New EU Mission for Central African Republic

The Council adopted a crisis management concept for a new civilian CSDP Advisory Mission in the Central African Republic (EUAM RCA).  The mission will support the reform of the internal security forces to enable the CAR authorities to mitigate the current security challenges in the country. EU experts will support the Ministry of the Interior and the internal security forces,…

Donald Tusk: President of EPP

Newly elected President of the EPP Donald Tusk gave a wide ranging speech las week to mark the start of the new academic year at the College of Europe in Bruges – and a farewell to his role as President of the European Council On Brexit, he said he “did everything in my power to avoid…

Agreement Reached on Tyre Labelling Legislation

A breakthrough has been achieved for a new labelling scheme for car and truck tyres aims to increase consumer awareness and fuel savings, improve safety and decrease noise pollution. The legislation was informally agreed by MEPs from the Industry and Research Committee and the Finnish Presidency of the Council last week. Under the new rules,…

Taxing Digital Business

EU finance ministers are set to discuss the state of play of their work on digital taxation and the ongoing reforms in the framework of the G20 and OECD. These international reform efforts aim to regulate where and how much taxes companies pay, thereby bringing tax laws into the digital age, limiting tax competition and ensuring…

EU Fisheries post-Brexit

Europe’s regions have outlined “key” messages that they say should be a baseline for the forthcoming negotiations between the EU and the UK on a post-Brexit fisheries agreement.  They set out the demands on 14 November, on the occasion of the 30th General Assembly of the Atlantic Arc Commission (AAC). Regions of the Atlantic Arc adopted a…

Sassoli disappointment at failure to start talks with North Macedonia

The European Parliament President David Sassoli has hit out at the failure to five the green light to EU accession talks starting with Albania and North Macedonia. North Macedonia, in particular, had strongly lobbied recently for talks to start. But EU leaders at the summit in Brussels failed to agree. Sassoli, an Italian Socialist, told this website…

Will Kövesi be appointed as EU Public Prosecutor, despite the strong public opposition against her candidature?

Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on appointing Laura Codruţa Kövesi, MEPs’ preferred choice to be the first head of the new EU Public Prosecutor’s Office. The negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on the new European Chief Prosecutor to lead the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) have been ongoing since last spring. Parliament’s…

Charles Michel elected President of the Council

The European Council has elected Charles Michel as President of the European Council.  The President of the European Council is elected for the period from 1 December 2019 until 31 May 2022. The mandate of two and a half years of the President of the European Council is renewable once.  The European Council also welcomed the decision of the…