US: We spied on you Europeans but we can still be chums. Right?


High-ranking Eurocrats are expected to begin crisis talks on digital surveillance with American officials on Monday.

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė, whose country will take up the EU presidency today , said she hoped to piggyback discussions on Edward Snowden and the PRISM system on top of trade talks.

The EU and the US will start hammering out the details of a transatlantic trade and investment partnership on Monday, which Eurocrats hope could create the largest free trade zone in the world.

theregister.co.uk

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EU stuft Anti-Baby-Pille als potenziellen Wasser-Schadstoff ein


ÖVP-Europaabgeordneter Seeber: "Legistisches Neuland" - Auch Schmerzmittel Diclofenac auf Beobachtungsliste

Brüssel - In einer möglicherweise wegweisenden Abstimmung hat das Europaparlament am Dienstag drei Pharmazeutika als potenzielle Gefahr für die Reinheit von Gewässern eingestuft. Mit überwältigender Mehrheit votierten die EU-Abgeordneten in Straßburg für einen Gesetzesentwurf, das erstmals auch Arzneimittel auf eine "Beobachtungsliste" möglicher Wasser-Schadstoffe aufnimmt. Es handelt sich um die in Verhütungsmitteln enthaltenen Arzneistoffe 17-alpha-Ethinylöstradiol und 17-beta-Östradiol sowie das Hustenmittel Diclofenac.

derstandard.at

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The European Union Explained


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Monsanto gibt Kampf für Gentechnik in Europa auf


Der Protest war offenbar zu groß: Der Saatguthersteller Monsanto beendet seinen Kampf für Gentechnik in Europa. Das Unternehmen will weder die Zulassung neuer Pflanzen beantragen, noch für solche Nahrung lobbyieren.

In Europa gab es lange heftigen Protest gegen Monsantos gentechnisch veränderte Produkte - jetzt lenkt der weltgrößte Saatguthersteller offenbar ein: "Wir machen keine Lobbyarbeit mehr für den Anbau in Europa", sagte Monsantos Europa-Pressechef Brandon Mitchener der "taz". "Derzeit planen wir auch nicht, die Zulassung neuer gentechnisch veränderter Pflanzen zu beantragen." Grund sei die geringe Nachfrage der Bauern.

taz.de spiegel.de

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Eurozone crisis live: Spanish bond yields hit new record highs


• Spanish 10-year bond yield climbs over 7.51% • Second Spanish region seeks help • Stock markets fall; FTSE 100 down 75 points • The Agenda

The euro has fallen to a fresh set of lows against other currencies this morning, as fears swirl that Spain will be locked out of the financial markets.

Against the yen, the euro fell over 1% to just 94.27 yen, its lowest level since November 2000.

The euro has also continued its slide against the US dollar, hitting $1.2085, and it's down at a a new nine and a half-year low against the Norwegian crown.

guardian.co.uk

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Eurozone crisis live: Mervyn King faces MPs on Libor and financial stability


• MPs will ask Bank of England governor about his role in the Libor rate-fixing scandal... • ....and the impact of the eurozone crisis on the UK • Ben Bernanke to testify to Senate later

08:20 BST

Another day in the bond markets begins with traders driving up the prices of 'safe-haven' eurozone government bonds.

Already, the yield (effectively the interest rate) on Belgium's 10-year debt has hit a euro-era record low of 2.53%. And the yield on Germany's 2 year bonds has hit a new record low of -0.061%. A negative yield means you would not get all your money back if you held the bond until it matured.

The yield on Austria's 2-year bonds is also below 0%, while the French equivalent has hit a record low of 0.058%*.

guardian.co.uk

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EU-Parlament beschließt ACTA-Aus


Das Europäische Parlament hat das internationale Abkommen zum Schutz des Urheberrechts heute endgültig abgelehnt. Nach massiven Protesten auf den Straßen und im Internet stimmten die Abgeordneten in Straßburg mit einer großen Mehrheit von 478 Stimmen gegen den ACTA-Vertrag, der damit vorerst gescheitert ist. Die EU-Kommission müsste das Abkommen mit den zehn Unterzeichnerstaaten neu verhandeln, um es zu retten.

fm4 orf.at

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New European Guidelines to Address Cloud Computing


The European Commission’s panel on privacy is expected on Monday to endorse the concept of cloud computing as legal under the Continent’s privacy law and to recommend for the first time that large companies and organizations police themselves to assure that personal information kept in remote locations is protected.

The panel, known as the Article 29 Working Party, is expected to make the recommendation as part of its long-awaited guidelines on cloud computing, which have the potential, some industry experts say, to allay concerns over data privacy and pave the way for wider adoption of the remote-computing services that are more common in the United States.

nytimes.com

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EU-Gipfel im unsichtbaren Hochsicherheitstrakt


Im September wird ein EU-Forschungsprojekt zu polizeilichen Großlagen getestet: "Terroristische" Gefahren sollen ebenso wie alkoholisierte Fans automatisiert aufgespürt werden

Unter Beteiligung deutscher und italienischer Rüstungsfirmen sowie weiterer Militärzulieferer verspricht ein EU-Forschungsprojekt mehr Sicherheit gegen "Hooliganismus" bei Fußballspielen und G8-Gipfeln. Der Sicherheitsgewinn wird mit der Bekämpfung von Terrorismus begründet. Gleichwohl soll die Auswertung mehrerer audiovisueller und Sprengstoff suchender Sensoren nebst anderen "Sicherheitsscannern" auch bei der Handhabung "herkömmlicher Gewalt" helfen. Das Vorhaben ist dafür sogar mit einem höheren Budget als das umstrittene INDECT-Projekt ausgestattet.

heise.de

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Eurozone crisis live: Spain formally requests banking aid


11.28am: Vincent Forest, economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, has sent his thoughts on the Spanish request for banking aid:

Although no document has been signed yet, it is now official that Spain will request aid from the euro zone institutions to shore up its banking sectors. Many details are already known, such as the necessity for the funds to be channelled through the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, also known as FROB.</p>

guardian.co.uk

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Exclusive: Secret EU summit document shows first step to banking union


A classified draft of next week’s EU summit conclusions is the first step on an emerging “roadmap” to a banking union, pooling debt via eurobonds and political union via EU treaty change over the next 10 years.

The “limite” text - published exclusively by The Daily Telegraph, is secret, restricted for the "eyes only" of diplomats and officials preparing for the 28 and 29 June European Council in Brussels.

Most of the text, the annexed “Compact for Growth and Jobs”, are deals on project bonds and other small scale EU initiatives that FranCois Hollande is trumpeting as a €120bn “growth pact”.

telegraph.co.uk

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Eurozone crisis live: Markets rally on Greece election results


7.52am: There is very little in terms of economic data scheduled for today, so the two-day G20 meeting in the resort of Los Cabos in Mexico will take centre stage. "European leaders are expected to come under increasing pressure to deal more decisively with the financial crisis as many nations outside Europe like China and the US are being negatively impacted ever more by the ongoing turmoil in financial markets," said Mark Huber at ETX Capital.

The first news is expected to come at lunchtime UK time when David Cameron lands in Mexico, having briefed journalists on the plane. Los Cabos is seven hours behind the UK.

guardian.co.uk

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