Displaying items by tag: Europe

Thousands of climate activists added their names to a Greta Thunberg campaign asking the European Commission to retract a farming policy which would make it impossible to reach the EU’s climate goals. Greta called on her followers to sign an open letter to EU leaders after the European Parliament endorsed the proposal across the bloc. The letter said that on 23 October they let us down once again, in voting for a dirty deal which betrays commitments to the Paris agreement and to justice and to democracy.

In response to protests which began on 9 July, Boyko Borisov proposed reforms to the constitution which have been decried by protesters as a means of keeping his government in power until the next elections. Rallies have been mostly peaceful, but there have been occasional clashes with police and some arrests. Transparency International ranks Bulgaria as the most corrupt of the 27 nations in the EU. The economy is said to be one of the poorest in Europe, mainly due to corruption. A 2019 report on corruption in Bulgaria said that at least 35% of public procurement contracts involve corrupt practices. Currently the European Parliament is discussing the ongoing anti-corruption protests, after some of the movement's leaders sent letters to Brussels requesting support, but the Bulgarian government isn't backing down. See

The Taoiseach has said that despite introducing what was probably ‘Europe's strictest regime’ it was not enough to reduce levels of infection significantly. So for the next six weeks people must stay at home. Those who can work from home must do so. People can meet outdoors with one other household. No social or family gatherings are allowed in homes or gardens. Pray for peace of mind to replace loneliness. Caring and compassionate visits can continue. Those living alone or parenting alone will be able to pair with another household as part of a ‘support bubble’. People may stay away from home for exercise within a 5km limit. Non-essential shops and all hairdressers must close, and bars and restaurants are limited to takeaway services. Pray for safe social distancing, and for optimism for the future to replace anxiety. Pray also for small businesses on the edge of bankruptcy as they plan for a bleak financial future.

President Emmanuel Macron has announced a night-time curfew in Paris and eight other cities to try to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus. It affects 22 million people and will be applied for four weeks, possibly extending to six weeks. Germany announced that bars and restaurants in higher-risk areas must close by 23:00 as the country recorded the highest daily infection figure since the start of the pandemic (6,638 in 24 hours). Private gatherings are limited to ten people from two households. Meanwhile, as Spaniards prepared to travel for a long weekend national holiday, Madrid residents were told to stay home as another state of emergency to curb rising coronavirus cases was implemented. Madrid’s leader wants a partial lockdown to avoid deeper damage to businesses: see Pray for the businesses facing bankruptcies, for the millions now unemployed, and for the governments running out of resources for furloughed workers.

Fish are one of the main issues at the centre of Brexit negotiations. Three times a week, at 6 am, vessels return to Ostend loaded with fish for the auction. Three-quarters of the fish sold here were caught in British waters, which contain more fish than those of the North Sea. Many Belgian fishermen hope that after Brexit they’ll keep on having a good catch. Bruno Decordiar spends 60% of his time fishing solely in British waters. He’s worried that Brexit could harm his activity. ‘We are often at English ports and when we speak with British fishermen they tell us that we take all their fish,’ he said. ‘If they close the waters I'm sure we'll lose half of our income.’ Most fish landed by British fishermen are sold to the EU. A no-deal Brexit ‘fish fight’ increases competition between Europeans. If there is no fishing agreement, there will be no global trade agreement.

Covid is taking an emotional toll across Europe with rising levels of apathy among some populations, the World Health Organisation is warning. Survey data reveals the scale of this ‘pandemic fatigue’ has reached over 60% in some cases. Many people are feeling less motivated about following protective behaviours after living with disruption and uncertainty for months. WHO says, ‘Although weary, people must revive efforts to fight the virus. Until a vaccine or effective treatments are available, public support and protective behaviours - washing hands, wearing face coverings and social distancing - remain critical for containing the virus that is continuing its spread across the world in 188 countries and over one million deaths. It has come at an extraordinary cost, exhausting us all regardless of where we live, or what we do. It is easy and natural to feel apathetic and unmotivated, to experience fatigue.’

The ex-supreme court president, Lord Neuberger, has warned that Boris Johnson’s law-breaking Internal Market Bill is taking the UK down a ‘very slippery slope’ towards dictatorship. In a virtual meeting with Britain’s top lawyers, he described it as ‘quite extraordinary’. He said the bill - which the Government admits will break key parts of the existing Brexit withdrawal agreement - sought to do away with one of the most important aspects of any democratic society. ‘This country has a remarkable, unbroken history of 350 years of observing the rule of law, and has an enviable reputation for that.’ He added, ‘Once you deprive individuals of the right to go to court, to challenge the government, you are in a dictatorship, you are in a tyranny.’ However, for the time being, Brexit trade deal negotiations have moved on and to avoid a damaging no-deal scenario, EU officials could negotiate until mid-November

Commenting on the latest week of negotiations, one UK source said, ‘Obviously we are ready to up the pace but people are getting over-excited - there still is a long way to go and fish remains very tricky.’ On 29 September Downing Street played down the idea that a deal was imminent despite hopes that an end to talks was in sight. EU access to British fishing waters has not been solved, there remains much to be done and many do not expect a breakthrough before the mid-October summit of EU leaders. Government ministers have agreed to give Parliament a say before ever using the powers they would be granted by the Internal Market Bill. However, the latest news is that the EU has begun legal proceedings against the UK because of some controversial clauses in this bill, which could result in a court case at the European Court of Justice.

A second coronavirus wave is expanding fast, and Madrid is the worst-affected place in Spain and indeed in Europe. A row has erupted over a lockdown there. The regional government did not vote in favour of the restrictions, and questioned the legality of stricter curbs on personal movement and social gatherings. Political disputes have angered many Spaniards. Health officials from Spain’s central government and the Madrid region agreed on a set of health metrics that dictate standardised restrictions in cities with a population of 100,000 or more. There are uncontrolled virus clusters in the Spanish capital. Spain has seen more than 748,000 infections and has a confirmed virus death toll of over 31,400. However, experts say all numbers understate the true toll of the pandemic due to limited testing and other factors.

Countries across Europe are seeing a resurgence in Covid-19 cases after successfully slowing outbreaks early in the year. Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Montenegro, and North Macedonia saw higher case numbers in August than they did earlier in the year. Belgium, Italy, and the UK, Europe's worst-hit countries, are seeing a resurgence but, so far, nothing like March and April. Of the three, the UK's figures look the most worrying. France, Poland, the Netherlands, and Spain are taking action to curb a second wave. WHO’s regional director hopes the number of confirmed infections worldwide, creeping towards 30 million, will serve as a wake-up call. He said, ‘We have a very serious situation unfolding before us. There have been five million confirmed cases and more than 228,000 fatalities across Europe since the pandemic began. But we can fight it again'. See