⊂ EUROPE ⊃
Brussels airport bombers identified: Two of the attackers have been identified as brothers Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, who acted as suicide bombers at Maelbeek metro station and Brussels airport respectively. The two Belgians were already being sought by police due to suspected links to the November terror attacks in Paris. Another suspect, Najim Laachraoui, was the second Brussels Airport suicide bomber. Belgian authorities continue to hunt for at least one more assailant. According to Turkey, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was detained in June 2015. Turkish authorities warned their Belgian counterparts that he was a militant. However, el-Bakraoui was later released by Belgium, with no links with terrorism found, Ankara said. Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens denied the reports.
nytimes.com, euronews.com
EU ministers discuss measures: EU interior and justice ministers will hold a crisis meeting in Brussels following the terrorist attacks. Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for a European pact for freedom and security. The fact that extremists were able to hit high-profile targets in Brussels, Europe’s symbolic capital, just months after IS jihadists killed 130 people in Paris, raised fresh questions about the continent’s ability to cope with the terror threat. The introduction of security checks at airport entrances will be discussed next week by a group of EU and national experts.
euractiv.com, euobserver.com
Steinmeier warns Syria clock is ticking: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there is no time to lose in agreeing upon a peace deal in Syria. Steinmeier stressed that a prisoner exchange was among the first items that would need to be addressed, before bigger issues were addressed at the Geneva talks. Both he and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, also urged unity a day after the Brussels attacks. Lavrov called for Europe to unite behind efforts to fight terrorism and drop its “geopolitical games“ in light of the attacks.
dw.com
MEPs urge not to renew authorisation of glyphosate: So long as serious concerns remain about the carcinogenicity and endocrine disruptive properties of the herbicide glyphosate, which is used in hundreds of farm, forestry, urban and garden applications, the EU Commission should not renew its authorisation. Instead, it should commission an independent review and disclose all the scientific evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) used to assess glyphosate, said Environment Committee MEPs on Tuesday.
europarl.europa.eu
EU Commission fights tax evasion: The EU Commission will step up its fight against tax evasion by large corporations. In the future, tax authorities in the EU are to extensively communicate with one another. The Commission proposes to introduce obligatory country-by-country reporting to tax authorities for corporations with revenues equal or higher than 750 million euros. Critics, however, complain about weaknesses in the proposal.
sueddeutsche.de
EIB: Supporting investments increasing the energy efficiency of residential buildings in Bucharest eib.org
Council: Hate speech targeted by Council of Europe euractiv.com
Mergers: Commission approves Statoil Fuel and Retail’s takeover of Shell’s Dansk Fuels, subject to conditions europa.eu
⊂ QUOTES ⊃
„Measures should have been taken in connection with the opening of the internal borders, to compensate for disadvantages for police and tax authorities in terms of crime, terrorism, and tax evasion.“
Joachim Bitterlich, former diplomat and advisor to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, fears that Schengen could turn into the “gravedigger of the EU”.
tagesspiegel.de
„If in Belgium they continue to eat chocolate, enjoy life and parade as great liberals and democrats while not taking account of the fact that some of the Muslims who are there are organising acts of terror, they will not be able to fight against them.“
Yisrael Katz, Israel’s minister for both intelligence and transport portfolios, accuses the Belgian government of being too busy eating chocolate than dealing with the country’s threat of radical Islamism.
newsweek.com
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
Johnson sets out his case for a Brexit: Mayor Boris Johnson, one of the most prominent British politicians lobbying for Britain to leave the EU, said the UK’s financial sector would prosper outside of the EU as he set out his case Wednesday for why the UK would be better off economically with an exit. In an appearance before a parliamentary committee probing the costs and benefits of the UK’s EU membership, Johnson sought to pick apart the arguments of those who say that Britain would have greater economic security remaining in the EU. But lawmakers said his arguments were inconsistent and that he was exaggerating the burdens of EU regulations to boost his campaign.
wsj.com
The new silk road: China’s plan to build veins of trade over land and sea into Europe and Asia may be the most significant global economic initiative in the world today. The initiative is gigantic, with future investments of almost 1 trillion dollar already announced. It is is broken into a land component, known as the Silk Road Economic Belt, and a sea component, called the Maritime Silk Road. The “Belt” will consist of a number of corridors connecting China to the far reaches of Eurasia by road and rail. The “Road” will involve the development of ports and shipping routes connecting Chinese harbors to Europe and the South Pacific.
pbs.org
Austrian presidential race heats up: The race is expected to be contested between Alexander van der Bellen (Austrian Green Party), former Social Affairs Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer (SPÖ), former first president of the National Council Andreas Khol (ÖVP), third president of the National Council Norbert Hofer (FPÖ), Lugner and retired Supreme Court of Justice judge Irmgard Griss (both independent). It seems increasingly unlikely that any of the candidates will secure an absolute majority during the first round of voting. The two candidates from the ruling parties, the SPÖ and ÖVP, face particular difficulties, as current polls suggest they could struggle to make the second round of voting, let alone the runoff.
euractiv.com
Fined for helping refugees in Denmark: Denmark’s former children’s ombudsman has accused the government of criminalising decency as hundreds of people are prosecuted under human trafficking laws for helping refugees. 300 Danes have been prosecuted for transporting refugees in what has been condemned as a clear political signal aimed at dissuading volunteers.
independent.co.uk
Italy: Former Rome mayor Alemanno on trial for corruption theguardian.com
Spain: Nazis attack mosque in Madrid taz.de
⊂ DATA ⊃
43 percent of Brits polled support a British exit from the European Union. An ICM online poll showed the “Out” campaign had taken a 2 percentage point lead, with support for leaving at the highest level since May 2015.
uk.reuters.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 ⊃
American survives third terrorist attack: Three missionaries from Utah were hurt in the Brussels terrorist attack. One of them was Mason Wells, 19, of Sandy. This was not Wells‘ first brush with terror. He was in Boston to watch his mother run the marathon in 2013 when two Chechen immigrant brothers set off shrapnel-filled bombs that killed three and wounded scores more, his family said. Wells was also in Paris this past November when the French capital was attacked by Belgium-based terrorists, the family said.
bbc.com, nbcnews.com
Happy Easter: The European Circle team wishes all readers a peaceful and relaxing Easter!