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TRADE: The United States and the European Union have reached a tariff agreement

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan announced on Friday agreement on a package of tariff reductions that will increase market access for hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. and EU exports. These tariff reductions are the first U.S.-EU negotiated reductions in duties in more than two decades. Under the […]

Belarus: Strongman Lukashenko orders army to defend borders ahead of protests

Allegations by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that foreign troops were operating near the country’s border are baseless, NATO said. Europe’s longest-serving leader said on Saturday that NATO troops in Poland and Lithuania were “seriously stirring” near their borders with Belarus and ordered his troops into full combat readiness. The 65-year-old leader ordered his defence minister […]

France reports record COVID-19 cases since May lockdown as global infections rise

France reported its highest daily level of coronavirus cases since the end of a two-month lockdown period in May. The French health ministry on Sunday reported 4,897 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, which is a jump from Saturday’s numbers when 3,602 cases were reported. The death toll also increased by one, bringing […]

Spanish police dismantle two networks smuggling migrants into France

Spanish police announced on Friday that they have dismantled two human smuggling rings believed to have facilitated the crossing into France of hundreds of irregular immigrants. The two smuggling networks operated from Bilbao and Vitoria, two cities in the north-western Basque County. Fifteen people have been arrested including three in the Spanish capital, Madrid, and […]

David McAllister underlines the need for rapid progress in EU-UK negotiations

Statement by David McAllister (EPP, DE), Chair of the Parliament’s EU-UK Coordination Group, after the latest round of talks on the future relationship between the UK and the EU: “Michel Barnier just debriefed the UK Coordination Group in the European Parliament about the seventh negotiation round with the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the past weeks have […]

Coronavirus in France: New cases jump to over 4,700 as measures tighten

The number of new COVID-19 cases shot up in France to more than 4,700 on Thursday while Spanish authorities warned that “things are not going well”. France’s public health agency said that 4,771 people had been found to have been infected with COVID-19 on Thursday. The country had not seen the number of cases jump over […]

Reduction in frequency of 7-day US dollar liquidity-providing operations as of 1 September 2020

ECB and other major central banks to reduce frequency of 7-day US dollar operations from three times per week to once per week, while 84-day operations continue to be offered weekly New frequency effective as of 1 September 2020, to remain in place for as long as appropriate to support smooth functioning of US dollar funding markets […]

Austria: Powertrain developer AVL receives EIB top-up financing of €50 million

€50 million in EIB financing backs the research and development (R&D) programme of AVL, a leading Austrian engineering company in the automotive sector The loan comes on top of a 2017 financing to support AVL’s R&D in electrified powertrains and autonomous driving The operation benefits from a guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), […]

Coronavirus: Commission approves funding for training of healthcare professionals in intensive care skills

Yesterday, the Commission signed a contract to make the funding of €2.5 million from the Emergency Support Instrument available for training of a multidisciplinary pool of healthcare professionals supporting and assisting Intensive Care Units (ICU) in times of need due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The training will provide intensive care medical skills to healthcare professionals not regularly […]