Will Boris Johnson’s victory lead to a no-deal Brexit or is there still time?

The leader of the Conservative party was the big winner of the UK elections held last Thursday. Boris Johnson has not only won but also secured the majority that will allow him to promote his Brexit deal and leave the European Union by next January. Mr Johnson’s campaign promises regarding the end of the transition […]

Tomorrow’s UK general election: Will Tories win majority to shoot an abrupt Brexit or a hung parliament will prolong January’s exit to 2050?

The United Kingdom is about to go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new Parliament with Boris Johnson struggling to ensure the majority in order to promote his “deal” with the European Union. Opinion polls show that the gap is narrowing between the Tories and the Labour parties but Boris Johnson is still ahead […]

Brexit update: can the UK General Election of 12 December 2019 lead to a Brexit extension to 2030?

Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are debating ahead of the general elections in the UK which will be held on December 12th, 2019. The polls show a clear advantage of the conservative party with Tories’ leader to offer a way out of the EU. UK business trembles about how things will evolve and is […]

Can climate change wait for the US to rejoin the Paris agreement?

The US administration informed the United Nations (UN) two days ago that is starting the official process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement the moment that the whole world is experiencing the warmest October of the last forty years according to a research from a global group of around 11.000 scientists. On the other hand, […]

Brexit update: Will the EU grant extention to Britain preventing economic chaos?

It was only yesterday when the British MPs voted in favor of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal but rejected the three-day legislation timetable which would have speeded up the procedure and met the deadline of October 31st. However, it is up to the EU now to decide whether to provide another extention to the ongoing negotiations […]

EU-US trade war: Will Trump take advantage of WTO’s decision leading to ominous economic growth?

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is going to back up the US to impose tariffs on EU products over the Airbus case where the aerospace firm received illegal subsidies by EU governments. Thus, the US President Donald Trump will have the upper hand and either impose billions of tariffs or bargain a better trade deal […]

UN Climate Action Summit concludes with insufficient EU and global pledges

The UN Climate Action Summit took place last Monday in New York but the commitments announced were not enough to counterbalance the devastating effects of climate change which is damaging our planet with high temperatures and tremendous natural phenomena. Although the EU is an ambitious contributor to the global efforts to fight climate change and […]

Apple Vs. EU: Will the US tech giant ever pay for taking advantage of Ireland’s taxation?

Apple Inc. together with the Irish government showed up yesterday at the EU’s second-highest court to appeal for the 13 billion euros EU tax order. The US corporation has decided to legally challenge the 2016 European Commission’s decision by claiming that its products and services are created in the US and thus the profits were […]

EU-Turkey relations: Erdogan plays the refugee card while beefing up gas operations in the Eastern Mediterranean sea

EU accession talks with Turkey have been suspended as Turkey is showing poor results in upholding human rights, the rule of law, media freedom and the fight against corruption. Turkey is attempting though to change this situation and enhance its relations with the EU discussing current matters with the EU officials and especially with Germany […]

Will the EU reconsider Frontex’s role in light of accusations about violations of migrants’ human rights?

The European border agency Frontex has been found to violate human rights and abuse its power to make excessive use of force and mistreat migrants according to latest research conducted by the ARD political magazine report München, the British Guardian and the search center CORRECTIV. However, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency has been denying […]

EU is not only obsessed with Facebook but also blaims now innocent websites using social plugins to serve democratic dialogues?

The Court of Justice of the European Union decided last Monday that websites which are using Facebook’s “Like” button should inform their visitors that Facebook will have access to their personal data. Otherwise, they will be held responsible for data breaching jointly with the US tech giant since the data are transmitted to the latter […]

Turkey remains numb while its economy is expected to shrink further due to a cocktail of EU and US sanctions

The EU Council decided to impose sanctions on Turkey for continuing its illegal drilling operations in the Cypriot territorial waters violating the EU member’s sovereignty rights. The Turkish side however keeps claiming the natural sources in the area and insists on the myth that they have equal rights with the Republic of Cyprus. The under […]

EU-Turkey relations: EU considers imposing sanctions while Turkey keeps violating Cyprus’ sovereignty

Turkey continues violating the sovereignty rights of Cyprus by conducting a new illegal drilling operation on the northeast of the island. The EU had already urged Turkey last month to stop its gas drilling in waters around Cyprus. Thus the EU bloc will now have to intervene to resolve such disputes. However, Turkey kept on […]

The end of Spitzenkandidat: EU leaders concluded unexpectedly on EU top jobs

The EU leaders finally came to a conclusion after three long days of tough negotiations where German Chancellor’s suggestion to appoint Frans Timmermans as next European Commission president has been turned down by Italy and eastern countries. The solution was given with the nomination of a woman and particularly German Defence Minister Ursula von der […]

France and Germany can’t reach consensus regarding EU’s top jobs

The EU leaders are expected to meet again on Sunday to discuss about who will be taking over the EU top jobs, while France and Germany seem unable to agree who will be the successor of Jean-Claude Juncker. Last week’s EU summit didn’t conclude on the matter, something that exerts extra pressure onto the bloc’s […]

Europe faces economic turmoil as Italy gets closer to the Excessive Debt Procedure

Italy is in serious trouble as the EU deputy finance ministers seem to support the European Commission’s opinion on the actions required to reduce the country’s public debt. The huge growing debt together with the centre-right and euroskeptic alliance government is causing turbulences as regards its relations with Brussels. However, the Italian coalition leaders have […]

Will the EU be condemned by the International Criminal Court for violating migrants’ human rights?

It was two days ago when a group of lawyers sued the EU for the deaths of Libyan migrants who attempted to cross the Mediterranean. The case is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which will have to rule whether or not EU nations violated human rights and are responsible for thousands of […]

EU elections update: Can the EU voters vote unaffected from fake news and online disinformation?

EU elections already kicked off yesterday in the UK and the Netherlands with several EU citizens abstaining in Britain due to clerical errors by local councils. The old continent is now following the EU elections closely, worrying about the effect of fake news and growth of far-right parties. The EC published last week various reports concerning […]

EU elections 2019: Trump’s share in the support of populism

It was last Monday when the US President Donald Trump met the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House. Both leaders had the beautiful chance to praise each other at a gathering which lasted less than an hour. Only a few days ahead of the EU elections, the US President clearly shows his […]

EU elections 2019: Rise of nationalist trends and populism in Europe challenges the EU edifice

The European elections are going to be held in just two weeks’ time and far-right propaganda is gaining momentum creating concerns to everyone regarding the future of the EU, which is at stake. Populism and nationalism have dramatically risen in the EU during the last years menacing democratic institutions within a number of European member […]

US-EU trade negotiations: pointless tariffs against real economic growth

The European Council approved last Monday the European Commission’s proposals authorizing the latter to start negotiating with the US in order to eliminate industrial goods tariffs and reach an agreement on conformity assessment. Most of the member states were in favour of the commencement of the bilateral trade negotiations except for France. However, the fact […]

“We need to accelerate our negotiation on the China-EU Investment Treaty”, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang highlights from the 21st EU-China summit in Brussels

The presidents of the European Commission and EU Council welcomed the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang yesterday at the 21st EU-China summit in Brussels where the two sides acknowledged their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. EU and China agreed to a joint statement confirming their strategic intent and efforts for a more resilient cooperation in the framework of […]

Brexit update: Will Theresa May’s last-minute desperate efforts procrastinate Brexit?

After a long seven-hour meeting with her cabinet, Theresa May decided to meet Jeremy Corbyn in order to agree on a common plan for the future UK-EU relations, but practically ask for an extention of Article 50. The recent inability of the members of the Parliament (MPs) to get a majority on twelve indicative votes […]

EU Copyright Directive: Will US tech giants comply or ditch the EU market?

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved yesterday the new Copyright Directive by 348 votes in favour, 274 against and 36 abstentions. Should the member states accept this vote, the reforms will be effective immediately and EU countries will have two years to implement them. The copyright changes will affect mainly big online platforms […]

EU and China in search of a win-win agreement through strategic cooperation ahead of the EU-China summit

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini together with the 28 EU Foreign Ministers met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last Monday to discuss the agenda of the EU-China Strategic Dialogue. During the meeting, both parties had the opportunity to enhance and promote their mutual cooperation on several international topics. Both sides […]

The EU might as well go down the drain if foreign meddling corrupts May’s elections

The EU elections will take place in about two months’ time but anti-European together with foreign parties are most likely going to try to exert influence on the upcoming outcome. Anti-establishment parties are expected to change the current balance and status quo if the two mainstream parties, the conservative EPP (European People’s Party) and the […]

EU elections: Can EU citizens’ awareness eradicate fake news more efficiently than Facebook, Twitter and Google?

Last Thursday, the European Commission published the reports of Facebook, Google and Twitter regarding the progress made in January in their voluntary pledges to tackle disinformation. Disinformation is a major challenge globally and for Europe and all stakeholders have to be actively involved in order to address citizens’ exposure to it. However, the US tech […]

EU-US trade war? EU calls for logic while Trump’s administration is a loose cannon in a dangerous lose-lose situation for global prosperity

The European Parliament (EP) voted yesterday for the kick-off of the negotiations with the US government in an attempt to eliminate the industrial goods tariffs and harmonise conformity assessment. These mandates need to be supported by the EU member states in order to bridge the current trade differences between the European Union and the United […]

Siemens-Alstom merger: Can Germany and France lobby to circumvent EC’s rejection, against EU consumers’ interests?

The European Commission (EC), after months of investigation and discussions, came to the independent conclusion to refuse the merger of the rail companies Siemens and Alstom despite the improvements provided by the two firms together with the continuous pressure by the French and German governments. Nevertheless, France and Germany still believe that the EU has wrongly […]

Mother of all mergers between Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram: EU Data Privacy restrictions against Facebook’s imperialistic plans

Facebook celebrated its fifteen years last Monday and reported earnings in the last quarter of 2018 despite the scandals brought to light during the previous year. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, stated that there is a plan to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger by 2020 in order to allow users to send messages between these […]

Davos on Climate Change: citizens demanding more actions while CEOs tried to balance profit with sustainability

Climate change was one of the hot topics during the annual World Economic Forum which took place in the Swiss Alps last week. Sir David Attenborough, English broadcaster and natural historian, outlined the serious impact that humanity is causing to the environment and underslined the urgency of immediate action in order to reverse the ongoing […]

EU Copyright Directive: Google News threatens to leave Europe while media startups increasingly worry

The European Copyright Directive negotiation meeting, which was supposed to take place last Monday regarding the finalization of Article 13 and Article 11, was cancelled due to the fact that eleven out of 28 EU countries voted against the text. The text is expected to be altered by the Romanian Council presidency in order to […]

Siemens-Alstom merger: Will the EC succumb to Franco-German pressures for the sake of May’s EU Elections?

It was yesterday when executives of Siemens and Alstom met with EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in one of their last attempts to convince her to give the green light for their merge. The European Commission (EC) is now left to decide till February 18 whether or not to approve the merger of the rail operations […]

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