European Union

Resigning deputy prime minister and far-right League party leader Matteo Salvini has called for a "big demonstration filling the squares" of Rome on 19 October in order to protest the new government. He and his party were responsible for the fall of the former government, in the hope new elections would be organised. Instead, prime minister Giuseppe Conte was appointed to form a new government without Salvini.

UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he will try to stop Boris Johnson's suspension of the parliament by rapid legislation. In an interview with Sky news he said: "We will be back in parliament on Tuesday to challenge Boris Johnson on what I think is a smash-and-grab raid against our democracy." "He's trying to suspend parliament in order to prevent a serious debate to prevent a no-deal Brexit," he added.

Five of the 28 employees at the Russian embassy in the capital of Lithuania are working for the Russian intelligence services, an investigation by the Lithuanian news site LRT found out. In 2018, Lithuania expelled five Russian embassy workers linked to Russian intelligence, in solidarity with the UK after the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Now these spies appear to have been replaced by five others.

The republic of Georgia will implement as much European legislation as possible, the country's president Salome Zurabishvili said in a speech in Vilnius, according to Il Foglio. She added that the EU has interrupted its enlargement process and that it is focussing on internal problems. That is why, she argued, Georgia should not hope for EU membership now, but be creative in finding other ways to become more European.

Ukraine's new parliament is holding its first session on Thursday 29 August. The parliament, dominated by the party of ex-comedian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is expected to endorse the new government with Oleksiy Honcharuk, a 35-year old lawyer, as its PM. Also on the agenda is the vote on about 100 laws. Priority will be given to the abolition of parliamentary immunity, according to the Kyiv Post.

As people up and down the UK came out to protest against Prime Minister Johnson's plans on Wednesday night, a Portuguese woman stormed the scene in London and launched an emotional call to the government in front of TV cameras, asking for her voice to be heard:

On 17 October 2019, NATO and the European Defence Agency (EDA) will co-organise for the first time a joint Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) conference in Europe. 

The conference will bring together key decision-makers from the EU and NATO as well as the wider transatlantic and international AAR community, including industry, to discuss current and future challenges and coordinate efforts in this important domain. The global dimension of the solutions at hand to resolve remaining shortfalls and the role of industry will also be debated.

Confirmed speakers include, among many others, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, Camille Grand, and the EDA Chief Executive, Jorge Domecq as well as the Chairman of the Aerial Refuelling Systems Advisory Group (ARSAG), General John Sams, and high-level representatives from Member States and industry. 

During last year’s first AAR conference organised in Europe by EDA, the focus was on ensuring awareness about remaining shortfalls in AAR. This year’s co-organised event will focus on increasing interoperability and will involve industry/manufacturers to debate their role in this process.

Attendance to the conference is upon invitation only.
 

More information

• aarconference.org
• EDA to organize 1st AAR Conference in Europe 2018 (EDA events page)
• AAR (EDA project page)

German athletes, associations, clubs and supporters are joining forces to support the ‘Fridays for future’ movement and raise awareness of the need to fight climate change, including by promoting eco-friendly practices in sports management.

A Scottish gin distillery aims to be the first in the world to produce its alcohol using hydrogen power, after securing a slice of overall funding for clean energy projects worth more than €400 million.

Welcome back to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.    “GDPR includes provisions which could potentially hinder the development of data-driven, self-learning algorithmic systems.” – S&D...

The European Commission and German agricultural and environmental ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday (28 August) to discuss the country's fertilisation regulation. It was concluded that although Germany is on the right track, it should seriously speed up its efforts and work on the text's precision. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is suspending Parliament for five weeks. The Queen has approved the prorogation, as the closure of parliament is called, from 3 September to 14 October. This leaves very little time for MPs to pass a law against a no-deal Brexit. Commentators try to interpret Johnson's motives.

In Italy the Democratic party (PD) and its former rival the Five Star Movement have agreed to form a coalition, heading off new elections. Giuseppe Conte, who had resigned as president in the confrontation with Lega leader Matteo Salvini, has been tasked with forming a new government today, Thursday. The press is only partially relieved.