Thursday
21st Sep 2017
By EUOBSERVER
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council on Thursday called on Russia to use its power over rebels in eastern Ukraine to stop the recent flare-up of hostilities. "Russia should use its influence to disengage the Russian-backed separatists," Tusk told journalists. Also the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, called on Moscow to de-escalate violence in eastern Ukraine and withdraw from Crimea.
Faced with the growing tension between the Spanish and Catalan governments, the member states and EU institutions would prefer not to get involved.
In the year 2015 alone, the EU spent a total €1.2 billion in grants in order to support European NGOs, which lobby the EU institutions.
The EU commission published a paper that outlined several options on how to increase tax income from internet companies' activities, but fell short of proposing legislation.
Industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska often finds herself on opposite sides to the car industry, referring to diesel engines as the "technology of the past".
The number of asylum seekers "in limbo" in the EU is likely to be greater than the combined populations of Cyprus and Malta, estimates indicate.
European officials have faced strong criticism for prioritising security interests over the rights of vulnerable people, in their efforts to stem migration flows.
