⊂ EUROPE ⊃
EU Parliament votes to ratify Ceta: The landmark trade deal between the European Union and Canada cleared a crucial hurdle on Wednesday, as the EU Parliament approved the deal after seven years of negotiations. Lawmakers backed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) 408 votes to 254, meaning large parts of the deal can enter into force as soon as next month. The deal must be ratified by national and some regional parliaments across the EU. Police reported 700 people protested outside the parliament building arguing the deal would erode environmental, labour and consumer standards.
nytimes.com, dw.com
Frontex counts 181,000 refugees from Libya: The EU should expect as many migrants crossing from Libya this year as last, the head of the bloc’s border agency Frontex said on Wednesday. There was approximately 181,000 irregular border crossings coming from Libya last year, said Fabrice Leggeri. Some 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached the bloc by crossing the Mediterranean in 2014-2016 and the main route now leads from the shores of Libya to Italy. Europe has been sending more rescue vessels to prevent migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean.
dailymail.co.uk, euronews.com
US Defence Secretary Mattis gives Nato ultimatum: Jim Mattis, echoing US President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday that the amount of American support for Nato could depend on whether other countries meet their own spending commitments. Mattis warned that if Nato allies do not boost their defence spending to goals set by the alliance, the United States may alter its relationship with them. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has stressed that military spending by European allies and Canada had increased by 3.8 percent last year.
nytimes.com, politico.eu, washingtonpost.com
Commission warns countries of continued air pollution breaches: The EU Commission has sent final warnings to Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom for failing to address repeated breaches of air pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide. The Commission urged the five member states to take action to ensure good air quality and safeguard public health. If they fail to respond to the Commission’s request within two months, the EU authority could bring action before the European Court of Justice where the nations would face fines.
europa.eu, dw.com
Ban: EU criticised for emergency authorisations of banned bee-harming pesticide theguardian.com
Donnery: ECB can force hand of banks that fail to cut bad loans reuters.com
EU Parliament: MEPs back plans to cut carbon emission allowances and fund low-carbon innovation europarl.europa.eu
EU directive: Storage of passenger data fortune.com
⊂ QUOTES ⊃
„The space for democratic debate in Turkey has shrunk alarmingly following increased judicial harassment of large strata of society, including journalists, members of parliament, academics and ordinary citizens, and government action which has reduced pluralism and led to self-censorship.“
Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, has urged Turkey’s leaders to reverse violations of media freedoms and the rule of law.
politico.eu
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
More work needed to conclude Greek bailout review talks: Greece’s talks with its lenders on concluding a crucial bailout review have made progress, but more steps are needed to wrap it up, EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday. Moscovici visited Athens to help bridge differences between Greece, Berlin and the International Monetary Fund over the country’s fiscal targets, the possibility of further debt relief and reforms as part of the review that has dragged on for months.
reuters.com, politico.eu
Bank of England to keep five pound note: The Bank of England said on Wednesday it plans to keep the new 5 pound note despite acknowledging that it contains an extremely small amount of beef fat. Vegan-led protests last November prompted the UK’s central bank to launch a detailed investigation into whether there was a better substitute for the ingredient. The government is on course to put a new 10 pound note, which is made from the same materials as the fiver, into circulation in September. An analysis by the EU Parliament reveals that nearly 21,000 EU rules will need to be discussed during the forthcoming Brexit talks.
politico.eu, cnbc.com
Lavrov and Tillerson to meet Thursday: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are due to meet on the sidelines of a gathering of G20 foreign ministers in Bonn. The planned meeting will be the first one between the counterparts. Tillerson will also participate in a series of sessions on a shifting global order, cooperation with Africa and conflict prevention. Russia has denied violating a Cold War-era missiles treaty, following accusations by officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration. Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has invited counterparts from Russia, France and Ukraine for a meeting in the Normandy format in Munich.
reuters.com, bbc.com, politico.eu
OECD nudges up forecast for Italy: The Italian economy will grow by a modest 1.0 percent this year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Wednesday, marginally raising its previous forecast of 0.9 percent made in November. Italy needs to step up reforms if it is to make a full recovery from an economic crisis that caused poverty and inequality to surge while investment collapsed.
uk.reuters.com
Germany: Imams investigated over alleged spying for Turkey politico.eu
France: Anti-police riots in suburbs of Paris euronews.com
Spain: Two arrested with alleged links to Islamic terrorism euronews.com
⊂ JOB-BOARD ⊃
politjobs.eu: PlasticsEurope seeks Public Affairs Manager (m/f) *** GIZ seeks Policy Advisor (m/f) *** Siegfried Mureșan MEP offers Traineeship *** European Sunlight Association seeks Communication Officer *** ChildFund Alliance seeks Director – Brussels Office *** Mototrola Solutions seeks Director of Government Affairs – Europe and Africa *** Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft sucht Praktikant (m/w) *** Uni Europa seeks Policy Officer (m/f)
politjobs.eu, politjobs.eu/submit (Inserat schalten)
⊂ MALFUNCTION ⊃
Eurovision organising team quits: The Eurovision Song Contest is in chaos after 21 members of the organising committee resigned Wednesday, saying they were completely blocked from making decisions about the show following the appointment of a new boss in December. Director general Pavlo Hrytsak was singled out in the letter which claimed his appointment last year meant the work of the team was completely blocked. The mass resignations could jeopardise the event, which is scheduled to take place in Kiev in May.
politico.eu