⊂ EUROPE ⊃
EU seeks extension for glyphosate: The EU Commission has suggested a 12-18 month extension to the bloc-wide approval of glyphosate amid disagreements between several EU states over whether the widely used weedkiller is carcinogenic. EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said the Commission would ask for 12 to 18 months to see which compromise could be reached. EU member states will meet to discuss the Commission’s new proposal on June 6 in Brussels.
dw.com
Doctors Without Borders refuses EU funds: The international aid organisation Doctors Without Borders has decided to refuse all future EU funding as it protests the bloc’s recent migrant deal with Turkey. Caitlin Ryan, a spokeswoman for the organisation also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF, said it has ordered its field missions not to enter into new contracts with the EU or member states. In 2015, the EU donated around 16 million euros to a range of MSF projects.
wsj.com
Dispute between EU and Poland continues: The EU has issued a formal warning to Poland for threatening the rule of law. The warning from the EU Commission could lead to Poland being stripped of its EU voting rights. The EU has been having inconclusive talks with the Polish government since it announced a preliminary assessment of the new laws in January. Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro said he was surprised and saddened by the Commission’s position.
europa.eu, bbc.com
Easing of Russia Sanctions: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier believes that a step-by-step easing of sanctions against Russia is an important element in the hunt for a solution to the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin responded that the easing of sanctions against Russia would be counterproductive. German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees no reason at all now to roll back sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine crisis, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
politico.eu, reuters.com
EU to protect sharing economy: EU governments should not ban services like home-rental site Airbnb or ride-hailing app Uber except as a last resort, the EU says in new guidelines, seeking to rein in a crackdown on the sharing economy. In its guidelines, the EU Commission said any restrictions by member states on these new online services should be justified and proportionate to the public interest at stake.
reuters.com
European Fund for Strategic Investments to be extended: One year after the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) came into force, the EU Commission has looked at what has worked well in the Investment Plan, what can be improved, and how to advance. Overall, the EFSI is already active in 26 member states and is expected to trigger 100 billion euros in investment with the approvals given so far. Small and medium-sized enterprises have benefited particularly from the EFSI so far.
europa.eu
European standard setting: Commission takes steps to modernise EU’s standardisation policy europa.eu
Energy: Sefcovic doubts that another South Stream would be commercially viable euractiv.com
OSCE conference: Fighting terrorism at its roots dw.com
⊂ QUOTES ⊃
„The government worked with economic arguments as well as with trade associations and international organisations, and recently the G7 summit. That has made an impression, and the proponents of a Brexit were not able to build an effective and compelling defense.“
Stephan Shakespeare, Chief Executive Officer of YouGov, is known for his accurate surveys and forecasts. He believes that the British will vote to stay in the EU.
euractiv.de
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
World’s longest, deepest tunnel is officially open: After almost two decades of construction work, the Gotthard base tunnel has officially opened in Switzerland. The 57km tunnel will provide a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel lauded the work of Swiss engineers and said the tunnel was a symbol of the connectedness of people in Europe. Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann described the tunnel as a once-in-a-century feat.
npr.org, dw.com
Denmark to remove being transgender from list of mental illnesses: Denmark will declassify being transgender as a mental disorder by next year, lawmakers on the country’s parliamentary health committee decided Tuesday. The change to the official classification will take effect on Jan. 1, 2017. Danish parliamentarians also say the move is meant to put pressure on the World Health Organization (WHO), which is yet to officially remove transsexualism from its list of mental and behavioral disorders.
time.com
Disputes over labour laws spread: The French government is trying to calm several different labour disputes as the country braces itself for a week of transport disruption with rail workers launching an open-ended strike. A rolling national train strike called by the powerful CGT union and backed by some smaller unions began on Tuesday night and was expected to affect between a third and a half of national and regional train services. However, at French national rail, the large, reformist CFDT union said its members would not take part in the strike after the government signalled concessions over an internal reorganisation.
theguardian.com
Russian opposition targeted by hackers: Russia’s election commission ruled the final results of the Democratic Coalition’s primaries void after their website came under attack from hackers. Personal data, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers belonging to thousands of opposition voters were leaked online.
nzz.ch
Austria: Arson attack destroys new refugee home tagesspiegel.de
Germany: Turkish communities protest vote on Armenian genocide tagesspiegel.de
Greece: Thousands of migrants disappeared after clearing of Idomeni camp nzz.ch
⊂ DATA ⊃
During 17 years of construction, workers had to move over 28 million tons of rock from the inside of the mountain massif to build the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
dw.com
⊂ JOB-BOARD ⊃
politjobs.eu: 350.org seeks campaigner *** Steltemeier & Rawe seeks Senior Associate (m/f) *** 1&1 sucht EU Public Affairs Manager VKU sucht Referentin/en *** Afore Consulting seeks Junior Consultants in European Public Affairs
politjobs.eu, politjobs.eu/submit (Inserat schalten)
⊂ MALFUNCTION ⊃
Austrian politician uses mannequin to show how to treat women: Armin Sippel is a local politician in Graz, Austria, who published a video on his Facebook page explaining rules of conduct to refugees, using a blonde mannequin. Furthermore, Sippel used signs to illustrate his most important conclusions. However, a sign which is supposed to show the Arabic word for No (“la”) actually shows the word “al”.
sueddeutsche.de