Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Opinion

Sudanese refugee deaths highlight EU policy failures

The death of dozens of Sudanese refugees after their boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea on 7 February exposes the devastating impact of Europe's outsourcing "migration management" to governments that do not protect victims of war.

EU hails Tunisia cash aid despite row over country's central bank

The European Commission has hailed its budget finance programme for Tunisia as having "yielded results on macroeconomic stability" — even as Tunisia's autocratic president makes plans to force its central bank to directly finance his government.

Egypt eyes $5-6bn in EU cash under migrant deal

Egypt expects to receive between $5-$6bn [€4.6-€6.5bn] in funding from the EU under a major 'cash for migrant control' pact which is set to be finalised this weekend when EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen travels to Cairo.

Commission plays down row over Rwanda minerals pact

The European Commission has played down a diplomatic row over its recent minerals agreement with Rwanda, after Congolese president Felix Tshishekedi, who accuses Rwanda of plundering his country's natural resources, described the deal as a "provocation in very bad taste".

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Letter

Right of Reply: The EU-ACP Samoa agreement

Portuguese S&D MEP Carlos Zorrinho, chair of the delegation to the OACPS-EU joint parliamentary assembly, responds to EUobserver's piece Energy and minerals disputes overshadow new EU-ACP pact.

Opinion

Blackmailing the Global South on EU carbon border tax won't work

According to the European Commission, CBAM is supposed to prevent "carbon leakage". In other words, it seeks to prevent European industries relocating to jurisdictions with less stringent environmental policies, while also incentivising carbon pricing and industrial decarbonisation abroad.

Analysis

Divided African Union needs muscle to match ambitions

The African Union's credibility will be in the spotlight at its annual leaders' summit, which starts in Addis Ababa on Saturday (17 February) as it faces up to another political crisis in a key member state — Senegal.

Opinion

The elephant in the room at this weekend's African Union summit

Italy's offer to mobilise €5.5bn over the next years, overwhelmingly in already-allocated loans and guarantees, pales in comparison to the financing challenges faced by Africa. Only an EU-wide coordinated financial offer can credibly respond to African needs.

Podcast

Podcast: Trump, Nato, EU top jobs, migration

Strategic autonomy, Trump's belligerent Nato remarks and the consequences for EU. Also, our own Andrew Rettman on EU top jobs and the role of the radical right. Finally, third-country migration deals. Listen.

Analysis

EU-Mauritania deal: More than just a migration pact

The EU's €210m agreement with Mauritania has been marketed as the bloc's latest 'cash for migrant control' deal with an African state. But it also covers EU priorities on green investment and security.

Opinion

Will Russia soon control the Red Sea?

As if the military presence of Iran and China in the Red Sea was not enough to be worried, everything seems to indicate that Russia too will soon have a military base there, and in Sudan.

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EU vows to help African 'health sovereignty' after Covid

The EU will step up its support of Africa's healthcare and vaccine production to ensure that the continent can respond to future health emergencies, the bloc's health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Monday.

EU deforestation law could hit smallest African farmers hardest

As enactment of the EU's new directive on deforestation looms, insiders have warned that increased poverty in poor countries could be one of the unintended consequences — compliance is likely to favour larger commercial farms over smallholders in supply chains.

Whiskey dispute hits new EU-Kenya trade pact

Kenya faces a dispute with the EU on whiskey imports just weeks after its agreed trade pact with Brussels came operationally into effect. While the deal still awaits EU ratification, Kenya is already breaking its terms by applying higher tariffs.

Africa scrambles to comply with new EU due diligence rules

The EU's new due diligence laws, designed to address deforestation and human rights abuses in supply chains, risk having an uneven effect on African economies and farming, as governments and industry scramble to prepare compliance regimes.

Analysis

Understanding EU's silence on ICJ Gaza 'genocide' case

The EU's silence on South Africa's legal challenge of "genocidal intent" against Israel underscores the geo-political tensions between the West and the Global South that risk being exacerbated by the conflict.

EU under pressure to change tack after UN tax defeat

EU ministers face a race against time to decide on whether to work with a new UN authority on international tax policy. But France and Germany have been leading European opposition to the new tax body.

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