EU: How do EU member states compare on minimum wage?

EU institutions on Wednesday struck a deal to ensure there is an "adequate minimum wage" in each member

Twenty-one of the EU's 27 member states have a minimum wage that ranged on January 1, 2022 from €332 per month in Bulgaria to €2,257 per month in Luxembourg.

Read more at: How do EU member states compare on minimum wage? | Euronews

EU taxation of multinationals—bypassing the unanimity blockage – by Tommaso Faccio and Francesco Saraceno

The French car-service company Heetch recently displayed an advertising campaign on the streets of Paris (see photo), which proudly affirmed its presence in many French cities but not in Luxembourg—a clear allusion to the tax headquarters of some of its competitors. The fact that ‘paying taxes in France’ has become a commercial argument shows that the issue of corporate avoidance is rising up the public agenda in many countries.

Yet the G20 process on taxing digital firms and introducing a global minimum tax to limit tax competition, led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, failed to reach consensus in 2020, mostly because of determination by the United States to protect its digital giants. The European Commission has made clear that, were the G20 to fail to deliver a global solution by mid-2021, it will act. But the EU is stuck between a rock—the US position will likely not change with the new administration—and a hard place: its own tax havens.

Read more at: EU taxation of multinationals—bypassing the unanimity blockage – Tommaso Faccio and Francesco Saraceno

EU-Britain Relations: Brexit: EU, UK finally clinch ′historic′ trade deal

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed to a post-Brexit free trade deal, sealing the UK's exit from the bloc, the UK government and EU announced on Thursday.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference on Thursday that: "It was a long and winding road, but we have a good deal to show for it."

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted an image of himself in front of a British flag with his thumbs up. The picture was accompanied by the text: "The deal is done."

Read more at: Brexit: EU, UK finally clinch ′historic′ trade deal | News | DW | 24.12.2020

EU-China: Council authorises signature of the agreement on geographical indications

The Council today adopted decisions on the signature of the agreement between the European Union and the government of the People's Republic of China on geographical indications (GIs).

This is the first significant bilateral trade agreement signed between the EU and China.

It will ensure that 100 EU agri-food GIs ("Geographical Indications") such as Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Languedoc wine, Polska Wódka or Elia Kalamatas get protection on the Chinese market. Likewise, 100 Chinese products will be protected in the EU, thereby ensuring mutual respect of the best of both agricultural traditions.

Read More at:
EU-China: Council authorises signature of the agreement on geographical indications - Consilium

Brexit: EU presidents von der Leyen and Michel sign UK withdrawal deal ahead of Brexit day

Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel have signed the Brexit deal on behalf of the European Commission and European Council, part of the process to ensure a smooth UK exit from the EU next week.

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2020/01/24/eu-presidents-von-der-leyen-and-michel-sign-uk-withdrawal-deal-ahead-of-brexit-day

WTO - Alternate Trade Dispute: China, Canada among WTO members backing alternate trade dispute scheme

China, Canada among WTO members backing alternate trade dispute scheme | CBC News

Global Warming: Paris Climate Agreement supported by China: Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping to agree 'irreversibility' of Paris climate accord

The French and Chinese presidents are set to sign an agreement that mentions the 'irreversibility' of the Paris climate accord, which comes just after the US said it filed paperwork to withdraw from the deal.

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/05/emmanuel-macron-and-xi-jinping-to-agree-irreversibility-of-paris-climate-agreement

EU Migration Agreement: France, Germany, Malta and Italy agree on sea migrant distribution

Key EU countries agree on sea migrant redistribution scheme

Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/3Q6GI

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Britain-Brexit: the curtains are closing on Theresa May as her Brexit deal is being rejected for the third time by the Parliament

Brexit: MPs reject May's EU withdrawal agreement

Read more at: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47752017

Britain - Brexit: Parliament votes to reject calls to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit - by Adam Bienkov

The House of Commons has voted to reject calls to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit after more than 5.8 million people signed a petition calling for Britain's exit from the EU to be reversed.

Members of Parliament voted by 184 to 293 against a motion brought forward by the Scottish National Party to make revoking Article 50 the "default" position if the Commons fails to ratify a deal.

May's government responded formally to reject the petition to revoke Article 50 on Tuesday.

The result came after MPs voted on a series of "indicative votes" on Brexit. Other options put to the vote included leaving the EU without a deal, holding a second referendum and remaining in the Customs Union. None commanded a majority.

Note EU-Digest: It looks like Theresa May still wants to force the parlementarians to vote for her deal eventually. Hopefully Parliament will allow a referendum on the  details of the agreement reached between the EU and Britain.  

Read more: Parliament votes to reject calls to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit

Britain - Brexit: UK speaker of the house blocks third vote on Brexit deal

UK speaker blocks third vote on Brexit deal

Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/3FGdr

United Nations - Migration: migration pact agreed on by more than 150 countries except USA, and several EU Eastern European countries

UN migration pact agreed to by more than 150 countries

Read more at: 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/un-migration-conference-morocco-1.4938985

EU - British relations Brexit: Gibraltar issue could lead to a Spanish Veto

Threatening Brexit 'veto,' Spain demands written commitment
from UK on Gibraltar - agreement reached, between Spain and EU Commission

Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/38nvL

Data Protection: EU, Japan edge towards data protection dealbusiness and politics

Following the July conclusion of EU-Japan talks on personal data flows, the Commission launched Thursday a procedure for adoption of its decision on data protection adequacy between the two blocs.

"We are creating the world's largest area of safe data flows," said the EU's Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, as she briefed the College of Commissioners on next steps and the Commission published the draft adequacy decision and the related documents.

This includes additional safeguards that Japan will apply to EU personal data transferred to Japan, as well as commitments regarding access to personal data by Japanese public authorities for law enforcement and national security purposes, guaranteeing that their level of data protection is adequate to that of the EU's. Japan is going through a similar process to recognise the EU's data protection framework.

Read more : EU, Japan edge towards data protection deal — EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics

North-Korea - US Summit: Full text of the U.S.-North Korea agreement signed by Trump and Kim

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement after their nuclear summit on Singapore on Tuesday. Here's the full text of the document, as released by the White House.

President Donald J Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held first historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

"President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive in-depth and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new US-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting an robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Convinced that the establishment of new US-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:

1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity
2. The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.

Having acknowledged that the US-DPRK summit — the first in history — was an epochal event of great significance in overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening up of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulation in this joint statement fully and expeditiously.

The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations, led by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the US-DPRK summit.

President Donald J Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new US-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world".

Note EU-Digest: Apart from being a PR Photo-Op; for a ruthless oppressive dictator, who has killed not only many of his own citizens, but also family members, and an ego-maniac President, this so-called "agreement" basically only reaffirms earlier US -North Korea agreements, and certainly does not deserve for Mr. Trump to get a Nobel Peace prize.

Read more: Full text of the U.S.-North Korea agreement signed by Trump, Kim

Britain - Brexit: Negotiators ready Brexit transition deal, Irish border uncertainty persists

Negotiators from the European Union and Britain on Monday hailed major progress in the Brexit talks, but conceded there had been no breakthrough on keeping open the Irish border.

Britain is due to leave the European Union at the end of March 2019, but Brexit talks must be concluded by this fall to leave national parliaments in the bloc time to ratify any deal.

"We have travelled a large section of the path toward an orderly withdrawal," EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters in Brussels. He said that negotiators, working day and night recently, had agreed on "a large part of what would constitute" the draft legal treaty governing Britain's departure.

He said the two sides have also reached an agreement on a transition period to help ease Britain out of the EU once it officially leaves on March 29, 2019. Barnier said the period would be "of a limited duration," in all likelihood ending on Dec. 31, 2020.

Read more: Negotiators ready Brexit transition deal, Irish border uncertainty persists - France 24

Germany: EU relieved after Merkel clinches grand coalition deal - by Eric Maurice

Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) concluded a coalition agreement on Wednesday (7 February), taking a step closer to ending a five-month long period of political limbo in Berlin.

The deal, under which the two partners will share what they considered as the most crucial ministries for themselves, will however to be approved by SPD members in the coming weeks.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats will occupy the ministries of interior, defence, agriculture, economy and health.

The sensitive interior portfolio - with the management of migration policies - was expected to go to Horst Seehofer, the leader of the CSU, the CDU's Bavarian branch. Seehofer, a hardliner, has been one of the main opponents of Merkel's migration policy since 2015.

Peter Altmeier, one of Merkel's closest allies, and finance minister since September, was expected to become economy and energy minister.



The finance ministry has been attributed to the SPD, with Hamburg's mayor Olaf Schorf being the favourite for the post, also as vice-chancellor.



Social Democrats will also get the ministries of labour and social affairs, justice, as well as foreign affairs for Martin Schulz, Merkel's opponent in the elections last September.


Schulz meanwhile will quit the SPD leadership and be replaced by Andrea Nahles, the leader of the party's group in the Bundestag.

Read more:  - EU relieved after Merkel clinches grand coalition deal

Pollution-Trash:EU legislators strike early morning deal on waste - by Paola Tamma

After marathon talks, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of EU member states reached agreement on a proposed package of waste legislation in the early hours of Monday (18 December).

The package includes four EU directives introducing new binding recycling targets, a cap on landfilling, and schemes to ensure that manufacturers cover the end-of-life treatment of products.

The agreement was struck at 4.30am after almost 18 hours of negotiations, EURACTIV has learned.

Read more: EU legislators strike early morning deal on waste – EURACTIV.com

Britain: Scared about your human rights after Brexit? You should be - by Schona Jolly

There was a time, not so long ago, that David Davis was a great fan of the EU charter of fundamental rights. He liked it so much that he used it to take up a legal challenge against the snooper’s charter (brainchild of the-then home secretary Theresa May), which ended up in Luxembourg.

How times change. Yesterday’s draft repeal bill sees Davis knocking out the protection of the charter on the day that we exit the EU. That means a whole swath of rights and protections will be lost to British citizens if it goes through unamended. It’s true that we will still have the rights inherent in the European convention on human rights (ECHR), but the two frameworks are different. While there is some overlap, the EU charter takes up a gamut of protections which are increasingly important in our fast-evolving society.

Take the right to data protection, which Davis relied on with deputy Labour leader Tom Watson for the challenge (until Davis withdrew from the case) leading to the European court of justice ruling against the general and indiscriminate retention of emails or electronic communications by government, with serious implications for the snooper’s charter. Or take the protection of children’s rights, or the freestanding right to equality. As with every argument when human rights treaties are involved, it’s always worth digging to see precisely which rights people are comfortable about losing.

 Although May has declared her commitment to workers’ rights, her record on human rights is chequered. Meanwhile, the government’s position is dubious. The parliamentary joint committee of human rights expressed serious concern about the government’s approach to safeguarding individuals’ fundamental rights post-Brexit, other than those protected under the ECHR. It noted that the government “seemed unacceptably reluctant to discuss the issue of human rights after Brexit. The minister of state responsible for human rights was either unwilling or unable to tell us what the government saw as the most significant human rights issues.” Meanwhile the UN high commissioner for human rights recently issued strong words against May’s call for human rights to be overturned if they were to “get in the way” of the fight against terror”.

Rights don’t often seem as though they matter, until they do. By then, it might be too late. 

Read more: Scared about your human rights after Brexit? You should be | Schona Jolly | Opinion | The Guardian

Greece Economy: A positive agreement for Greece

On 15 June, Greece’s creditors, Eurogroup, acknowledged the achievements of the Greek government on the implementation and outcome of fiscal policy measures.

The release of the next bailout tranche was agreed; more clarity was provided on the debt relief roadmap as well as next steps towards boosting growth.

These developments have delivered a positive signal to the markets and the Greek people, indicating that the Greek economy is steadily exiting the final stages of a longstanding and harrowing financial crisis.

For the first time since 2010, Greece’s creditors have pledged to prioritize a growth-oriented model that entails the participation of the European Investment Bank in medium- and large-scale investment projects, as well as the creation of a Greek Development Bank – a proposal that the Greek government has made since 2015.

The reluctance of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, to accelerate the conclusion of the bailout review was significantly addressed after the Greek government, the European Commission, the French government and the progressive forces in the European institutions pressured the Eurogroup to agree to Greece’s bailout review.

The French played a mediating role for the need to develop growth policies, so that the Greek economy can start warming its engines.

Read more: A positive agreement for Greece