Cleanest bathing in Cyprus - EUbusiness Week newsletter 619 - EUbusiness.com

EUbusiness Week 619 top stories: Summit calls time on banking secrecy; Leaders face up to shale challenge; EU seeks China investment accord; EU denies labelling of settler goods delayed; EU drops mooted ban on olive oil in jugs in restaurants; Germany ‘most popular country’ in the world: poll

This Week’s Top Stories

1. Summit calls time on banking secrecy
2. Leaders face up to shale challenge
3. EU seeks China investment accord
4. EU denies labelling of settler goods delayed
5. EU drops mooted ban on olive oil in jugs in restaurants
6. Germany ‘most popular country’ in the world: poll

Publisher’s Note

As we shiver through unseasonal weather, the European Environment Agency’s annual bathing water report assures us we can go on our holidays feeling safer than ever before.

Every year, the EEA compiles bathing water data from local authorities across Europe, measuring levels of bacteria from sewage and livestock. Coastal beaches make up two thirds of sites, rivers and lakes the remainder.

‘Nul points’ to Belgium and, to a lesser extent, the UK, with the highest proportions of non-compliant bathing sites. Good news, at last, for Cyprus, whose beaches come equal top – with Luxembourg, which has some very nice lakes.
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Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. Summit calls time on banking secrecy

European leaders targeted a year-end deadline to undo banking secrecy, ultimately hoping to recoup a trillion euros in lost tax each year to help beat recession and unemployment.
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Luxembourg will meet US tax-law requirements

2. Leaders face up to shale challenge

EU leaders have agreed to face up to the challenge posed by the shale oil and gas revolution which has slashed US energy prices, undercutting Europe’s competitive edge.
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European power firms sound alarm over energy policy

3. EU seeks China investment accord

The EU wants to negotiate an investment protection accord as a first step towards a wider Free Trade Agreement with China, one of its biggest trading partners despite a series of tit-for-tat disputes.
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EU, China have much to lose if trade war breaks out

4. EU denies labelling of settler goods delayed

The European Union on Monday denied an Israeli media report that it was delaying labelling of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
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5. EU drops mooted ban on olive oil in jugs in restaurants

Hard pressed to justify a proposition slammed by critics, the Commission withdrew on Thursday a planned ban on restaurants serving olive oil in jugs on diners’ tables pending consultations with the industry and consumers.
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6. Germany ‘most popular country’ in the world: poll

Germany is the most popular country in the world despite well-publicised protests against its insistence on austerity measures within the European Union, an annual poll for the BBC World Service revealed on Thursday.
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EUROPEAN LAW

Hungary: Hungary’s constitutional court has thrown out an appeal by the country’s parliamentary ombudsman to annul a controversial set of constitutional changes which have drawn ire from the EU.
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EU urges impartiality after Georgia ex-PM’s arrest
Latest Court of Justice judgements
EU Law Firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Iceland: the two parties that emerged victorious from Iceland’s general election in April have agreed to form a government and vowed to hold a referendum on EU membership.
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Hollande announces Franco-German economic initiative
Britain, France to drum up support to arm Syrian rebels
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Commission Watch

Syria: urgent action is needed to protect countries bordering Syria from spillover from the spiralling civil war there, says Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
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EU approves Libya border support mission
Afghan EU envoys push private sector in Herat
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Parliament Watch

US trade: MEPs have voted for cultural and audiovisual services to be excluded from upcoming talks on what would be the world’s largest free trade deal with the United States, which insists there should be no exceptions.
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In plenary this week, MEPs said Bosnia and Herzegovina is far from meeting the conditions for entry into force of the stabilisation and association process with the EU, but the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is ready to launch accession talks. They also voted to ease rules on cross-border pet travel.
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EU diary

27-28 May, Foreign Affairs Council
29-30 May, Competitiveness Council
29 May, EC presents 2013 Country-Specific Recommendations
30 May, Commission monthly infringements package
6-7 Jun, Justice and Home Affairs Council
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary