said publicly whether she wants a second stint at the helm of the EU executive after her current term expires later this year. "The EPP will nominate Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for the European elections at its European Congress on March 6 and 7," Caspary said, adding, "If that's what she wants." Being nominated as the EPP's lead candidate would mean von der Leyen would also be its nominee for Commission president. Caspary's comments add strength to the widespread assumption among diplomats and officials in Brussels that von der Leyen will seek and receive a second term as Commission president.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, Von der, Daniel Caspary, Caspary, Leyen, der Leyen, Andreas Rinke, Andrew Gray, Nette Nöstlinger, Rachel More Organizations: BERLIN, Reuters, Christian Democrat, European People's Party, EPP Locations: Brussels

☆ ECB starts preparation for digital euro in multi-year project
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A number of Caribbean countries and Nigeria have already launched digital currencies while China and Sweden are among those that have rolled out pilot projects. The ECB says a digital euro will create competition in the market for payments, dominated by U.S. credit card companies. The digital euro will distributed by the ECB as well as commercial banks and digital wallet providers. Many of these projects surged around 2019, when Facebook announced plans to introduce a digital currency, which were then ditched. But the rise of stablecoins – crypto tokens backed to some degree by traditional currencies – gave central bank’s digital currencies, or CBDC in financial jargon, new impetus.

Persons: Markus Ferber, Francesco Canepa, Alex Richardson, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: European Central Bank, ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Canada, European People's Party, U.S, Monetary Fund, Commission, Bank for International, Facebook, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Nigeria, China, Sweden

He lost his case in October 2020 and, the following March, was issued an order to leave Belgium. With at least three EU countries involved, the case points up the challenges the EU faces tracking people across the bloc's Schengen open-travel zone that is mostly free of border checks. Proponents of the EU's new migration pact - which has been tentatively agreed by most EU countries and is now being further negotiated with the European Parliament - say it would support returns by shortening time for migration and asylum procedures. "Those who are not allowed to stay in the EU must leave Europe. "This is a wake-up call for those who are not ready to accept ... the migration pact."

Persons: Alexander de Croo, Vincent Van Quickenborne, Manfred Weber, Marine Strauss, Bart Meijer, Angelo Amante, Gabriela Baczynska, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Belgium Case, EU, Immigration, Belgian, Frontex, Eurostat, Reuters, European People's Party, Thomson Locations: Italy, Sweden, Belgium, BRUSSELS, ROME, Tunisia, Europe, Israel, Germany, Brussels, Tunis, ITALY, SWEDEN, BELGIUM, Lampedusa, Poland, Hungary, East, Africa, Rome

☆ Dutch pick for EU climate job to face tough hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Hoekstra needs to win a positive assessment from the EU Parliament and pass a potentially close vote in the assembly with majority support. If appointed, Hoekstra is expected to assume responsibility for climate change policies in the EU Commission. He belongs to the Dutch Christian-Democratic CDA party, part of the European People's Party group in the EU Parliament. Bas Eickhout, a Green EU lawmaker, said Hoekstra would need to prove his commitment to Europe's climate change agenda. He'll have a tough time convincing the European Parliament that he's the right man for the job," said Paul Tang, a Dutch Socialist member of the EU Parliament.

Persons: Wopke Hoekstra, Hoekstra, Frans Timmermans, Timmermans, Maros Sefcovic, Eickhout, Hoekstra's, Paul Tang, Kate Abnett, Bart Meijer, Giles Elgood Organizations: EU, Parliament, Dutch Christian, Democratic CDA, European People's Party, EPP, EPP Group, Green Deal, European, Socialist, Dutch Finance, Socialists, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Netherlands, Dutch, Europe, EU, The Hague, New EU, Bas, Southern Europe, Spain, Italy

Poland's government, which faces October elections, is even suing Brussels over climate policies. Britain has already quickly gone from being a leader on the world stage to looking quite weak on green policies, he said. CITIZENS, BUSINESSESEurope's green policies are still more credible than U.S. ones, given see-sawing between electoral cycles in the United States, some analysts said. Rows over green policies have propelled right-wing populist parties to second place in both Dutch and German polls. "Otherwise citizens might start to feel that climate policy is always financially overwhelming and bad, and that sentiment is then exploited by populists."

Persons: Timm Reichert, Virginijus Sinkevicius, Sinkevicius, Anna Moskwa, Nathalie Tocci, Mats Engström, GREEN, Bob Ward, Ward, Rishi Sunak, Rob Jetten, Nina Scheer, Simone Tagliapietra, Tagliapietra, Kate Abnett, Sarah Marsh, Gloria Dickie, Anthony Deutsch, Angelo Amante, Pawel, Susanna Twidale, William James, Alexnder Smith Organizations: REUTERS, European Union, Reuters, European People's Party, European Council, Foreign, United States, Grantham Research, London School of Economics, Political, Climate, Energy, Democrats, Thomson Locations: Gruenberg, Germany, EU, BERLIN, BRUSSELS, Netherlands, Brussels, Europe, United States, Grantham, India, China, Britain, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Warsaw

☆ EU Commission sticks to US economist pick for senior antitrust job
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, July 14 (Reuters) - The European Commission stuck to its guns on Friday, saying it was not reconsidering EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's pick of a U.S. economist to a senior job helping to oversee Big Tech despite criticism from French ministers and EU lawmakers. Fiona Scott Morton, 56, the former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Justice during former President Barack Obama's tenure, will take up her three-year stint on Sept. 1 when the current chief economist, Pierre Regibeau, retires. She will be the first non-EU national, first U.S. national and first woman for the job. They cited the strategic importance of the post, potential conflicts of interest due to Scott Morton's previous work with Big Tech, and her previous public antitrust comments. Head of the centre-right group European People's Party Manfred Weber, president of the liberals' group Renew Europe Stephane Sejourne, head of the socialists group Iratxe Garcia Perez and the heads of the green party Philippe Lamberts and Terry Reintke said they opposed the new hire.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager's, Fiona Scott Morton, Barack Obama's, Pierre Regibeau, Vestager, Scott Morton's, Dana Spinant, European People's Party Manfred Weber, Europe Stephane Sejourne, Iratxe Garcia Perez, Philippe Lamberts, Terry Reintke, Scott Morton, Foo Yun Chee, Jan Harvey Organizations: European Commission, Big Tech, U.S . Department of Justice, EU, European People's Party, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, U.S, Europe

Lawmakers and member countries will now negotiate the final text, aiming for a deal before EU Parliament elections in 2024. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol"Restoring nature brings numerous benefits to farmers," EU lawmaker Mohammed Chahim said. Lawmakers and scientists have rejected the EPP's claims, accusing the group of using misinformation to court votes ahead of EU Parliament elections next year. "This is a law on behalf of nature, not against any person whatsoever." EU lawmakers voted earlier this week to weaken another law to cut pollution from farms.

Persons: Cesar Luena, Manfred Weber, Remy, Pascal Rossignol, Mohammed Chahim, Luena, Greta Thunberg, Kate Abnett, Marine Strauss, Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Mark Potter, Devika Syamnath, Ed Osmond Organizations: European, European People's Party, EPP, EU Parliament's, REUTERS, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, Neuville, France, Brussels

☆ EU nature law on knife-edge after losing first vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bill to revive ailing environments - which aims to restore nature on 20% of EU land and sea - is facing a political backlash from the European People's Party group in the EU Parliament, which has called for its rejection. In a tight vote, 44 lawmakers voted for the law and 44 against, meaning it failed to win majority support. The bill now heads to a full EU Parliament vote on July 11, where failure to win majority support would kill off the proposal. Supporters from other parliament groups said they would try to club together to find a compromise deal ahead of the full parliament vote. Despite that, EU countries agreed a position on the nature bill last week - weakening some targets and asking for more EU money to support farmers in restoring nature, but backing its overall aims.

Persons: Anne Sander, Cesar Luena, parliament's, Kate Abnett, Bart Meijer, Frank Jack Daniel, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Union, European People's Party, European Commission, EPP, Thomson Locations: Hymettus, Athens, Greece, BRUSSELS, Brussels, Ireland, Belgium

☆ EU lawmakers pass landmark artificial intelligence regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The European Parliament has approved the bloc's landmark rules for artificial intelligence, known as the EU AI Act, clearing a major hurdle for the first formal regulation of AI in the West to become law. What generative AI is capable of, from producing music lyrics to generating code, has wowed academics, businesspeople and even school students. During a critical Wednesday vote, the Parliament adopted the AI Act with 499 votes in favor, 28 against and 93 abstentions. Generative AI developers will be required to submit their systems for review before releasing them commercially. The laws have huge implications for developers of generative AI models, such as the Microsoft -backed OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google 's Bard.

Persons: Bard, Jens, Henrik Jeppesen, Thomas Dohmke, Dohmke, CNBC's Arjun Kharpal, Rishi Sunak, Goldman Sachs Organizations: EU, European People's Party, Microsoft, Google, CNBC, European Union

☆ Centre-right lawmakers quit EU talks on nature law
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, May 31 (Reuters) - The biggest lawmaker group in the European Parliament on Wednesday walked out of negotiations on a landmark EU law to protect nature, dealing another blow to the contested proposal. French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested a pause on new EU environment legislation, while Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo questioned whether the nature law is needed. Meanwhile, the European People's Party - EU Parliament's largest lawmaker group - has called to reject it. The nature law needs approval from both EU countries and the EU Parliament, which is scheduled to vote on it in July. So far, EU countries have not attempted to block the proposal outright, but are negotiating amendments.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Alexander De Croo, Christine Schneider, Jutta Paulus, Kate Abnett, Sriraj Organizations: Wednesday, European Commission, Belgian, European People's Party, EU Parliament's, EPP, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Brussels

☆ Centre-right lawmakers push back on EU nature laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It urged the European Commission to first help countries address issues caused by existing EU nature laws. The EPP has the most lawmakers of any group in the European Parliament - 176 out of the assembly's 705 members. A source from the EPP group said it stood ready to reject the two laws, if its views were not heard. That could block the policies, if lawmakers from some other groups in the parliament also reject them. A Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the EPP resolution, but said it would work with lawmakers and EU countries to address the issues raised.

☆ Italian PM Meloni to visit Kyiv on Monday to meet Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Kyiv on Monday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political source said on Sunday. Meloni, who took office in October, had said she planned to visit Kyiv before the Feb. 24 anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. Despite friction on the issue within her rightist ruling coalition and divided public opinion, Meloni has been a firm supporter of Ukraine. Italy and France have recently finalised talks over delivery of an advanced air defence system to Kyiv in the spring. Reporting by Angelo Amante Writing by Gianluca Semeraro Editing by David Goodman and Gavin JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"Major economies are rightly stepping up investment in net zero industries," von der Leyen told a news conference. And we want to be an important part of this net-zero industry that we need globally," von der Leyen said. RESISTANCEThe European Commission is hoping member states will back its plan at a Feb.9-10 summit but it faces a hot debate. Solar sector industry group SolarPower Europe said it was concerned by what it called a "lack of focus" on specific technologies in the EU plan. The bloc is heavily reliant on China for rare earths and lithium, which are vital materials for the green transition.

☆ Factbox: Potential flashpoints in Italy's new rightist coalition
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here are some of the main potential sources of tension between Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI), Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia. The League leader has urged caution over sanctions while Berlusconi sparked outrage on Friday when he said Putin had invaded Ukraine to install a government of "decent people." Forza Italia, by contrast, has called for it to be increased, with a close Berlusconi aide saying it should be "doubled" for the poorest recipients. PERSONAL RIVALRIESRelations between Meloni and Salvini have often been strained as the fortunes of their parties have swung. If Salvini survives as party leader, he will have to find a way to counter Meloni's growing popularity, which is likely to cause friction.

☆ The EU and the “changing” Eastern neighborhood - between “post-factum diplomacy” and realpolitik, Analysis by Dionis Cenușă
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-14 | by ( ) www.ipn.md time to read: +21 min

The EU and the “changing” Eastern neighborhood - between “post-factum diplomacy” and realpolitik, Analysis by Dionis CenușăOp-EdThe diversity of realities in Eastern Europe requires from the EU a "differentiated diplomacy" which emerges from the dynamics of local and external factors, dominant in the region ...Dionis Cenuşa, Senior ContributorThe European strategy for the Eastern Neighborhood is losing ground to the ever-changing reality. It is these shortcomings that define European diplomacy of post-factum, which remains relevant in 2020. First of all, Russia has structural levers that can influence the situation on the ground in the Eastern Partnership states. Instead, the emphasis of Westerners is on calming the political situation, without encouraging the opposition to annul the results of the parliamentary elections. Dionis Cenuşa, Senior Contributor Dionis Cenuşa, Senior ContributorAreas of research: European Neighborhood Policy, EU-Moldova relationship, EU's foreign policy and Russia, migration and energy security.

Persons: Cenușă, Dionis Cenuşa, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Maia Sandu's, Fiasco, Igor Dodon, Maia Sandu, Vladimir Putin, oligarch Bidzina, Ivanishvili, Nikol, ”, Ilham Aliyev's, Alexander Lukashenko, Lukashenko, Hanns Seidel Organizations: EU, European People's Party, Social Democrats, Eastern Partnership, Eastern, Constitutional, Socialist, OSCE, Moldovan, Russian, Hanns Seidel Foundation, IPN Press Agency, Policy, Institute of Political Sciences, Liebig, Justus University, College of Europe, Twitter Locations: Eastern Europe, EU, Belarus, Nagorno, Karabakh, Brussels, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chisinau, Moldovan, Turkey, South Caucasus, Yerevan, Moscow, Baku, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Iran, Ankara, Minsk, Belarusian, Giessen, Germany

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