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May. 16, 2014

Data released by European statistics agency Eurostat shows that growth in euro zone rose 0.2 percent in first quarter, which translates to annual growth rate of 0.8 percent; while data represents fourth straight quarter of expansion, it is half what economists expected; growth is so feeble that it could be years before Europe recovers. MORE

European Court of Justice ruling that Google can be forced to remove links from some searches will be carried out by data privacy regulators at 28 different agencies across the European Union; court has given little guidance to agencies in applying the ruling, which could result in jurisdiction shopping as different European countries interpret ruling in different ways. MORE

Editorial warns that European Court of Justice decision to make Google comply with requests from individuals to remove links on search results pages could undermine press freedoms and free speech; contends that desire to allow individuals to erase data they no longer wish to disclose is understandable; urges lawmakers not to create a right so powerful that it could limit press freedoms or allow individuals to demand that lawful information in a news archive be hidden. MORE

Credit is harder to come by in some of more troubled euro zone countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece; many small and medium-size businesses are struggling to get loans that would help them rebuild, finding interest rates are much more expensive than in thriving European Union countries; situation is hampering economic recovery. MORE

Adam B Bartos, Czech journalist running in May elections for European Parliament, has campaigned on anti-Semitic sentiments and anti-European Union messages; parties outside the mainstream are expected to win as many as quarter of the Parliament's 750 seats, indicating rise of far-right leaders. MORE

Influential group of British Euroskeptics, after talks with Continental politicians, accept that early treaty change with European Union is neither likely nor necessary in order to change Britain's ties to the EU; move gives Prime Min David Cameron some breathing room as European nations seek to avoid treaty rewrite. MORE

European Union report says European labor market remains stagnant despite signs of growth; jobless rate was 11.8 percent in March in 18 nations that share euro currency. MORE

European Union statistics agency Eurostate reports annual rate of inflation in the euro zone rose to 0.7 percent in April 2014, from 0.5 percent in March; rate remains well below European Central Bank's official target of slightly less than 2 percent. MORE

Members of European Union condemn execution death of Clayton D Lockett in Oklahoma, brutal ordeal that dragged on for 43 minutes; authorities used improvised cocktail of drugs to kill Lockett due to shortages of sodium thiopental, drug commonly used for lethal injections, resulting in badly enacted execution. MORE

Originally posted here:
European Union's - Times Topics - The New York Times

Ukrainian army servicemen stand near an armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) as they man a checkpoint in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Slavyansk(Reuters)

The European Union wants to settle a gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia before June 1 and plans two more rounds of talks for next week, the EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Monday.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with the Russian energy minister and the head of Gazprom, Oettinger told reporters that the EU would try to mediate on a deal that reduces the price Ukraine pays for gas.

"We have a timeframe that ends on June 1. We want to do all we can in two rounds of talks next week to clear up the open questions," he told German television channel ARD.

"Next Monday the next round of talks with the EU, Russia and Ukraine are planned," he added.

Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom nearly doubled the price it charges Ukraine for gas after pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February. Ukraine's interim government has refused to pay the new price which it described as "political".

"We want to negotiate a market price for Ukraine so that it is in a better position than it would be with the demands Mr Putin has been making since April 1," said Oettinger.

"Somewhere in the middle would seem to be a fair result of negotiations," he said.

Ukraine relies on Russia for around half of its gas needs and the country is a crucial transit route for Russian gas being exported to Europe via pipeline. The European Union receives around a third of its total gas from Russia, around half of which arrives via Ukraine.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine if Kiev does not pay outstanding gas bills worth $3.51bn, warning European leaders that their supplies could also be affected if Ukraine does not pay for June gas deliveries in advance. He has called on EU leaders to help Ukraine pay off its debts to Gazprom.

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European Union Wants Ukraine Russia Gas Dispute Resolved Before June

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ON THURSDAY voters in Staffordshire will join thousands of others across the West Midlands region in electing seven Members of the European Parliament.

At the same time, people in South Cheshire will be voting for MEPs to represent the North West region.

In total, 751 MEPs will be elected across the 28 member states of the European Union in the largest trans-national poll in history.

But most residents in the Potteries would probably struggle to name any of their MEPs, or explain what they actually get up to in Brussels and Strasbourg.

The confusion can start in the voting booth, where voters are asked to choose between parties, rather than individual candidates as is usually the case in local and national elections.

Technically speaking, the election employs the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, which in laymen's terms means MEPs from different parties are elected in order to reflect the popular vote.

Robert Ladrech, professor of European Politics at Keele University, said: "The elections to the European Parliament operate on a different basis than elections to the House of Commons.

"Stoke-on-Trent is in the West Midlands region, which has seven seats to fill. Each political party has already selected their seven candidates, and has also ranked them from first to seventh.

"This matters because on polling day a voter simply votes for a party, and depending on the percentage of the vote the party receives, it takes one or more of the seven seats.

Excerpt from:
European elections 2014: How do they work and will Ukip make gains in the West Midlands?

The European Union, through European Development Fund for African Caribbean Pacific, has given 50,000 Euros (Rwf46 million) contract, to the regional cinema and audiovisual sector.

The contract dubbed "ACP Culture + Program," which was won by Maisha Film Lab, a Uganda-based film institute, will facilitate East African screenwriting competitions in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. About 60 best screenwriters will be awarded scholarships to improve their skills.

The contest will, also see 15 screenwriters selected from each of the four countries, and the overall national best screenwriter, will walk away with 2,000 Euros (Rwf2 million).

On Friday, Fibby Kioria, Programe director at Maisha Film Lab, told Journalists in Kigali that the competition aims at promoting culture and consolidating regional integration.

"We did not get European funding for Uganda, or Rwanda, or Kenya, we won it for East Africa. Our goal is to see the film industry in the region grow, while contributing to regional integration," she said.

"The task will give participants an opportunity to be trained by internationally renowned mentors to refine their work and broaden their horizons".

Eric Kabera, founder of The Rwanda (Kwetu) Film Institute, together with Maisha Film Lab, will carry out Rwanda's screenwriting lab.

"We look forward to the exercise with a lot of excitement. We hope to see Rwanda upcoming filmmakers. We also hope to see our regional film industry grow to the required standards," said Kabera.

Upcoming filmmakers will engage in an eight-day intensive scriptwriting competition slated to take place at Kwetu in July.

The screenwriting competition will supplement the annual Rwanda Film Festival nicknamed "Hillywood" that is scheduled for July 12 and the premiering of a new film titled 'Intore', a production of Kwetu institute.

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Rwanda: European Union Injects Cash Into Regional Film Industry

Monday, May 19 09:28:20

The European Union is considering raising the pressure on the United States in the world's largest trade dispute by challenging tax breaks that encouraged planemaker Boeing to keep production of its latest jet in Washington state, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The potential move would open a tense new phase in the decade-old formal trade dispute over aircraft industry aid, as Brussels and Washington argue about whether they have complied with rulings by the World Trade Organization, which in turn could set the tone for sanctions.

Both the EU and United States claimed victory when the WTO ruled between 2010 and 2012 against billions of dollars of support for Boeing and European rival Airbus, in a pair of cases spanning thousands of pages but lacking a final resolution.

But new aircraft developments by both companies have sparked fresh disputes over whether the two sides have obeyed those WTO rulings or simply continued aiding their industries as before.

The United States says European governments ignored the global trade court by agreeing to lend money to Airbus for the development of its new A350 jet, even though an internal row between Airbus and Germany has blocked part of that support.

Now, European officials are said to be getting ready to hit back by questioning $8.7 billion of tax breaks from Washington state and the issue may be discussed by ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Spain at next week's Berlin Airshow.

European Commission trade spokesman John Clancy called the Washington measure "the largest targeted state tax incentive for the civil aerospace industry in U.S. history."

"The EU is very concerned about the extension of these subsidies which indeed figure - originally and as extended - in the EU's WTO case on subsidies to Boeing, but it declines to comment further on the ongoing litigation," Clancy said by email.

The latest manoeuvres risk deepening an already bitter industrial and trade fight between the two planemakers as the 406-seat Boeing 777X and a large version of the A350 compete for billions of dollars of sales from around the end of the decade.

Originally posted here:
Huge tax breaks for Boeing challenged