Archive for the ‘European Union’ Category

Govt announces Indian envoys to European Union, Italy, Denmark – Hindustan Times

India has announced a number of new diplomatic appointments in its missions abroad, including envoys to the European Union, Italy and Denmark.

Gaitri Issar Kumar, joint secretary in the Presidents Secretariat and a 1986 batch IFS officer, was on Tuesday named as Indias Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union which has its headquarters in the Belgian capital of Brussels.

The appointment assumes significance given Indias ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement with the EU which has been hanging fire after 16 rounds of negotiations.

Reenat Sandhu was on Tuesday named as Indias new Ambassador to Italy. The 1989 batch IFS officer replaces Anil Wadhwa, who retired this year.

Ajit Vinayak Gupte, joint secretary in the external affairs ministry, has been named Indias Ambassador to Denmark. The 1991 batch IFS officer will take over from Rajeev Shahare.

Earlier this month, Ruchira Kamboj, who served as Indias Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, was named Indias new High Commissioner to South Africa.

Pram Jit Mann, who was Indias envoy to the Slovak Republic, was earlier named the Ambassador to Slovenia.

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The EU’s Desire To Control Euroclearing Is Politics about Brexit, Nothing More – Forbes


BBC News
The EU's Desire To Control Euroclearing Is Politics about Brexit, Nothing More
Forbes
The European Union is making clear, once again, its insistence that euroclearing, the system of settling contracts and derivatives in the euro currency, will have to be done inside the European Union after Brexit. There's a problem with this insistence ...
London could lose EU euro clearing roleBBC News
EU to tighten grip on euro clearing after Brexit - sourceCNBC
Brexit: EU pushes ahead with plans to take control of London's clearing businessThe Independent
RTE.ie -Boston Herald
all 73 news articles »

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The EU's Desire To Control Euroclearing Is Politics about Brexit, Nothing More - Forbes

European Union to launch action against 3 countries over refugee plan – The Spokesman-Review

Tue., June 13, 2017, 8:01 a.m.

Two girls play with a doll near their shelter at a beach outside Souda refugee camp, Chios island, Greece, on Friday, June 9, 2017. About 2000 refugees and other migrants are in Chios and more than 62000 are stuck in Greece. (Petros Giannakouris / Associated Press)

BRUSSELS The European Union warned the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland on Tuesday that they have 24 hours to start taking in refugees under an EU sharing plan or face legal action.

The European Commission said in a statement that it has repeatedly urged the three countries to relocate refugees or at least pledge to do so under the legally-binding refugee plan agreed two years ago.

But it said they havent taken action in breach of their legal obligations, and that it has decided to launch infringement procedures.

The plan to share 160,000 refugees in overwhelmed Italy and Greece among other European countries over two years was endorsed in September 2015 by a qualified majority vote.

But just three months before the September 2017 deadline, fewer than 21,000 people have been relocated.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia voted against it. Hungary and Slovakia had previously launched their own legal action against the scheme.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have until Wednesday to change their minds.

There is still time ahead. Lets hope that not only reason but also the European spirit will prevail, Avramopoulos told reporters, lamenting that the three have not done anything for more than one year.

But Poland said it stands ready to take legal action of its own.

Poland is ready to defend its standpoint before the Court of Justice, Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said Tuesday.

He warned that the commissions action may deepen the divisions within the EU.

Avramopoulos praised Austria and Slovakia for recently pledging to do more. But as of June 9, Austria had still not relocated a single refugee. Slovakia had taken in 16.

The refugee scheme was seen as a major plank of the EUs migration policy, and was lauded as a pan-European show of solidarity in 2015 when more than a million people arrived in Europe seeking sanctuary or jobs.

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Don’t waste time, European Union Brexit chief Michel Barnier tells Britain – Economic Times

BRUSSELS: EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has warned London not to waste time, as Brussels waits for embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May to name a date for talks.

In an interview with a group of European newspapers, Barnier lamented that it was already three months since May had formally triggered the two-year process of Britain leaving the European Union.

"My preoccupation is that time is passing, it is passing quicker than anyone believes because the subjects we have to deal with are extraordinarily complex... I can't negotiate with myself," Barnier was quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

"It will take us several months to draw out the conditions of an orderly withdrawal . . . so let's not waste time," he said.

Formal negotiations between Barnier and British Brexit minister David Davis had been due to start next week but that timetable has been thrown into doubt by May's catastrophic loss of a majority in last Thursday's election.

She is now seeking an alliance with a hardline unionist party in Northern Ireland to cling on to power.

Barnier held "talks about talks" with May's Brexit advisor Olly Robbins and British EU ambassador Tim Barrow in Brussels on Monday but they failed to agree on a date for the negotiations to begin, an EU official said.

"I need a British delegation and a head of delegation who are stable, responsible and have a mandate," Barnier was quoted as saying by French daily Le Monde.

Barnier has said he wants to wrap up a Brexit deal by October 2018 so it has time to get through national parliaments and the European Parliament in time for Britain's departure from the bloc at the end of March 2019.

His comments echo those of EU President Donald Tusk who said on Friday that there was "no time to lose" to avoid Britain crashing out without a deal on future relations.

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Don't waste time, European Union Brexit chief Michel Barnier tells Britain - Economic Times

Hungary DEFIES European Union as Orban cracks down on foreign-funded NGOs – Express.co.uk

BLOOMBERG/ REUTERS

Prime minister Viktor Orban has stepped up Budapests ongoing row with billionaire philanthropist George Soros as he takes aim at NGOs.

Right-wing populist Mr Orban has especially focused on organisations funded by Mr Soros, an American-Hungarian, branding them a "mafia-like" network with paid political activists who threaten national sovereignty.

The new law requires NGOs that get money from abroad to register with the authorities.

NGOs receiving more than $26,000-a-year from overseas are affected by the law which ordered them to declare their foreign status online and in all press kits and publications.

Foreign-funded NGOs threaten the countrys political and economic interests and interfere with the functioning of its institutions

Mr Orbans ruling Fidesz party says it wants to ensure greater transparency and protect Hungary from foreign influence, but NGOs say the bill stigmatises them and is intended to stifle independent voices in the central European country.

The text of the law, authored by Gergely Gulyas, a Fidesz vice president, says the rules are necessary because foreign-funded NGOs can threaten the countrys political and economic interests and interfere with the functioning of its institutions.

It adds: "It is of vital public interest that society and citizens clearly see what interests these organisations represent.

Foreign interest groups strive to take advantage of civil organisations."

One of the NGOs affected, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), said it would not comply with the law and would take any legal challenge to international courts.

TASZ said in a statement: The law is a targeted attack and attempt to silence TASZ and all other organisations which have the courage to help those who are oppressed.

The union receives large contributions from Mr Soros' Open Society Foundations, as does another human rights group, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which also said it plans to boycott the law.

REUTERS

The law marks an escalation of Mr Orbans push to stop what he calls foreign meddling in Hungarian affairs.

Laws have already been passed tightening controls over foreign universities in Hungary, which critics say are aimed at the Central European University founded by Mr Soros.

Mass protests have broken out across Hungary in recent months in the wake of the new NGO and university laws.

The Hungarian PM has set himself on a crash course with the EU as the European Parliament launches the process that could theoretically deprive Hungary of its EU voting rights.

Guy Verhofstadt, president of the liberal group in the European Parliament, urged EU action to protect the rights of civil society in all member states.

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He said: "The attempts by some EU governments to silence NGOs are shameful and contrary to the values of the European Union.

"The European Commission should ... do more to support NGOs inside the EU who face censorship."

Last week Hungary backtracked on parts of the NGO legislation to meet some of the objections from the Council of Europe's advisory panel, the Venice Commission.

However, Human Rights Watch (HRW) dismissed the amendments as "cosmetic" and said the law was about "silencing critical voices in society".

Mr Soros's Open Society Foundations, which disburse funding to several prominent NGOs in Hungary, also warned on Monday that the law posed serious risks to democracy in the country.

OSF director Goran Buldioski said the law "attacks Hungarians who help fellow citizens challenge corruption and arbitrary power.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution last month condemning Hungary for the "serious deterioration" in the rule of law and fundamental rights, and called on the government to withdraw the bill on foreign-funded NGOs.

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Hungary DEFIES European Union as Orban cracks down on foreign-funded NGOs - Express.co.uk