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Posts Tagged ‘European Union’

The European Union and the US will begin formal talks on a free-trade agreement, paving the way for the biggest trade deal in history

February 13, 2013 Comments off

newsforage.com

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made the announcement following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.
A deal would bring down trading barriers between the two biggest economies in the world.
EU-US trade is worth around 455bn euros (£393bn; $613bn) a year.
Mr Obama announced US support for talks as part of his annual address to Congress on Tuesday, saying a free-trade deal would “boost American exports, support American jobs and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia”.
In a joint statement, US and EU leaders said trade between the US and EU supported millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We are committed to making this relationship an even stronger driver of our prosperity,” the statement said.
The EU estimates that a “comprehensive and ambitious agreement” will boost annual GDP Read more…
Categories: EU, United States Tags: , ,

Biometric IDs A Step Toward EU – Ukraine Visa Simplicity

September 13, 2012 Comments off

argophilia.com

Kiev Airport Customs

Biometric IDs in Ukraine appear to be on the way in. A draft law there providing for the creation of a unified state register of every Ukrainian citizen has passed fist scrutiny there. Reportedly a measure to beef up border security between Ukraine and the EU, citizens traveling abroad may feel a bit like Big Brother is watching via a built-in proximity chip keeping tabs on each citizen.

Officials in favor of the new Biometric IDs claim this document standard will go a long way toward preventing IS fraud, helping out the border control end of travel in the country. Claiming accessibility for all relevant European services and institutions, proponents say the action plan for visa liberalization is the central reason for the new initiative.

With the EU planning to Read more…

Categories: Biometrics, Ukraine Tags: , , ,

Iran cuts oil exports to France, Britain

February 20, 2012 Comments off

thenelsondaily.com

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . . . fights back with oil embargo

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . . . fights back with oil embargo

The Huffington Post

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said Sunday, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran’s crucial fuel exports.

The EU imposed tough sanctions against Iran last month, which included a freeze of the country’s central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July. Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had warned earlier this month that Tehran could cut off oil exports to “hostile” European nations. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran’s oil exports.

However, the Iranian action was not likely to have any significant direct impact on European supplies because both Britain and France had already moved last year to sharply curtail Read more…

Categories: Britain, France, Iran Tags: , , , , ,

Europe on brink of recession, unemployment above 10%

January 26, 2012 Comments off

economictimes

ECBBRUSSELS: Since the start of the year, one phrase has tripped off the lips of European leaders more than any other: “jobs and growth”. After two years of debt crisis and budget austerity, there is a strong desire to shift the narrative on.

To that end, the EU’s first summit of 2012, to be held on Jan 30, will focus on finding ways to kickstart growth and create jobs across the 27-country union, which is on the brink of recession and has average unemployment of 10 percent, rising to 45 percent among the young in countries such as Spain.

The problem is that after years of preaching austerity and telling wayward governments to cut spending and raise revenue, there is scarce capital readily available for investment, either at a national level or across the EU budget.

As a result, there is little expectation that Monday’s summit will produce concrete measures to boost either output or employment in the near-term, despite EU leaders first adopting their competitiveness mantra more than a decade ago.

“They don’t have much of a strategy apart from the typical laundry list of structural and labour market reforms, which is fine, but that is Read more…

Categories: EU Tags: , , , ,

Poland warns of war ‘in 10 years’ as EU leaders scramble to contain panic

September 16, 2011 1 comment

euobserver

Germany, France and the European Commission are scrambling to contain panic and “quash rumours” about a eurozone break-up amid repeated off-piste messages from other senior EU politicians.

But even amid their desperate efforts, the finance minister of Poland, the country that currently represents the EU to the world as holder of the bloc’s rotating presidency, warned of war on the continent within 10 years if the eurozone collapses.

Speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday morning (14 September) he warned of the need to act rapidly to prevent grave danger for the EU. Making reference to a recent report entitled ‘Euro Break Up – The Consequences’ by Swiss financial giant UBS, he declared: “There is no doubt we are in danger. Europe is Read more…

Categories: Coming Events, EU, Europe Tags: , , , ,

Germany introduces biometric cards for foreigners

September 1, 2011 Comments off

dw-world.de

The new cards are based on German identity cards

In a bid to prevent identity fraud, Germany is digitalizing its residence permits for non-EU citizens. Instead of a paper document, they’ll be given a new biometric chip card – shaped like a credit card.

The new cards are based on German identity cards

From Thursday, September 1, non-EU citizens living in Germany will be given electronic chip cards in place of their existing paper residence permits.

The cards will contain a biometric photo and two fingerprints. Cardholders will also be given an individual PIN code. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees claims storing such biometric data will help prevent identity theft.

But, at a cost of 110 euros ($159) each, the new cards won’t come cheap. The special chip containing the data is manufactured at the Berlin-based Federal Printing Office. The cards – like Read more…

Categories: Biometrics, Germany Tags: , ,

Europe Is On The Verge Of Collapsing

August 8, 2011 Comments off

globalresearch

Photo by Dieter Heinemann

The scale of impact is unpredictable, but potentially worse than that of the recent toxic assets crisis. The European bloc is the second largest economy, the first trade partner of China, the largest importer of Russian energy and the first buyer of high quality raw materials (it still holds the Hilton quota, the world’s most expensive meat quota).

All over the world European debt holders and many states maintain their reserves in euros. China, for example, has one-fourth of its reserves in such currency and holds a large amount of Greek, Portuguese and Spanish debt bonds….

Without debt restructuring involving important debt amount reductions and extended maturities, Greece will not be able to meet her commitments, just like the rest of Europe’s debt-overhung Europe’s periphery economies – Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, and the effects would certainly contaminate the rest of Europe including the region’s strongest economies.

The illusion of dampening the fire by deferring debt maturities is just that – a chimera. Unless public and private bondholders’ debts are reduced and longer maturities granted, default and meltdown are Read more…

Categories: EU, Euro, Europe Tags: , , , , , ,

Euro zone boosts powers of rescue fund to aid Greece, Ireland, Portugal

July 22, 2011 Comments off

theglobeandmail

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, left, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speak after the EU summit Thursday in Brussels. - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, left, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speak after the EU summit Thursday in Brussels. | AFP/Getty Images

Euro zone leaders agreed at an emergency summit on Thursday to give their financial rescue fund sweeping new powers to help Greece overcome its debt crisis and prevent market instability from spreading through the region.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said leaders of the 17-nation currency area had agreed to ease lending terms to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, while private investors would voluntarily swap their Greek bonds for longer maturities at lower interest rates to help Athens.

Categories: Euro, Europe Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

EU cloud data can be secretly accessed by US authorities

July 5, 2011 1 comment

theregister

US-owned companies bound by Patriot Act, says Microsoft

Personal information belonging to EU users of US-owned cloud-based services could be shared with US law enforcers without the user being informed, Microsoft has said.

The software giant said it could not guarantee that it would not have to hand over EU customers’ data on a new cloud service it has developed whilst keeping details of the data transfer secret.

Cloud services allow internet users to store data online instead of locally.

EU data protection laws state that organizations must tell people when they are asked to disclose their personal information.

These EU provisions might conflict with obligations US-based firms, such as Microsoft, face under US law.

The USA Patriot Act gives law enforcement authorities the right to access Read more…

Categories: internet Tags: , , , , , ,

European Union growing more divided

June 26, 2011 1 comment

freep.com

IN GREECE: About 3,000 police officers, coast guard workers and firefighters protest salary and budget cuts on Thursday in Athens. Austerity measures in Greece have fueled disenchantment with the European Union.

 IN GREECE: About 3,000 police officers, coast guard workers and firefighters protest salary and budget cuts on Thursday in Athens. Austerity measures in Greece have fueled disenchantment with the European Union. / DIMITRI MESSINIS/Associated Press

FLENSBURG, Germany — Erik Holm Jensen slips between countries without a thought or a passport.

The 60-year-old business consultant drives from Denmark into northern Germany as smoothly as an American going from Delaware to New Jersey. There’s no hassle at the border, no guards to stop him. If he blinks, he misses the modest sign indicating he’s crossed from one country into another.

Such seamless travel is one of the European Union’s greatest achievements in its pursuit of a stable, prosperous continent built in the lingering aftermath of World War II. The other is the euro, like the wad in Jensen’s wallet that he can use in 17 nations.

But the twin pillars of Europe’s grand project are now Read more…

Categories: EU Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,