The Commission has published the schedules of commitments agreed under the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), concluded in principle on 30 December 2020. Following the publication of the text of the agreement in January, the publication of market access offers today represents the next steps in the process towards adoption and ratification. They provide the basis for informed political deliberations and public debate. China is a key trading partner for the EU with a fast growing domestic market of 1.4 billion consumers. It is expected to contribute to almost…
Read MoreMonth: March 2021
Netherlands to stop use of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after reports of side effects
The Netherlands has joined other countries in temporarily stopping the administration of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after the country’s Medicines Evaluation Board expressed concerns about possible side effects. The country will not carry out new vaccination with this vaccine for the next two weeks, until Sunday 28 March, in light of more information being reported about the possible side effects, the Dutch Ministry of Health announced. “Only over the weekend did more become known from Denmark about the patients and what was going on. It turned out that there was…
Read MoreTemporary shortage leaves Brussels vaccine centre unavailable ’til 2022
Issues continue to crop up in vaccination centres in Brussels, after the latest one left people temporarily unable to book appointments to get vaccinated in 2021 due to a shortage of vaccines in the Pacheco centre. While there are no issues for people who want to come in for their second dose or people who already booked last week, everyone else who received an invite to get vaccinated is currently being told they cannot register for an appointment in the coming year, when this is not actually the case. Asked…
Read MoreHalf of Le Pain Quotidien bakeries are closed in Belgium
Le Pain Quotidien has decided to temporarily close 13 bakeries due to the coronavirus crisis, the chain announced on Wednesday. “With closed restaurants and too little support, this is not sustainable,” said CEO Annick Van Overstraeten. Belgium’s aid only amounts to 1.5% of fixed costs, Van Overstraeten said, a far cry from countries like France and the UK, where over 30% of costs are covered. “Le Pain Quotidien is very disappointed with the announcements made at the end of last Friday’s Consultative Committee,” she added. “The government’s message about a…
Read MoreThe fall of the Sky: secure messaging hack led to mass arrests at Antwerp
When Dutch and French police came crashing down on organised crime in the Netherlands last year, criminals in the Belgian underworld of kidnapping, money laundering, cocaine, and weapons trading didn’t break a sweat. After all, they were using ‘the world’s most secure messaging app’ for their illicit dealings in everything from drug trafficking to torture and murder, and the Port of Antwerp was their playground. The reason Belgian crime lords slept soundly at night was due in part to their faith in a Canadian company. Sky ECC sold expensive custom…
Read MoreFemale Iranian activists are viewed as a driving force of change by European lawmakets
A panel of 30 members of Parliament and women’s rights activists from the UK and Europe urged their governments to put human rights at the forefront of Iran policy when they participated in an online conference sponsored by the British Committee for Iran Freedom on International Women’s Day, 8 March, writes Shahin Gobadi. The cross-party speakers called on the UK and EU governments to work together to put pressure on the regime to release all political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, protesters, and dual citizens held under arbitrary charges in Iran, especially…
Read MoreDigitalization is a key to trillion euro reward for the European GDP
A new report, Digitalization: An opportunity for Europe, shows how increased digitalization of Europe’s services and value chains over the next six years could boost the European Union’s GDP per capita by 7.2% – equivalent to a €1 trillion increase in overall GDP. The report, commissioned by Vodafone and conducted by Deloitte, looks at the five key measures – connectivity, human capital, use of internet services, integration of digital technology and digital public services – that are measured by the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), and reveals that even modest…
Read MoreGermany rejects EU executive call to ease COVID border curbs: letter
Germany told the European Union it would uphold its latest border restrictions imposed to curb the spread of new coronavirus variants, snubbing calls from the bloc’s executive European Commission, Austria and the Czech Republic, write Gabriela Baczynska and Sabine Siebold. The Brussels-based executive last week asked Germany and five other countries to ease unilateral restrictions on movement of goods and people, saying they have “gone too far” and were putting a strain on the bloc’s cherished single market. But Germany’s EU ambassador replied in a March 1 letter, which was…
Read MoreBelgian rail developing system to predict crowd levels on trains
Belgium’s national rail company SNCB wants to develop a barometer that can anticipate how many people will be taking trains to the coast, it announced. SNCB met with the National Crisis Centre, the Federal Ministry of Mobility and the Ministry of Interior Affairs on Thursday, along with the province of West Flanders and the coastal communes. The system would use information from the rail company’s travel planner – which people can find in the SNCB’s app and on its website – as most people consult it before boarding a train.
Read MoreMinister Paul Magnette demands clear routes to reopen Belgium
Today’s Consultative Committee has to set a clear timetable for the reopening of all closed sectors in Belgium starting from April or May, according to Paul Magnette, leader of the Francophone socialist PS party. Priority for relaxations should be for education, Magnette said, echoing earlier statements from Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke, but a clear timetable for other sectors is needed. “We need a timetable that opens up a clear outlook,” he told Sudpresse on Friday morning. “We cannot leave a meeting this Friday with something vague or with a…
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