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BRUSSELS: The European Union will hold high-level talks with the United States in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss a possible US airline ban on carry-on computers.

The US Department of Homeland Security sparked deep concern in Europe last week when it said it would soon decide on extending to European airlines a ban on eight mostly Muslim countries.

"The commission will host high-level talks at the political and technical level with the US authorities this Wednesday afternoon in order to jointly assess any new threats and work toward a common approach to address them," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said at a press conference Monday.

Schinas said Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc took part in a conference call Friday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to discuss the possible laptop ban.

But he could not say whether Kelly would attend the talks Wednesday.

A US ban on now ubiquitous laptops could cause havoc, with more than 3,250 flights a week scheduled to leave EU airports for the US this summer, according to industry data.

Some experts also say there is a security risk in putting them with checked luggage given the danger of their batteries catching fire.

In March, Washington banned passengers from eight countries in North Africa and the Middle East from bringing laptop computers, tablets and other electronic devices larger than cellphones as carry-on items.

Britain followed with a similar ban applying to incoming flights from six Middle East and North African countries.

The move, which requires passengers to put the devices into checked baggage, came amid concerns that jihadist groups were devising bombs disguised as batteries in consumer electronics items.

A bomb that blew a hole in the fuselage of a Somali airliner in February 2016, killing one person, is believed to have been built into a laptop computer carried into the passenger cabin.

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European Union, United States to discuss possible airline laptop ban on Wednesday - Economic Times

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The consequences of Britain's withdrawal from the union would not just be a loss for the UK's scientific community but the continent as a whole, Irelands chief science adviser Mark Ferguson said.

Mr Ferguson was one of several experts discussing the impact of Brexit on European research, during a panel discussion at the Royal Institution in London this week.

Rolf Tarrach, president of the European University Association, said European researchers still wanted to work with colleagues in the UK, Times Higher Education reported.

But he added: "If you are so interested in working with all the other [countries], you are saying that you are less interested in working with your European colleagues. That is something that we feel.

He said the push to broker deals and partnerships with other nations in different continents could a danger to UK-EU relations.

There are also concerns that the European research budget would dwindle if Britain was to withdraw from all the EU's scientific programmes, taking its funding with it.

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And there is confusion over whether will make any professional or financial contribution to FP9, the European Commission's ninth research funding programme which begins in 2021.

While Theresa May's Conservative government has indicated a clean break from all EU activities, Ole Petersen, vice-president of Academia Europaea, said: "The values espoused by the UK Government are not the values of the academic community."

Scientists in Europe still retain hope that Britain will come to a Swiss-style agreement with the EU over sharing resources and participating in research despite not being a full member of the bloc.

See more here:
European Union science will SUFFER after Brexit, boffins claim - Express.co.uk

The European Union could end up paying a Brexit bill to Britain instead of the other way round, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told The Daily Telegraph in an interview on Saturday.

Juncker thinks its the Hotel California where you can check out but you can never leave. He is wrong

Boris Johnson

Asked if he believed that Britain might end up receiving a payment, Johnson replied: I do, I think there are very good arguments.

There are assets that we share, that we have paid for over the years and there will need to be a proper computation of the value of those assets, said Johnson, one of the leading lights in last years Brexit referendum campaign.

Johnson dismissed as absurd the various estimates for the exit fee that would have to be paid by Britain, which some reports have said could be as high as 100 billion (US$109 billion).

They are going to try to bleed this country white with their bill, he said, threatening that Britain could definitely walk away from the negotiations without paying anything.

The payments that London must make to settle financial commitments made when it was a member are considered one of the most difficult Brexit issues and are a top priority for the talks.

A report in the Telegraph earlier this week said British officials estimated that Britain was entitled to 9 billion (US$11.6 billion) in funds held by the European Investment Bank and 14 billion of other EU assets including property and cash.

Johnson also criticised the shameful leaking of details of a meeting in Downing Street last month between Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Brussels is ruthless in its negotiating techniques. They are going to play dirty. We have got to be very wary and intellectually very firm, the former London mayor said.

Quoting a famous Eagles song, he added: Jean-Claude Juncker thinks its the Hotel California where you can check out but you can never leave. He is wrong.

Tensions between Brussels and London have risen in the run-up to Britains general election on June 8, with the government accusing EU officials of meddling in the election campaign.

Link:
'European Union may end up paying Britain's Brexit bill,' says foreign minister Boris Johnson - South China Morning Post

New York Times

Britain and the EU Are Breaking Up, but They're Still Partying Together New York Times The British Embassy participated in European Union Day on Saturday, an annual celebration in the spring in Washington. Credit Justin T. Gellerson for The New ... and more »

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Britain and the EU Are Breaking Up, but They're Still Partying Together - New York Times

Federica Mogherini, who is also the EUs foreign affairs chief, said Brussels had both the hard and soft power needed to accomplish the task.

Speaking at the Lennard Meri Conference, Estonia, she said: There is a European way to security that is never purely and only military.

You take any crisis or security threat in the world of today, and you realise that the hard power, the military means are always necessary but never enough.

The European Union has this unique mix of hard power that needs to be increased because its not enough, what we have now, but we have at the same time the soft power.

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And this unique mix if we manage to increase our hard power, position ourselves in a place that can be very helpful for our partners in the world to tackle some security issues.

Ms Mogherini said if the bloc had the political courage to take on the role, it could become an institution thatprovides worldwidesecurity.

She continued: The world is complex and there is not one single instrument that will make it.

So I think that the work we have ahead of us is huge but we have, if we are self-confident and we take the political courage to use the potential we have, we could be indeed the security provider for European regions, and more largely the world, needs in partnership.

The EU foreign affairs chief also took aim at Brexit as she accused Theresa May of being slow after taking more than nine months to begin the formal negotiation period.

The European Union has this unique mix of hard power that needs to be increased

Federica Mogherini

Ms Mogherini said: We underestimate the power we have, and underestimating or downplaying it we hurt ourselves. I think the main challenge Europeans have, when it comes to their role in the world, is a lack of self-confidence.

You ask me if it is still possible to have a foreign policy without the UK? Sure, I think the UK will face many more problems than us after the Brexit.

The very same fact that it has taken them more than nine months to start negotiations after the results of the referendum tells you it is much more complicated than they calculated.

Last month a former UK ambassador to NATO said that crumbling security across Europe means the continent is closer to war than it has been in decades.

Sir Adam Thomson, who is now Director of the European Leadership Network, said the risk of an armed conflict breaking out was at the highest point in decades, as tensions between Nato and Russia are rising, as well nationalism and populism coming to the fore across European nations.

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Jean-Claude Juncker jokes and gives Margaritis Schinas a slap before the weekly college meeting of the European Commission

He said: Security right across Europe is eroding right now, I would say war is a higher risk than it has been in decades. Thats Ukraine, but also the western Balkans, its the Nato-Russia confrontation, it is rising populism and nationalism.

Sir Adam added the UK leaving the EU would not necessarily have a larger impact on the alliance unless the negotiations turned sour.

He added: It doesnt necessarily damage Nato at all, the greatest damage to Nato would be if the security relationships erode and worsened because of Brexit.

The security relationship for post-Brexit Britain with the EU is too important, its not so much a card to be played in Brexit negotiations as an area to be protected from the more toxic areas of the negotiation.

More:
EU army next? Brussels in a unique position to provide WORLDWIDE security chief claims - Express.co.uk