BRUSSELS Britain, Germany and the United States advanced plans on Tuesday to spearhead a new NATO force on Russia’s border from next year, but some eastern allies said the alliance’s effort must go further to deter Moscow. Weeks before a critical NATO summit i... More »
BRUSSELS U.S. hotel chain Marriott International (MAR.O) is on track to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its cash and share purchase of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT.N), a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The deal, c... More »
BRUSSELS The euro zone and International Monetary are struggling with Greece’s debt crisis – not with Athens this time, but with each other over when to give Greece a break on its future massive debt repayments. The euro zone has begun talks on debt relief for... More »
LONDON Google (GOOGL.O) faces a record antitrust fine of around 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from the European Commission in the coming weeks, British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph said. The European Union has accused Google of promoting its shopping servic... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS Euro zone finance ministers offered on Monday to grant Greece debt relief by giving it longer grace periods and bond maturities from 2018 if the country delivers by then on all reforms agreed under its latest bailout. The offer, to be worked ou... More »
ROME Talks on concluding Greece’s bailout review to unlock new funds and debt relief are progressing only slowly and no deal is likely at a special meeting of euro zone finance ministers on May 9, two sources close to the talks said on Monday. The sources said... More »
BRUSSELS/BERLIN Overcoming years of poor health and crisis, the euro zone economy grew at its fastest pace in five years in the first quarter, driven by unlikely stars such as France and Spain. It now stands larger that in did at its peak before the financial ... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone finance ministers will not meet on Thursday and need more time to discuss Greek reforms that would unlock new loans, signaling significant differences remain between Athens and its lenders on bailout targets. The meeting was a possibility be... More »
BRUSSELS Viacom’s (VIAB.O) Paramount Pictures has offered EU regulators concessions aimed at averting a possible fine over geographical restrictions within Europe on movie licensing deals between Sky UK (SKYB.L) and six U.S. studios. The European Commission sa... More »
BRUSSELS – Warner Music Group and independent labels have urged EU regulators to fight Sony Corp’s bid to buy out Michael Jackson’s stake in its music publishing joint venture, saying the move gives Sony too much power. Sony last month signed a deal to acquire... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS Euro zone finance ministers are ready to hold an extraordinary meeting next week if negotiations on the review of the Greek reform program are concluded, a senior EU official said on Wednesday, commenting that talks remained difficult. Discussi... More »
AMSTERDAM Europe’s antitrust chief said on Monday that she was looking closely at Google’s (GOOGL.O) deals with phone makers and operators, concerned that conditions related to its popular Android mobile operating system may be restricting competition. The com... More »
BRUSSELS In Athens, walls have ears. The leaking of a conference call of International Monetary Fund officials on Greece’s latest bailout review has further undermined mutual trust in fraught debt talks, embarrassed the European Commission and infuriated the I... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone finance ministers are likely to start discussing debt relief for Greece on the sidelines of the IMF’s spring meetings in mid-April, if there is a deal by then with Athens on a reform package, euro zone officials said. Representatives of Gree... More »
BRUSSELS Belgian police were hunting on Thursday for a “third man” filmed with two Islamic State suicide bombers at Brussels Airport as investigators accumulated evidence that the same jihadist network was involved in the deadly Paris attacks last November. As... More »
BRUSSELS Europe’s emerging migration policy is looking increasingly like Donald Trump without the hair. Except that, unlike the Republican presidential frontrunner, who wants to make Mexico pay for a wall to keep migrants out of the United States, the European... More »
GENEVA/BRUSSELS The United Nations and human rights groups warned on Tuesday that a tentative European Union deal to send back all irregular migrants to Turkey in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal. “I am deeply concerned about any a... More »
BRUSSELS A team of international lenders from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund is likely to return to Athens in the coming week to begin to finalize a review of reforms, paving the way for more loan payouts and debt relief talks, officials sai... More »
BRUSSELS The United States has set out limits to its use of data collected in bulk about European citizens after a new information-sharing pact was agreed this month, according to documents seen by Reuters. A clear explanation of what information could be used... More »
SHANGHAI Financial leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies agreed to inform each other in advance about policy decisions that could lead to devaluations of their currencies, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Saturday. ... More »
PARIS Distracted by an unresolved migration crisis and negotiations on keeping Britain in the European Union, euro zone leaders could be caught unprepared by a new storm on financial markets. Global market turmoil since the start of the year has helped set war... More »
BRUSSELS As if the European Union does not have crises enough, now traffic chaos in its congested capital Brussels is being blamed on… hungry mice. EU leaders gathering for a summit on Thursday to deal with the refugee crisis and British threats to quit the bl... More »
BRUSSELS British and EU negotiators agreed much of a reform package on Thursday to help keep Britain in the European Union, leaving Prime Minister David Cameron to settle tricky final issues, notably on migration, at a summit next week, diplomats said. After t... More »
PARIS French President Francois Hollande ruled out on Wednesday Britain getting a veto over euro zone policies as London negotiates an EU reform package to keep the country in the bloc. On Tuesday, the head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, unveiled a draf... More »
BRUSSELS Proposals to protect Britain and other non-euro zone countries from deeper euro zone integration do not grant London the right of veto over decisions, European Council President Donald Tusk told EU leaders in a letter on Tuesday. Publishing the letter... More »
DAVOS, Switzerland Central banks still have more firepower they can use to counter a slowdown in global growth, which does not change the outlook for recovery in the euro zone, European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday. In an interview... More »
BRUSSELS The European Union wants guarantees of effective limits on U.S. authorities’ power to request people’s personal information from companies to conclude a new EU-U.S. data transfer pact, a top EU official said on Monday, as a deadline from EU privacy re... More »
BRUSSELS – NBCUniversal, Disney and four other U.S. studios together with Sky UK on Monday rebuffed European Union charges of anti-competitive movie-licensing deals in a crucial hearing ahead of a decision later this year. The companies’ defense at a three-day... More »
BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators have dropped charges against 13 banks including Citigroup and Deutsche Bank for blocking exchanges from derivatives markets, but will continue their case against data company Markit and trade body ISDA. The European Commission ... More »
FRANKFURT The European Central Bank looks set to continue to support the economy as the euro zone’s upswing broadens and strengthens, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Thursday. “The ECB has been accommodative … supportive for the economic recovery a... More »
BRUSSELS Soldiers patrolled the streets of Brussels on the third day of a security lockdown on Monday and the tenth day of a manhunt for the suspected mastermind of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. Belgian national Salah Abdeslam has not been found despite 19 rai... More »
BRUSSELS “A breeding ground for violence” the mayor of Molenbeek called her borough on Sunday, speaking of unemployment and overcrowding among Arab immigrant families, of youthful despair finding refuge in radical Islam. But as the Brussels district on the wro... More »
SYDNEY/TOKYO/PARIS/NEW YORK Stocks in major markets are set for a short-term sell-off on Monday after suspected Islamist militants launched coordinated attacks across Paris that killed more than 130 people, but few strategists expect a prolonged economic impac... More »
BRUSSELS Greece and its euro zone creditors have reached a deal on many, but not all, issues in the program that Athens is implementing in return for loans, the head of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Sunday. Greece needs the euro zone ... More »
BRUSSELS European regulators on Friday said they had approved U.S data center operator Equinix’s $3.7 billion purchase of Telecity Group on condition it sold off data centers in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London. “With the ever growing economic importance of ‘cl... More »
BRUSSELS European countries most affected by the refugee crisis may be granted some leeway on fiscal rules for a limited period of time, the head of the euro zone finance ministers said on Monday. “My own opinion is that for a number of countries there are gro... More »
BRUSSELSThe euro zone may need to spend only 10 billion euros or less to help recapitalize Greek banks, a senior EU official said, after an ECB test showed the sector would need an extra 14.4 billion euros of capital if major risks materialized. Euro zone cred... More »
BRUSSELS Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for insulting Islam and for cyber crime, was awarded the European Union’s prize for human rights and freedom of thought on Thursday. Badawi received the first of hi... More »
BRUSSELS The European Commission, which polices euro zone governments’ finances, will give more budget leeway to states that can prove to have suffered extraordinary costs to face the refugee crisis, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday. “W... More »
BRUSSELS European Union leaders have postponed a deeper discussion of the future of the euro zone until December because of divergent views in the biggest countries and because of the more pressing migration issue, diplomats said. EU leaders, who meet on Thurs... More »
LUXEMBOURG Greece must complete the first review of agreed reforms, including the governance of its financial sector, before European creditors can pump in more money to recapitalize Greek banks, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers said. Jeroen Dijssel... More »
BRUSSELS Greece is likely to qualify for recapitalization funds for its banks by a Nov. 15 deadline because the payment depends mainly on financial sector reforms that it can implement by then, euro zone officials said on Friday. The euro zone bailout fund has... More »
ATHENS Greek leftist Alexis Tsipras stormed back into office with an unexpectedly decisive election victory on Sunday, claiming a clear mandate to steer Greece’s battered economy to recovery. The vote ensured Europe’s most outspoken leftist leader would remain... More »
BRUSSELS Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (0001.HK) on Friday sought EU approval for its 10.25-billion-pound ($15.82 billion) bid for Telefonica’s (TEF.MC) British mobile unit O2, the same day regulators unveiled a tougher approach towards mergers in the sector. The Euro... More »
BRUSSELS International creditors expect the first review of Greek reforms under the latest bailout to start in October, bringing changes to a memorandum of understanding signed with Athens and paving the way for debt rescheduling talks, euro zone officials sai... More »
BRUSSELS Deep divisions over how to cope with a flood of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia pose a threat to the European Union’s values and global standing and may diminish its ability to act jointly to reform the euro zone and ease Greece’s debt.... More »
BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday that Spain’s economic development showed that the euro zone was tackling its crisis well. “Spain is the best example that we’ve done a lot of things quite right in Europe,” Schaeuble said at a b... More »
, Brussels – The European Commission will launch a study in September of the ride-hailing app Uber in an effort to settle legal disputes that have pitched the U.S. start-up against conventional taxis across Europe, three people familiar with the matter said on... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS Euro zone finance ministers have agreed to lend Greece up to 86 billion euros ($96 billion) after Greek lawmakers accepted their stiff conditions despite a revolt by supporters of leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Assuming approval by the ... More »
ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, struggling to contain a revolt in his left-wing Syriza party, said on Wednesday that his government would not implement reform measures beyond those agreed with lenders at a euro zone summit this month. Tsipras faces... More »
BERLIN German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel criticized Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in a television interview to be broadcast later on Sunday for suggesting that Greece could quit the euro zone temporarily. Schaeuble has said that Greece could take a ... More »
BRUSSELS The latest paroxysm of Greece’s debt crisis has exposed growing rifts in the euro zone which, unless addressed soon, could lead to the break-up of European monetary union, the EU’s most ambitious project. The most worrying sign for European leaders is... More »
BERLIN German lawmakers gave their go-ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, but a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative was chaos failed to prevent a hefty rebellion in her own party. The Bundestag, the... More »
BERLIN German lawmakers gave their go ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, heeding a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative to a deal with Athens was chaos. The Bundestag lower house of parliament, whos... More »
BRUSSELS The head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Friday he was “certain” there would be problems with Greece in the years to come after the euro zone’s bailout fund decided to open talks with Greece on a third bailout program. “It’s not going to ... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders clinched a deal with Greece on Monday to negotiate a third bailout to keep the near-bankrupt country in the euro zone after a whole night of haggling at an emergency summit. “Euro summit has unanimously reached agreement. All ready t... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders at a summit in Brussels were reviewing a draft proposal from their finance ministers that sets out conditions for Greece to open negotiations on a bailout. The following is a summary of the paper, seen by Reuters. * Greece to pass by... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders told near-bankrupt Greece at an emergency summit on Sunday it must enact key reforms this week to restore trust before they will open talks on a financial rescue to keep it in the European currency area. Leftist Prime Minister Alexis... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders at a summit in Brussels were reviewing a draft proposal from their finance ministers on Sunday that sets out conditions for Greece to open negotiations on a bailout. Following is the draft of the paper, seen by Reuters. Square bracke... More »
ATHENS With banks shut and the economy seizing up, some Greek newspapers like the Empros daily on the island of Lesvos are running out of paper and could be forced to stop sales altogether until the banks open again. The island’s biggest selling newssheet, Emp... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS Greece faces a last chance to stay in the euro zone on Tuesday when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras puts proposals to an emergency euro zone summit after Greek voters resoundingly rejected the austerity terms of a defunct bailout. With Greek bank... More »
ATHENS The head of the European Commission made a last-minute offer to try to persuade Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to accept a bailout deal he has rejected before a referendum on Sunday which EU partners say will be a choice of whether to stay in the e... More »
BRUSSELS The European Union reached a preliminary deal on Tuesday to scrap mobile roaming charges across the 28-country bloc by June 2017 as part of an overhaul of the continent’s telecoms market to boost growth and innovation. “Under the agreement, roaming su... More »
ATHENS Tens of thousands of Greeks rallied on Monday to back their leftwing government’s rejection of a tough international bailout after a clash with foreign lenders pushed Greece close to financial chaos and forced a shutdown of its banking system. With a po... More »
