Author: Euronews

EU executive blamed India’s hard stance on food stockpiling for lack of breakthrough at World Trade Organisation’s biennial agriculture ministerial. ADVERTISEMENTDespite an eleventh-hour attempt, the more than 1000 WTO delegates gathered in Abu Dhabi last week failed to agree to a major reform of the global trade rules for food subsidies.“We did not progress on an agriculture package, to the detriment of most vulnerable countries, despite our pragmatic engagement. Divergences were too large to be solved,” said Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis in a statement.The bloc’s Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski went further, saying the reason WTO members could not…

Inflation in Turkey surged to a 15-month high in February, surpassing expectations and fuelling fears of further rate hikes. ADVERTISEMENTThe Turkish Statistical Institute announced on Monday that the country’s annual inflation rate rose to 67.07% in February, overshooting forecasts.Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted that annual inflation would climb to 65.7% in February, before falling to 42.7% by the end of 2024.From January to February, the monthly rate of change was 4.53%, less than last month’s jump of 6.7%, but well above the Reuters poll forecast of 3.7%.The shock result was primarily driven by price increases in the hotel, cafe,…

Rome was more than a stunning background for the Party of European Socialists (PES) as they gathered for their congress ahead of the June elections. ADVERTISEMENTOn paper, the two-day meeting over the weekend was designed to extol the chief achievements of social democracy over the past five years, parade a succession of high-profile leaders and designate a lead candidate for the continent-wide polls.The lucky one was Nicolas Schmit, a relatively unknown figure who led the internal race uncontested. His credentials as European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights were convincing enough to earn him an election by acclamation.”Comrades, we have a…

French supermarkets can no longer offer discounts of more than 34% for various personal and household products. The new law aims to protect smaller companies against the might of multinationals’ mega sales. But how will it work for consumers? ADVERTISEMENTMega sales for items such as shampoo, toothpaste and toilet paper are over in France. Discounts of more than 34% of products’ usual prices are forbidden, which marks the end of sales such as “buy one, get one free” that often draw the attention of shoppers trying to be careful of their household spending.The new law, effective since 1 March, was…

Ukraine’s trade representative says Polish farmers’ grievances must be addressed on a rational, product-by-product basis to avoid unfair prejudice against the war-torn nation. ADVERTISEMENTSpeaking in an interview with Euronews on Monday, Taras Kachka – who also serves as Kyiv’s deputy economy minister – said his government is in “very constructive dialogue” with Warsaw to tackle the dispute over imports of grain, but warned against making Ukraine a scapegoat for broader problems in the agricultural sector.Kachka also said that as the European Union enters an emotionally charged period of widespread protests, it must uphold its rational approach to solving problems without giving into…

Banks warn of a surge in long-term mortgages as buyers seek to get on the housing ladder. ADVERTISEMENTMortgages that require longer-loan repayments are becoming increasingly popular in the UK, according to the banking association UK Finance. Up until recently, the average length of a mortgage in the UK had been 25 years.In December, 23% of first-time buyers took out mortgages longer than 35 years,  compared with 11% of non-first time buyers, data released by the group revealed.Just a year ago, the proportion of people buying their first home who took out loans over 35 years was 17%, up from 9% in…

The European Commission started investigating following a complaint by Spotify in 2019. ADVERTISEMENTUS tech giant Apple has been ordered to pay a fine of €1.8bn for abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users, the European Commission said today (4 March). The company applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from using cheaper music subscription services outside of the app, the investigation found. “For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store. They did so by restricting…

For the first time in 12 years, since President Aleksandar Vučić’s party has been in power in Serbia, official measures approved in Brussels are sending a clear warning to Serbian authorities: there’ll be no more EU funding unless allegations of election fraud are thoroughly investigated. ADVERTISEMENTGoverned for more than a decade by a national-populist regime, Serbia finds itself at a critical juncture: it’s navigating the challenges of economic stability and democratic erosion while relying heavily on trade with the European Union, as well as its pre-accession funds from the bloc.This reliance shows just how important EU-Serbia relations are, both economically…

Data for the month of February shows inflation is back to its 2021 level, at 1.2%, compared with the same time last year, putting Switzerland on the same path as its European neighbours. ADVERTISEMENTThe small European country (8.8 million inhabitants) has been on this path for a few months now, with inflation generally slowing over the last year. February registered a slow deceleration compared with January’s 1.3% rate.The Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Monday that prices continued to be on the rise in several categories, including air transport and housing rentals. On the other hand, common food items…

Russia is among the countries announcing cut extension, announcing an additional voluntary reduction of 471,000 barrels per day for the second quarter. ADVERTISEMENTSome members of oil cartel OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and allied producers like Russia are again deepening their voluntary crude supply cuts.Announcements from several OPEC+ countries extend reductions of some 2.2 million barrels a day, the secretariat for the multinational organisation noted Sunday. Saudi Arabia led the pack by extending its previously implemented cut of 1 million barrels daily through the end of 2024’s second quarter.The extension, first shared by the state-owned Saudi Press Agency citing an energy…