EUbusiness Week 655 top stories: France angles for new EU timetable on budget limits; EU-Africa summit agrees plan to stop migration tragedies; Poland calls for an EU energy union amid Ukraine crisis; EU reform to scrap mobile roaming fees; British EU membership key for success: car industry; Japan posts top growth in clean energy: survey
Publisher’s Note
Euro-MPs this week voted to fast-track a cap on the fees banks charge retailers for processing shoppers’ payments. Bank card payment fees are estimated to cost EU retailers over EUR 10 bn a year, but the fees are not clear to card users.
The new rules – capping fees at 0.3% of the transaction value for credit card payments and 0.2% for debit cards – would apply to both cross-border and domestic transactions in the EU. They are not a done deal, however, as swift adoption of the bill depends on agreement with the 28 Member States, as well as approval of the new MEPs after the Euro-elections.
More …
Regards,
Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness
EUBUSINESS WEEK AHEAD – FREE TRIAL Our sister newswire alerts you to the key developments in the European Union during the week ahead – from the EU institutions, as well as EU-related conferences and events. Sign up for a free trial at |
1. France angles for new EU timetable on budget limits
France’s reshuffled government took a combative tone with Brussels on Thursday, with new Finance Minister Michel Sapin saying the “pace” of deficit reduction would be raised in EU talks.
More …
Undermining EU budget rules undermines trust: ECB
2. EU-Africa summit agrees plan to stop migration tragedies
EU and African leaders trying to stop migrants from crossing the Mediterranean in perilous conditions unveiled a raft of measures on Thursday designed to boost development and crack down on human trafficking.
More …
EU-Africa: What’s in the relationship?
3. Poland calls for an EU energy union amid Ukraine crisis
Poland has begun campaigning in favour of an EU energy union in order to reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russian supplies, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
More …
US-EU energy strategy targets Russia and the long-term
4. EU reform to scrap mobile roaming fees
The European Parliament has endorsed a sweeping package of EU telecommunications reforms, including a much-awaited measure to end roaming charges for cross-border mobile phone use.
More …
5. British EU membership key for success: car industry
Britain’s membership of the European Union is “crucial” for the success of the automaking sector, the nation’s car industry body said in a key report on Wednesday.
More …
6. Japan posts top growth in clean energy: survey
Japan last year stepped up spending on clean energy at a faster rate than any other country, despite a drop in the world’s overall investment, a study said on Thursday.
More …
EUROPEAN LAW
Power cables fine: the Commission has fined 11 producers of high-voltage power cables a total of EUR 300 m for operating a cartel that secretly shared out the global market.
More …
Latest Court of Justice judgements
EU Law Firms
More …
Inside the EU Institutions
Council Watch
China: Chinese leader Xi Jinping, on the last leg of a maiden tour of Europe, on Monday made a ground-breaking visit to European Union headquarters underlining China’s bid to firm up bilateral ties.
More …
Greece to get EUR 6.3 bn loan slice in April: Eurogroup
EU launches Central Africa military operation
TV debates boost British eurosceptic leader
Council …
Commission Watch
Aid to Africa: the head of the EU’s huge aid programme to Africa warns that tying investment to democratic reforms risks backfiring if viewed as neo-colonialism.
More …
Netherlands brings deficit back under EU limit
Commission …
Parliament Watch
Magnitsky: the European Parliament voted Wednesday to demand EU sanctions on 32 Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and later attempts to suppress the case and harass his family.
More …
Europe needs a ‘New Deal’: Tsipras
This week MEPs approved an informal agreement with the Council stating that the emissions trading system will cover flights within the EU up until 2017; voted to bar internet access providers from blocking or slowing down services (such as Skype) for economic or other reasons; and signed off the Commission’s 2012 accounts – with reservations over the high error rate in agriculture and regional policy spending by Member States.
More …
EU diary
7 Apr, European Parliament Committee Meetings
9 Apr, Commission adopts Green Paper on mobile Health
10-11 Apr, European Competition Day
10 Apr, European Parliament Committee Meetings
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary
RESOURCES
EU Law Firms
Summaries of EU Legislation
EU Decision-Making
Treaties of the European Union
Key EU Legal Terms
Other news on EUbusiness this week
Thousands march in Spain against austerity 3-Apr
ECB ‘thanks’ IMF for advice on rates 3-Apr
EU watchdog urges airlines to avoid Crimea airspace 3-Apr
‘No deflation prospects’ in Europe: ECB 2-Apr
Eurozone business activity rallies: PMI index 2-Apr
