Belgium

22 Jan 2019; DW: The EU has fined Mastercard €570 million for limiting competition between banks offering cheaper payment fees. The European Commission said Mastercard's actions harmed consumers and retailers in the bloc.

The European Commission on Tuesday fined Mastercard €570 million ($648 million) for preventing retailers from looking for better card payment terms at banks around Europe.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union insisted Friday that agriculture be kept out of the EU-U.S. trade negotiations, despite Washington’s wishes to include the vast sector, and said any overall deal will be limited in scope.

The EU Commission announced its proposals for a negotiating mandate from the 28 member states and said that the EU negotiations will be “strictly focused on the removal of tariffs on industrial goods, excluding agricultural products.”

BRUSSELS, January 16. /TASS/. The European Commission will have to step up preparations for a no-deal Brexit after the UK parliament voted to reject the withdrawal agreement between London and Brussels, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement.

13 Jan 2019; AFP: Europe is giving US-led calls for a boycott of Huawei 5G telecoms equipment a mixed reception, with some governments untroubled by spy suspicions against the Chinese giant, but others backing a ban.

In the latest setback for Huawei, Poland said Friday it had arrested a Chinese telecoms executive suspected of spying for China, with local media identifying him as a Huawei director.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- During the July-December 2018 market year, European imports of U.S. soybeans increased by 112 percent compared to the same period in the previous year.

According to information released by the European Commission on Monday, the U.S. remains Europe's number one soybean supplier, with a share of 75 percent of EU imports.

Conversely, Europe remains by far the top destination of U.S. soybean exports (28 percent), followed by Argentina (10 percent) and Mexico (9 percent).

BRUSSELS, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Illegal border crossings at Europe's external borders in 2018 fell by a quarter to the lowest level in five years, according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

The number in 2018 was estimated at 150,000, 92 percent below the peak of the migratory crisis in 2015, said the agency, also known as Frontex, in the latest news release.

The decline was due to the dramatic fall - 80 percent less than 2017 - in the number of migrants taking the Central Mediterranean route to Italy, said Frontex.

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the European Union’s executive branch is urging Britain to “get your act together” and decide what exactly the country wants as Brexit looms.

Britain is due to leave the EU March 29 but its Parliament hasn’t approved the government’s divorce deal with the EU, which many lawmakers loathe. A vote is scheduled in mid-January.

29 Dec 2018; DW: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis admitted last month his country was not ready to assume the six-month EU presidency. EU officials allege Romania is not taking steps to fight corruption and uphold judicial independence.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Saturday he doubts whether the Romanian government fully understands what it means to take the reins of the Council of the European Union for six months.

19 Dec 2018; AFP: The European Union on Wednesday adopted backup plans to protect air transport and financial markets in the event Britain leaves without a Brexit deal in 100 days.

And the bloc promised that British citizens living in Europe would continue to enjoy residents' rights "provided that this approach is reciprocated by the UK".

EU officials insist the measures would not mean Britain can quit the union painlessly, but that it is important for "time-limited" measures to "mitigate" the harm.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel submitted his resignation Tuesday amid pressure on his government after the biggest coalition party quit over Michel’s support for a United Nations compact on international migration.

“I am taking the decision to offer my resignation. I am now going to see the king” to inform him,” Michel told Belgian lawmakers.

Before the prime minister gave his notice, lawmakers had been demanding he submit his new minority government to a confidence vote. But Michel refused, and a confrontation this week seemed likely.