EU bulletin 15th January 2016 UKIP's slur against British civil servant
Britain got one step closer to a compromise with its European Union partners over curbing welfare payments to EU migrants when the senior EU official in charge of the negotiation said fundamental rights in Europe were "not unconditional", EurActiv reports: www.euractiv.com/sections/uk-europe/britain-nears-compromise-eu-migrant-welfare-curbs-320989
However, according to EUobserver, a deal on EU reforms with Britain in February is possible but one should "not put money on it," the European Commission's chief negotiator said on Thursday (14 January): euobserver.com/institutional/131838
UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said in 2015 that he wouldn't call English EU senior official Jonathan Faull British, in a stinging rebuke to the veteran civil servant chosen by the European Commission to head up its taskforce on the "Brexit" referendum. Farage's comment on Faull, who was born in Kent, is reported in EurActiv: www.euractiv.com/sections/uk-europe/farage-commissions-brexit-boss-i-wouldnt-call-him-british-315766
An opinion piece by Richard Corbett MEP, vice-president of the UK European Movement, entitled 'Which Democratic Deficit?' is lead item in today's European news roundup circulated by the European Movement Germany (EBD Netzwerk-News): www.richardcorbett.org.uk/which-democratic-deficit/
The European Commission announced it will come out with a legislative proposal to reform the ePrivacy directive in mid-2017: www.euractiv.com/sections/digital/commission-propose-reform-eprivacy-directive-2017-320948
Eurozone countries should share more economic risks, beyond what is implied by their banking union, to make the monetary union work better, the European Commission said in a quarterly report on the single currency area, EurActiv reports: www.euractiv.com/sections/euro-finance/commission-calls-more-economic-risk-sharing-eurozone-320902
The EU's new investment fund may prove to be a model of how the EU intends to spend part of its budget in future, reports EUobserver: euobserver.com/economic/131842 The fund has mobilised so far €50 billion in investment, the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) said Thursday (14 January): euobserver.com/economic/131839
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is not lending any new money to Volkswagen "for the time being" while the German auto manufacturer is being investigated for its use of defeat devices in emissions tests, reports EUobserver: euobserver.com/economic/131833
From Warsaw to Budapest and beyond, the EU must protect civil society,
judicial independence and freedom of expression. All are vital in the fight
against corruption., according to an opinion piece in EUobserver: euobserver.com/opinion/131834
Jews in western Europe are leaving for Israel in record high numbers amid an on-going spate of anti-semetic attacks, reports AP. Some 9,880 western European Jews emigrated to Israel in 2015. Around 8,000 are from France, followed by 800 from the UK. Others also left from Italy and Belgium, reports EUobserver: euobserver.com/tickers/131849
The Netherlands is taking its first group of 50 relocated asylum seekers, reportsDutch media outlet NOS. The 50 are Eritreans relocated from Italy. The EU has agreed to relocate 160,000 over a two-year period starting last September. The Dutch distribution brings the total relocated so far to 300: euobserver.com/tickers/131850
EU commissioner for migration Dimitris Avramopoulos has announced the revamp of the key asylum law which would be based on a distribution key system, allocating asylum applicants to member states "quasi-automatically", EUobserver reports: euobserver.com/migration/131840