LONDON (Reuters) – Brexit safeguards to stop asset managers in Britain running “shell” investment funds in the European Union to retain access to its markets should be hardwired into EU law, the bloc’s securities watchdog said on Wednesday. After Britain voted... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Signs emerged that leaders of northern European Union countries were willing to compromise on a 1.8 trillion euro ($2 trillion) coronavirus stimulus plan on Monday as talks in Brussels extended to a fourth day. Divided and slow to respond ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – EU leaders reported some progress on Monday after three days of haggling over a coronavirus stimulus plan, sending the euro to a four-month high and Italy’s borrowing costs to lows not seen since March. An attempt to reach a compromise faile... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain does not reject the setting of conditions on the disbursement of European Union funds to help countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, nor strong governance to oversee their distribution, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have again halted their investigation into world No. 1 shipbuilding group Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (267250.KS) $1.8 billion merger with Daewoo (042660.KS), a European Commission filing showed. This is the third tim... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s top court will on Thursday rule on the legality of tools companies use to transfer Europeans’ data around the world, in the latest clash between Facebook and Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems. If the court finds the mechanisms... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German drugmaker Merck said on Wednesday it had agreed to supply its potential COVID-19 drug Rebif to European Union countries should orders be placed for the treatment. The comment followed a Reuters report earlier on Wednesday about a d... More »
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Sixteen banks from Germany, France and three other euro zone countries on Thursday said a “truly European” payments system was expected to be up and running in 2022 to fully digitalise a region where half of all retail payments are sti... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The European Union will plough more money into rocket launches, satellite communication and space exploration to preserve its often unsung successes in space and keep up with US and Chinese ambitions, its space chief said on Sunday. Over the ... More »
BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) – Finance ministers of Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg are in the running to chair meetings of the powerful Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, with euro zone officials saying it is likely to be a close race between the Spanish an... More »
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Leaders from Britain and the European Union agreed on Monday that talks on their future relationship should be stepped up to clinch a deal, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting an agreement could be reached in July with “a b... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Foreign state-backed or state-owned companies seeking to acquire European companies may be investigated to see if they are benefiting from unfair subsidies, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday. “They (foreign subsidies) c... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – World leaders launched a pledging “marathon” on Monday – without the United States – to raise at least $8 billion for research into a possible vaccine and treatments for the coronavirus. Organisers included the European Union, non-EU state... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders meeting are on Thursday expected to defer a final decision on how to finance the bloc’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats and officials said. The 27 national leaders have alrea... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union countries on Thursday evening agreed the emergency credit lines from the euro zone’s bailout fund “will be available until COVID-19 crisis is over”, a draft of their deal read. Afterwards, euro countries should remain commit... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it had approved a 50 billion pound ($61.5 billion) British “umbrella” scheme to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak. The approval is in line with modified EU rules allowing a temporary ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – With the euro zone economy in need of help from the coronavirus pandemic, officials have until April 9 to design a package that satisfies members with completely opposing views: those calling for joint debt issuance and those fiercely agai... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – The coronavirus outbreak, which is grounding Chinese tourists, is costing the European tourism industry around one billion euros per month in lost revenue, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Monday. “Chinese tourists are not coming to E... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Air travelers cannot receive cash compensation if their flight is delayed by a passenger biting others and assaulting crew members, an adviser at the Court of Justice of the European Union said on Thursday. Such incidents were “extraordina... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Italy and other euro zone countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak are expected to benefit from waivers under EU fiscal rules that will allow them to spend more to tackle the emergency, the bloc’s economics commissioner said on Wednesday.... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain must not exclude its huge services industry from a planned trade deal with the European Union as the price for reclaiming control over its economy, a group representing British employers said on Monday. The Confederation of British I... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece distanced itself on Wednesday from suggestions that it planned to drag a centuries-old dispute over the return of the Parthenon marbles into Brexit negotiations. Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Athens would keep up its campai... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain does not need any special arrangements in its future relationship with the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday, adding that it wants a trade agreement similar to other deals the EU has struck. Prim... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – It’s 2023. Britain’s brightest and best drug researchers are packing their bags as clinical trials start to dwindle, leaving a nation renowned as a global leader in pharmaceutical development to face a future in the slow lane. This is a wors... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the European Union will have the upper hand in post-Brexit trade talks with the United Kingdom and questioned Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s timetable of striking a deal by the end of the year, the BBC ... More »
PARIS/MUNICH (Reuters) – European industrial policy chief Thierry Breton dismissed claims that relying on European companies to build a 5G network would delay its rollout, weighing in on an increasingly tense debate in Germany over the risk posed by China’s Hu... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson will welcome 109 new Conservative lawmakers to parliament on Monday, promising to honour his election pledges to get Brexit done as soon as possible and boost funding to the state health service. After winning a ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems’ seven-year battle against Facebook reaches a crucial point on Dec. 17 when an adviser to Europe’s top court will issue his view on whether tools used by companies to transfer data abroad are legal or ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for talk on climate, the EU’s long-term budget, Brexit, the euro zone and Russia sanctions, among others. Here are comments made by them on Thursday ahead of the summit.... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators are investigating Google’s collection of data, the European Commission told Reuters on Saturday, suggesting the world’s most popular internet search engine remains in its sights despite record fines in recent years.... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – France and Germany put aside bilateral tensions on Tuesday to call for an overhaul of the EU, which has been buffeted over the past decade by a euro zone debt crisis, an influx of migrants and refugees, rising eurosceptic populism and Brex... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft said on Monday it was updating the privacy provisions of its commercial cloud contracts after European regulators found its deals with European Union institutions failed to protect data in line with EU law. The EDPS, the EU’s dat... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Croatian Foreign Minister Grlic Radman defended NATO on Monday following criticism of the 70-year-old alliance from the United States and France. French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that NATO was dying, comments German chancell... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union agreed on Monday to delay Brexit until Jan.31, said the bloc’s chairman, Donald Tusk. “The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK’s request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020,” Tusk said of the idea of a ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will on Monday “most likely” agree to delay Britain’s departure from the European Union until Jan.31, said a source close to French President Emmanuel Macron who last week prevented the bloc from reaching a decision on t... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The 27 European Union countries that will remain after Brexit hope to agree on Monday to delay Britain’s divorce until Jan.31 with an earlier departure possible should the factious UK parliament ratify their separation deal, sources said. ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The British government insisted on Sunday the country will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 despite a letter that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced by parliament to send to the bloc requesting a Brexit delay. The Brexit maelstrom ha... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – After three years of Brexit crisis, Sky News is betting that some viewers are so bored by the divorce drama that there is a market for a channel dedicated to news that has nothing to do with Britain’s exit from the European Union. Ever since... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Uncertainty surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union has hit science funding to the tune of almost half a billion euros and is putting off international researchers from coming to Britain, a leading institution said on Wednesday. A... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s vast financial services industry will lose more jobs to Europe over the coming years because of Brexit, the City of London’s policy chief told Reuters, warning people not to be duped by the low number of job moves to the continent ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British pollsters have a big problem to solve as the country heads towards an election: Brexit has scrambled traditional political allegiances and they say it is harder than ever to know whether voters are telling them the truth. Polling com... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – There is enough support among British lawmakers to pass a Brexit deal, the leader of the lower house of parliament Jacob Rees-Mogg said on Tuesday as talks continue in Brussels to thrash out a divorce agreement with the European Union. “I th... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – From the pinnacle of the City of London’s largest skyscraper, Stuart Lipton is wagering a $1.2 billion bet that the British capital remains a master of the international financial universe no matter what happens with Brexit. The 76-year-old ... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – The European Union aims to resume negotiations with Thailand on a free trade agreement (FTA), the Council of the European Union said in a statement, after suspending trade talks following a 2014 military coup. Thailand held general election... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Alphabet unit Google’s fight against a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.64 billion) EU antitrust fine will be played out over three days in February 2020 at Europe’s second-highest court, according to parties involved in the case. The Luxembourg-based... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – UBS Wealth Management said on Friday it still expects the UK government to ask for an extension to the deadline for exiting the European Union and to hold a general election, though it acknowledged that chances of a Brexit deal have increase... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A large Banksy painting depicting primates sitting in Britain’s parliament sold for more than $12 million on Thursday, a record price at auction for a work by the secretive British street artist, according to Sotheby’s. “Devolved Parliament”... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday it still sees a 50% chance that Britain will leave the European Union without a deal by the end of the year following a general election, but said there’s a 20% chance of a “surprise” agreement later this mont... More »
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – The United Kingdom will leave the European Union on Oct. 31, hopefully with a deal, finance minister Sajid Javid said on Monday. “Hopefully we leave with a deal,” Javid told ITV. “If we cannot strike a deal, I think it is import... More »
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – British finance minister Sajid Javid said on Monday the country could take advantage of record low interest rates to borrow to invest in infrastructure. Javid will later use his speech at the governing Conservative Party’s annua... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A Banksy painting of primates sitting in Britain’s parliament goes under the hammer next week and is expected to fetch up to $2.5 million. “Devolved Parliament”, in which chimpanzees replace politicians, measures 13 feet (4 m) long, making i... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union commissioners-designate said the bloc should agree on a digital tax if no deal on the matter was reached at a global level by the end of next year, ramping up pressure on multinationals accused of paying too little. In writt... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday the next few days would be key to his chances of securing a Brexit deal, and that an agreement with the European Union was still his aim and still possible. With less than seven weeks remai... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French literary types aghast at the political turmoil engulfing Britain as it seeks to leave the European Union launched a tongue-in-cheek Twitter campaign on Wednesday to add ‘Brexit’ to the national lexicon. French commentator Bernard Pivot... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday there was still every chance for Britain’s divorce from the European Union to take place with a deal although Berlin is prepared for a disorderly Brexit in case that does not happen. British ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains determined to pull Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 come what may, his foreign minister said on Sunday. Johnson, who has lost his majority in parliament and has seen his bid to call an early n... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, revealed on Monday that they had adopted a rescued Jack Russell puppy. Television footage showed the 15-week-old puppy, named Dilyn, being brought to Johnson’s Downing ... More »
(Reuters) – Britain’s Conservative lawmakers have been warned by party officials that their party whip would be withdrawn if they attempt to block a no-deal Brexit, Sky News reported on Sunday, citing a source. The lawmakers who have the whip withdrawn are eff... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Britain would still have to honour all its financial obligations made during its membership of the European Union even if a ‘no-deal’ Brexit occurred, said EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Jo... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s parliament needs to be recalled immediately to discuss Brexit, the opposition Labour Party’s finance spokesman John McDonnell said on Monday, after leaked official documents forecast possible food, fuel, and medicine shortages. Bri... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will meet with other British political leaders next week to discuss tactics to prevent a no-deal Brexit, Corbyn’s second-in-command John McDonnell told the BBC on Monday. “He’ll bring th... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – As the Oct. 31 deadline for Britain to leave the European Union approaches, health professionals are warning that shortages of some medicines could worsen in Europe in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Britain’s food and drink lobby warned la... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is turbo-charging its no-deal Brexit preparations and will be ready to leave the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday. Raab, an avowed Brexiteer, said the “undemocratic” Iris... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain warned the European Union on Monday it needed to change its ‘stubborn’ position on Brexit if a no-deal exit was to be avoided. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he wanted a deal but the EU had to change its position. “We want a goo... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Dangling helplessly from a zip-wire while waving British Union Jack flags, Boris Johnson and his attempt to publicize a party in one of London’s parks became one of the most memorable non-sporting moments of the 2012 Olympic Games. “It’s goi... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Monday that there was still time to save the Iran nuclear deal and that despite the United States being Britain’s closest ally it disagreed on how to handle the Iran crisis. “Iran is still a go... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday that Europe had to remain united in trying to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, and said Tehran should reverse its decision not to comply with parts of the accord. “The Europeans ha... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s major banks have seen a growing number of business customers delay decisions on investments and borrowing in recent weeks, as the probability of a disorderly exit from the European Union inches higher. Britain’s banks have largely ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A shrewd negotiator who has run the IMF but has little monetary policy experience, Christine Lagarde will face the challenge as the European Central Bank’s new chief of having to revive the euro zone economy with a largely depleted policy... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders are close to picking Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans to head the European Commission, two diplomats said on Monday, after an uninterrupted 18 hours of talks during which the bloc’s political families vied for influe... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Defensive equity strategies focused on high payouts and steady earnings have gained in popularity this year as investors flock to safety, worried the biggest stock market rally in decades is about to come crashing down. Investors have piled ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Jeremy Hunt, one of the two candidates vying to replace British Prime Minister Theresa May, said on Monday that rival Boris Johnson was a coward for avoiding public head-to-head debates on what to do about Brexit. “On the question of debates... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Boris Johnson got a boost in his campaign to replace British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday when one of his former rivals and EU supporter Matt Hancock backed him saying he was almost certain to win the contest. Johnson, a former Londo... More »
(Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond is “prepared to resign” over Prime Minister Theresa May’s legacy spending plans, ITV said on Tuesday, citing the Press Association. Senior government sources told the Press Association that tension between of... More »
(Reuters) – The head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, steps down at the end of October and the 19 euro zone countries are now looking for his replacement. The shortlists of likely candidates are almost exclusively male. It is one of several top jobs... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s prime minister and economy minister have formed an unofficial alliance with the president to prevent the euro zone’s third-largest economy being dragged into financial crisis by its ruling parties, sources say. Prime Minister Giuseppe ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The results of the European parliamentary election are likely to lead to less ambitious euro zone integration plans and set Italy up for more clashes with the European Commission over its fiscal policy, euro zone officials said on Monday. ... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) came out ahead in Sunday’s European Parliament vote, seen as a test of the party’s nationalist, euroskeptic platform before a national election later in the year. The results calculated by the stat... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Parties committed to strengthening the European Union held on to two-thirds of seats in the EU parliament, official projections from the bloc’s elections showed on Sunday, though far-right and nationalist opponents saw strong gains. France... More »
SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) – Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party stormed to victory in a European election, riding a wave of anger at the failure of Prime Minister Theresa May to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union. A European Parliament election tha... More »
SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) – Nigel Farage demanded a seat at Brexit negotiations on Monday after his new party swept to victory in the United Kingdom’s European Parliament election, warning that he would turn British politics upside down if denied. Farage,... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Cases of European firms forced to transfer technology in China are increasing despite Beijing saying the problem does not exist, a European business lobby said, adding that its outlook on the country’s regulatory environment is “bleak”. Chi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives have fallen to fifth place in an opinion poll ahead of the May 23 European parliamentary election as pressure grows for her to set a date for her own departure. Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party w... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union fully supports the international nuclear accord with Iran and wants rival powers to avoid any further escalation over the issue, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday. “We will continue to support it ... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A new round of tariffs between the United States and its main partners would only cause a “modest decrease” in the pace of economic growth in the euro zone, according to research by the European Central Bank. The study simulated a two-way... More »
MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s biggest lender UniCredit said it is among a group of banks accused of running a cartel in trading euro zone government bonds between 2007 and 2012, years when financial crises dragged down banks and several European countries. UniCred... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – After months of grueling political perma-crisis, Brexit is taking its toll on the British political establishment – not least the small patch of grass opposite parliament that has become a makeshift home to the world’s media. Parliamentary a... More »
(Reuters) – Italian-U.S. carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) has agreed to pay electric carmaker Tesla Inc hundreds of millions of euros to allow Tesla vehicles to be counted in its fleet to avoid fines for violating new European Union emission rules. ... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – The European Central Bank considers that risks to the euro zone financial stability from a no-deal Brexit are “limited” and have been broadly addressed, ECB board member Benoit Coeure said on Friday. But he repeated the ECB’s call on fina... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Euro zone countries have taken steps to prepare for a no-deal Brexit but are still hoping that this scenario will not occur, the chairman of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers said on Friday. Mario Centeno told a news conference... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Mergers in Europe’s fragmented banking sector are necessary to make the sector more resilient as the euro zone seeks to protect itself from future crises, France’s finance minister told Reuters in an interview. Bruno Le Maire, who joined ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British lawmakers on Monday used a vote on the government’s next steps on Brexit to wrest control of the process so that they can then try to find a majority for an alternative that would break the parliamentary deadlock. Lawmakers voted on ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The British government on Monday called for realism after parliament grabbed control of Brexit. “It is disappointing to see this amendment pass,” said a spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union. “While it is now up to parl... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May indicated to some Brexit-supporting lawmakers on Sunday that she would consider resigning in exchange for parliament backing her Brexit deal, The Sun newspaper reported. “The major admission came in a priva... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May was under pressure on Monday to give a date for leaving office as the price to bring Brexit-supporting rebel lawmakers in her party behind her twice-defeated European Union divorce treaty. At one of the mos... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May told Brexit-supporting lawmakers on Sunday that she would quit if they voted for her twice-defeated European Union divorce deal, ITV news said. “I am reliably told that Theresa May told Boris Johnson, Iain ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May has lost the confidence of her senior ministers, lawmakers and party members, and should step down, said Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative lawmaker who supports a hard Brexit. “I hope that the cabinet will tel... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May should be given time to get her Brexit deal through parliament before making way for someone else to lead the next phase of negotiations with the European Union, a eurosceptic lawmaker from her Conservative... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – EU Economic Affairs and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Monday he believed Britain would not leave the European Union without a withdrawal agreement. EU leaders handed Prime Minister Theresa May a last chance at a summit on Friday t... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller wants to bend British Prime Minister Theresa May’s will against Brexit using mass-telepathy. From his home in Israel, Geller – who is also a British citizen and a former resident of May’s Maidenhead constit... More »
