European Union

Freshly re-appointed as Italy's prime minister, Giuseppe Conte has meaningfully chosen Brussels and the EU institutions for his first official visit, aiming to lay down weapons and start a new give-and-take relation with the European Commission.

President Tusk received the letters of credentials from two new ambassadors to the European Union.

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Freedom of establishment
Copyright protection may not be granted to designs on the sole ground that, over and above their practical purpose, they produce a specific aesthetic effect

Cofemel
Freedom of establishment
Copyright protection may not be granted to designs on the sole ground that, over and above their practical purpose, they produce a specific aesthetic effect

VG Media
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A German provision prohibiting internet search engines from using newspaper or magazine snippets without the publisher’s authorisation must be disregarded in the absence of its prior notification to the Commission

VG Media
Approximation of laws
A German provision prohibiting internet search engines from using newspaper or magazine snippets without the publisher’s authorisation must be disregarded in the absence of its prior notification to the Commission

The new migration commissioner's job title, "Protecting our European way of life", rings not of pan-European solidarity or federalism - but is incorporated from the playbook of the extreme right.

Oxford University in the UK topped an annual world ranking published by Times Higher Education magazine, while Britain's Cambridge University came third. The US dominated, with seven out of the top 10 and 60 out of the top 200. But Germany was "poised to overtake" the UK in having the most European schools in the table, with Oxford's top spot masking a decline in quality in many other UK universities.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte promised to remain "even more rigorous on illegal immigration than the previous government" after visiting Brussels as the head of a new Italian coalition on Wednesday. He said he would "remain human", but urged EU states to create an "automatic system" on burden-sharing, so that if 100 refugees were to arrive in Italy, he could be sure that other states would take their fair share.

A British government report, called Operation Yellowhammer, warns of public disorder, disease outbreaks, and price rises for food and fuel in case of a no-deal Brexit.

After Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened the EU with reopening the migratory routes to Europe if Turkey does not receive more economic support, outgoing EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told Euronews that "the EU-Turkey statement should remain alive (…) [and] not be used as a negotiating tool". Since the agreement was signed in March 2016, the irregular arrivals of migrants entering Greece were reduced by 97 percent.

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi is expected to announce a new monetary stimulus package on Thursday to shore up the eurozone economy, despite the scepticism of the bloc's biggest economies. However, the new round of stimulus will have a limited impacted on eurozone's biggest problems - a global trade war, Brexit and China's slowdown.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Britain can still leave the EU with a deal. "We still have every chance of getting an orderly [Brexit]. But I also say we are prepared for a disorderly Brexit," said Merkel. British prime minister Boris Johnson aims to obtain a new deal at the 17-18 October EU summit, after the UK parliament passed a law to avoid a no-deal scenario.

An EU mission within the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy is not the adequate instrument for controversial domestic issues such as migration, writes Tobias Pietz.

A new economic report published on Thursday by the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) reveals that there is an almost 60 percent chance that the German economy could fall into recession. This is the highest recession risk in Germany since the winter of 2012 to 2013. According to Reuters, researcher Sebastian Dullien said that "the hope that domestic demand could save Germany from a recession is fading increasingly."

The European Commission is in an important position to enable EU farmers to use modern technologies in the fight against climate change, Pekka Pesonen, Secretary-General of the EU farmers and cooperatives' association (Copa-Cogeca), told EURACTIV.com.

European voters believe that EU's foreign policies should be more coherent and effective in order to remain neutral in potential international conflicts, since most EU citizens no longer rely on the US security guarantee, according to a new report.

Yiannis Balbakakis, the governor of the overcrowded reception and identification centre in Moria, on the Greek island Lesvos, resigned on Wednesday saying he is "tired," Ekathimerini reported. He headed the camp for three years and was credited with the creation of "safe zones" for unaccompanied children, women and single parent families. Humanitarian organisations repeatedly criticised the living conditions at the camp, housing 10,000 people, which is four times over capacity.

Europe's global standing in the cloud infrastructure market has long come under scrutiny for a lack of investment and presence compared with global players. EURACTIV has caught up with DG Connect's Roberto Viola to analyse the importance of the EU's data economy and examine how Europe can achieve a greater level of independence in its cloud services.

The College put forward by Ursula von der Leyen builds on lessons learned from the sometimes negative experience of the Juncker Commission, writes Robert Stüwe.