The Eurogroup has refused the Greek government’s request for a bailout extension and Greece in now in arrears with the IMF. Mr. Tsipras is back, though, with a request for a new bailout just days before the scheduled referendum…
The European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, 25 and 26 June, exposed divides between EU member states on asylum seeker distribution quotas. After a wrangle overshadowing other issues…
The Juncker investment plan was backed by the European Parliament in a vote on Wednesday, 24 June. The plan, aimed at creating jobs, fostering economic growth and tackling record high unemployment…
On Monday, 22 June, the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg launched EU NAVFOR Med, a joint naval force aimed at dismantling people smuggling networks in the Mediterranean Sea…
How many presidents do you need to make Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) work? A “Five Presidents’ Report” was issued in Brussels on 22 June 2015, in response to the shortcomings of existing EMU arrangements…
The heads of state and government of the Eurozone met on 22 June in Brussels to attempt to find an agreement on the continuation of Greece’s bailout. A sense of urgency accompanied the summit, resulting from the imminence of a potential Greek default and a run on deposits in Greek banks. At the conclusion of the Summit, President of the European Commission Juncker stated that he was “convinced that we will come to a final agreement this week, because we have to.” In anticipation of the Summit, Greece submitted a final proposal containing new measures for addressing its economic and financial situation, which were discussed by the finance ministers of the Eurogroup prior to the Summit
Eurozone finance ministers met in Luxembourg on Thursday in the hope of reaching a deal that would see Athens receive the last €7.2 billion of the bailout aid. Hopes were quashed once again, however, as the failure to reach common ground extended the talks to Monday. The emergency summit was scheduled after EU leaders learned of the collapse of the Luxembourg talks. Next week’s meeting will take place only days before the debt repayment deadline is due. If Athens fails to reach an agreement with its creditors by then, it will risk defaulting on its debt and, very likely, exiting the Eurozone. This is a last-ditch effort to find a solution to the crisis
With nearly all the votes counted, former Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen can now call the elections for his centre-right coalition. After a tight race, it appears that the opposition bloc won by only one parliamentary seat over the ruling Social Democrats, capturing 90 seats to the centre-left coalition’s 89. With 100% of the mainland vote counted, the governing social-democratic coalition failed to secure enough seats in the 179-seat parliament that would allow it to stay in power. Despite garnering the biggest share of the vote, 26.3%, the Social Democrats saw their leader, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, resign and the ruling coalition crumble
On Tuesday, 16 June, EU Home Affairs Ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss a plan to distribute asylum seekers more equally across the 28-member bloc. The scheme is part of the European Agenda on Migration, a bundle of several different and concrete measures proposed by the European Commission to respond to the current migration crisis. Over the last months, the number of migrants venturing across the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe has skyrocketed. With little support from other member states, Italy and Greece have been left to bear the brunt of dealing with this influx of people. Both countries want other EU member states to help out and ease the burden
With the theme “Shaping our common future: working for prosperous, cohesive and sustainable societies for our citizens,” leaders of the European Union and Latin America came together in Brussels on 10 and 11 of June. The talks were focused on strengthening economic ties, fostering political dialogue and ushering in more openness in Latin American societies. The summit, attended by some 60 leaders and senior government officials from both sides, is the second gathering ever of its kind. It shows a growing interdependence between the two continents as decision-makers look for common solutions to issues affecting the European
