EU
Legislation for a Digital Euro is imminent, EU commissioner sets timeline for early next year
Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has said the EU plans to table legislation on a CBDC early next year There is concern that the EU could get left behind if it does not work on a digital euro soon As first reported by Politico, the European Commission has resolved to coin legislation around a digital asset, leading to a bill set to be proposed in early 2023. The EU’s Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and the Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness said at a recent fintech event that the commission would establish “a targeted legislative consultation” over the next few weeks. The European Central Bank (ECB) has started conducting internal trials on the digital euro designs, with a prototype expected to come towards the end of 2023. However, the consent of Eu...
Estonia is not considering a crypto ban: Finance Ministry notes
The statement comes as a sigh of relief as the crypto community in the country was worried about a purported blanket ban on digital assets The Ministry of Finance in Estonia has clarified via a statement that it is not looking to implement a crackdown on cryptocurrencies. The statement is in response to a draft legislation that sought to oversee the activity of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in an attempt to combat financial crime. The legislation is set to be discussed in the country’s parliament before a decision on its approval is made. Those investing or trading cryptocurrencies using their private wallet will not be affected by the regulations as implied by earlier reports. “…The legislation does not contain any measures to ban customers from owning and trading virtual ...
UK Artists Granted Visa-Free Touring in 19 EU Countries in Post-Brexit Agreements
The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying shutdown of the live music industry have masked many of the problems created by Brexit for the live-music sector. And fears have lingered about extra customs checks and performers and crews requiring visa and work permits for when European touring does resume. According to a survey conducted by the Musicians’ Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians in April and May, 77% of U.K. musicians expected their earnings in Europe to decrease when touring resumes due to additional Brexit-related red tape and touring costs. In January, over 100 acts, including Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Radiohead, signed an open letter to the British government saying it had “shamefully failed” them with the EU trade deal that was finalized on Dec. 24 by not s...
Lithuania begins building barrier on border with Belarus to block migrants
Lithuania began building a barrier along its border with Belarus on Friday after accusing Belarusian authorities of flying in migrants from abroad to send illegally into the European Union. The first stretch of barrier will run 500 metres (1,640 feet) in length, measure 1.8 metres (six feet) in height and consist of concertina and razor wire, the army defence chief’s spokeswoman Ruta Montvile told Reuters. Belarus in May decided to allow migrants to enter EU member Lithuania in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the bloc after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger who was on board. “If someone thinks we will close our border with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine and will become a holding site for those running from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq...
Jersey extends licences for EU fishing boats
The government of Jersey, a self-governing Channel Island between France and Britain, said Monday that it had extended a transitional fishing agreement with the European Union allowing EU boats to continue operating in its waters for three months. “The EU has recently requested an extension to the transitional arrangements, which had been due to come to an end on 30 June,” a statement from the Jersey government said, adding that “Jersey ministers have agreed to that request.” Jersey lies just off France’s northern coast and access to its rich waters has become a source of friction since Britain’s departure from the EU on January 1 tore up arrangements for fishing in the Channel. To gain new licences, Jersey has insisted that EU boats hand over proof that they have been operating in its wat...
French, German leaders urge EU coordination on reopening borders
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called on Friday for European Union countries to coordinate their COVID-19 border reopening policies and guard against new variants of the virus. Macron said EU countries must be careful not to allow new variants to spread, adding that the EU was watching developments in Britain, which has seen a steep rise in the weekly reported cases of the Delta variant. “Some countries have reopened their borders earlier for tourist industry reasons, but we must be careful not to re-import new variants,” he told a joint news conference with Merkel before a working dinner at the chancellery in Berlin. Merkel added: “We can’t act as if the coronavirus is over.” “Caution is still necessary so that we have a summer of many freedoms, if no...
Minister: Why Twitter, other platforms must register to operate in Nigeria
The Federal Government says its directive that Over the Top (OTT) and social media platforms operating in the country must register and obtain license to operate is in conformity with global trend. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this on Friday when he featured on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme “Good Morning Nigeria’’ monitored by newsmen. NAN reports that the Federal Government recently suspended operations of Twitter and directed that all OTT and social media platforms operating in the country must register with Corporate Affairs Commission. The Federal Government said they must also apply for licensing with the National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC). NAN reports that OTT media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via t...
Morocco says Madrid seeks to ‘Europeanise’ its crisis with Rabat
Morocco’s foreign minister on Wednesday accused Spain of trying to turn a political crisis between the two countries into an EU problem by focusing on migration and ignoring the root causes. The row blew up in April after Spain admitted the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, Brahim Ghali, for medical treatment without informing Rabat, which regards the disputed territory as its own. Morocco then appeared to relax border controls with Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta on May 17, leading to an influx of at least 8,000 migrants. Since then Spain and Morocco have traded accusations of violating good neighbourliness, with Spain saying Morocco used the migrants while Rabat says Spain acted in connivance with “adversaries” of its territorial integrity. “Spain tries to Europe...
Mali’s coup leader seizes power again
Mali’s president and prime minister have been ousted by the officer who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government. Col Assimi Goïta says President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition. They were arrested hours after a government reshuffle which saw two senior army officers replaced. Col Goïta says elections will still go ahead next year as planned. But he ignored pleas from the UN chief, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the EU and the US that the president and prime minister be released without any preconditions. The two men have been held at a military camp outside the capital, Bamako, since they were arrested on Monday evening. A delegation from Eco...
Fury over Belarus airliner ‘hijack’ set to dominate EU summit
Fury over the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Belarus has upended the agenda of a European Union summit dinner on Monday, where leaders were due to discuss relations with Russia and Britain but will now also consider punitive steps against Minsk. Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force the civilian aircraft to land on Sunday and then detained an opposition-minded journalist who was among the passengers on board. The diversion of a plane owned by an EU company that was flying between two EU capitals was “an inadmissible step”, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said, and it would be raised at the summit. “The EU will consider the consequences of this action, including taking measures against those responsible,” Josep Bor...
WTO chief: Patent waiver not enough to close vaccine gap
World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that intellectual property waiver alone will not be enough to narrow the huge COVID-19 vaccine supply gap between rich and poor countries. She told the European Parliament that it was clear that discussions around vaccine patents alone would not suffice, saying that global leaders should do more to ensure that there is equitable production and distribution of the jabs. Okonjo-Iweala said developing countries had complained that the licensing process was cumbersome and should be improved upon. She added that while it makes sense to protect research and innovation, it is also important to expand access to the vaccines. According to her, manufacturers should work to expand production, pointing to idle capacity ...
German foreign minister: EU veto ‘hostage’-taking on foreign policy must end
Germany’s foreign minister said on Monday the European Union should abolish the right of individual member states to veto foreign policy measures as the 27-nation bloc could not allow itself to be “held hostage”. His comments, which came days after a more junior official criticised Hungary by name, reflect growing frustration in Berlin at the way in which EU member countries can prevent the bloc from acting in matters on which almost all members agree. “We can’t let ourselves be held hostage by the people who hobble European foreign policy with their vetoes,” Heiko Maas told a conference of Germany’s ambassadors in Berlin. “If you do that then sooner or later you are risking the cohesion of Europe. The veto has to go, even if that means we can be outvoted.” His remarks amount to a highly u...