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EU pledges 44 million euros aid at Somalia conference

Agence France-PresseMay 7, 2013 09:00

The European Union on Tuesday pledged to give 44 million euros ($58 million) in aid to Somalia, at a conference in London aimed at stopping the impoverished country slipping back into lawlessness. The EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said the funding would be used to build up the justice system and police force in Somalia, which has been blighted by conflict for more than two decades. "In Somalia, like anywhere else, there can be no development without security," Piebalgs said in a statement.

EU pushes for universal bank account access

Agence France-PresseMay 7, 2013 01:30

The European Commission will set out on Wednesday plans for universal access to current accounts with banks -- seeking to remedy an exclusion that Brussels calculates affects nearly 60 million adults across the European Union. Legislative proposals on payment accounts also aim to make it easier to switch banks, similar to EU measures to open up utility markets in recent years. And finally, according to proposals seen by AFP on Tuesday, they will insist on transparent costs information for consumers.

Key EU budget talks deliver compromise offer

Agence France-PresseMay 6, 2013 16:46

Crisis talks between leaders of the EU's three institutions on Monday threw up a compromise on the bloc's 2014-2020 budget, just days before a key European summit, French EU lawmaker Alain Lamassoure told AFP. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament chief Martin Schultz and Irish premier Enda Kenny, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, struck a deal to break a deadlock over the next budget as a summit of feuding national leaders looms on May 22.

EU in crunch talks on budget gap

Agence France-PresseMay 6, 2013 11:31

Leading EU officials meet later Monday to try and break a deadlock on the bloc's budget for the rest of the decade with a summit of feuding national leaders looming on May 22. The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament head Martin Schulz and current chair for EU governments, Irish premier Enda Kenny will meet from 1630 GMT, although no decisions are expected to emerge from the talks.

Hello EU, Goodbye Prosek? Croatia may have to give up rights to name of its sweet wine

The Canadian PressMay 5, 2013 03:00

JELSA, Croatia - Does Croatia's Prosek jeopardize Italy's Prosecco? Croatia is gearing up to celebrate its entry into the EU, but don't pop the corks just yet. A heated trademark battle over the country's beloved sweet dessert wine has some feeling less than bubbly, mirroring rapidly declining enthusiasm among Croats for membership in the economically battered bloc.

EU economic forecasts

Agence France-PresseMay 3, 2013 06:45

The European Commission issued its latest grim economic forecasts for the 17-nation eurozone and the wider 27-member European Union on Friday. Here are the main figures for this year and next, with the Commission's previous estimates in parentheses. Thus the eurozone economy is expected to shrink 0.4 percent this year compared with the previous forecast for 0.3 percent growth. 2013 2014 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (PERCENT RATE) EUROZONE minus 0.4 (0.3) 1.2 (1.4) EU-27 minus 0.1 (+0.1) 1.4 (+1.6) GERMANY 0.4 (0.5) 1.8

EU predicts eurozone recession to continue in 2013, key economies set to breach deficit limits

The Canadian PressMay 3, 2013 05:30

BRUSSELS - Europe will take longer to recover from its economic crisis as it tackles a worse-than-expected recession in the eurozone and unemployment at record levels, the European Union warned Friday. In its spring economic forecast, the EU said that gross domestic product in the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink by 0.4 per cent this year, better than the 0.6 per cent contraction in 2012 but 0.1 percentage points worse than the EU had forecast back in February.

Crisis-battered Iceland seen halting EU talks

Agence France-PresseApril 28, 2013 14:00

The European Union's economic woes most likely helped Iceland's eurosceptic centre-right opposition oust the leftist government as voters in the crisis-battered nation failed to see the value in joining the bloc. The Icelandic electorate on Saturday shunned the Social Democratic Alliance Party, which submitted an EU membership application in 2009 and campaigned on the issue, claiming it would tame the North Atlantic country's persistently high inflation.

EU court maintains seal fur ban

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 13:16

An EU court in a much-anticipated ruling Thursday upheld a 2010 ban on seal products, throwing out an appeal by fur traders including native Inuit from Canada and Greenland, and Scottish sporran-makers. The Canada-led campaign to lift the ban on the trade in seal fur and products was joined by the country's largest Inuit group, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), as well as by Scottish suppliers of the sporran pouch made of seal pelt that is part of traditional Highland dress.

EU court maintains seal fur ban

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 13:01

An EU court in a much-anticipated ruling Thursday upheld a 2010 ban on seal products, throwing out an appeal by fur traders including native Inuit from Canada and Greenland, and Scottish sporran-makers. The Luxembourg-based EU General Court said EU law already protects the interests of Inuit communities which hunt seals "as an integral part of their culture and identity" by authorising the sale of seal products that "result from hunts traditionally conducted by such indigenous communities for the purpose of their subsistence".