By John Bruton, former Irish Prime Minister and Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009 Boris Johnson said yesterday, June 25th, that there is an “abundance” of technical alternatives to the Irish Backstop. He seems to believe that, between now and the end of October, he can persuade the EU to have such confidence in these unspecified alternatives that they will not insist on keeping the backstop. This is unrealistic, to put it mildly. All sides...

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Annual Report of the independent European Fiscal Board The Commission took note of the independent European Fiscal Board's report on the appropriate fiscal stance for the euro area 2020. The European Fiscal Board is an independent body established in 2015 to advise on the overall direction of fiscal policy of the euro area.   Italy  The College was updated on the state of play on Italy and had a discussion on the topic. The College agreed to revert to this matter next week.   State of...

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By Antonio de Lecea US consumers and importers are already paying a price for trade tensions between the United States and China. They are bearing almost entirely the tariff revenue collected at the US border. Escalation is also likely to affect business sentiment and investment. Tariffs on European imports carry an important additional impact for the US economy, due to deep transatlantic economic integration. European companies in the United States are the largest source of on-shored jobs in the United States, directly employing 4.6 million...

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High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini concluded an official visit to Washington DC on Tuesday where she had bilateral discussions with the US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, as part of the regular high-level transatlantic political dialogue, as well as with Senior Adviser to the US President, Jared Kushner. In a positive and constructive conversation, the High Representative and Secretary Pompeo reaffirmed their commitment to a strong strategic transatlantic partnership and discussed key areas of bilateral cooperation and a number of...

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As of June 2019, the deals approved under the Juncker Plan amount to €75 billion in financing and are located in all 28 Member States. Some 952,000 start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are expected to benefit from improved access to finance. Currently, the top five countries ranked in order of investment triggered relative to GDP are Greece, Estonia, Bulgaria, Portugal and Latvia. The EIB has approved €55.2 billion worth of finance for infrastructure and innovation projects, which should generate...

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On 19 June 2019 the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted the EU-U.S. Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs in Bucharest, Romania. The meeting provided an opportunity for both sides to take stock of their long-standing cooperation in this area and to reaffirm their partnership in addressing common security threats. The United States was represented by the U.S. Attorney General, William Barr, and Acting Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security, David Pekoske. The European Union, hosting the...

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The Commission shared on June 14th with Member States the successful outcome of the negotiations to review the functioning of an existing quota to import hormone-free beef into the EU. EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said: "With the successful outcome of the negotiations, the Commission has delivered on a very important issue with a major trade partner with which we are engaged in broader trade talks. With this step, the European Union reaffirms its commitment to bring about a new phase in...

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