A 2nd lockdown and dark nights. No end in sight to the coronavirus crisis and winter stretching out in front of us. On the face of it, there isn’t much to be cheerful about. But one bit of much needed cheer is the ability of eateries to still offer a service, albeit of the takeaway…
The Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), attended online today by 53 delegates from journalists’ unions and associations from 38 European countries, expressed its full support for Belarusian journalists in the face of repression. In Belarus, during and after the 9 August presidential elections, the media, journalists and bloggers were the target of increased…
The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has presented its long-awaited report on the role of the German financial supervisor BaFin and the German Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (FREP) in the Wirecard accounting scandal. In Germany, BaFin and FREP are jointly responsible for the enforcement of financial reporting. ESMA publishes guidelines aimed at harmonising enforcement throughout…
The Eurogroup says it had a thorough discussion on the economic outlook in view of current COVID-19 developments. On Tuesday, the Eurogroup was briefed by the Director of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), Dr. Andrea Ammon, on the ECDC’s analysis of the pandemic. The Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and…
The European parliament’s Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament has adopted its position on the so-called “MiFID quick fix” which amends the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). The MiFID sets the key rules for stock exchanges, financial trading platforms, consumer protection in financial markets and rules for the speculation…
The EU has allocated an additional €400,000 in humanitarian aid to cover the most urgent needs of civilians affected by the conflict in and around Nagorno Karabakh. With this emergency support to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Red Cross of Armenia and Red Crescent of Azerbaijan will deliver food…
The Commission has awarded some €508 million in grants to 75 projects to tackle cancer, brain-related diseases, infectious diseases, complex chronic conditions, antimicrobial resistance and other important areas of health research. These projects are to receive money following the official signatures of grant agreements in the coming weeks. They were short-listed after evaluation and will…
Visitor attractions in Belgium face a “double whammy” caused by the ongoing health pandemic. All are having to come to terms with the country now entering the second confinement, or lockdown, in six months, with the attendant loss of income this involves. This comes after such places lost out of the lucrative Easter period when…
The democratic opposition in Belarus has been awarded the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. European Parliament President David Sassoli announced the laureates in the Brussels plenary chamber at noon on Thursday, following an earlier decision by the Conference of Presidents (President and political group leaders). “Let me congratulate the representatives of the Belarusian opposition for…
A statement has been issued by the European Parliament on the consequences of the ruling issued by Ukraine’s Constitutional Court with regard to several provisions on the prevention of corruption and of the Ukrainian criminal code. It reads:“With great concern, we have learned about the 27 October ruling of the Ukrainian Constitutional Court, which declared…
