Новости за 21.06.2018

One critical and strategic component in Europe’s e-mobility value chain, which is still weak, is batteries, European Commission Vice-President for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič said in Munich on June 21. Šefčovič was attending Intersolar Europe, the world’s leading exhibition for the solar industry, as well as Electrical Energy Storage Europe, Europe’s largest exhibition for

ATHENS – Seeking to create a single European energy market, which is one of the EU goals, Greece has launched the Hellenic Energy Exchange SA, the Greek Energy and Environment Ministry said on June 20. The Hellenic Energy Exchange has been founded and will be owned by the state-owned electricity market operator LAGIE (22%), the

The European Commission said on June 21 that the EC has opened a formal investigation to assess whether supply agreements between Qatar Petroleum companies exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) and European importers have hindered the free flow of gas within the European Economic Area (EEA), in breach of EU antitrust rules. Qatar Petroleum is the

Ahead of Austria taking over the rotating presidency of the EU and only days before a major summit of the bloc’s heads of state, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, strongly spoke out against the establishment of detention camps for illegal migrants in North Africa and Albania, which he said would fundamentally damage the European

The head of the Romanian Socialist-Democrat ruling party (PSD) and speaker of the lower house of the parliament, Liviu Dragnea, has been sentenced today to three years and six months in jail for instigating to abuse in office. Dragnea was cleared of allegations of forgery in a case involving fake hirings at the Social Assistance and

With the 19 Eurozone members’ finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg to discuss the group’s debt relief package for Greece and reforms to the Economic Monetary Union (EMU), Eurogroup President Mario Centeno emphasised that the day’s meetings will be critical in terms of finding a way forward for the Single Currency, “We have an important day with an

The EU has extended its sanctions against Russia for a year as part of Brussels’ response to Moscow’s invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea, including its strategic Black Sea port city of Sevastopol. In its statement, the European Council said it had “extended the restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by

“When I am released I want to carry on”, said the jailed Amnesty International Turkey’s Honorary Chair, Taner Kılıç, before his trial that restarted today, Thursday 21 June, together with ten other human rights defenders. The eleven rights advocates are facing “criminal charges of membership in a terrorist organization”. “Taner Kılıç should be released immediately and unconditionally,”

Michel Barnier made clear on Wednesday that the UK cannot retain the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) as a “third country, outside Schengen and outside the EU’s legal order.” The warrant allows EU member states to request the arrest and detention of any criminal in any EU member state. The UK wants to retain that arrangement.

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis says he is cautiously optimistic about next week’s upcoming debates on Eurozone reform following an agreement between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron that was first reported on June 19. During their talks in Berlin, Merkel and Macron agreed on an EU investment fund and the transformation of the European Stability

Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna and China’s Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua are convening for a major international two-day climate meeting in Brussels. “The EU, Canada, and China have joined forces to encourage global leadership and ambition in the fight against climate

The Turkish Lira tumbled on Wednesday as President Erdogan promised to “deal with interest rates” after the June 24 elections. Erdogan believes that rising interest rates are holding back investment. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has always been vocal about his preferences for monetary policy, but markets are spooked by any suggestion of infringement of Central Bank

The Franco-German initiative for an EU mini-summit on Sunday reflects the absence of a consensus; differences between EU member states on migration management remains substantive on the countdown to the EU June summit (28-29). Present at the summer will be “transit states,” through which migrants and asylum seekers make their way into Europe – Greece,

Theresa May fended off a backbencher revolt over Brexit on Wednesday evening, securing a majority against a parliamentary motion that would allow the parliament to determine what happens if there is “no deal” with Brussels. The 319 to 303 vote means the UK can leave the EU without a deal. The government hailed its parliamentary