Latest European Commission News

European Council President Charles Michel, top, and European leaders are shown on screen during a EU summit video conference at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Worried that the new coronavirus variants could result in another surge of deaths across the European Union and push hospitals to the verge of collapse, EU leaders will assess in a video summit Thursday such measures as further border restrictions, better tracking of mutations and improving coordination of lockdowns. (Oliver Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)

EU leaders agree to keep borders open, want to limit travels

Jan. 21, 2021 5:54 PM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders agreed that borders should remain open and assessed more measures to counter the spread of coronavirus variants during a video summit Thursday as the bloc's top disease control official said urgent action was needed to stave off a new wave of hospitalizations and...

FILE - In this Monday, June 2, 2014 file photo, European Union Ambassador to the US Joao Vale de Almeida answers questions during a newsmaker interview at the Associated Press in Washington. Britain has sparked a post-Brexit spat with the European Union on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 by declining to grant the bloc’s first-ever ambassador to the country full diplomatic status. Joao Vale de Almeida is the 27-nation EU’s envoy to the U.K., which left the bloc last year. But the British government says the EU is an international organization, rather than a country, and has not given Vale de Almeida the full rights accorded to ambassadors, including immunity from taxation and prosecution. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, file)

UK, EU in spat over diplomatic status of bloc's ambassador

Jan. 21, 2021 12:14 PM EST

LONDON (AP) — Britain has sparked a post-Brexit spat with the European Union by declining to grant the bloc’s first-ever ambassador to the country full diplomatic status. Joao Vale de Almeida is the 27-nation EU’s envoy to the U.K., which left the bloc last year. The EU says he should be...

People recieve their Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination inside Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Salisbury Cathedral opened its doors for the second time as a venue for the Sarum South Primary Care Network COVID-19 Local Vaccination Service. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Delay in Pfizer vaccine shipments frustrate Europe, Canada

Jan. 20, 2021 2:42 PM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — Frustration is mounting from Europe to North America over reduced shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine while the U.S. pharmaceutical company increases production capacity at its Belgian plant. Governments say it is costing critical time during the early stages of the rollout to...

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session on the inauguration of the new President of the United States and the current political situation, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Pool)

EU sighs with relief as Biden readies to enter White House

Jan. 20, 2021 8:59 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top officials breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday that Joe Biden will be taking over as president of the United States, but they warned that the world has changed after four years of Donald Trump and that trans-Atlantic ties will be different in the future....

European Commissioner in charge of Health Stella Kyriakides addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (John Thys, Pool Photo via AP)

EU commission urges member states to speed up vaccination

Jan. 19, 2021 11:43 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is urging member states to speed up the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations to ensure that at least 80% of the most vulnerable people to the virus — those over age 80 — are vaccinated by March. In nonbinding recommendations published Tuesday, the European...

Alexei Navalny and his wife Yuliastand in line at the passport control after arriving at Sheremetyevo airport, outside Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Russia's prison service says opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been detained at a Moscow airport after returning from Germany. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Kremlin foe Navalny jailed for 30 days; allies plan protests

Jan. 18, 2021 2:53 PM EST

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian judge on Monday ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny jailed for 30 days, after the leading Kremlin critic returned to Russia from Germany where he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on President Vladimir Putin's government. The ruling followed a hastily...

A nurse prepares a syringe with Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during the national launch of the vaccination of hospital staff at the Etterbeek-Ixelles site of the Iris Sud Hospitals in Brussel​s, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)

EU insists virus shots will remain voluntary

Jan. 18, 2021 11:10 AM EST

The European Union sought Monday to ease concerns that citizens might be obliged to get shots against the coronavirus before they’re allowed to travel, as debate swirls over the use of vaccination certificates to help reopen tourism across the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission has been weighing a...

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen visits Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the Belem presidential palace in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Von Der Leyen is in Lisbon to attend a meeting of the the Portuguese presidency of the EU with the College of Commissioners of the European Commission. (Manuel de Almeida/Pool via AP)

EU defends Portugal trip as ministers, officials quarantine

Jan. 18, 2021 8:45 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm on Monday defended a decision to send a team of senior officials to Lisbon for a meeting with Portuguese government ministers, after two ministers tested positive for COVID-19 and a number of top officials went into isolation. Eight members of the...

EU gender pay gap still significant, warn trade unions

Jan. 18, 2021 6:28 AM EST

BRUSSELS (AP) — Women in Europe doing jobs requiring the same skills as jobs done by men are still being paid significantly less, according to a study by the the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The major trade union organization, which represents 45 million members in 38 European countries,...

City worker Carlos Ruiz gives instruction to a COVID-19 patient after delivering a tank of oxygen to her home in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. The city offers free oxygen refills for COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The Latest: Mexico hits another record for COVID-19 cases

Jan. 15, 2021 10:37 PM EST

Mexico posted a record spike in coronavirus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The country also recorded 1,106 more deaths. It was unclear if the spike was due to the presence of the U.K. virus variant, of which only one case has so...

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