⊂ EUROPE ⊃
US warns of terrorist threat in Europe: The US has warned that the Euro 2016 football championship being held in France next month could be a target of militant attacks. The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists, the State Department warned in a travel alert for US citizens. While it routinely issues travel alerts for short-term risks worldwide, this is only the third time in 20 years one has been issued for Europe.
time.com, bbc.com
Code of Conduct on illegal online hate speech: On Tuesday, the EU Commission together with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft unveiled a code of conduct that includes a series of commitments to combat the spread of illegal hate speech online in Europe. The Commission welcomed the commitment of worldwide IT companies to review the majority of valid notifications for removal of illegal hate speech in less than 24 hours and remove or disable access to such content, if necessary.
europa.eu
Britain deadlocked on Brexit vote: With little more than three weeks before a national referendum, Britons are evenly split over whether to stay in or leave the EU, a poll released Tuesday by British opinion researcher YouGov showed. A survey of 1,764 UK residents found 40 percent preferred to leave the bloc, and 40 percent preferred to stay, with 20 percent undecided or not planning to vote. Switzerland and Norway are models for a potential partnership should Britain leave the EU.
handelsblatt.com
Top EU court adviser backs headscarf ban: Employers in the EU may be able to ban Muslim staff from wearing headscarves to work as long as it is part of a general prohibition on all religious symbols, Juliane Kokott, Advocate General to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), said. The opinion by Kokott is not a binding ruling and judges at the ECJ are now considering what final guidance to issue. It came after a Belgian court sought clarification on what is banned by EU anti-discrimination laws.
bbc.com
Privacy Shield not robust enough: The EU’s top privacy monitor has blasted the still pending Privacy Shield agreement, dealing a blow to the EU Commission-brokered data transfer agreement with the US. EU Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli said the agreement still needs significant improvements. Commission officials who worked on the deal will find that tough to swallow—they insist negotiations with the US are already over.
euractiv.com
ECB: 18 million 500-euro bills worth 9 billion euros returned since February sueddeutsche.de
Flash estimate: Euro area annual inflation up to -0.1 percent in May 2016 europa.eu
April 2016: Euro area unemployment at 10.2 percent europa.eu
⊂ QUOTES ⊃
„The anti-Europeans are against the Brussels’ institutions and use the issue of lobbying as a way in which to discredit them. Our interest in this issue is to strengthen citizens’ confidence in the EU. For this reason, the impression that more influence in Brussels can be won through having more money and, therefore, more lobbyists, has to be taken seriously.“
MEP Sven Giegold talks about the future of transparency in the institutions.
euractiv.com
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
Erdogan warns Germany ahead of Armenian genocide vote: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Germany on Tuesday against labeling the mass death of Armenians during World War I as a genocide, a sensitive move that could damage relations at a critical juncture. German lawmakers are expected to pass the resolution on Thursday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, coalition partner the Social Democrats as well as Greens backing the measure. Erdogan said the resolution’s passage would damage future relations between the two countries.
dw.com
The Gotthard Base Tunnel: An unprecedented feat of engineering will be unveiled to the world on June 1, 2016: the Gotthard Base railway tunnel. At 57,1 kilometres long, it is the longest train tunnel in the world. The total cost reached 10.9 billions euros, entirely paid for by Switzerland. It is the same as the budget of the 2012 London Olympics. French president Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime minister Matteo Renzi will attend the inauguration with Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann. They will take a test train ride together.
euronews.com
Contract for Fehmarnbelt tunnel: The Femern Link Contractors joint venture has signed conditional contracts with the Danish government for the design and build of the world’s longest immersed road and rail tunnel, the Fehmarnbelt link between Denmark and Germany. The international joint venture won contracts to cover the construction of the immersed tunnel and the dedicated factory that will manufacture the precast tunnel elements and a third contract concerns the building of the portal structures, toll buildings, bridges and ramps.
faz.net
100th anniversary of Battle of the Skagerrak: On Tuesday, Princess Anne, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, German President Joachim Gauck, and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were amongst the official guests, along with descendants of those who fought, attending the ceremonies to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the so-called Battle of Jutland (Skagerrak Sea Battle) at the St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.
epa.eu
Italy: Court upholds Costa Concordia captain’s 2012 shipwreck sentence reuters.com
Turkey: No justice for victims of Gezi Park protests dw.com
France: Air France pilots have voted to strike bbc.com
⊂ DATA ⊃
More than 45 million people are living in modern slavery, with Asia accounting for two thirds of the victims, a new report says. It highlights that many children across Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are forced to beg on the streets by criminals.
bbc.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 ⊃
Trump in Scotland: In 2008, Donald Trump arrived at the airport at Stornoway, on the island of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. For only the second time in his life, he had come to the home of his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod. Outside his maternal home, Trump told reporters: „I feel very comfortable here. I think I do feel Scottish.“ Trump is expected to return to Scotland later this summer – another golf course he owns, at Turnberry reopens next month – but few on Lewis expect him to make a surprise visit. He has not been back since 2008; and even then he spent just 97 seconds inside his mother’s birthplace.
dw.com