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UK Lords Vote for Guarantee on Rights of EU Nationals
March 01, 2017
Deutsche Welle reports that the UK's unelected House of Lords has voted to amend the Prime Minister's bill on triggering the country's exit from the EU by including a provision guaranteeing the ability of EU nationals in the UK to retain their "EU-derived rights" following Brexit.
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Austria Incentivizes Domestic Hiring
March 01, 2017
EurActiv reports that the Austrian government has approved rules providing financial incentives to Austrian companies that prioritize applicants who are currently in the country over applicants located in other EU member states for open positions, in a move that may test EU rules on free movement of labor.
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UK Official: Scotland Will Leave EU
March 01, 2017
The Daily Telegraph reports that, in a recent committee hearing at the Scottish Parliament, UK Scottish Secretary David Mundell stated that there would be "no circumstances" under which Scotland, whether independent from the UK or not, would remain in the EU after the UK leaves the bloc.
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ECB Leader Seeks "Sustainable Globalisation"
March 01, 2017
At a recent workshop in Maastricht, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank Benoît Cœuré sets out a case for the EU to use what he deems to be its experience with "sustainable globalisation" - an "efficient, enduring and equitable" form of global governance - to promote lessons on the phenomenon within global institutions.
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EU Prepares Demand for Brexit Payments
February 27, 2017
The Daily Telegraph reports that, according to sources from a meeting of the European Commission's top Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and representatives from EU member states, EU leaders are planning to call on the UK to pay approximately 60 billion euros in installments until 2023 to fill EU budget gaps created by Britain's departure from the bloc.
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Solana: Put EU Ahead of National Interests
February 27, 2017
Former EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Secretary-General of NATO Javier Solana calls for European countries to adopt a "European Union first" policy that would "compel" national officials to consider factors outside of "narrow national interest" in making decisions affecting their people and to help "consolidate" EU institutions.
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EU Official Pushes for Eurozone Finance Minister
February 27, 2017
Reuters reports that, in a recent speech in Vienna, European Commissioner for economic and financial affairs Pierre Moscovici called for the creation of new eurozone institutions, including a finance minister who would administer a common eurozone budget, in the wake of the UK's departure from the EU.
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EU Aims to Retain Fishing Access After Brexit
February 24, 2017
The Guardian reports that, in a warning signal to British voters who chose to leave the EU in part to permit the UK to take back control of its fishing policies, a leaked negotiating document from the European Parliament shows that EU officials are seeking to retain the current UK-EU balance on fishing quotas in exchange for British access to the "single market."
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EU Members Fear Impacts of "Two-Speed" Bloc
February 24, 2017
The Guardian reports that officials in the Central and Eastern European Visegrad Group - Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary - are increasingly opposing proposals from Western Europe to form a "two-speed" EU permitting a core area of member states to rapidly transfer their sovereignty to the EU without the interference of governments on the periphery of the bloc.
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EU Committee Ramps up Vehicle Standards Testing
February 24, 2017
The European Parliament's Internal Market Committee has approved legislation, aimed at preventing a recurrence of the recent Volkswagen emissions scandal, that ramps up EU auditing of vehicle testing and the establishment of "national market surveillance programmes" to ensure adherence to the bloc's environmental and safety standards.