Spain: Our way to the European Union
7th and final video about the Our Way to Freedom multilateral Comenius Association about the integration of Spain into the EU.
By: OWTF Comenius
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Spain: Our way to the European Union - Video
EuroCham Vietnam Vice Chairwomen Thien-Nga Ngo-Rocaboy gave a talk in Bizline show (VTV4)
EuroCham Vietnam Vice Chairwomen Thien-Nga Ngo-Rocaboy gave a talk in Bizline show (VTV4) about Viet Nam - European Union Free Trade Agreement. Date: Apr 26th 2014 Source: http://vtv4.vn/videodet...
By: EuroCham Vietnam
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EuroCham Vietnam Vice Chairwomen Thien-Nga Ngo-Rocaboy gave a talk in Bizline show (VTV4) - Video
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson launches Euro election campaign
Ruth Davidson will reaffirm her support for an in/out referendum on Britain #39;s membership of the European Union.
By: STV News
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Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson launches Euro election campaign - Video
The European Union is preparing to expand its sanctions over the Ukraine conflict to include some Russian companies, with a list of targets that may be approved as soon as May 12, according to two officials from EU countries.
The Russian companies facing penalties are blamed for the expropriation of businesses in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March over protests from the EU and the U.S., according to the officials, who spoke in Washington on condition that they not be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Envoys from the EUs 28 member states agreed provisionally on May 7 to expand their targets for sanctions to protest Russias moves in Ukraine. In addition to certain Russian companies, which the officials didnt identify, the list includes some Crimean individuals, they said. EU foreign ministers are set to take a final decision at a May 12 meeting.
The EU until now has limited its sanctions -- which impose asset freezes and visa bans -- to individuals rather than financial entities or businesses, because of the stiff legal standard that would require European sanctions to be linked to efforts to destabilize Ukraine or annex Crimea and also because of divisions among members over the scope of penalties.
For now, no new U.S. sanctions are expected to be announced May 12, according to several U.S. and European officials, though that could change if Russia or pro-Russian militants were to take further actions to destabilize Ukraine. Separatists in eastern Ukraine vowed yesterday to proceed with votes on autonomy scheduled for May 11, even after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a delay.
The new batch of EU penalties is intended to bring the bloc more in line with previously announced U.S. sanctions, said one European official involved in the discussions. The U.S., whose economy is less entwined with Russias than the EUs, has gone further so far, targeting what American officials have called Putins cronies as well as businesses associated with him.
Resistance continues among some EU member states over blacklisting companies because of concern that such a step would move too closely to penalizing a sector involved in commerce with Russia, such as European energy companies or financial institutions, according to the European officials.
One official said targeting only those Russian companies involved in nationalizing Crimean assets is the result of a compromise that was required to get buy-in from European states concerned about the impact on their economies and on businesses that trade with Russia.
Putins softer tone on May 7 -- when he urged separatists to postpone the ballots scheduled for May 11 and pledged to pull back Russian troops from Ukraines border -- hasnt been matched by Russias actions on the ground nor by the pro-Russian militants, the U.S. and European officials said.
The Russian leaders shift in rhetoric is more likely a ploy to sow discord among EU and NATO members, to deny involvement in the independence votes and to avoid further sanctions from a divided EU, the officials said,
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EU Said to Ready Sanctions on Some Russian Companies
The lack of support to European Union institutions may become a threat to European integration itself, Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso warned in a major speech delivered at Berlin's Humboldt University on the occasion of Europe Day.
Barroso, whose second term as Commission President expires in November, named three gaps in the functioning of the EU. His warning comes two weeks ahead of the European Parliament elections, that will be held across the Union on 22-25 May.
First, he saw a governance gap, because in his words member states on their own no longer have what it takes to deliver what citizens need, while European institutions still lack part of the equipment to do so. He then mentioned a legitimacy gap, because he said citizens perceived that decisions are taken at a level too distant from them.
Third, he said there was an expectations gap, because people expected more than the political system can deliver.
Barroso added that there was no automatic way for the 28 member countries to agree the tools to repair these gaps at European level. He argued for national governments and mainstream parties to show greater political will for EU cooperation.
No treaty change, no institutional engineering can replace the political will for Europe, he said.
Any political project needs a minimum of sustained support, Barroso insisted. Just two weeks from the European elections, the Commission President spoke in critical terms of the centre-left and the centre-right political forces in EU countries, whom he said should leave their comfort zone and confront the growing voices of euroscepticism and even europhobia.
Instead of abandoning the debate to the extremes, mainstream political forces have to recover the initiative and make the case for a positive agenda for Europe, both at the national and the Union level, Barroso said.
He regretted that in many cases, the mainstream forces had internalised populist arguments rather than countering them. He provided no details, but the episode in which he attacked the British Conservatives who he said were looking like UKIP, the Eurosceptic party of Nigel Farage which according to polls is likely to win the EU elections is still vivid [read more].
Barroso described the essence of the European project comparing it with the digits normally used to describe the evolution of internet.
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Barroso warns of declining support for EU ahead of election