Новости за 11.02.2020

The Swiss government on Tuesday asked voters to reject a referendum proposed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party to stop the agreement with the European Union on the free movement of citizens, in what has been called Switzerland's 'Brexit moment'. If that referendum is approved on May 17, the country could lose its privileged access to the EU single market, Reuters reported.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Tuesday rejected the UK government's call for permanent access to financial services in the EU. "I would like to make it clear to certain people in the UK that they should not kid themselves. There will not be general, open-ended, ongoing equivalence in financial services," he told MEPs. UK chancellor Sajid Javid has said he would seek "comprehensive, permanent equivalence decisions" on financial services.

US president Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at the EU when asked about trade. "Europe has been treating us really badly. The European Union was really formed so they could treat us badly," Trump said. According to the European Commission, the EU was in fact set up in the aftermath of WWII with the aim of ending internal conflict, easing trade, and creating a community with greater freedoms.

Most EU member states are likely to miss the 2020 target on energy efficiency, since they were not legally-binding targets. "Transformative" measures are needed to reduce energy consumption while boosting efficiency, experts say.

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would make sure Scotland stays as close to EU regulations as possible after Brexit, with the aim of rejoining the bloc, once Scotland is independent.

Just hours of publication, the EU Commission removed from the European Parliament's website a response by one of its own commissioners on the Western Sahara, a disputed territory annexed by Morocco.

New EU anti-money laundering laws came into affect last month. But they depend on 'Ultimate Beneficial Ownership' registers - the majority of which are never checked or verified.

Some 95 EU citizens were repatriated from the coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan in China over the weekend. The European Commission is coordinating and co-funding the repatriations through its EU civil protection mechanism. The commission says some 558 people, including 447 EU citizens, were already flown in from the Wuhan region on three flights co-financed by the EU. The mechanism had been activated by France in late January.

The European Commission on Monday said the rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco "is no longer as effective in deterring consumption." Their report found that 29 percent of Europeans aged 15-24 are smokers, compared with 26 percent of the overall EU adult population. It also found "unintended high levels of cross-border shopping" given the average price of a pack of cigarettes can range from €2.57 to €11.37.

The European Commission on Monday said exports to the EU from developing countries using special tariff preferences reached a new high of some €69bn in 2018. In a report published every two years, it said exports to the EU from the 71 countries that benefit from reduced-to-zero export duties increased to almost €184bn. Nearly €69bn of these used the so-called generalised scheme of preferences (GSP).

The German minister of economy, Peter Altmaier, said on Monday in a letter sent to the European Commission that the car industry should be excluded from the commission's plans to reduce emissions, Germany's Zeit Online reported. According to Altmaier, the commission should not tighten car-emission limits in the context of the Green Deal, leaving the regulation for the industry as it stands until 2030.

The Pew Research Center in a recent study found that Nato's public image in France worsened sharply last year. It found that support fell from to 49% from 60% in 2017 and 71% in 2009. No figures were given for 2018. Out of all its 16 member states, Poland has the most positive view of Nato with high of 82%. Turkey was the least favourable with 21%.