Russia again accused of trying to break up EU
Delegates at this conference in Brussels heard claims that Russia has sabotaged the Eastern Partnership which is an initiative established to agree trade deals between the European Union and...
By: PressTV News Videos
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Russia again accused of trying to break up EU - Video
The European Union on Thursday banned all seven Libyan airlines from operating in the airspace of the 28-nation bloc, citing threats to flight operations while the country is plagued by violent militias battling for dominance.
Libyan airfields and aircraft have been targets of recent attacks by Islamist militias and the Libyan air force, and the country's main international airport in Tripoli has been closed since July due to severe damage.
The Libyan air force last week attacked Islamist militants at the Mitiga airfield in Tripoli, the last functioning airport in the capital. Tripoli is under the control of a coalition of armed factions that deposed the elected government and parliament, which have decamped to the eastern coastal city of Tobruk.
"Recent events in Libya have led to a situation whereby the Civil Aviation Authority is no longer able to fulfill its international obligations with regard to the safety of the Libyan aviation sector," European Union Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said in a statement issued in Brussels.
"My priority in aviation is passenger safety, which is nonnegotiable, and we stand ready to help the Libyan aviation sector as soon as the situation on the ground will allow for this," Bulc said.
Commercial air traffic from Libya has mostly been limited to Istanbul, Turkey, and Amman, Jordan, in recent months as political chaos and armed conflict have consumed the country, which has known little stability in the three years since longtime strongman Moammar Kadafi was toppled and killed.
Libya joins 20 other countries whose airlines are banished or severely restricted in Europe's crowded airspace. In all, 310 airlines around the world are on the European Union's safety blacklist, many from strife-torn regions of Africa and south Asia, including Afghanistan, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
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European Union bans all Libyan airlines, citing safety risk
AMSTERDAM (AP) The European Commission's top competition regulator has unveiled a settlement with five envelope-makers, fining them a total of 19.4 million euros ($24 million) for forming a cartel.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Thursday the fines levied against Sweden's Bong, France's GPV and Hamelin, Germany's Mayer-Kuvert and Spain's Tompla would benefit consumers, including "everyone who is writing Christmas cards."
She may have meant cards of Christmases past: the cartel existed from 2003-2008. Vestager said the companies fixed prices at meetings they sometimes referred to as playing "mini-golf."
Vestager addressed other companies tempted to join a cartel, saying a single tip could launch an investigation, as happened to the envelope cartel.
In that case, the whistleblower didn't send an anonymous letter: "They were too expensive," she quipped.
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European Union licks envelope cartel
Listen The future of the European Union 0sec J. Brian Atwood: Professor and chair of global policy at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs Tom Nuttall: Columnist for The Economist in Brussels
There's a lot of bad news about the future of the European Union: economies still reeling from the recession, rising nationalism, what some think is an unwieldy bureaucracy in Brussels. But what does the future of the EU actually look like?
As the European Council prepares to meet in Brussels next week, we look at the sustainability of the EU.
In Forbes, Robert Kaplan argued he doesn't "believe that the European Union is merely a phase in history:"
J. Brian Atwood, professor and chair of global policy at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs, joins The Daily Circuit to discuss the latest.
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What does the European Union's future look like?
EU Children of Peace: Minister Kurz on the education initiative
The EU Children of Peace initiative has had further funding thanks to the the kind contributions of Luxembourg and Austria. Hear from Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on why it #39;s...
By: European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
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EU Children of Peace: Minister Kurz on the education initiative - Video