Euobserver.com

The end of tariffs on EU imports from 1 September, when a free-trade pact enters into force, could spell "disaster for the national economy", Ali Bey Nasri, the chairman of Algeria's exporters' association, has told AFP. "When the deal was ratified in 2005, the EU had only 15 members, while now it is 27 strong," he said. Algeria would review all commercial accords "harmful to the country", its government said.

The EU will "explore" methane gas-emission standards, but without fixing a date for their creation, according to a new anti-climate change strategy to be published by the European Commission in September, seen by Reuters. It will also propose new laws next year for oil and gas firms to better monitor emissions and repair leaks. The strategy falls short of anti-climate change NGOs' appeals, with methane linked to intense global warming.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel offered EU mediation to Belarus, while also offered health care and asylum to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who is suspected of being poisioned.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel offered EU mediation to Belarus, while also offered health care and asylum to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who is suspected of being poisioned.

Belarusian protesters are - unconsciously - subjects of a geopolitical battle between the east and the West. That is why their revolution is both precious and fragile.

Industrial production decreased 12.3 percent in the euro area and 11.6 percent in the European Union in June, compared to the same month in 2019, according to Eurostat. With 14.8 percent, Portugal registered the biggest decline among member states, followed by Germany and Spain (-14.1 percent each), then Italy (-13.7 percent). As the only country of the EU, Ireland saw an increase of it industrial production with 4.5 percent.

Despite the façade of democracy, the impunity of political and economic power makes corruption the point of politics in Bosnia, as in Lebanon.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France and Germany would act in a coordinated way and that both countries wanted a de-escalation of tensions and respect for sovereignty, Ekathimerini writes. During a joint press conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Fort de Bregançon in southern France, he also said that Europe must protect its members' sovereignty in the eastern Mediterranean when it was cast into doubt.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has put Belgium in its entirety in dark orange, after it surpassed 60 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. So far, only Flanders and Brussels were coloured orange. Now the region of Wallonia is joining. Belgium has the fifth highest number of infections in the EU after Spain, Malta, Luxembourg, and Romania.

The European Commission and German biotech firm CureVac said on Thursday they had concluded a first round of talks for the supply of at least 225m doses of a potential Covid-19 vaccine to EU states, Reuters reports. The commission agreed last week on a purchase deal with AstraZeneca for at least 300m doses of the vaccine it is developing with Oxford University.

A German NGO is sending an air-ambulance with a coma-specialist team to pick up Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Deutsche Welle reports. Navalny fell ill after drinking tea on a domestic flight, raising suspicion of poisoning. However, the doctors of the Siberian hospital say he is too ill to fly. French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday they were ready to offer asylum and medical assistance.

All attention was on Belarus at Wednesday's video-summit, but EU leaders decided to hold special talks on the maritime dispute between Greece and Turkey next month.

Ethnicity, religion, and history are too often markers of exclusion and disenfranchisement for the estimated 15 million people of African descent in Europe, @Jallow_M writes.

Women, factory workers, lawyers, doctors, artists, intellectuals, and businessmen - they all want change in Belarus and Lukashenko has no good moves left to make.

With the experience of Ukraine in mind, EU leaders called for dialogue in Belarus and pledged funding, but stopped short of calling for new elections.

With the experience of Ukraine in mind, EU leaders called for dialogue in Belarus and pledged funding, but stopped short of calling for new elections.

A 16-year old Sudanese boy was found dead on a beach in France Wednesday after trying to get to the UK on a dinghy, igniting a war of words between the UK and France on who is responsible for controlling migrant crossings. The British government wants the French and British navies to stop boats in French waters. French MPs say Britain should offer safe ways to claim asylum there.

The wife of a Slovak man who died in Belgian police custody in 2018 following brutal violence captured on video has called for a new enquiry into what happened. "They should have given him first aid. Instead, they sat on him with so many people. He couldn't breathe properly," Henrieta Chovancova told Belgian newspaper Het Laatse Nieuws, which published the video footage Wednesday, reminiscent of George Floyd's US killing.

France recorded 3,776 new Covid-19 cases Wednesday, in a new record after its initial lockdown earlier this year. "All the indicators keep going up and the transmission of the virus is getting stronger among all ages groups affected, young adults in particular," its health ministry said, noting that Paris and Marseille were the hardest hit. Spain, the worst hit in Europe, recorded 6,700 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Spokespersons for Russia's leading opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, have said he was poisoned after he fell unconscious on a flight from Tomsk in central Russia to Moscow on Wednesday morning. "We suspect Alexei was poisoned by something mixed into [his] tea ... Doctors are saying that the toxic agent absorbed faster through the hot liquid," Kira Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, tweeted. Russia has a history of poison attacks against regime opponents.