Realistic emissions tests - EUbusiness Week newsletter 717 - EUbusiness.com

EUbusiness Week 717 top stories: EU to arrest people traffickers on high seas; Germany ‘lobbied for car pollution test loopholes’; Draghi sees no stability risks from low interest rates; EU court deals blow to ‘invalid’ US data sharing deal; EU says increased farm exports offset Russian ban; EU clips Malta’s wings over migrant bird hunts

Publisher’s Note

The Commission urged Member States to look into whether vehicles comply with EU pollution rules following the shock revelations that Volkswagen cheated in emission tests on diesel cars in America.

Also this week, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee adopted an update of EU car emission rules which set limits on certain pollutants, and also call for a new emissions test procedure under real driving conditions.

The financial implications for VW, and maybe for Europe’s motor industry, are huge, but the impact for public health are enormous also.
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Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. EU to arrest people traffickers on high seas

An EU operation against migrant traffickers in the Mediterranean which will allow for arrests in international waters will begin on October 7, foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said on Thursday.
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Wave of crises puts European dream at risk

2. Germany ‘lobbied for car pollution test loopholes’

Diplomats from Germany, home to disgraced auto giant Volkswagen, have lobbied behind the scenes to maintain European pollution tests that are widely considered ineffective, according to leaked documents.
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3. Draghi sees no stability risks from low interest rates

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told MEPs he saw no risks to financial stability at the moment arising from the Eurozone’s current very low interest rates.
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4. EU court deals blow to ‘invalid’ US data sharing deal

A major data-sharing deal between the EU and US is ‘invalid’ given the spying revelations in the Edward Snowden scandal, the top EU court’s main legal advisor said Wednesday in a case brought against Facebook.
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5. EU says increased farm exports offset Russian ban

The EU says an increase in farm exports to other markets has more than offset a Russian import ban which cost the bloc’s farmers nearly five billion euros in the past year.
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6. EU clips Malta’s wings over migrant bird hunts

The EU has referred Malta to Europe’s top court over the controversial tradition of hunting birds migrating across the Mediterranean every spring.
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EUROPEAN LAW

Uber: a Belgian court confirmed a ban of controversial ride-sharing app UberPOP on Thursday, giving it 21 days to close operations in Brussels or risk massive penalties.
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Slovakia to dispute EU migrant quotas in court: PM
Latest news from the European Court of Justice
EU law firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Summit: EU leaders agreed early Thursday to mobilise at least EUR 1 billion for refugees in countries neighbouring Syria through UN agencies.
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Tsipras hands top job to pro-euro economist Tsakalotos
Renzi gambles on EU backing Italy bumper budget
EU agrees Paris climate talks stance
Council …

Commission Watch

Asylum: the Commission has warned that 19 Member States, including France and Germany, face possible sanctions for failing to implement rules on handling asylum seekers coming to Europe.
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EU is open to digital competition: Oettinger
Ukraine-Russia gas talks to resume in Brussels
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Parliament Watch

Merkel, Hollande: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will jointly address the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 7, the first such event by leaders of the two countries since 1989.
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EP chief urges ‘solid’ Greek gov’t ‘ready to deliver’
Also this week, environment MEPs adopted the EU’s mandate for the Paris climate talks, discussed Volkswagen emission “defeat devices” with the Commission, and said the corporate taxation system hads reached its limits.
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EU diary

28 Sep: Conference on food tourism
28 Sep: European Parliament Committee Meetings
1-2 Oct: 8th European Quality Conference
1-2 Oct: Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights
1 Oct: innovative potential of drones from EU prespective
1 Oct: European Parliament Committee Meetings
2 Oct: Company Law in the Digital Age
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary