
EU terror bill casts wider net, raising rights issues
An EU proposal to combat terrorism intends to make it a crime to finance or travel or train for terrorism, but the wide scope of the bill could lead to unintended consequences.
Tuesday
22nd Nov 2016

An EU proposal to combat terrorism intends to make it a crime to finance or travel or train for terrorism, but the wide scope of the bill could lead to unintended consequences.

Ivan Korcok says Slovakia's EU presidency has achieved "tangible results" despite difficulties caused by Brexit and the US election. But no agreement on asylum reform is in sight.

The former French president came third in the first round of the centre-right primary election on Sunday. Francois Fillon, a pro-Russia conservative, is the new favourite for next year's presidential vote.
Mayors of EU cities don't want Brexit to ruin their relations and say they could play a role in bringing the EU closer to citizens, if only the institutions let them.
A survivor of one of Syria's death camps says Europe can do more to end the "industrial scale" suffering being inflicted by Assad's regime.
EU leaders have pledged to uphold sanctions on Russia in the run-up to a summit this week, but the declaration comes amid multiplying uncertainties on future ties.

The chancellor announced on Sunday she would run for election again, but finds it "grotesque" to be called the "new leader of the free world".

Ring-wing populists are on the march on both sides of the Atlantic, what has brought about the great challenge for liberal democracy?

Future EU relations with Ankara and Kiev will be shaped this week as MEPs vote on Turkey's EU membership talks, and top officials discuss visa waivers and peace in Ukraine with Petro Poroshenko.

Questions of value for money and a lack of transparency complicate adding almost €200 billion more and extending the Juncker investment plan to 2020.
Choice of next German president, however ceremonial the office may be, has been seen as a barometer of the political status quo ahead of next year's elections.
Wishful thinking and unpreparedness are quickly leaving people with an unrealistic expectation of how easy it will be to untie the knots of Brexit. Not enough is being done, with not much more looking likely soon.
Many European cities use low emission zones, and some are considering to ban dirty cars. But there are limits to how well the EU standards can be used to determine which cars are clean.
The new prime minister Saulius Skvernelis and his leader from the Peasants and Greens party Ramunas Karbauskis were the suprise winners of last month's elections. But what they want to do is still unclear.
The Slovak EU presidency last week circulated a short paper among EU states on "effective solidarity". The concept will be discussed among ministers on Friday ahead of an EU summit in December.
The EU parliament is preparing to get back allegedly misspent funds from a eurosceptic political group that includes Ukip, in a move that could cause the group's bankruptcy.
EU industry commissioner Bienkowska had promised there would "definitely" be infringement procedures against countries that failed to make car manufacturers follow EU rules.
Twitter can make us smile, but the ethics and transparency of public institutions are serious matters, especially in the EU’s current stormy weather.
A report suggests that children run away because their asylum claims have been rejected, and they don’t want to be deported.

EU executive said digital commissioner did not break transparency rules when he took the plane of a German businessman, but NGOs said that view was "incorrect".

The US president said he "could not have asked for a steadier, more reliable partner on the world stage".
The Mediterranean island will take the six-month EU presidency on 1 January, with migration and security as main priorities.
After a "demanding marathon" of talks, member states and MEPs agreed a budget for next year they hope will provide a "buffer" against any shocks to the system.

The US and German leaders have said TTIP was a chance to “shape globalisation based on our values”, amid fears that Donald Trump would unravel trade and security relations.

Turkish officials refuse to meet two senior MEPs, as diplomatic relations continue to deteriorate over Ankara's post-coup crackdown.
A European Commission proposal on anti-dumping clears the way for the EU to abide by international obligations and avoid a trade war that would be dangerously counterproductive.
US economist Joseph Stiglitz called on the EU to take a leading role in the fight against tax evasion, calling the next US leader, Donald Trump a "tax avoider or even evader-in-chief".

US nationals, post-Brexit Brits, and millions of others to be asked questions and charged €5 each to enter the EU in future, under a new proposal.

The German commissioner says it was normal to travel by a private jet owned by a German businessman. MEPs, with the exception of Oettinger's own EPP group, are gearing up to grill him.
Italy, Portugal, and Spain are unlikely to face sanctions for breaking EU budget rules, the European Commission has said, in what it described as a “political” decision by a kind of “common finance ministry”.
The apparent pro-Russia leanings of Bulgaria's next leader, Rumen Radev, have dominated headlines. But his first major challenges will be to install a government and attempt to promote anti-corruption reforms.