Новости за 30.03.2021

The European Commission on Monday published the final sustainability-impact assessment of the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). The report argues that enforcement of regulations would "overshadow the minor effects of the EU-Mercosur" on deforestation, as the deal would lead to a small increase in production of some products. The EU ombudsman criticised the commission for closing negotiations without an assessment.

Thousands of British people living in Spain who never claimed residency rights cannot stay there for over 90 days at a time in the wake of full Brexit in January, Spanish authorities have confirmed to The Guardian. Police would not hunt for over-stayers, Spanish sources said, despite recent scare stories in British media, but violators would be asked to leave if identified by the police acting in other routine work.

The stranding of a container ship in the Suez Canal has created disruptions in the global shipping industry that could take weeks and possibly months to clear, top container shipping lines said, Reuters reports. "Even when the canal gets reopened, the ripple effects on global capacity and equipment are significant," the world's largest container shipping company Maersk said in a customer advisory on Monday.

The planet could have a year or less before first-generation Covid-19 vaccines are ineffective and modified formulations were needed, according to a survey of epidemiologists, virologists, and infectious disease specialists, The Guardian writes. Persistent low vaccine coverage in many countries would make it more likely for vaccine-resistant mutations to appear, said 88 percent of the respondents, who worked in several illustrious institutions.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has warned Lebanese officials of EU pressure if they obstruct government-making after months of deadlock, wreaking economic havoc. Le Drian, in an official communiqué Monday, warned of "identifying European Union leverage for stepping up pressure on those responsible for the deadlock", in an allusion to potential sanctions. The statement came after he spoke by phone with the Lebanese president, parliamentary speaker, and prime-minister designate.

A Chinese executive at a global consultancy firm was at the centre of suspected Maltese corruption schemes linked to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, according to an investigation.

Some 30 out of 132 firms surveyed by Britain's Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have temporarily halted exports to the EU due to red tape, while five stopped permanently. "What we hoped would prove to be teething problems are in danger of becoming permanent, systemic ones," FSB head Mike Cherry said, Reuters reports. The "unusual figures" were caused by a "unique combination of factors", including Covid, a government spokesman said,

The worst maritime animal welfare tragedy in history could, by now, be unavoidable, says Gabrile Păun, the EU director for Animals International, an NGO.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said if German regions do not impose stricter measures, she would have to think about overriding state regulations "in the very foreseeable future". A sensitive post-war issue in the federal republic.

A report published on Monday revealed how Covid-19 pushed coal power to a record fall of four percent last year. The largest coal-generating countries after China - India, the US, Japan and South Korea - all saw usage decline. However, the estimated annual decrease in coal power to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 must be around 14 percent. Wind and solar supply almost a tenth of global electricity.

Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi suggested people smugglers are feeding media "fake news" on illegal pushbacks because they are losing cash flow.

The nuclear energy industry trade association FORATOM on Monday called on the European Commission to include nuclear energy under the sustainable finance taxonomy and ecolabel for retail financial products, after the publication of a leaked report from the Joint Research Centre. This scientific body concluded that nuclear does not cause more harm to human health nor the environment than any other power-producing technologies considered sustainable under the taxonomy.

EU Council and European Commission president Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen are going to Turkey next week to meet president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The trip comes after EU leaders offered Turkey more money to take care of refugees and to restart talks on better customs perks, in return for Turkey continuing its freeze on gas-drilling in Cypriot and Greek-claimed waters. Leaders also threatened sanctions if the drilling resumed.

MEPs have been urged to find an alternatives to one-use disposable masks now obligatory in all European Parliament premises.

In the eyes of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, there are grounds to believe that war crimes were committed by the Israel Defense Forces in occupied Palestine.