European Union | DD News

July 4, 2024 3:40 PM

EU imposes duties on China-built EVs, leaving four months for talks

The European Union will impose tariffs of up to 37.6% from Friday on imports of electric vehicles made in China, EU officials said on Thursday, ratcheting up trade tension with Beijing. There is however a four-month window during which the tariffs are only provisional and intensive talks are expected to continue between the two sides. The European Commission's provisional duties of between 17.4% and 37.6% without backdating are designed to prevent what its president Ursula von der Leyen has sa...

July 4, 2024 12:09 PM

As France votes, Europe holds its breath

When President Emmanuel Macron shocked France last month by calling a snap election, he was gambling with the future of Europe as well as his own country. While much depends on the second round of voting on Sunday, it already seems clear that Macron's role as a driver of European integration will be significantly diminished. The two most likely scenarios – a government led by the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen or a hung parliament – would present unprecedented challenges fo...

September 16, 2024 6:12 PM

146 Indian students awarded prestigious Erasmus Mundus Scholarships for 2024

146 Indian students have been selected for the esteemed Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the 2024 academic year. 75 women and 71 men will pursue two-year Master's programmes across Europe, making India one of the top recipients of the scholarship. The Delegation of the European Union to India and Bhutan reported that globally, 2,603 students from 137 countries have been granted scholarships for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's degree. This program offers a unique study experience delivered coll...

June 25, 2024 10:14 PM

Russia bans distribution of dozens of EU news outlets in retaliatory step

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was banning access inside Russia to the broadcasts of dozens of European Union media outlets in what it said was retaliation for a similar EU ban on several Russian media outlets. The European Union said in May it was suspending the distribution of what it described as four "Kremlin-linked propaganda networks," stripping them of their broadcasting rights in the bloc. It said at the time that the ban applied to Voice of Europe, to the RIA news agency...

June 25, 2024 2:21 PM

EU adopts new sanctions against Russia, including LNG

European Union countries adopted a 14th package of sanctions on Russia that aims to close some circumvention loopholes and hits Russia's gas exports for the first time, EU foreign affairs ministers said in a statement on Monday. Western powers imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has been progressively ramped up since. The package will also add 116 entities and individuals to the sanctions list bringing, the total t...

June 20, 2024 6:33 PM

Millions sweltering under extreme heat worldwide as summer arrives

Dangerous heatwaves are scorching cities on four continents as the Northern Hemisphere marks the first day of summer, a sign that climate change may again bring about record-breaking heat that could surpass last summer as the warmest in 2,000 years. Countries around the Mediterranean have endured another week of blistering high temperatures that have contributed to forest fires from Portugal to Greece and along the northern coast of Africa in Algeria, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and ...

June 20, 2024 3:08 PM

EU states approve 14th sanctions package against Russia, diplomats say

European Union countries approved a 14th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, diplomats said on Thursday, including a ban on re-exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in EU waters. Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency until July 1, said on the X platform that the package "maximises the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes". Countries debated the new measures for over a month and ultimately watered down one of the Commission's proposals, a...

June 19, 2024 4:46 PM

Dutchman Mark Rutte, longtime Putin critic, set to lead NATO alliance

Mark Rutte, who looks set to be NATO's next secretary-general, is a staunch ally of Ukraine and a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who honed his skills as a political dealmaker during nearly 14 years as Dutch prime minister. Rutte, 57, has been one of the driving forces behind Europe's military support for Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, and says defeat on the battlefield for Moscow is vital to secure peace in Europe. His view is heavily influenced by the downing of an ...

June 19, 2024 1:51 PM

Very difficult to agree global plastics treaty this year, EU says

The European Union has said it will be "very difficult" for countries to agree on a new global treaty to tackle plastic pollution by the end of this year as planned. It is the clearest sign yet that the talks, which began in 2022 and have been beset by division over whether the treaty should limit plastic production, may fail to reach a resolution by the final meeting in Busan, South Korea in late November. Around 60 countries, including EU members, have demanded production caps in the treaty ...

June 10, 2024 3:46 PM

Euro and French markets roiled by shock Macron election call

The euro tumbled, while French bonds and stocks were hit hard on Monday, following French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call a snap parliamentary election after being trounced in a European Union vote by the far right. The euro fell 0.5% to a one-month low of $1.0764 and slumped to a 21-month trough against sterling of 84.53 pence. French blue-chip stocks dropped 2%, led by steep losses in the likes of lenders such as BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, making the CAC 40 the worst-...