News

The coronavirus outbreak has exposed a rift exist between the Southern Europe and Northern Europe.

Italy and Spain – the worst hit countries – are angry with the northern nations, which is led by Germany and the Netherlands, as the latter has done not much to support the former.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned of serious consequences. As per his statement, if the EU fails to come up with a applicable plan to surmount the financial burden fallen up on the worst hit countries, the European Union economic bloc will fall apart.

As an attempt to cool down the tension, some EU frameworks have assured that they would come up with a powerful plan soon.

Unfortunately, a meeting happened two weeks ago to discuss this matter miserably failed to bear any fruit.

What Italy, Spain, France and some other EU states want is to share out coronavirus-incurred debt in the form of “coronabonds” – mutualised debt that all EU nations help pay off.

The problem here is that not all countries – especially some powerful countries in the northern part of Europe like Germany – are happy with the mutualised dept idea.

Whether this crisis contributes to the collapse of the decades-old Economic Union exist in the continent of Europe is yet to be seen.


Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

News

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s defense minister and fellow conservative party member, Ursula von der Leyen has been nominated by the EU leaders for the block’s top jobs.

It is for the first time that a women is being nominated for the EU Commission Chief. Leyen’s name has been suggested after the main front-runners were rejected.

The name of Christine Lagarde, the IMF chef will be proposed by the counsel for leading the European Central Bank (ECB). It is for the first time that a women’s name is proposed for leading the ECB.

Charles Michel will be nominated as the president of the European Council. Josep Borrell Fontelles of Spain will be taking the role of foreign policy chief.

The EU leaders were assigned to select 5 people for the top job’s. The fifth job role – president of the European Parliament is to be chosen on Wednesday.

Mr Tusk said, “We have agreed the whole package before the first session of the European Parliament”. The nominations were “the fruit of a deep Franco-German entente”, said Emmanuel Macron, the French President.

Image courtesy: dw.com / images are subject to copyright

News

An EU rule that came into effect on Monday insists all the electric cars to emit voice as the silent feature tends to create more chances for accidents.

This leads the new electric vehicles to feature a noise-emitting device. The rule makers are concerned that the low-emission cars and vans are too quiet that they are not audible to the pedestrians and creates accidents.

As per the rule, all the four wheeler electrical vehicles must be installed with a traditional engine-like device. Avas (a car’s acoustic vehicle alert system) should produce sound during reversing or travelling below 12mph (19km/h).

With out this acoustic system installed, no four-wheeled electric vehicle will be approved for road use from 1st of July 2019.

The European Parliament had been facing pressures from unions like European Blind Union since 2013, for making this rule into action. All the private and commercial vehicles will be coming under this new rule.

Image courtesy: intheblack .com  / images are subject to copyright

News Politics

The leaders of EU had taken decisions to grant permissions to Theresa May for Brexit delay. France urges for conditions to limit Britain’s ability to undermine the bloc.

Prime Minister Theresa May dashed to Berlin and Paris for a meetup with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron to ask for permission to allow UK to put off its divorce from April 12.

It is not yet clear about what Merkel and Macron had agreed with May. A draft seen by reuters read, “The United Kingdom shall facilitate the achievement of the Union’s tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union’s objectives”.

A Brexit delay to June 30 was asked by May to the EU. But the draft left the end-date blank pending a decision by the other 27 national leaders on Wednesday evening in Brussels.

May had said that she fears Brexit might never happen as she battles to get a divorce deal ratified by a divided parliament, more than a week after Britain was originally supposed to leave the EU.

Image courtesy: euronews. com / images are subject to copyright

News

The EU lawmakers, on Wednesday had approved a low that allows Britons visa-free visits even after a “no deal” Brexit. Severe disputes had been occurring over the status of Gibraltar.

The law already had the backing of member states. Even though Britain is about to leave the EU almost by next week, the law allows British visitors 90-day trips to the Schengen passport-free zone.

When asking the committee to back the proposal, Bulgarian EU lawmaker Sergei Stanishev said, “The 12th of April is coming and the faith of millions of UK citizens and EU citizens and their right to travel is in our hands”.

Image courtesy: majorcadailybulletin. com / images are subject to copyright

International Relations News

The EU officials meet in Brussels for offering Theresa May a delay for Brexit beyond March 29. Reports says that a condition was put forward that she can finally win over her many opponents in parliament next week.

The European Council president Donald Tusk had delivered a statement on Brexit ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, reports reuters. Theresa May could not unite her divided cabinet, parliament or nation behind her exit plan, since around three years after Britons narrowly voted in a referendum to leave the EU.

May had asked EU to postpone Brexit until June 30, since she needed time to secure a deal in parliament and avoid an abrupt departure next week that could spell economic chaos.

In a letter inviting all 28 EU national leaders to Brussels talks, the summit chairman Donald Tusk said, “We could consider a short extension conditional on a positive vote on the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons”.

It is expected that any delay must be approved by all the other 27 national EU leaders, increasingly exasperated with Britain’s inability to find a way of a domestic political deadlock that is weighing heavily on the whole bloc.

Image courtesy: reuters.com / images are subject to copyright

News Politics

The demand for snap election is active in Spain, which is at present in the hands of leftists. Hours before, the rights have successfully organised a protest in Madrid demanding the resignation of the ruling leftists. Through it has been triggered by the ruling’s lenient stand towards the Catalonian separatists’ demand (that is, the independence of Catalonia), all efforts have been directed solely towards the destruction of the political base of the leftists in the country.

The tread is not different elsewhere in Europe. It is evident in Italy (with the presence of the Five Star Movement and Northern League), France (with the presence of Marine Le Pen), the UK (with the victory of Brexit), and even in Germany (with the emergence of far-rights voices in the country).

Europe MarineLePen France EuropeTimes

Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK are the four biggest economies in the continent. It is on these economies the entire European Union stands. With the UK’s proposed departure and the ongoing friction between France and Italy, the union at present already has a buddle of problems to deal with.

It is sure that the union cannot survive another big blow. It is high time to articulate a applicable strategy to counter the emerging threat of euroscepticism.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright

News Politics

Severe clashes have broken out near the Greece parliament between the protesters, who have gathered there in protest against the leftist government’s recent action in connection with Macedonia, and the police force.
Recently, the leftist government of Greece reached an agreement with Macedonia over its name, as against the interest of a large section of the conservative people of the country, in order to end its decades-old standoff with its neighbour that carries the name of its dearest city.
The Greek city of Macedonia is close to the heart of each conservative citizen due to the prominent role it has played in the evolution of the country’s culture and history, for the protection which every Greek conservative stand for.
The concession given by the leftist government of Greece to its neighbour in the usage of name is regarded by the Greek conservatives as the permission to damage and to appropriate all those they seek to protect.        
The Greek parliament is scheduled to vote on this subject soon. Given that, the latest protest near the parliament is of great significance.
Recently, the Greece leftist government faced a non-confidence motion. It was with severe uneasiness that the government surmounted it, as just before the voting it lost the support of its key partner to the same issue.
The conflict between Macedonia and Greece over the name was the fact that kept the former Yugoslavian republic away from the European Union.
With the recognition of its new name ‘The Republic of North Macedonia’, the European country has not only put its dispute with its neighbour to rest, but also has put to motion its dreams of getting into the most powerful economic union of the world.

Vignesh. S. G
Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright