Новости за 07.10.2016

The technical explanation why some carmakers switch off, or turn down emission filter systems at certain temperatures, constitutes "industry secrets and can therefore not be published", Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) told the European Parliament in a written statement ahead of a hearing next week in the Dieselgate committee. The KBA found last April diesel cars were reducing the emission system under temperatures not part of the official test.

Member states are yet to launch an EU PNR scheme despite the urgency in the lead up to its adoption.

The British government has asked foreign academics to stop sending reports and analysis to advise on EU affairs, the Guardian has revealed. Reportedly experts at the London School of Economics have been informed that their work would not be accepted anymore, with the foreign office concerned sensitive material could be exposed while the UK negotiates its EU exit and new trade deals.

19 out of 28 member states ban GM crops within their borders, but the Commission's latest approval of GM maize gives more ammunition to EU critics.

The European Parliament's ethics committee will try to establish what happened between Mike Hookem and Steven Woolfe, who will stay in hospital until Sunday.

More and more members of the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) are considering Martin Schulz, current president of the European Parliament, as prime candidate for chancellor next year, according to Der Spiegel Online. "Across all wings and regional groups there is a large 'Just not Gabriel' movement," an unnamed influential MP, referring to party leader and vice-chancelor Sigmar Gabriel, is quoted as saying.

Two years ago Kurdish activists stormed the EU parliament, triggering new security measures. But they've led to visitors to have a bad first impression of the house of their democratic representation.

French environment minister Segolene Royal will front the EU parliament's Dieselgate inquiry committee, after having previously declined a request . Promoting the Paris climate deal in Strasbourg this week, she was criticised for snubbing the committee by several MEPs. National ministers from Germany and Denmark will appear before the inquiry in the coming months; with requests to Italy and Slovakia still pending.

A fist-fight between Ukip MEPs in the European Parliament on Thursday sent a frontrunner for the party’s leadership to hospital and laid bare a party in shambles.

Giovanni De Santi, who was the director responsible for a new on-road test method, was moved to a different position in the EU's science body during the height of the Dieselgate crisis.

Lawmakers in Catalonia voted to set up a referendum for independence, next September, in defiance of Madrid and a recent constitutional court ruling.

The foreign policy choice choice for Georgians in Saturday's election is clear - continue to court the EU, or move closer to Russia.

The German government reportedly could soon present a bill to impose a 5-year period of residence before EU citizens, who do not work in Germany, can claim social benefits in the country, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily. The bill follows a German court ruling last year that allowed a residency requirement in access to benefits.

The dismantling of "the Jungle" camp, where 7 to 10,000 migrants live near Calais, in northern France, will start on 17 October, France's human rights watchdog chief, Jacques Toubon, said on Thursday. Toubon says he is worried by a lack of housing for people who will have to leave the camp, and about how non-accompanied minors will be taken care of.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, announced on Thursday it will cut an extra 1,000 jobs, in addition to the 3,000 announced in June. The bank, hit by a €12.5-billion fine in the US for wrongly selling mortgage bonds, has lost almost half of its value this year. German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble declined to say on Thursday whether the governement would come to help.

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday that president Vladimir Putin would go to Paris on 19 October to speak about Syria, Ukraine and bilateral relations with French president Francois Hollande. French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was meeting Lavrov, did not confirm the visit, Ayrault saying he was in Moscow to tell Lavrov "face to face that no one can tolerate [the] situation" in Syria.