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Tag: EU

  • Britain’s Johnson, EU chiefs seek Brexit talks reboot

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet EU chiefs by video link Monday to try to breathe new life into stalled post-Brexit trade talks, with both sides entrenched in long-held positions.

    The conference with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council chief Charles Michel will review progress in the talks on future EU-UK relations.

    It is the first time Johnson has personally taken part in the talks which began in March, just weeks after Britain left the European Union on January 31 after 47 years in the European project.

    While expectations are low for the long-planned meeting, the unpredictable Johnson, who has recently recovered from a bout with the coronavirus, has EU negotiators on the lookout for any potential surprises.

    Britain and the EU have held four rounds of talks on how to organise their ties after December 31, when the UK leaves the single market and stops adhering to Brussels’ rules after an 11-month transition.

    So far they have achieved little, giving Monday’s meeting added significance. London and Brussels have already agreed to intensify negotiations, with mainly in-person talks through July and August.

    Talks between EU negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Frost have mostly taken place virtually due to the coronavirus outbreak.

    “So far we haven’t had actual negotiations, just an exchange of views,” an EU diplomat told AFP. “It’s a battle of strategies at this point.”

    On Friday, Britain formally declared that it would not seek to extend the post-Brexit transition by one or two years, something it could have done according to the terms of the divorce deal Johnson signed last year.

    ‘Cherry-pick’

    The same intractable issues have hampered the talks since the start.

    Britain has firmly rejected calls by the EU that it commit to European standards overseen by EU law to keep open access to the single market – something Brussels says would maintain a “level playing field”.

    “We cannot accept the UK’s attempts to cherry-pick parts of our single market benefits,” Barnier said in a speech on Thursday.

    “It is looking to pick and choose the most attractive elements of the single market – without the obligations,” he added.

    The EU is also asking for continued guaranteed access to British waters for European fishing fleets, an idea Britain has so far refused. Instead, they have proposed annual talks on quotas for catches.

    Britain is eager to keep its deep business ties to the EU single market, the world’s biggest – but it won’t recognise any mention of EU law or court decisions in the deal, which it sees that as a violation of its sovereignty.

    Johnson’s government also refuses to discuss many topics beyond trade that the Europeans would like to have bound to the same deal.

    Security, diplomacy, research and data flows are for now sidestepped by the British side, to the great frustration of Barnier and his teams.

    Tight timetable

    Opinions diverge on how soon a deal needs to be struck in order to give companies the visibility they need on the terms of cross-Channel trade from January 1, 2021.

    Barnier has said the deal needs to be done by October 31 to leave enough time to be ratified by member states and the European Parliament.

    British officials believe a deal is needed sooner, and Barnier and Frost have both committed to participating actively in all aspects of the talks throughout the summer, to get a deal.

    Failure to agree one will effectively remove Britain from Europe’s supply chain due to tariffs, customs and regulatory checks and other obstacles to business, such as professional licensing.

    On Friday, the UK said that whatever the outcome of the talks, British customs officers would not be ready to deal with new rules at their ports or borders on January 1.

    UK border checks will, therefore, be applied with a “light-touch” for the first months after the new year as Britain readies itself for post-Brexit trade ties.

    Disclaimer : “Opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not in any way reflect those of tigpost.co. Our outfit will hereby not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article.”

    Source: france24.com

  • Coronavirus: Europe reopens borders but China battles new outbreak

    A raft of EU nations reopened their borders to fellow Europeans on Monday after months of coronavirus curbs, but China was battling a new outbreak that has stoked fears of a second wave.

    As caseloads have declined in recent weeks across many parts of Europe, governments have been keen to ease painful lockdowns that have saved lives but devastated economies and wearied confined populations.

    Belgium, France, Germany, Greece and Ukraine were among those lifting border restrictions on Monday, while shops and outdoor attractions in England were set to welcome their first customers since March and in Paris cafes and restaurants were allowed to fully reopen.

    “We’re desperate about tourists, we need them and we want them. If we don’t have the people, how will we survive,” says Michalis Drosos, who works in a souvenir shop in Fira, capital of the Greek island of Santorini.

    However, the pandemic is gathering pace in Latin America, and Iran and India have reported worrying increases in deaths and infections – adding to concern over challenges the world will face in the long fight against COVID-19.

    China, where the virus emerged late last year, was the first country to implement extreme restrictions on movement early this year, forcing local transmission down to near-zero as the crisis hammered the rest of the world.

    But health officials on Monday reported 75 cases of the respiratory illness in Beijing where the fresh cluster has been linked to a wholesale food market.

    Streams of people queued in a Beijing stadium as mass testing was carried out, and a strict lockdown was extended across 21 Beijing neighbourhoods.

    The US reports lowest daily toll

    More than 430,000 people worldwide have died from COVID-19, nearly halfway through a year in which countless lives have been upended and the global economy ravaged by the crisis.

    The United States – by far the hardest-hit country with more than 115,700 recorded fatalities – on Sunday reported its lowest 24-hour death toll since its infection rate peaked in mid-April.

    President Donald Trump’s administration has noted that some states have seen new flare-ups but insists there will be no shutdown of the economy even if a new wave arises.

    But stock markets tumbled again on Monday on fears that an upsurge of infections could put the brakes on the easing of lockdowns and dash hopes of economic recovery.

    ‘Micro-outbreaks inevitable’

    The Middle East’s worst-hit country, Iran, reported an uptick on Sunday, recording more than 100 new virus deaths in a single day for the first time in two months.

    Surging infections in India have highlighted the precarious state of its healthcare system, and more than 1,000 new cases are being reported each day in the capital alone.

    Mortuaries in New Delhi are overflowing with bodies and cemeteries and crematorium staff say they cannot keep up with the backlog of victims.

    There have also been two new outbreaks in Rome, with 109 infections including five deaths diagnosed at a hospital and 15 cases detected at a building inhabited by squatters.

    “It means the virus hasn’t lost its infectiousness, it isn’t weakening… we shouldn’t let down our guard,” World Health Organization deputy director Ranieri Guerra told journalists.

    “Such micro-outbreaks were inevitable, but they are limited in time and space. And today we have the tools to intercept them and confine them.”

    ‘It’s going to be a party’

    Despite fears over fresh clusters, many countries are making moves towards semi-normality.

    In Paris, restaurant and cafe owners were cheering after the government said they could once again open their dining rooms, three months after being shut to blunt the coronavirus outbreak.

    Until now, restaurants in and around the capital could only serve clients on outdoor terraces, even though eateries in the rest of the country opened fully earlier this month.

    “It’s going to be a party,” Stephane Manigold, owner of four Paris restaurants, including the two-starred Maison Rostang, told AFP.

    In England, thousands of non-essential retailers such as bookshops and electronics outlets will be welcoming their first customers since halting in-store business in late March.

    Drive-in cinemas, safari parks and the outdoor parts of zoos will also be able to reopen, while places of worship are also set to swing open their doors again for individual prayer.

    And top-level football continues its return in Europe with the English Premier League making its long-awaited comeback this week, days after Spain’s La Liga.

    Source: france24.com

  • EU says needs more cash to fight Chinese disinformation

    The EU’s diplomatic chief on Tuesday called for more resources to fight disinformation from China, warning that Europe needed to stop being naive in its dealings with Beijing.

    EU foreign affairs high representative Josep Borrell, speaking after video talks with the Chinese foreign minister, told European countries they needed to back up their preaching on disinformation with money.

    He said Chinese minister Wang Yi had rebuffed his concerns about Beijing’s clampdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, reiterating the communist government’s lines about boosting security in the financial hub.

    Coronavirus has fanned the flames of a geopolitical information war, with the West accusing Beijing and Moscow of promoting false or misleading narratives about the pandemic which began in China late last year.

    On Wednesday, Borrell and EU vice-president for values and transparency, Vera Jourova is to issue a statement on a strategy to counter disinformation inspired by the coronavirus epidemic.

    “Foreign actors and certain third countries, in particular Russia and China, have engaged in targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns around COVID-19,” it says.

    A copy of the statement seen by AFP accuses Moscow and Beijing of “seeking to undermine democratic debate and exacerbate social polarisation, and improve their own image in the COVID-19 context.”

    – Provide, don’t preach –

    The EU operates a small task force with a website analysing and debunking misleading stories, but it is primarily focused on disinformation emanating from Russia.

    “For sure we have to allocate more resources in the fight against disinformation,” Borrell told reporters.

    “I think we have to work more on that and not only fighting disinformation, trying to counterattack the fakes but to present a positive narrative.”

    EU member states are currently haggling over the bloc’s next long-term budget and with the pandemic hammering economies, there is huge pressure to find savings.

    But Borrell urged national governments to do more on disinformation, saying he needed “not only preaching but providing”.

    “If you want to do something please allocate resources to it,” he said.

    Tuesday’s talks with Wang were in part to prepare a video summit between EU Council President Charles Michel and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese leaders later this month.

    Borrell said he raised EU concerns about Beijing’s plan to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, which Western governments say will curb the city’s cherished freedoms.

    But he said there were no concessions from Wang, who restated the Chinese position that the law was needed to ensure security in Hong Kong.

    EU-Chinese relations are bumping through a rocky patch as Brussels struggles to calibrate its response to Beijing’s growing assertiveness under President Xi Jinping.

    The bloc has characterised China as a “systemic rival” — as well as a partner on issues such as climate change — but it has struggled to find a unified response as national governments pursue their own interests with the Asian giant.

    “Some weeks ago in an interview with the French press I said that Europe has been too naive in its relations with China,” Borrell said.

    “I think we have to build relations, realistic relations, we need realistic relations with China in order to defend our values and interests.”

    Source: france24.com

  • Brexit: UK backtracking on commitments – Michel Barnier

    EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has accused the UK of “backtracking” on commitments on fisheries and other issues in post-Brexit trade talks.

    He said no “significant progress” had been made this week, and insisted the UK “respect” rules agreed with the EU.

    A UK official told the BBC the two sides needed to work more “intensively” to reach a deal soon.

    The UK and EU are are in dispute over competition rules, governance and fishing rights and police cooperation.

    Guidelines for these issues were included in the political declaration, agreed by the UK and EU last year, which set out objectives for a future relationship.

    Speaking in Brussels, Mr Barnier said: “My responsibility is to speak to truth and, to tell the truth, this week there have been no significant areas of progress.”

    He added: “In all areas, the UK continues to backtrack under commitments undertaken in the political declaration, including on fisheries. We cannot and will not accept this backtracking on the political declaration.”

    “Plus ça change,” you could say.

    Round four of EU/UK trade negotiations after Brexit comes to an end. Cue yet another dismally downbeat assessment from the EU and the UK’s chief negotiators.

    But I don’t belong to the growing “No deal is becoming the most likely outcome” school of thought.

    On the contrary, both sides insisting loudly that their position will not waver (on all issues linked to national sovereignty for the UK; on all issues linked to the single market for the EU) is also a way of trying to reassure audiences back home that their interests will be protected, while privately considering what compromises they’re prepared to make.

    Sift carefully through the rhetoric of EU negotiator Michel Barnier.

    Among his words of disappointment at the lack of progress, plus accusations that the UK is constantly “backtracking” on commitments, you’ll find clear indications of wiggle-room in Brussels: a possible softening of EU demands on state aid rules and fishing quotas and an admission from Mr Barnier, that, if a deal were close this autumn, there would almost certainly be a “dense” period of last-minute negotiations.

    No compromise clues from the UK yet, though.

    It’s not too late. But concessions will be needed from both sides for even a very narrow deal to be agreed by the UK-imposed deadline of the end of this year.

    This week’s discussions – held online – were seen as the last chance to make progress ahead of a summit between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, expected to take place later this month.

    The UK has until the end of June to ask for the “transition period” – during which the country stays in the single market and customs union – to be extended into next year. But Mr Johnson has ruled this out.

    Mr Barnier said: “We have always been open to the possibility of an extension of one or two years – as is possible under the exit agreement. And our door remains open.”

    A senior UK negotiating official told the BBC their side was prepared to accept some tariffs if they were needed to reach a deal with the EU.

    The UK was “committed” to sticking to the political declaration, but the document had been designed to set out only the “parameters” of discussions, they added, and was not a treaty.

    UK chief negotiator David Frost said: “We continue to discuss the full range of issues, including the most difficult ones. Progress remains limited but our talks have been positive in tone.

    “We are now at an important moment for these talks. We are close to reaching the limits of what we can achieve through the format of remote formal rounds.”

    UK officials told the BBC they would prefer to move to face-to-face talks but acknowledged that might not be possible just yet.

    Businesses – hit by the coronavirus pandemic – have raised concerns over a possible “cliff-edge” break to the UK’s remaining access to the EU single market at the end of the year with no replacement deal.

    The UK left the EU on 31 January. The transition period lasts until 31 December and keeps the UK bound to most EU rules.

    The sides currently have until then to reach a free-trade deal, needed if they want to do business without tariffs, quotas or other barriers in future.

    The CBI business group called progress in the talks “worryingly slow, causing deep concern to firms when resilience has rarely been more fragile”.

    Deputy director-general Josh Hardie said: “An ambitious deal with the EU will be a cornerstone of the UK’s recovery from the pandemic.”

    Source: bbc.com

  • Flagship immigration bill returns to Commons

    A new points-based immigration system moves a step closer to becoming law as proposed legislation appears before MPs.

    The immigration bill repeals EU freedom of movement and introduces the new framework – though not exact details – for who can come to live in Britain.

    Home Secretary Priti Patel said the new system promotes a “high skill” economy.

    But critics said the coronavirus pandemic has changed public attitudes towards those considered “unskilled”.

    Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the plans were “not fair and not in the national interest”.

    He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the government was deeming people who worked in low paid jobs in the health and social care sector “to be unwelcome in this country”, adding: “That that isn’t an acceptable way to proceed.

    “We see the clap for carers on a Thursday evening. It is wrong to then say on a Monday that you are unskilled, and that people with those skills are not welcome in this country.”

    Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the bill would give the UK “the opportunity to set our own rules to ensure that we get the people that we need”, including for the NHS and care homes.

    The legislation, the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, will be debated in the Commons on Monday.

    It was first introduced in December 2018 but stalled amid a series of defeats for then PM Theresa May’s minority government.

    The bill – which returns with Boris Johnson’s 80-seat majority – includes regulations giving ministers the power to define the new points-based system, before it is then separately approved by Parliament.

    Strict criteria

    In February, Ms Patel said people applying to come to the UK under the proposed system will need to meet strict skills criteria.

    “We will no longer have the routes for cheap, low-skilled labour that obviously has dominated immigration and our labour market for far too long in this country,” she said.

    A YouGov opinion poll commissioned by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) suggests 54% of people now support looser immigration controls for workers regarded as essential during the pandemic.

    The government list of critical workers during the crisis includes care staff, food processing staff, supermarket workers, and delivery drivers.

    JCWI’s Satbir Singh said such workers “are not ‘unskilled’ or unwelcome, they are the backbone of our country and they deserve the security of knowing that this place can be their home too”.

    Different approach

    The government announced proposals for the new system, suggesting points will be awarded for being able to speak English to a certain standard, having a job offer from an approved employer, and meeting a salary threshold of £25,600.

    Other points could be awarded for certain qualifications and if there is a shortage in a particular occupation.

    But Mr Thomas-Symonds said Labour was “asking the government to think again”.

    “What the government… seems to be saying is that your salary reflects your contribution to society,” he added.

    “If this crisis has shown us one thing, it should show us that that is wrong.”

    A visa allowing doctors, nurses and health professionals from overseas to work in the NHS was introduced in March.

    Mr Dowden said this provided a “fast track application process” and lower fees for those wanting to work in the sector.

    He added: “If we go back to the [Brexit] referendum, the central issue there was about taking back control and immigration was an important part of this.

    “This [bill] means that finally we determined exactly who comes into this country, and we can attract the brightest and the best from around the world, not just from convenience within Europe.”

    ‘High wage, high skill’

    The Brexit transition period ends on 31 December – after which the new immigration rules will apply. Irish citizens’ immigration rights will remain.

    Ms Patel said ahead of the second reading: “Our new points-based system is firmer, fairer, and simpler.

    “It will attract the people we need to drive our economy forward and lay the foundation for a high wage, high skill, high productivity economy.”

    Source: bbc.com

  • Brexit: UK warns ‘very little progress’ made in EU trade talks

    Very little progress” has been made in the latest round of UK-EU trade talks, the UK government has said.

    The UK’s negotiator David Frost said a far-reaching free trade agreement could be agreed before the end of the year “without major difficulties”.

    But it was being held up by the EU’s desire to “bind” the UK to its laws and seek unfair access to fishing waters.

    The EU’s Michel Barnier suggested the UK’s own demands were “not realistic” and warned of a looming stalemate.

    Speaking in Brussels, the bloc’s chief negotiator said: “no progress had been made on the most difficult issues”.

    Asked by the BBC’s Europe editor Katya Adler what the chances were of an agreement. Mr Barnier said he was “still determined but not optimistic”.

    The EU, he added, would not accept a deal “at any price” and it was stepping up preparations for a no-deal outcome, in which the two sides would trade with each other under World Trade Organisation rules.

    Insisting the EU would not negotiate “in haste”, he said the UK must consider whether it was feasible to strike a deal before the end of 2020, when the current 11-month transition period is due to end.

    The UK has said it will not extend the process beyond 31 December, despite coming under growing pressure at home to allow more time for a deal due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    The two sides have been discussing their future economic and security partnership following the UK’s withdrawal from the 27-member bloc on 31 January.

    In a statement, Mr Frost said there was a “good understanding” between the negotiators but that little or no progress had been on the most “significant outstanding issues”.

    The dancing’s over

    Former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker used to describe Brexit talks as being like a “dance” and regularly rolled out the stock phrase that “it takes two to tango”.

    There’s no dancing anymore. Today Michel Barnier made clear he’d rejected any such romantic terms for these trade negotiations, telling reporters it was neither “a dance nor a tango or any other kind of dance”.

    He said the teams weren’t “even in the same room” and this wasn’t nearly as effective as getting together around a table.

    The hours of screen time have led to an impasse, with both sides now urging the other to change strategy, and to understand the other’s position more clearly.

    I spoke to Spanish and French diplomats in Brussels. “Quelle surprise” was the view. They believe both sides will “continue to play tough and offer little ground” and that genuine compromise may come in a month, for the fourth and final scheduled round before the summer.

    But few officials here are following the twists and turns with the dedication of the past. The urgency of dealing with the pandemic has reduced the attention to Brexit.

    He said the EU was insisting upon a “set of novel and unbalanced proposals” in relation to competition issues that went well beyond other comparable trade agreements struck with other major economies.

    The UK, he said, would not agree to “a so-called level playing field which would bind this country to EU law or standards, or determine our domestic legal regimes”.

    A level-playing field is a term for a set of common rules and standards that prevent businesses in one country undercutting their rivals and gaining a competitive advantage over those operating in other countries.

    The EU, Mr Frost added, was seeking continued access to UK fishing waters after the transition period “in a way that is incompatible with our future status as an independent coastal state”.

    “It is hard to understand why the EU insists on an ideological approach which makes it more difficult to reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” he said.

    “We very much need a change in EU approach for the next round beginning on 1 June.

    “The UK will continue to work hard to find an agreement, for as long as there is a constructive process in being, and continues to believe that this is possible.”

    Open and fair’

    Mr Frost said the UK would make public all its draft legal texts next week so EU member states and interested observers “can see our approach in detail”.

    In his update, Mr Barnier said the EU’s aim was a “modern, forward-looking” agreement which would avoid any tariffs or quotas on trade.

    But he said it was not prepared to “copy and paste” aspects of existing agreements with Canada, Japan and South Korea or do sector-by-sector deals “rooted in past precedents”.

    Tariff-free access to the EU’s single market had to be accompanied by obligations, he added, and the UK could not “pick and choose” which of these it adhered to.

    “You cannot have the best of both worlds,” he said. “Open and fair competition is not a nice to have. It is a must-have.”

    A “new dynamism” would be needed in the next round of talks to deliver “tangible progress”, he added.

    Mr Barnier said he would listen to concerns the UK had about the treatment of British expats on the continent as part of the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement governing the terms of the UK’s exit.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Burning EU and other flags can now bring German jail term

    Germany has made public burning of the EU flag or that of another country punishable by up to three years in jail, classing it as a hate crime.

    The vote in the Bundestag (parliament) on Thursday makes defiling foreign flags equal to the crime of defiling the German flag.

    The same applies for the EU anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy theme.

    The move followed Social Democrat (SPD) complaints about protesters’ burning of the Israeli flag in Berlin in 2017.

    Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht, a member of the centre-left SPD, said “burning flags publicly has nothing to do with peaceful protests”. She said it stoked up “hatred, anger and aggression”, and hurt many people’s feelings.

    The new law also applies to acts of defilement besides burning, such as publicly ripping a flag up. Public display of the Nazi swastika and other Nazi symbols is already banned in Germany.

    The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has condemned the new law as “excessive interference in free speech and artistic expression”.

    The act of defiling the Union Flag in the UK is not a crime, but France has made desecration of the tricolour punishable by a fine of up to €7,500 (£6,600; $8,000) or six months in jail.

    Spain, Italy and Greece also have laws banning desecration of the national flag.

    Source: bbc.com

  • We will have summer tourist season, promises EU

    A gradual lifting of borders has been proposed by the EU’s executive in an attempt to kick-start a tourist industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

    “Our message is we will have a tourist season this summer,” said economic affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, “even if it’s with security measures and limitations.”

    Borders closed across the EU, including the border-free Schengen zone.

    But states are starting to reopen them.

    Austria and Germany have become the latest EU countries to agree to remove travel restrictions.

    From Friday there will be random checks at border crossings and then on 15 June free movement should resume. “We want to make people’s everyday lives easier and take another step towards more normality,” said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

    UK travellers have already been warned not to expect “lavish” international holidays, with plans for a 14-day quarantine on air arrivals. But travel without quarantine will be possible to France and Ireland.

    The scale of the crisis was illustrated by travel giant Tui announcing the loss of up to 8,000 jobs worldwide with plans to cut costs by 30%. The German government has given the company a €1.8bn (£1.6bn; $1.9bn) bridging loan to stay afloat.

    What is the EU planning?

    The European Commission said its guidance was based on the principles of safety and non-discrimination. Tourism provided almost 10% of Europe’s economic output and millions of jobs across the 27 member states relied on it.

    Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said no-one should travel if they felt sick or experienced symptoms.

    The non-binding plans involve countries working together to gradually remove travel bans and then border checks, while keeping targeted measures as the Covid-19 outbreak comes under control across the member states.

    A phased approach would start by allowing seasonal workers across borders, followed by a lifting of restrictions between countries with the virus under a similar level control and then the opening of all the EU’s internal borders.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Brexit: UK-EU trade talks resume ahead of June summit

    Talks between the UK and EU over a post-Brexit trade deal will enter their third round later, ahead of a decisive summit next month.

    Both sides are due to decide by the end of June whether the current deadline for negotiating an agreement should be extended beyond the end of December.

    The UK has said it will not agree to an extension, even if the EU requests one.

    The latest round of talks, to be held via video link, will end on Friday.

    After the latest round in April, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said progress had been disappointing, whilst the UK said only “limited progress” had been made.

    There are differences between the two sides on fisheries, competition rules, police co-operation, and how a deal would be enforced.

    BBC Europe Editor Katya Adler said the EU accuses the UK of concentrating on its priorities whilst going slow on issues more important to the 27-member bloc.

    She added that the UK wants to first settle a core trade deal alongside deals on aviation and energy, whilst the EU is keen to focus on fishing quotas and competition rules.

    She added that although the UK has ruled out extending the talks, leaving tricky areas to the autumn could be risky if coronavirus infections peak again.

    Negotiations have been held using video-conferencing technology since last month after face-to-face meetings were cancelled due to the pandemic.

    The UK has rejected the suggestion it is not engaging in all negotiating areas, accusing the EU of making demands not required of its other trade partners.

    Transition extension calls The UK is currently in a transition period under which it must follow most EU regulations, following its legal withdrawal from the bloc on 31 January.

    Both sides exchanged legal text on a future trade deal in March. After the negotiations this week, a fourth round of talks is scheduled to begin on 1 June.

    Under the UK’s withdrawal agreement with the EU, both sides currently have until 31 December to ratify a trade deal and rules for future co-operation.

    An extension to the December deadline should be made by the UK-EU “joint committee” overseeing the agreement by 1 July.

    Opposition parties including the Liberal Democrats and the SNP have both called on the UK government to extend the transition period beyond December.

    Shortly after becoming Labour leader last month, Sir Keir Starmer said the UK should prolong talks beyond December if “necessary to do so”.

    He added that the December deadline was “going to be very, very tight,” and he thought it “unlikely” the government would finish talks in time.

    But the government insists it is committed to agreeing a deal by December 2020, and an extension would simply prolong disruption for businesses.

    Source: bbc.com

  • EU blacklists four African states over money-laundering

    The European Union has added 12 countries to its money-laundering blacklist, putting their financial transactions under greater scrutiny.

    They include Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.

    Others are Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Cambodia, Mongolia and Myanmar.

    Once approved by the European parliament the list will come into force in October.

    The commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU needed to put an end to dirty money infiltrating its financial system.

    Of the 22 blacklisted countries, only North Korea has refused to commit to trying to tackle the problem.

    Source: bbc.com

  • EU leaders visit Greece as migrant stand-off with Turkey continues

    Top European officials are visiting Greece’s border with Turkey to assess the new crisis over refugees and migrants trying to enter the EU.

    EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council chief Charles Michel and European Parliament speaker David Sassoli arrived on Tuesday.

    Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is hoping for support for Greece’s tough line on defending its borders.

    Turkey lifted controls on migrants exiting for the EU on Friday.

    It took the decision after suffering a heavy military loss in north-west Syria, where it has been trying to create a safe area to resettle millions of Syrian refugees it took in during the ongoing civil war.

    At least 24,000 people have been stopped from crossing the border from Turkey since Saturday, according to Greek government figures.

    Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using the migrants as pawns. He also announced that his government had strengthened Austria’s borders to make sure the mass influx of refugees and migrants of 2015 was not repeated.

    EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is due to visit Ankara to discuss Turkey’s decision to drop restrictions on migrants, abandoning a deal struck in 2016.

    What is the situation at the border?

    Monday night was quiet in comparison with events over the weekend when thousands of migrants clashed with Greek security forces, a Greek army officer told Reuters news agency near the Kastanies border crossing.

    “There were only a few attempts today [by migrants to cross the border],” he said. “Let’s hope they get the message.”

    Some migrants including women and children could be seen in custody after being detained on the Greek side of the land border.

    On the Turkish side, migrants who had been waiting around the border city of Edirne were again moving towards the frontier.

    Several hundred migrants crossed to Greece from Turkey by boat in recent days but people were deterred by choppy seas on Tuesday, a police source told Reuters.

    A young boy died when a boat capsized off the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday, Greek police say. It was the first reported fatality since Turkey opened its border.

    The three EU leaders arrived at the Kastanies border crossing.

    Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said earlier he expected a message of support.

    “Greece cannot be blackmailed in this way, and it will not be blackmailed,” he told people in the town of Alexandroupolis.

    “I think the fact that today we have, will have the presence of all the leadership of Europe here is the support of this policy because I will never tire of reminding everyone and the Europeans that the borders of Greece are also the borders of Europe.”

    Mr. Mitsotakis tweeted photos of himself meeting Greek security forces.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Ghana’s timber sector develops communication strategy to grasp EU opportunities

    The Kumasi Wood Cluster (KWC) and the Ghana Timber Millers Organization (GTMO) have introduced an innovative marketing communication strategy to help the private sector capitalise on opportunities in the European Union (EU).

    The initiative, christened: “Message House,” developed in collaboration with government and civil society, will communicate measures Ghana has put in place to meet the EU criteria for wood and wood products.

    This falls under the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), a bilateral timber-trade agreement between the European Union and the timber-exporting country outside the Union.

    It is a key element of the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) signed over a decade ago, aimed at addressing illegal logging.

    Mr Kofi Afreh Boakye, the Chief Executive of the Domestic Lumber Traders Association, at a workshop in Accra to discuss the communication strategy, said the “Message House” would help the private sector to market itself.

    The workshop also updated stakeholders on effective messages the private sector would advance to promote and communicate the essence of Ghana’s legal timber on the European Market when licensing is ready.

    Mr Boakye assured the international community, especially the EU, that Ghana had met the sustainability and legality requirements for wood to be exported.

    He disclosed that in the past, a miscommunication of those processes and the absence of information on sustainability resulted in doubts among majority of EU countries over the sustainability of Ghana’s timber products.

    “The Europeans are more concerned about how sustainable Ghana’s legal wood system is and this is a platform where we can tell the whole world that we are not only interested in legality but also sustainability,” he said.

    However, the KWC and the GTMO is implementing a six-month project titled; “Development of private sector-focused messages for Ghana’s FLEGT license communication strategy,” funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation-EU FLEGT Programme.

    The project is to make available facts and figures to support messages to be carried by Ghana’s overall FLEGT licensing communication.

    When ready, exporters of timber and timber products would have to meet certain criteria for FLEGT licenses to be issued on the products they export to Europe.

    With this new communication strategy, licenses issued under the FLEGT-VPA will be worthwhile.

    As part of the project activities, a photo catalogue; Ghana Wood Digest, of exported timber products, company facilities and national infrastructure have been designed.

    Mr Adjei Yeboah, former Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said: “It is very important that our messages are strong enough. We are not just talking about an industry. It is not cosmetic.”

    “It is good we are doing this and I pray we would be able to articulate it well to the international community”.

    He debunked assertions that Ghana was not doing things right in the past, necessitating the creation of the “Message House,” and said initially emphasis was not placed on communication sustainability.

    Mr Gustav Adu, the Executive Director of KWC, recommended to the Forest Industries Association of Ghana and the companies to use the communication strategy to promote FLEGT licensed timber products.

    Source: ghananewsagency.org