UK demands weigh on EU summit - EUbusiness Week newsletter 729 - EUbusiness.com

EUbusiness Week 729 top stories: EU leaders face calls to bridge divide on migrants; Turkey relaunches EU bid as part of migrant deal; Euro-MPs to probe EU role in VW scandal; Baltic electricity plan turns tables on Russia; EU to strengthen data protection; EU adopts new plane tracking rules

Publisher’s Note

Migration may top the agenda for the EU summit in Brussels, but David Cameron is making sure British demands for the UK referendum claim their share of attention. The stumbling point is depriving migrants working in Britain of benefits in the first years of arrival – discriminatory and against the core principle of free movement. A compromise will no doubt be found, but maybe not till the next summit. Move LINK xxxxxx

May I take this opportunity to wish you the Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year. The next newswire goes out in January.
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Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. EU leaders face calls to bridge divide on migrants

European leaders holding their year-end summit on Thursday were urged to bury their differences over the migration crisis and restore the security of the EU’s borders.
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Cameron urges EU to ‘work together’ on British demands

2. Turkey relaunches EU bid as part of migrant deal

Turkey and the EU officially launched a new stage in Ankara’s long-stalled membership bid on Monday as part of a deal aimed at tackling the migration crisis.
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Turkey deal does little to cut migrant flow: EU report

3. Euro-MPs to probe EU role in VW scandal

MEPs have approved a wide-ranging probe into the Volkswagen emissions scandal and allegations that EU regulators turned a blind eye to suspicious pollution testing of diesel cars.
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EU probes VW for alleged misuse of funds

4. Baltic electricity plan turns tables on Russia

When Lithuania inaugurated two electrical links to the West on Monday, it launched a process that will reduce reliance on Russian electricity, and could one day make Russia dependent on the Baltic grids.
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Russia suspends free trade deal with Ukraine from 2016

5. EU to strengthen data protection

The EU has reached a “strong compromise” on data protection, after four years of talks, though Member States failed to agree on a 13-year age limit for parental consent for social media.
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6. EU adopts new plane tracking rules

The EU on Wednesday adopted new rules on plane tracking, which could prove key to preventing a repeat of the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 in March 2014.
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EUROPEAN LAW

Hormone disrupting chemicals: the Commission has breached EU law by failing to arrange for identifying harmful chemicals in everyday products, the EU’s General Court has ruled.
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EU Court overturns huge fines for air cargo ‘cartel’
EU to appeal Court annulment of Morocco trade deal
Latest news from the European Court of Justice
EU law firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Russia: Lithuania and Poland have warned Brussels against sending “encouraging” signals to Moscow over closer trade ties with a Russian-led bloc amid tensions over Ukraine.
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Bulgaria adopts controversial legal reforms
EU demands Italy use force to fingerprint all migrants
Britain’s AAA rating threatened by EU exit risk: S&P
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Commission Watch

Borders: the EU unveiled plans Tuesday for a new border and coastguard force that can intervene even without the host country’s consent, saying it had to restore security threatened by the migration crisis.
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Serbia, EU launch accession talks
Juncker stakes leadership on Schengen
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Parliament Watch

Diesel: Euro-MPs have firmly rejected Commission plans to allow diesel car makers to continue to exceed pollution limits.
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MEPs want Hungary closely monitored over rights
Saudi blogger’s wife accepts Sakharov prize for husband
Also in plenary this week, MEPs called for a tougher arms export regime; and said that a ban on patenting of products obtained by conventional breeding techniques, such as crossing, is essential to sustain innovation, food security and small businesses.
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EU diary

21-23 Dec: European Parliament Committee Meetings
25 Jan, 2016: European Parliament Committee Meetings
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary