The European Parliament gave its consent to the EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association agreement, an important first formal step in Kosovo’s integration into Europe, on Thursday. The deal will form the backbone of strengthened political association and economic integration between the EU and Kosovo.
Another attack against the innocent, the youth and the very future of Pakistan. One year after the deadly attack on the Peshawar Army School, today, Bacha Khan University in the very same Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has been targeted.
“We must achieve concrete results and make sure they are visible to counter growing scepticism throughout Europe. (..) Keeping promises and sticking to agreements should be the new normal in Europe. A deal is a deal”, said Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in the kick-off debate of the Dutch Presidency in Strasbourg.
The December European Council debated in fact all the major crises that confronted Europe in 2015. Whether it was the migration and refugee crisis, EMU reform or Brexit, in all of these discussions we made some progress but for sure not enough.
The European Agenda on Migration adopted by the Commission in May 2015 set out the need for a comprehensive approach to migration management. Since then, a number of measures have been introduced – including the adoption of two emergency schemes to relocate 160,000 people in clear need of international protection…
Today the war in Syria has reached a new level of violence: more than 400 people, including women and children, have been reportedly kidnapped or killed by the terrorist organisation Da’esh. If confirmed, such terrible acts make clear once again that it is time the civil war, now in its fifth year…
The steps taken against the Turkish academics who signed a declaration regarding events in the Southeast of Turkey are an extremely worrying development. They are no longer detained, but the procedures against them are ongoing.
On 16 January 2016, the Council lifted all nuclear-related economic and financial EU sanctions against Iran. This follows verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 16 January 2016 that Iran has implemented the agreed nuclear-related measures as set out in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Today, we have reached Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Ever since Adoption Day, we worked hard and showed mutual commitment and collective will to finally bring the JCPOA to implementation.
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker today underlined his determination to focus on the Commission’s number one priority – growth and jobs – even as the European Union manages a series of crises.
