⊂ EUROPE ⊃
US welcomes Germany’s Syria proposal: German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer presented to Nato her proposal for a security zone in northern Syria on Thursday. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the proposal would be in line with US calls for European countries to contribute more to their own security. While few details were available, Esper and Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the German plan, a rare proposal by a country wary of military missions in the Middle East. Esper said that while he had not taken a detailed look at the German proposal, he was supportive, though the US did not intend to contribute ground forces. EU lawmakers have condemned Turkey’s offensive in Syria in a resolution which received cross-party support in the EU Parliament on Thursday. Germany’s parliament has voted to end the military’s anti-Isis mission in Syria and Iraq after March 2020.
reuters.com, bloomberg.com, euractiv.com, dw.com
Johnson seeks 12 December election: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that he will give MPs more time to debate his Brexit deal, if they agree to a 12 December election. Johnson told the BBC he expected the EU to grant an extension to his 31 October deadline, even though he really did not want one. Two-thirds of MPs must vote for a general election before one can be held. Labour politician Valerie Vaz said her party would only back an election once a no-deal Brexit was ruled out. The EU is still discussing whether or not to grant the Brexit extension that Johnson was forced to request last weekend. EU Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen said she would ask Britain to nominate an EU commissioner if Brexit was delayed.
bbc.com, cnn.com, politico.eu
ECB President Draghi’s last meeting: At the last press conference of his eight-year tenure, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said incoming economic data continued to point to moderate but positive growth in the second half of this year. He explained that weakness in international trade was denting manufacturing activity in the euro area, as well as business investment. Under Draghi, the ECB had abandoned its roots in German monetary orthodoxy, pushing the interest on bank deposits well below zero and buying 2.6 trillion euro worth of assets, mostly government bonds. Draghi has credited this policy with averting deflation in the euro zone and insisted the benefits of loose money policy far outweighed the risks. Seven years ago, he had pledged the ECB would „do whatever it takes“ to save the euro during the eurozone’s debt crisis. His promise was seen as a turning point in the crisis. Draghi will pass the role of ECB president to Christine Lagarde by 1 November.
reuters.com, dw.com
Macron proposes Breton as new EU commissioner: French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed former Finance Minister Thierry Breton as France’s new candidate for European Commissioner for Industry. Macron pointed out that Breton had solid skills in the fields covered by this portfolio, in particular, industry and digital technology. The presidential Elysee Palace added that the incoming head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had already approved the proposal after she and Macron agreed on the profile. Members of the EU Parliament had rejected Macron’s previous nominee, Sylvie Goulard, in a rare political defeat on the European stage for the French leader. Following his nomination, Breton said he was already devoting himself to the preparation of the hearings before the EU Parliament committees.
dw.com, euronews.com, euractiv.com
Chinese Uyghur academic wins EU’s Sakharov Prize: The EU Parliament has awarded its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Ilham Tohti. The academic, who is from the Uighur minority, has been a fierce critic of China’s treatment of the Uighur people. He has fought for the rights of China’s Uighur minority and the implementation of regional autonomy laws in China. In 2014, Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment for separatism-related charges. The EU Parliament said Tohti deserved the Sakharov Prize for his attempts to foster dialogue between Chinese people and the Uighur. EU Parliament President David Sassoli called on the Chinese authorities to release him immediately.
dw.com, bbc.com
Bilateral relations: EU foreign policy chief Mogherini visits China neweurope.eu
Thomas Cook bankruptcy: Better consumer and employee protection needed europarl.europa.eu
Taxes: Get multinationals to disclose where they pay taxes, MEPs tell member states europarl.europa.eu
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
EU court rebukes France over pollution: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that France continues to exceed the threshold limit for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Judges said France systematically and persistently exceeded the annual limit value for NO2 since 2010. The country did not implement appropriate and effective measures to ensure that the exceedance period of nitrogen dioxide limit values would be kept as short as possible within the meaning of EU law, the court said. Germany and the UK are also in trouble with the EU because of the air pollutant NO2.
bloomberg.com
Greek villagers throw rocks at refugee bus: An international migration watchdog has voiced concern over an attack on buses filled with refugees in northern Greece. Despite a police presence, nine buses taking families and vulnerable migrants to hotels in Nea Vrasna, near Thessaloniki, were forced to turn back on Wednesday as dozens of villagers blocked the road and hurled stones. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) urged government and non-government groups to work together in order to prevent similar situations.
dailymail.co.uk
Spain exhumes late dictator Franco: Spain has exhumed the remains of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco from his grandiose mausoleum outside Madrid and flown them by helicopter for reburial in a small family crypt north of Madrid. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the exhumation put an end to a moral affront that was the exaltation of a dictator in a public place and that it was necessary now to begin the process of identifying the thousands of Franco victims who were also buried at the mausoleum.
cbsnews.com
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Denmark approves stripping Isis fighters of citizenship: The Danish parliament approved legislation on Thursday that allows people with dual citizenship who fought for Isis in Syria and Iraq to be stripped of their Danish nationality. Lawmakers fast-tracked the bill amid concerns that Isis fighters imprisoned by Syrian Kurdish forces could escape amid fighting with the Turkish military. Individuals stripped of their citizenship will have four weeks to appeal against the decision.
dw.com
Germany: Kenyan Juliana Rotich receives German Africa Prize dw.com
Italy: Strike starting this Friday telegraph.co.uk
⊂ JOB-BOARD ⊃
politjobs.eu: Bitkom sucht Referent europäische Digitalpolitik (w/m) *** Int. Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory seeks Innovation Project Manager *** Int. Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory seeks Project Assistant for EU Funded Projects *** PwC seeks Public Affairs Senior Manager Belgium *** Johnson & Johnson seeks Policy Assistant, Government Affairs & Policy EMEA *** Public Policy Manager, Connectivity *** Ryanair offers Public Affairs internship
politjobs.eu, politjobs.eu/submit (Inserat schalten)
⊂ MALFUNCTION ⊃
Major Da Vinci exhibition opens at Louvre: A blockbuster retrospective of Leonardo da Vinci opened Thursday at the Louvre museum in Paris to mark 500 years since the death of the Renaissance master. The exhibition includes more than 160 Renaissance-era paintings and drawings, some of which are on loan from Queen Elizabeth II and Bill and Melinda Gates. The British Museum, the Hermitage of Saint Petersburg and the Vatican have also contributed, as well as, of course, Italy – despite an attempt to ban the „Vitruvian Man“ drawing from leaving Italy.
france24.com, bbc.com