Новости за 29.06.2016

Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, former employees at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) who revealed how corporations hid away profits, were fined and given suspended sentences by a court in Luxembourg.

EU leaders have discussed how to reform the union in the wake of Brexit, but the main faultlines will only be exposed in Bratislava in September. Treaty change remains taboo, for now.

Juncker has said he “doesn’t care” about criticism of his handling of Brexit and told Austria to “stop messing around” on complaints about a free trade deal with Canada.

Advancing towards a driverless future brings on a new set of challenges and questions on how connectivity and mobility will affect all aspects of life.

Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy said only the UK, and not Scotland, had competence to negotiate with the EU. "I am extremely against it, the treaties are extremely against it and I believe everyone is extremely against it. If the United Kingdom leaves ... Scotland leaves," Rajoy said. Spain fears Scotland's bid to stay in the EU, which could entail declaring independence, could inspire Spanish regions to follow suit.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has dismissed calls for his resignation over Brexit, saying: “Frankly, I don’t care." He said he did not get involved in the referendum campaign at the UK’s request. EU Council chief Donald Tusk said he did not understand how Juncker could be blamed. In April, Juncker was accused of interference when he urged Dutch voters to approve an EU-Ukraine treaty in a referendum.

EU Commission chief Juncker has said “the general view [among EU leaders] is that there would be no [EU] treaty change” in order to make deep reforms after Brexit. “Nobody in the room was asking me to engage on a different reform path. We have to speed up the reform process that is already ongoing”, he said. EU Council chef Tusk said “it’s too early to draw conclusions” from Brexit.

A court in Luxembourg gave a 12-month suspended sentence and a €1,500 fine to Antoine Deltour for his role in revealing secret tax deals between big companies and Luxembourg. Raphael Halet, who also blew the whistle, was given a nine-month suspended sentence and fined €1,000. Edouard Perrin, a French journalist who first exposed the deals, was acquitted.

The informal summit of the 27 EU leaders to have a "deeper reflection" on the future of the EU is scheduled for 16 September, an EU source told this website. The leaders are supposed to address the growing gap between the citizens and the EU in the wake of the UK referendum.

Malta and Estonia coud divide up the UK's six-month EU chairmanship, due next year, if Cameron's successor opts to not do it in the wake of Brexit.

US secretary of state John Kerry said there were " a number of ways" to prevent the UK's exit from the EU. "I don't as secretary of state want to throw them out today. I think that would be a mistake," he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency at an event in Colorado. He said UK officials had "no idea" how to negotiate the exit.

The EU Commission has offered to clarify legislation on emissions cheating software, but an apparent communication breakdown with Germany is not helping its cause.

Italy and the Netherlands have asked to share a seat at the UN Security Council, after the General Assembly was deadlocked over which to choose. The council has 10 non-permanent members, each chosen for a two-year spell, in addition to its five permanent members. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said sharing the seat could "send a message of unity between two European countries" in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Rome hopes to convince the European Commission of side stepping EU rules after Italy's already troubled banks were hit hard by Brexit.

Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi said UK students who want to study in EU states should receive EU passports. "In other words, if a British student decides to spend two, three, four years in a university in Europe, we study now if it's possible to give him a European passport - Italian, French or German," he said.

Extremist groups are committing an increasing number of crimes in Germany, says interior minister Thomas de Maiziere. “Extremist groups, whatever their orientation, are gaining ground in Germany,” he said, adding that there had been a rise in membership and also an "increase in violence and brutality" among the groups. An annual report by Germany's domestic intelligence service said crimes linked to far-right groups had risen by 40% last year.

Judges in Luxembourg are set to deliver a verdict in a trial that could send whistleblowers Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet to prison. The men leaked documents from auditing firm PwC that showed how big firms used secret tax deals to avoid paying into the public coffers. If found guilty, prosecutors have asked for 18-month jail terms.

"From Serpico to Deltour, whistleblowers should be celebrated not persecuted," says Transparency International ahead of Wednesday's verdict in the LuxLeaks trial.

Roma children are still segregated in schools in some EU countries despite efforts to stamp out the practice, the EU Commission says in its annual report on Roma integration. "The commission has to take action to make sure anti-discrimination legislation is enforced," said EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova. Broader issues including labour access, health, and housing also remain for some Roma.

EU leaders will not push Britain to begin the legal process to leave the EU, but they say there is no alternative after last week's referendum.

Juncker's humour fell flat in Brussels on Tuesday. Remark on "bank run" in Italy hastily corrected.

Rutte said changing the text or not ratifying it at all were two options after Dutch people voted against it in a referendum. Treaty would likely survive in another form.

Council chief Donald Tusk has said European Central Bank head Mario Draghi had told EU leaders at Tuesday's summit the market fallout from Brexit "was less negative than we expected". But Tusk said the decision to leave the EU would lead to "substantially lower growth in the UK, with a potential negative spillover all over the world". Draghi said it would wipe out 0.5% of the eurozone's GDP, Bloomberg reports.

EU leaders at the summit Tuesday informally agreed to hold a "comprehensive discussion on all aspects of our relations with Russia" in October, an EU source said. The talks will include a review of EU economic sanctions, which are to be extended by six months in July. "[Council chief] Tusk stood up and made the announcement and nobody objected", the source said. The item did not feature in formal conclusions.