EU News in July 2018

What happened in the EU in July 2018? Brexit... It's bad for the economy: it takes years to make good business or trade deals with other countries. That is why politicians are showing their bad side. There's more to lose than to win. So they blame each other, saying it's the others that are making the mistakes. The Prime Minister blames her party members who don't agree with her. Some blamed the Prime Minister and left the British government. So some media blamed the leavers for not being responsible. The EU negotiators also blame the British Prime Minister for not making enough progress. Even the USA's president blamed the Prime Minister. Maybe they should focus on making a good deal instead of playing the blame-game? The EU gave a good example by signing a trade deal with Japan(article). Such a deal takes about 7 years to work... Almost lost in the Brexit news: Austria is the new president of the EU countries. They will lead many meetings. What's important for Austria in their presidency? Migration, digitalisation and the countries to the south-east of the EU (read more). The European Commission gave Google a fine of $5 100 000 000. Because they don't give enough chances to their competition with their software for mobile phones, called Android (article). It's also a way to get money for the EU's budget. The European Parliament missed an opportunity. The politicians who win the elections get over €4000 each month to pay for an office in their home country so they can keep in touch with their voters. However, they're not forced to say how they spent the money and the Parliament won't force them in the near future (more info). A proposal for more transparency is off the table (article). Question: what are asylum seekers and refugees? People who want to get protection and stay in another country can seek asylum. Some of those are refugees because they'll be tortured, killed or hurt in another horrible way in their home country. Countries who signed the 'Geneva Convention' - all EU countries did - should give protection to refugees. More info here. Send me your question about the EU here! Keep up with the EU news on my Facebook page. Want this news in your inbox? Subscribe here.

EU News in December 2017

What happened in the European Union in December?

In Austria, a new government was formed with a far-right political party. When the same party came into the government in 2000, it was a scandal in the EU. Now, very few reacted. One reason is that the Austrian government is pro-European Union (article).

An EU plan from 2015 forces EU countries to take some asylum seekers. Not all EU countries agreed with this plan. But all EU countries agreed earlier that those kind of decisions should be taken with a 'big' majority. So while some say the decision was not democratic, others say it is. Because Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland didn't want to take any of those asylum seekers, the Commission sues the countries (article).

The 2015 plan was only for 2 years, so now the EU has to decide what's going to happen next. But because it's very sensitive, there are many options. Some want a similar plan. Others think a bigger reform is needed (article).

The EU diplomatic chief 

© European Union , 2017   /  Source: EC - Audiovisual Service   /   Photo: Mauro Bottaro

The USA said Jerusalem is Israel's capital. The EU's diplomatic chief said as a reaction that Jerusalem is the capital of both Israel and Palestine (article).

In 2013, the EU organisations promised to have 5% less planned employees by 2017. Indeed, the EU fulfilled its promise. But planned employees are not the same as real employees. For many reasons, a lot of EU organisations employed non-planned employees. For example, Croatia joined the EU. Or an overload of work due to the migration crisis. So the result is that the EU has a few more 'real' employees than in 2013 (article).

In Brexit news, the UK and the EU agreed on a few items, like how much the UK will pay the EU. The agreement was important so they could start to prepare talks about trade (article). Those talks are important for those in the EU who do business with the UK, and those Brits that do business with the EU. Without trade agreement, they have to stop their business. Negotiations will not start before March (article).

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