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Brexit cities want free EU wifi before leaving
A majority of the 15 municipalities from the United Kingdom granted a €15,000 EU subsidy to set up free wireless internet voted to leave the EU.
Friday
2nd Jun 2023
A majority of the 15 municipalities from the United Kingdom granted a €15,000 EU subsidy to set up free wireless internet voted to leave the EU.
While the regional funds account for a full third of the EU budget, they are somewhat under-reported. EUobserver's latest edition of the Regions & Cities magazine looks at the EU's cohesion policy.
In this edition of EUobserver's Regions & Cities magazine, we take a closer look at some of the EU agencies, exploring how their location matters and the benefits for cities and regions to host them.
Despite Brexit and new priorities, it is important to keep EU funds for all regions - rich and poor - argues the regions commissioner. But more controls, including a link to rule of law issues, are part of the discussion.
From a purely economic point of view, it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of cohesion policy. But - politically - it underpins a deal made during the 2004 accession of eastern member states.
It's the job of the European Anti-Fraud Office to investigate any corruption and embezzlement of EU-funded projects. But why are structural funds in particular so attractive to criminals?
Closing coal mines in the Silesia region will be particularly difficult, says Witold Stepien, a senior local politician from the neighbouring region Lodz.
An award-winning journalism outlet in Romania is being threatened with fines by the country's data protection authorities - for having disclosed connections, on Facebook, of powerful politicians and a firm embroiled in scandal.
When it comes to projects paid for by EU regional funds, most people think of roads in Romania or bridges in Bulgaria. But richer regions also receive money. EUobserver takes you on a tour of selected projects in Amsterdam.
An estimated 80 percent of Syrian refugees in the EU are unemployed - despite this, the integration of asylum seekers and migration remains outside the European Commission's policy objectives in its latest budget proposals for regional development and cohesion policy.
The European Commission has promised greater flexibility for local authorities when it comes to delivering on-the-ground results - but it has also tied cohesion policy to the European Semester, a tool used to coordinate macroeconomic policies.
Director of Electronic Communications Networks and Services Anthony Whelan says in an internal document that he wanted to eliminate "possible criticisms" and "marginalise questions".
The European Union's fund for free wireless internet connection hotspots is most popular in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Romania. Check if your municipality pre-registered.
Committee of the Regions president Karl-Heinz Lambertz tells EUobserver why he is not happy with proposed cuts to the EU's cohesion policy. France has already spoken up against Common Agriculture Policy, but who will speak for the regions?
UK municipalities that want to be sure that their free wifi systems are paid for by the EU will have to make sure everything is up and running before Brexit date.
The ruling is bad news for the future of diesel engines in passenger cars. The EU has, however, taken a backseat on coordinating the EU's 200+ low-emission zones.
The Italian government and the city of Milan want the Court of Justice to annul the decision the move the medicines agency to Amsterdam, while Italian MEPs suggest that the EMA should go to Milan instead.
Staff of the European Medicines Agency will be temporarily housed in another building for almost a year, which its director said was 'not ideal'.
The president of the EU's Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, said that both the separatists and Spanish authorities made mistakes.
The decision to move the European Medicines Agency to Amsterdam still needs to be approved by the European Parliament, which was hardly involved in the process.
"A Europe of regions created by the state is like electrical cars created by oil companies," Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont told EUobserver.
The European Medicines Agency and, to a lesser extent, the European Banking Authority, was the most sought-after EU agencies in 2017, as no less than 21 member states competed to host them after Brexit.
The staff of the London-based EMA will move to the Dutch city of Amsterdam after Brexit, following a coin toss. Chance also decided the new home of the European Banking Authority: Paris.
EU ministers will decide on the future location of two London-based EU agencies on Monday. In this edition of EUobserver's Regions & Cities magazine, we take a closer look at some of the EU agencies.
The ballot papers that will be used by EU ministers to vote for the new location of two London-based EU agencies will then be destroyed, raising questions of accountability.
Four countries that want to host the London-based EU agencies do not offer registered partnership for same-sex couples.
Young people in the gig economy in big cities need 'one-stop shops', as pioneered in Rotterdam, to help them access all their rights - but that requires funding.
The official agenda point on where to relocate the EU medicines and banking agencies after Brexit was over in "one minute", but lobbying took place in the corridors.
Spanish and Catalan politicians came to Brussels to show their unity in their bid to move the European Medicines Agency from London to Barcelona.
Two EU agencies need a new home after Brexit - but member states have spent demonstrably less effort on their public bids to host the EBA.
Because of Brexit, the EMA has to leave London. Some health ministers lobbying to host it have made an emotional appeal, warning that patient safety could be at risk.
Some member states were disappointed with the neutral nature of the commission's "assessment" of bids to host the EU agencies currently based in London.
According to a survey of European Medicines Agency employees, more than two-thirds of them would not want to move to Bratislava.