Новости за 21.03.2017

Public health is being pushed into the background at EU level, while a cooperative and patient-centred approach could help to achieve a fairer and better healthcare system for European citizens.

The 22 March anniversary of the Brussels bombing will trigger a lot of soul searching. But EU counter-terrorism strategies over the past 10 years have been crisis-driven with little follow through or oversight.

Despite the sighs of relief that Geert Wilders did not win the Dutch election, there has been a worrying fragmentation and defeat of the left in the Netherlands.

Tackling climate change is a more important goal than phasing out nuclear power, says Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO of energy company Fortum.

European Council president Donald Tusk has called for a Brexit summit for the EU-27 members on 29 April, one month after the UK officially invokes Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon to withdraw from the EU. The 27 EU leaders are expected to adopt the negotiating guidelines during the summit, paving the way for the European Commission to eventually start the divorce talks with the UK.

Illicit money flowing out of Russia ended up in almost every single EU state, an investigation has found, posing questions on the integrity of Europe’s banking systems.

In their first TV debate, the main candidates for the April election only briefly discussed the country's EU policies, with far-right Le Pen and centrist Macron taking aim at each other.

German chancellor Angela Merkel warned Turkey's president on Monday that comparing German officials to Nazis must stop, "no ifs, no buts", and added that more campaign events by Turkish politicians could be banned. German authorities have cancelled rallies aimed to gather support for president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's controversial referendum on constitutional reforms. Erdogan called prohibiting the rallies "Nazi measures".

Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness died Tuesday, aged 66, due to a serious heart condition. The former IRA leader turned peacemaker and Sinn Fein politician worked in the power-sharing government following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which he helped forge, bringing peace to Northern Ireland. In 2007 he became Northern Ireland's deputy first minister alongside his former enemy, first minister Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party leader.

Greece and its creditors will meet in Brussels later this week to unblock negotiations needed for a new tranche of financial aid, amid concerns over the country's economic situation.

The UK will be able to conclude new trade negotiations with the EU within the two-year Brexit timetable, Sir Tim Barrow, the new UK envoy to the EU, told a parliamentary committee. He argued the two sides' trading regulations are already in convergence, making it easier to agree. EU officials have said however that the UK must first negotiate a divorce agreement before discussions on the future relationship can start.

British prime minister Theresa May will visit Scotland early next week, reports the UK daily newspaper, The Telegraph. The PM will make the trip in an effort to prepare for the triggering of Article 50, the exit procedure from the EU. This follows weeks of mounting tension between May and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who last week unexpectedly called for a new Scottish independence referendum over Brexit.

EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Monday in a speech in Toronto that free trade talks with the US are in "deep freeze". She added that the Trump administration is sending "worrying signals" on trade, adding that erecting barriers to global trade threatens to "kill jobs" and raise prices "hitting the poorest hardest". Malmstrom said the EU remains open and is pursuing trade deals in southeast Asia, Japan and Mexico.

Italy and other EU countries agreed on Monday to further help Libya to patrol its coast and stop people smugglers across the Mediterranean Sea. Italy, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Malta, Tunisia and Libya also set up a contact group on migration. The idea of setting up refugee camps on Libyan soil - supported by the EU and the UN - was raised again, but no agreement was reached.