Author: Euronews

A new EU law agreed early this morning compels banks to use domestic financial infrastructure – but not everyone’s happy. ADVERTISEMENTThe EU has agreed a new post-Brexit law forcing its banks to partly onshore their clearing activity – and not everyone is happy.The law, agreed early this morning (7 February), comes after the European Central Bank warned that continuing to rely on clearinghouses based in London could jeopardise financial stability.The new law, which requires banks to hold an active account at a domestic clearinghouse, was welcomed in a statement by lead MEP Danuta Hübner (Poland/European People’s Party), who said it…

The Reconquête! party of controversial far-right French politician Éric Zemmour has joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament. ADVERTISEMENTThe move is set to give the ECR faction a small boost ahead of June’s EU elections, where the Eurosceptic formation is set to make significant gains amid a projected leap in support for right-wing parties. Reconquête polls at between 5% and 7% of the estimated vote in France, which could see it gaining six seats in the European Parliament after June’s ballot.The party was previously allied to the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which hosts the…

Police searched the offices of French dairy company Lactalis on Tuesday, as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud. ADVERTISEMENTAccording to Le Monde, the French National Prosecutor’s Office is looking into whether Lactalis evaded French taxes by transferring profits to its subsidiaries in Belgium and Luxembourg. The publication reported that the search operations were carried out by police officers from the French National Fiscal Offenses Repression Brigade (BNRDF) in at least three separate locations, including at the dairy giant’s headquarters in the town of Laval.The amount of taxes involved over the period between 2009 and 2020 is estimated at several hundred…

The European Commission launched on Wednesday legal action against the so-called “sovereignty law” recently passed by the Hungarian parliament. ADVERTISEMENTThe legislation, spearheaded by Viktor Orbán’s ruling party and approved by the parliament in mid-December, empowers the state to investigate people and organisations suspected of undermining the country’s sovereignty, with potential convictions of up to three years in prison.Orbán, who frequently lambastes his critics as agents paid for by Western entities, says the law is necessary to protect Hungary from undue political interference.The bill’s implementation rests on the newly established “Office for the Defence of Sovereignty,” which can collect information on…

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews. The combination of a misaligned merger, a lack of in-house skills and experience to run a global network, and other major factors compromised the future of the once-great company, Yves Doz and Keeley Wilson write. ADVERTISEMENTThe recent Alaska Airlines incident is just the latest in a string of sometimes tragic mishaps by the aircraft manufacturer – where did it all go wrong?On 5 January, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 lost a fuselage cabin panel at…

There is no common definition of the crime of rape in the European Union’s first ever law to combat violence against women, agreed between member states and lawmakers on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENTThe original draft of the bill, tabled by the European Commission in March 2022, defined the crime of rape as sex without consent – with no need for victims to provide evidence of force, threats or coercion.It was based on the “only yes means yes” concept that has taken root in many member states amid a scourge of sexual crimes against women and girls.But after months of painstaking negotiations, 14…

Greece put up a 30% stake in Athens International Airport SA, subsequently drawing strong investor interest. ADVERTISEMENTAthens International Airport SA shares had a staggering start on the stock exchange in the Greek capital, following strong investor interest in what is being called the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in two decades in the country. The price soared by 15% at the start of the trading, Bloomberg reported. It comes after Greece completed a major privatisation last Friday, selling its 30% stake in the biggest airport operator in the tourism-reliant country during an initial public offering, releasing the shares on the Athens stock…

European producers are racing against the clock to build enough wind farms to meet the EU’s renewable energy targets by 2030. Euronews correspondent Andrea Bolitho speaks to the European manufacturers leading the charge for Business Planet. The European Commission says the EU needs to expand its wind power capacity and build an additional 31 GW (gigawatts) of wind farms every year if it is to meet the EU’s renewable energy target of 42.5 per cent by 2030.This ambitious target will require a massive increase in wind farms. A record number of wind farms were built across the continent in 2022,…

BP has been trying to transition into renewable and more sustainable energy for some time but has suffered a series of setbacks. ADVERTISEMENTBritish Petroleum (BP) released its Q4 2023 results on Tuesday. The company announced a $13.8 billion (€12.85 billion) underlying replacement cost profit, also considered a proxy for net profit, for the full year 2023. This figure was supported by industry refining margins being considerably lower, as well as gas trading picking up steam.Although 2023’s full-year profit was about half that of 2022’s $27.7 billion (€25.8 billion), when energy prices spiked due to the Russia-Ukraine war, it was still the…

Consumer demand has slumped following two months of improved retail growth, suggesting Europeans are still feeling the cost of living pinch. ADVERTISEMENTThe volume of eurozone retail sales fell by 1.1% in the month to December, Eurostat figures have revealed.Following November’s reading of 0.3% growth, the recent figures mark a disappointing fall into negative territory.Compared with the same period in 2022, the reading from the end of last year was down 0.8%, and the average for the whole of 2023 was down 1.8% on the previous year.Following a sharp drop in consumption at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, retail sales…