EU leaders meet on defence – EUbusiness Week newsletter 642 – EUbusiness.com

EUbusiness Week 642 top stories: EU leaders agree limited defence cooperation; EU probes Germany energy price breaks for business; Brussels wants cloned meat off the table; Euro-Banking Authority warns over Bitcoin; Two insecticides a risk for human nervous system; Sweet success as Turkish baklava wins prized EU status

Publisher’s Note

Europe’s economy is becoming greener, as Eurobarometer reports smaller businesses are becoming more resource efficient and contributing more to the transition to a low-carbon economy. SMEs are getting better at minimising waste, saving energy and materials. More are also going organic and use eco-labelling. No room for complacency, however, says the Commission, as SMEs in the USA are catching up quicklty. To remain competitive in this key sector, EU businesses will need more support for cutting costs, boosting revenues and creating more green jobs.
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Service: EUbusiness moves to its reduced service over the break, with the next newswire going out in January. I wish you the Season’s Greetings and best wishes for a healthy, peaceful and successful New Year.
Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

1. EU leaders agree limited defence cooperation

European Union leaders agreed limited steps Thursday towards greater defence cooperation but British opposition to the bloc having its own armed forces highlighted differences over how far they can go.
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Finance ministers reach banking union deal

2. EU probes Germany energy price breaks for business

The Commission has opened a probe into German help for large companies amid its green energy shift, sparking a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that Berlin would fight back.
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Brussels opens probe into UK state aid for new nuclear plant

3. Brussels wants cloned meat off the table

The Commission said Wednesday it would ban meat from cloned animals but stopped short of imposing restrictions on produce from the offspring of such animals, a hugely sensitive issue.
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4. Euro-Banking Authority warns over Bitcoin

The Union’s banking watchdog has issued a warning over virtual currency trading amid huge swings in the value of Bitcoin, a lack of regulation and money laundering risks.
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5. Two insecticides a risk for human nervous system

The EU has warned that two widely used insecticides, one of which has been implicated in catastrophic bee population decline, may pose a risk to human health by harming brain development.
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6. Sweet success as Turkish baklava wins prized EU status

While Turkey has vainly clamoured for years to join the European Union, a sweet pastry made in the country’s south-east tasted more success on Thursday, winning the EU’s prized “protected status”.
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EUROPEAN LAW

GM potato: the EU’s second highest court has annulled a Commission decision to authorise a genetically modified potato developed by German giant BASF, saying it had not followed proper procedure.
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EUR 70,000 fine urged in easyJet disabled passenger case
Latest Court of Justice judgements
EU Law Firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Ukraine: President Vladimir Putin’s move to pull Ukraine back from the brink of default with a multi-billion dollar aid package is aimed at preserving Kremlin power in its neighbour as Kiev battles a pro-EU uprising.
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Turkey signs EU migrant pact as relations thaw
Britain rushes through EU benefits changes
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Commission Watch

Serbia: Serbia on Tuesday won the European Union’s long-sought blessing to kick off talks on joining the bloc in January, in recognition of its efforts in normalising ties with Kosovo.
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US, EU hold third round of free-trade trade talks
EU hands EUR 147m more to UN agencies to help Syrians
Belgium sells Commission HQ for nearly EUR 640m
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Parliament Watch

Banking Union: Parliament head Martin Schulz warned Thursday that EU leaders face “very long negotiations” with MEPs over a new bank regulatory system which many of them believe falls well short of what it should be.
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EU takes key step on bank deposit guarantee system
EU must engage Iran on human rights: MEP
Also this week, MEPs agreed with the presidency a provisional deal on common battery chargers for mobile phones, to cut cost and waste; the Civil Liberties Committe said Parliament should consent to a trade deal with the US only if it makes no reference to data protection; and the Transport Committee approved a package of measures to make rail travel more attractive by creating more competition and a common certification scheme for trains.
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EU diary

19-20 Dec, European Council
13-16 Jan, European Parliament plenary session
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary