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EU leaders set course for tougher policy to send back irregular migrants

Brussels, Belgium Reuters European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to use all their leverage, including trade, development aid and visa policy, to speed up returns of migrants illegally entering the bloc and asked the European Commission to urgently draft a law. Immigration is a highly sensitive topic in most of the bloc’s 27 member states, […]

EU offers to tighten migration stance under pressure from governments

Brussels, Belgium Reuters The European Commission will propose during its new term measures to tighten the EU’s stance on migration, responding to pressure from governments across the bloc for which irregular arrivals have become a major political and security problem. Ursula von der Leyen, who runs the European Union’s executive arm, wrote to EU leaders […]

EU Commission head von der Leyen elected for second term

Strasbourg, France Reuters Ursula von der Leyen won a second term as president of the European Commission on Thursday after pledging to create a continental “defence union” and to stay the course on Europe’s green transition while cushioning its burden on industry. Members of the European Parliament backed von der Leyen’s bid for another five-year […]

EU leaders pick von der Leyen for second term as Commission chief

Updated: 10am (AEST) Brussels, Belgium Reuters European Union leaders agreed on Friday to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive body. At a summit in Brussels, the bloc’s 27 national leaders also picked former Portuguese premier Antonio Costa as the […]

Europe sets benchmark for rest of the world with landmark AI laws

Brussels, Belgium Reuters Europe’s landmark rules on artificial intelligence will enter into force next month after EU countries endorsed on Tuesday a political deal reached in December, setting a potential global benchmark for a technology used in business and everyday life. The European Union’s AI Act is more comprehensive than the United States’ light-touch voluntary […]

EU sees maritime aid corridor to Gaza opening this weekend amid famine fears

Cairo, Egypt/Larnaca, Cyprus Reuters The head of the European Commission said on Friday a maritime aid corridor could start operating between Cyprus and Gaza this weekend, part of accelerating Western efforts to relieve the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave. Ursula von der Leyen’s comments came a day after President Joe Biden announced plans […]

Talks on EU’s AI Act to resume Friday after marathon debate

European flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on 20th September, 2023

Brussels, Belgium Reuters EU lawmakers halted talks on the bloc’s landmark Artificial Intelligence Act on Thursday, agreeing to resume discussions on Friday after they failed to reach a deal during almost 24 hours of negotiations. The tense three-way debate between European Union member states, the European Commission and the European parliament will now extend into […]

Ukraine hails “historic step” as EU takes Kyiv closer to membership

Flags of Ukraine fly in front of the EU Parliament building on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, in Brussels, Belgium, on 24th February, 2023.

Brussels, Belgium/Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised as a “historic step” a recommendation by the European Union executive on Wednesday to invite Kyiv to begin membership talks as soon as it meets final conditions, even as it fights to repel Russia’s war. The recommendation by the European Commission is an important milestone on […]

EU temporarily holds back food aid in Somalia after UN records widespread theft

Internally displaced Somali children gather outside their makeshift shelters at the Ladan camp for internally displaced people in Dollow, Somalia, on 1st May, 2023.

United Nations/Nairobi, Kenya/Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The European Union executive has temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Programme in Somalia, two senior EU officials told Reuters on Monday, after a UN investigation found widespread theft and misuse of aid, which had been meant to avert a famine. The European Commission gave more than $US7 million […]

EU plans drive to cut food waste this decade – draft

A general view of a fruit and vegetable stand on a weekly market in Berlin, Germany, on 14th March, 2020.

Brussels, Belgium Reuters European Union countries will be required to rein in food waste this decade under draft EU plans aimed at tackling the 10 per cent of food in Europe that gets thrown away. An estimated 131 kilograms of food is wasted per European inhabitant each year, the EU has said, costing consumers money, […]