Category: EU

Modis Belgium, an it service provider, has a four-year contract to provide approximately 1,200 it professionals to work for the European Commission. The Brussels regional news Platform Bruzz reports that Modis Belgium, based in Groot-Biliardine (Flemish Brabant), has signed what it says, “the largest framework agreement for it services, ever signed by an institution of the European Union”. Modis won the tender and as such will provide the lion’s share of the 1,200 IT experts to the European Commission and a number of European agencies. Modis is part of the…

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The Belgian police are introducing new methods of combating human trafficking and the problem of transit migrants: train checks. According to interior Minister Jan Jambon, the first action on trains last night led to the arrest of 15 people. One of those taken in custody was a criminal wanted by police. The other 14 will hear today whether they will be sent to closed asylum centre for repatriation. Transit migrants are refugees coming to Belgium without the intention of staying here, but using Belgium as a hub to get to…

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After almost nine crisis years, ruthless economy and four governments, Greece will complete its third financial assistance program next week-unlike the economic crisis that has engulfed Turkey. On 20 August, at midnight, Athens will reclaim its sovereignty in what the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has called a transcendent moment for the debt-stricken nation. “Greece has managed to stand on her feet again,” his office said last week describing receipt of a final as the “last act in the drama. Now a new page of progress, justice and growth can be…

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Rescuers evacuated 750 people, including many children and tourists, from campsites in southern France after heavy rains swelled the rivers in the Garda region. One person is missing. A senior Gard official, Thierry Dousset, told the rolling news channel BFMTV that hundreds of people had been evacuated from five campsites. The TV channel reported that the missing person was a 70-year-old German man, a monitor at one campsite who was said to have been swept away inside his van. The Gard government said four German children were taken to hospital…

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MP from the democratic Union, Ian Paisley faced the first parliamentary petition revocation, because it was introduced legislation to allow voters to oust unruly politicians. Paisley was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days after acting as a “paid advocate” for Sri Lanka and lobbying on its behalf, while failing to register that its government had paid for his family to go on holiday twice. This triggered the recall procedure and should 10% of the electorate, or 7,543 people, sign a petition over the next six weeks then…

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An ancient Swiss military aircraft that was rescued from conservation by a national fundraising campaign crashed into a mountain in the Alps, killing all 20 people on Board. The JU-52 HB-HOT aircraft, which was constructed in 1939, was flying from Locarno, near Switzerland’s southern border, to airline JU-Air’s base in Dübendorf, a suburb of Zurich. It crashed into the western peak of Piz Segnas, a 3,000-metre (10,000-ft) mountain above the resort of Flims, in the south-east of the country, shortly before 5pm (4pm BST) on Saturday, the impact occurring at…

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European Union (EU) farmers will now be able to receive advances on farm aid for which they are eligible, the European Commission announced on Thursday. The European executive took the decision because of the drought now affecting the continent. The farmers will be able to obtain up to 70% of direct assistance and 85% of rural development payments from mid-October. They would normally have had to wait until December. Additional flexibility will also be granted to the farmers so that they can use lands that they normally leave untouched in…

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Theresa May is cutting short her summer break in Italy to meet the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to try to persuade him to soften his approach to Brexit. The prime minister will become the first foreign leader to meet Macron at his summer home, Fort de Brégançon, in the south of France on Friday in an attempt to convince him to sign him up to her Chequers deal. The French government has not entirely rejected the UK’s latest Brexit plan, although Macron is thought to be foremost among European leaders…

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It is reported that the federal government has allocated from 50 to 70 million euros for the construction of a new European school. The decision to create an additional European school in Brussels was first made in 2015. Now, according to an article in the Saturday issue of the daily De Morgena, the federal government has provided funding for the construction of what will become the sixth European school in Belgium. Currently, there are 4 European schools in Brussels (Ukkel, Laken, Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe and Elsene) and 1 in Mol (Antwerp province)….

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Foreign nationals living in Belgium have until 31 July to register if they wish to vote in the municipal elections on 14 October. Around 400,000 resident in Belgium would be entitled to vote if the registered. However, many of them are unaware of this entitlement or are simple not interested in registering. All EU nationals over the age of 18 that are registered in the municipality in which they lived may vote in the municipal election providing they register to do so. Those that are registered to vote are subject…

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