Новости за 01.03.2016

Dutch taxpayers are funding €2 million in subsidies for initiatives that stimulate debate on the EU-Ukraine treaty referendum.

Austrian chancellor Faymann on Tuesday defended his controversial decision to tighten border controls, as EU Council chief Tusk begins his Balkan migrant tour.

The EU's top court has said people with refugee status can move and live anywhere they like in an EU host state. Restrictions can apply, but in very few cases.

Ireland has agreed to join an EU mechanism that will try to relocate 140,000 asylum seekers by 2017, the EU Commission announced on Tuesday. Unlike most EU states, Ireland is not bound to participate, but chose to opt in. Dublin is already participating in another relocation scheme launched last year.

The decision on whether to renew the EU's agreement with tobacco multinational PMI will not be taken before MEPs vote on the issue, a European Commission spokeswoman told EUobserver on Tuesday. It's unclear if a majority is in favour of renewal. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday 8 March.

Liberal and Green MEPs criticise proposals that would allow EU border guards greater powers to intervene in member states, questioning legal responsibility for rights violations.

Germany and Morocco signed on Monday an agreement to return Moroccans who stay illegally in Germany. The deal will concern around 10,000 people who came to Germany, many of them pretending to be Syrians to be granted asylum. Germany is trying to sign similar agreements with Algeria and Tunisia.

The Bank of England and and Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said Monday they will not apply new EU rules to extend bonus caps to smaller banks. The rules say bonuses should not exceed fixed pay. UK regulators say the rules trigger pay rises that prevent banks to adapt to downturns.

The EU is preparing to tax e-cigarettes under the same regime as normal ones, in a move likely to boost prices and to prompt a new lobbying war in Brussels.

The EU will exceed by 2 billion tonnes the carbon emmission target it promised at the Paris climate summit in December, according to a European Commission note leaked by the Guardian. Carbon prices on the emissions market are too low to favour efforts to cut CO2 emissions.

Ukrainian politicians, visiting Brussels, say Dutch people should vote Yes in referendum on EU-Ukraine trade treaty, as national affair takes on big dimensions.

Migrants, activists and police clashed on Monday near Calais during an operation to evacuate part of the migrant camp known as the Jungle. The authorities destroyed makeshift housing, and used water cannon and tear gas to quell the unrest. The migrants were taken to a reception centre nearby.

The EU ambassador to Israel said a video made by a group of Israeli settlers portraying him as Hannibal Lecter, the serial killer from the Silence of the Lambs film, was "appalling". The settlers accused Lars Faaborg-Andersen of "establishing a terror state" because of EU support for Palestinian housing.

The investor dispute settlement mechanism the EU and Canada have agreed to include in their free trade agreement gives the same privileges to large companies as its contested earlier versions.

Despite ideological and practical difficulties, Europe and China have a common interest in combating extremism and its root causes.