Timeline European Union: Common Market
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The EU was initially formed as an economic trading
block. It has continued to grow and develop as a broad-based social
entity with open internal borders. May 9 is Europe Day.
(Econ, 7/28/07, p.55)
EU Guide: http://63.77.220.37/infores/euguide/Chapter1.htm
EU Timeline (Univ. of Leiden): http://tinyurl.com/awlef
EU History: http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/index_en.htm
EU History: http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/integra.htm
1306
Pierre Dubois, a counselor for the Duke of
Burgundy, called for a European federation.
(Econ, 1/3/04, p.39)
1947 Jun 5, Secretary of State
George C. Marshall in a speech at Harvard Univ. called for a
European Recovery Program to be initiated by the European powers and
supported by American aid (Marshall Plan). The program was intended
to assist European nations, including former enemies, to rebuild
their economies. In 2007 Greg Behrman authored “The Most Noble
Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save
Europe.”
(EWH, 1968, p.1207)(SFEC, 5/25/97, p.A10)(AP,
6/5/97)(HN, 6/5/98)(WSJ, 8/7/07, p.D6)
1948 The 10-nation Western
European Union defense alliance was formed. It was set to close in
July 2011.
(SFC, 6/4/99, p.A14)(Econ, 6/26/10, p.63)
1949 May 5, The treaty
constituting the Statute of the Council of Europe was signed by ten
countries: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom, accompanied by Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Norway and
Sweden. Robert Schuman, foreign minister of France, defined a
country as European by its democratic and institutional adherence to
common European values.
(http://tinyurl.com/tye8k)(Econ, 11/18/06, p.21)
1950 May 9, The first step in
the process of foundation of the European Community was given by the
French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman. In a speech inspired by
Jean Monnet, Schuman proposed that France and Germany and any other
European country wishing to join them pool their coal and steel
resources. This plan of economic integration looked for developing
the approach between France and Germany, moving definitively away
the haunt of war in Europe.
(Econ, 5/28/05,
p.27)(www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/anteceden2.htm)
1950 Jul 1, The European
Payment Union (EPU) came into being, by agreement of the country
members of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation
(OEEC). The latter had replaced the original Committee of
European Economic Cooperation (CEEC), in April, 1948, and is an
organization of European recipients of U.S. economic assistance.
(www.eagletraders.com)
1951 Jean Monnet, French civil
servant, and Robert Schuman, French foreign minister, helped found
the European Union with agreements between 6 countries on the
pooling of coal and steel resources.
(Econ, 9/25/04, Survey p.3)
1954 May 18, European
Convention on Human Rights went into effect.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1954 Oct 23, Following a London
Conference, agreements on a modified Brussels Treaty were signed in
Paris and the Western European Union (WEU) came into being.
(http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/eec.htm)
1955 Jun 1-1955 Jun 2, Foreign
ministers of 6 European countries met at a Conference in Messina,
Italy, and agreed to extend European integration to all branches of
the economy.
(http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/eec.htm)
1956 Nov 6, Pressure from the
US and USSR effected a cease-fire in the Middle-East. The UN created
an emergency force (UNEF) to supervise a cease fire. Britain’s PM
Anthony Eden called French PM Guy Mollet to tell him that Britain
was aborting operations in Egypt. German chancellor Konrad Adenauer,
meeting with Mollet, remarked that Europe must unite to counter the
influence of the United States.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(EWH, 1968, p. 1242)(Econ,
7/29/06, p.24)
1956 The Eurovision Song
Contest, the brainchild of French music producer Marcel Baison,
began with 7 contestants.
(Econ, 5/14/05, p.57)
1957 Mar 25, The Treaties
establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic
Energy Community were signed in Rome. The Treaty of Rome enabled
people, goods, services and money to move unchecked throughout the
Union. The Council of Ministers represents the governments of the
members. Major decisions are made by the Council of Foreign
Ministers. A 20-member Commission composed of appointed
representatives of each member state serves as the administrative
arm and members represent the Union. The Commission proposes and
executes laws and policies. A European Parliament is composed of 626
members elected by the electorates of the member states and they sit
in party groups. The Commission proposes, the Parliament advises,
and the Council decides. The goal was to create a common market for
all products but especially coal and steel.
(AP, 3/25/97)(HN,
3/24/98)(http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/eec.htm)
1958 Jan 1, Treaties
establishing the European Economic Community went into effect.
(AP, 1/1/98)
1959 Nov 20, Seven European
nations (Austria, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden,
Switzerland) signed the Stockholm Convention to form the European
Free Trade Association (EFTA). The organization becoming operative
on May 3 1960.
(www.iceland.org/efta/the-mission/int-organizations/efta/)
1961 Jul 31, Ireland formally
applied for membership in the European Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1961/index_en.htm)
1961 Aug 9, The United Kingdom
applied for membership in the European Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1961/index_en.htm)
1961 Aug 10, Denmark formally
applied for membership in the European Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1961/index_en.htm)
1962 Nov 1, Greece entered the
European Common Market.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1962/index_en.htm)
1963 Sep, The Treaty of Ankara
on reducing duties implicitly recognized Turkey’s right to join the
European Economic Community.
(WSJ, 10/6/04, p.A17)
1963 The EU signed a trade deal
in Yaounde, Cameroon, to keep markets open to former European
colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands (ACP).
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.78)
1967 May 11, The United Kingdom
re-applied to join the European Community. It is followed by Ireland
and Denmark and, a little later, by Norway. General de Gaulle is
still reluctant to accept British accession.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1967/index_en.htm)
1969 Dec 1, On the initiative
of the French President, Georges Pompidou, the Heads of State or
Government of 6 European countries met in The Hague in order to
define the methods of reviving the European integration process. The
Hague Summit was held to establish the goal of European monetary
union.
(WSJ, 3/25/98,
p.A22)(www.ena.lu/hague_summit_december_1969-022500027.html)
1973 Jan 1, The European
Economic Community (EEC), the forerunner to the EU, admitted
Britain, Ireland and Denmark even though they made chocolate
containing a small percentage of vegetable fat.
(WSJ, 12/4/97,
p.A22)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_European_Union)
1973 A Frenchman invented a
standard Eurobarometer poll to show how various member countries
agreed and disagreed. The first poll was published in 1974.
(Econ, 2/23/08,
p.72)(http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/standard_en.htm)
1975 Jun 5, The outcome of the
British referendum reveals that 67.2% of voters are in favor of the
United Kingdom remaining a member of the Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1975/index_en.htm)
1975 Feb 28, The EU signed
another trade deal in Lome, Togo, to keep markets open to former
European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands
(ACP).
(Econ, 5/28/05,
p.78)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1975/index_en.htm)
1975 May 20, The European
Economic Community adopted a trade agreement with Israel.
(http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/international/3a15en.html)
1979 Mar 13, European Monetary
System (EMS) entered into force.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1961/index_en.htm)
1979 May 28, The acts relating
to Greece's accession to the European Communities were signed in
Athens, Greece.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1979/index_en.htm)
1979 Jun 7-1979 Jun 10, The
first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal
suffrage were held. The turnout for the vote was 63%.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1979/index_en.htm)(Econ, 5/9/09,
p.56)
1979 Jun 28, The Greek
Parliament ratified the Treaty of Accession.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1979/index_en.htm)
1981 Oct 18, Andreas Papandreou
(d.1996) was elected prime minister and Greece joined the European
Union.
(SFEC, 7/26/98, BR
p.3)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1981/index_en.htm)
1982 Feb 23, In a consultative
referendum, Greenland, which became a member of the European
Community as part of Denmark, opted for withdrawal from the
Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1982/index_en.htm)
1982 Oct 1, The framework
agreement on cooperation between the European Community and Brazil
entered into force.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1982/index_en.htm)
1983 Dec 17, An Economic
cooperation agreement between the Community and the Andean Pact
countries was signed in Cartagena, Colombia.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1983/index_en.htm)
1984 Mar 12, The EU Council
signed an agreement on future relations between Greenland and the
Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1984/index_en.htm)
1984 Jun 25-1984 Jun 26, A
European Council is held in Fontainebleau, France. The Ten reach an
agreement on the amount of compensation to be granted to the United
Kingdom to reduce its contribution to the Community budget.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1984/index_en.htm)
1984 Oct 9, A cooperation
agreement between the European Community and the Yemen Republic was
signed in Brussels.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1984/index_en.htm)
1984 The EU introduced milk
quotas. They were designed when low market prices and high subsidies
were filling EU warehouses with surplus “butter mountains” and
mounds of milk powder, at ever greater cost to the EU budget.
(www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10689170)
1985 Feb 1, Greenland left the
European Community but remains associated with it as an overseas
territory.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)
1985 Mar 29-1985 Mar 30, A
European Council is held in Brussels, Belgium. It accepts the
adhesion of Spain and Portugal in the European Communities and
agrees on the Integrated Mediterranean Programmes (IMP) as proposed
by the Commission.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)
1985 Jun 12, Spain and Portugal
signed Accession Treaties to the European Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)
1985 Jun 14, European states
signed the Schengen Agreement, which allowed for the abolition of
systematic border controls between the participating countries. The
agreement was incorporated into EU law in 1997.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_treaty)(Econ, 10/13/07, p.53)
1985 Dec 2-1985 Dec 4, A
European Council was held in Luxembourg. The Ten agreed to amend the
Treaty of Rome and to revitalize the process of European integration
by drawing up a Single European Act.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1985/index_en.htm)
1985 The EU instituted the
Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought as a tribute to the Soviet
dissident Andrei Sakharov.
(SFC, 10/25/96, p.A17)
1985 The EU began its "Culture
Capital" program to promote European integration.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A8)
1985-1995 Frenchman Jacques Delors served as
president of the European Commission.
(Econ, 2/14/04, p.50)
1986 Feb 17, The Single
European Act modifying the Treaty of Rome was signed a 1st time in
Luxembourg. [see Feb 28] The single European Act was passed to end
trade restricting regulations and create a true single European
market by 1992.
(Econ, 9/25/04, Survey
p.9)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1986/index_en.htm)
1986 Feb 28, The Single
European Act modifying the Treaty of Rome was signed a 2nd time in
The Hague.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1986/index_en.htm)
1986 Mar 1, In Sweden Social
Democrat Ingvar Carlsson became prime minister. He served until
October 1991. Under his administration Sweden made the decision to
apply to join the EU.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Sweden)(Econ,
3/3/07, p.57)
1986 Sep 15-1986 Sep 20, In
Punta del Este, Uruguay, the Ministers of ninety-two nations agreed
to a new round of multilateral trade negotiations (Uruguay Round).
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1986/index_en.htm)
1986 Nov, The European
Commission decided on GSM as the first digital standard.
(Econ, 2/3/07, SR p.8)
1986 Portugal and Spain entered
the European Union expanding the membership to 12.
(WSJ, 5/23/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 7/18/03, p.D5)(Econ,
6/13/09, SR p.3)
1987 Apr 14, The Turkish
Government formally applied to join the European Communities.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1987/index_en.htm)
1987 May 13, The Bank of Spain
signed an agreement to join the European Monetary System.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1987/index_en.htm)
1987 Nov 10, The Bank of
Portugal signed an agreement to join the European Monetary System
(EMS).
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1987/index_en.htm)
1987 The EU inked its first
fishing deal with Mauritania.
(WSJ, 1/18/07, p.A13)
1988 Sep 26, A Trade and
economic cooperation agreement between the European Community and
Hungary was signed in Brussels. The European Council adopted a
declaration regarding the American law on trade and competitivity
(the "Trade Act"). It expresses its preoccupations about the
protectionist potential of the law.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1988/index_en.htm)
1989 Jun 19, The Spanish peseta
entered the European Monetary System (EMS) exchange-rate mechanism;
the composition of the ECU is adjusted following the inclusion of
the Spanish peseta and the Portuguese escudo.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1989/index_en.htm)
1989 Jul 17, Austria formally
applies to join the European Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1989/index_en.htm)
1989 Sep 19, The trade and
commercial and economic cooperation agreement between the Community
and Poland signed in Warsaw, Poland.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1989/index_en.htm)
1989 Oct 3, The EU Parliament
issued its “Television Without Frontiers” directive.
(http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/vp01.cfm?outfit=ks&folder=4&paper=11)
1989 Dec 18, An agreement on
trade and commercial and economic cooperation between the European
Community and the Soviet Union is signed in Brussels, Belgium.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1989/index_en.htm)
1989 Dec 20, The European
Commission advised against Turkey’s membership in the EEC.
(Econ, 10/23/10, SR
p.8)(http://tinyurl.com/29sr46p)
1990 Apr 18, A Franco-German
proposal was made at the Dublin summit for the political union of
the 12 European Community member countries.
(www.unesco.org/mitterrand/anglais/ieuroues.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/36pexa)
1990 May 17, The effective date
for pension rights for both men and women as ruled by a European
court in 1994.
(www.opas.org.uk/PensionRights/EqualTreatment/equalTreatment.htm)
1990 Jul 1, The first phase of
the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) comes into force. Four Member
States (Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland) are granted an
exceptional regime given their insufficient progress towards
financial integration.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1990/index_en.htm)
1990 Oct, French Pres. Francois
Mitterand called for an economic government of Europe during a
Franco-German summit in Paris.
(Econ, 7/14/07, p.58)
1990 Dec 15, European Community
leaders wrapped up a historic summit in Rome committed to creating a
politically unified federation.
(AP, 12/15/00)
1990 The Venice Commission was
created by 18 member states to advise the Council of Europe on
constitutional matters after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Its
official name is the European Commission for Democracy through Law.
By 2012 it included 47 members.
(www.venice.coe.int/site/main/Presentation_E.asp)
1991 Apr 14, The European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development is inaugurated in London, United
Kingdom.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1991/index_en.htm)
1991 Oct 21-1991 Oct 22, The
European Community and the European Free Trade Association concluded
a landmark accord to create a free trade zone of 19 nations by 1993.
(AP,
10/22/01)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1991/index_en.htm)
1991 Nov 8, The European
Community and Canada imposed economic sanctions on Yugoslavia in an
attempt to stop the Balkan civil war.
(AP, 11/8/01)
1991 Dec 9-1991 Dec 11,
European Community leaders meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht
tentatively agreed to begin using a single currency by 1999. The
European Council reached an agreement on the draft Treaty on the
European Union.
(AP,
12/9/01)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1991/index_en.htm)
1991 Dec 11, European Community
leaders meeting in the Dutch city of Maastricht hammered out a
compromise for a loose federation of their countries. The Maastricht
treaty was signed on February 7, 1992, and entered into force on
November 1, 1993. It set entry terms for joining a European monetary
union.
(WSJ, 11/18/96, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/3/97, p.A1)(AP,
12/11/01)
1991 Dec 16, "Europe
Agreements" are signed with Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1991/index_en.htm)
1992 Feb 7, The Treaty on the
European Union was signed in Maastricht by the Foreign and Finance
Ministers of the Member States.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Mar 18, Finland formally
applies to join the European Communities.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 May 11, 12 European
countries recalled their ambassadors from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia
to protest Serb involvement in Bosnia's ethnic war.
(AP, 5/11/97)
1992 May 20, Switzerland
formally applies to join the European Communities.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Jun 2, Danish voters
rejected the Maastricht union treaty.
(AP, 6/2/97)
1992 Jun 18, A referendum is
held in Ireland, the people vote in favor of the ratification of the
Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Jul 2, Luxembourg ratifies
the Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Jul 31, Greece ratifies
the Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Sep 20, French voters
narrowly approved the Maastricht Treaty on European union.
(AP, 9/20/97)
1992 Oct 26, Italy ratifies the
Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Nov 4, Belgium ratifies
the Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Nov 25, Norway formally
applies to join the European Communities. Spain ratifies the Treaty
on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Dec 2, Germany's lower
house of parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Maastricht
Treaty on European unity.
(AP, 12/2/97)
1992 Dec 6, A narrow majority
of Swiss referendum voters rejected the idea of joining the European
Economic Area, a free trade club embracing the EU and Liechtenstein.
(Econ, 5/22/04,
p.46)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Dec 11, Portugal ratified
the Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Dec 15, The Netherlands
ratified the Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Dec 18, Germany ratified
the Treaty on the European Union.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1992/index_en.htm)
1992 Jacques Delors, president
of the European Commission, almost scuppered the Uruguay round of
world trade talks rather than cut farm spending.
(Econ, 11/5/05, p.58)
xxxx
1993 Jun, EU membership
criteria were laid down at the European Council in Copenhagen,
Denmark. Under the “Copenhagen criteria” would-be EU members were
required to show that they meet the political and institutional
standards of membership.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_criteria)(Econ, 12/2/06,
p.55)
1993 Dec 14, The United States
and European Community set aside a bitter fight over films,
unlocking the door to the world's biggest-ever trade reform package.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1994 Jun 24, The EU and Russia
signed a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). It went into
force on Dec 1, 1997.
(www.eu-russiacentre.org/assets/files/Arbatova_article.pdf)
1995 Jan 1, Austria, Finland
and Sweden joined the European Union. Sweden held their elections to
the parliament later that year on 17 September. Austria held its
elections on 13 October, 1996 and Finland on 20 October, 1996.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_European_Union)(Econ,
5/1/04, p.26)
1995 Nov, The Barcelona
Process, launched by Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Ministers, formed an
innovative alliance based on the principles of joint ownership,
dialogue and co-operation. It brings together the 27 Members of the
European Union and 12 Southern Mediterranean states. Economic
incentives and the strengthening of civil society were used to
encourage reform.
(http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/euromed/index_en.htm)(Econ,
11/26/05, p.68)
1995 The EU banned Sudan 1, a
red dye and genotoxic carcinogen, from use in food.
(Econ, 2/26/05, p.56)
1995 The European Commission
implemented the flagship Data Protection Directive.
(Econ, 6/19/10,
p.64)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Directive)
1996 Mar 1, The first
Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) opened in Bangkok, Thailand, with 25
countries and the EU Commission participating.
(Econ, 10/9/10, p.63)(http://tinyurl.com/25mhkw7)
1996 Mar 27, The European Union
imposed a global ban on British beef and beef products due to
concerns over mad cow disease.
(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A17)
1996 Apr, The EU decided to
allow Monsanto to begin selling genetically modified soybeans in
Europe.
(WSJ, 11/30/99, p.A1)
1996 Jun 9, The latest average
unemployment rate was 11%.
(SFC, 6/9/96, Parade, p.9)
1996 Jun 11, A trade pact
between the EU and Algeria was passed along with an agreement to
provide $3.6 million to help pay for elections in Bosnia.
(SFC, 6/11/96, p.A15)
1996 Jun 19, The European Union
approved a British plan for wiping out “mad cow” disease.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A10)
1996 Jul 12, The EU warned that
it would freeze US assets and impose visa requirements on Americans
if European companies are penalized for investing in Cuba.
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A9)
1996 Oct 2, The EU said that it
will challenge the US Helms-Burton law in a new court of world
trade.
(SFC, 10/2/96, p.A8)
1996 Oct 16, The EU began its
campaign against the US Helms-Burton Act by asking the WTO (World
Trade Organization) to set up a panel to resolve differences over
the law.
(SFC, 10/17/96, A9)
1996 Oct 24, The EU voted to
block hundreds of millions in aid to Turkey for failure to
sufficiently improve human rights.
(SFC, 10/25/96, p.A17)
1997 Jan 1, The EU introduced
the Pan-European Cumulation System (PECS) to turn a latticework of
bilateral trade rules into a single multilateral umbrella. It
extended the system to include Turkey in 1999.
(Econ, 8/5/06,
p.68)(www.foreigntrade.gov.tr/ab/ingilizce/panavrup.htm)
1997 Apr 11, The EU postponed
for 6 months a WTO case that charged the US with unfair trade
practices.
(WSJ, 4/14/97, p.A1)
1997 Oct 2, The EU formally set
up a common foreign and security policy in the Amsterdam Treaty. It
set to adopt key asylum and immigration measures within five years
of the treaty's entry into force, expected in 1999. A protocol to
the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam reclassified animals as sentient
beings.
(Econ, 8/26/06,
p.42)(http://hrw.org/worldreport/Helsinki-28.htm)(Econ, 12/2/06,
p.88)
1997 Nov 11, The EU high court
upheld hiring and promotional preferences for women.
(SFC,11/12/97, p.C2)
1997 Dec 1, The Partnership and
Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Russia and the EU came into
force. It was signed in June 1994 to encourage political,
commercial, economic and cultural cooperation.
(www.delrus.ec.europa.eu/en/p_243.htm)
1997 Dec 4, The EU banned
tobacco advertising and gave cigarette makers until 2006 to end
sponsorship of major sports and cultural events. Governments get 3
years to enact the ban beginning Oct 1988 on all advertising except
at stores that sell cigarettes.
(SFC,12/5/97, p.B2)
1997 John Laughland authored
“The Tainted source: The undemocratic origins of the European idea.”
(Econ, 1/3/04, p.39)
1997 The EU established a
stability pact that included a member limit of 3% on deficits and a
goal of avoiding a national debt bigger than 60% of GDP.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.55)
1998 Mar 25, The executive body
of the EU endorsed a proposal for 11 nations to be part of the new
system. These included Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Ireland, Austria and
Luxembourg.
(SFC, 3/26/98, p.B3)
1998 Mar 31, The EU set this
date for membership talks with Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic,
Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus. Preliminary talks were also set with
Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.
(SFC,12/13/97, p.A12)
1998 May 3, European leaders
selected Dutchman Wim Duisenberg as chief of the new European
Central Bank (ECB), with the proviso that he leave in 2002 and allow
Jean-Claude Trichet of France to take over.
(BS, 5/3/98, p.21A)
1998 May 20, The EU approved a
rescue package to save the French Credit Lyonnais banking group. In
exchange the state bank would be privatized and assets would have to
be sold.
(SFC, 5/22/98, p.D4)
1998 Jun 1, The European
Central Bank (ECB) was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam. It is
headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. It began operating on Jan 1,
1999.
(www.ecb.int/ecb/orga/escb/html/index.en.html)
1998 Jul 1, The European
Central Bank was inaugurated with headquarters in Frankfurt under
Pres. Wim Duisenberg.
(SFC, 5/1/98, p.A18)(SFC, 7/2/98, p.C3)
1998 Nov 9, The Human Rights
Act 1998, an Act of the Westminster Parliament, made the European
Convention on Human Rights part of the law of all parts of the UK.
It did not come fully into effect until 2 October 2000.
(Econ, 10/16/10,
p.70)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998)
1998 Dec, A Dutch auditor
working for the European Commission charged that commissioners were
awarding contracts to friends and relatives.
(SFC, 1/12/99, p.A8)
1998 The EU agreed to ban
asbestos by 2005.
(WSJ, 12/9/02, p.A1)
1999 Jan 1, The Maastricht
Treaty specified that a monetary union will be established by this
date, and laid down several criteria that EU nations must fulfill in
order to join. Some of the criteria are: maximum budget deficits of
3% of GDP, a cap on government debt of 60% of GDP. The European
economic and monetary union (EMU) was scheduled to start with a new
"Euro" currency. Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain made
the transition.
(WSJ, 9/25/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 12/5/95, p.A-14)(SFC,
11/16/96, p.A1)(SFC, 1/1/99, p.A8)
1999 Jan 1, Weimar, Germany,
began its tenure as the EU Culture Capital for the year.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A8)
1999 Jan 4, The euro, the new
money of 11 European nations, got off to a strong start on its first
trading day, rising against the dollar on world currency markets and
closed in New York at $1.181. A founding principal of the euro area
held that national central banks be independent of their
governments.
(SFC, 1/5/99, p.C2)(AP, 1/4/00)(HN, 1/4/01)(Econ,
2/25/06, p.77)
1999 Jan 25, The US planned to
notify the World Trade Organization that it planned sanctions on the
European Union and 100% tariffs on a wide range of products due to a
dispute over EU banana import laws.
(SFC, 1/13/99, p.A11)
1999 Jan 14, The EU voted
against censure after EU Pres. Jacques Santer of Luxembourg pledged
to impose a reform program to prevent fraud.
(SFC, 1/15/99,
p.A15)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Santer)
1999 Mar 15, All 20 members of
the EU executive body, the European Commission also called "the
college," resigned in the wake of charges of fraud, corruption and
mismanagement.
(SFC, 3/16/99, p.A1)(Econ, 9/13/03, p.50)
1999 Mar 24, The EU leaders in
Berlin chose Romano Prodi, former prime minister of Italy, as the
new chief executive.
(SFC, 3/25/99, p.A5)
1999 Apr 8, The EU cut interest
rates by .50% from 3% to 2.5% in an attempt to stave off a
recession.
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.A9)
1999 Apr 14, The EU countries
proposed a peace plan for Kosovo, wherein the province would be
placed under temporary European administration if Pres. Milosevic
withdraws his forces and allows refugees to return.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.C2)
1999 May 3, EU scientists said
that the hormone, 17 beta-oestradiol, used by American cattle
farmers is carcinogenic. The EU 10 year ban on the use of hormones
in beef would likely be maintained.
(WSJ, 5/4/99, p.A14)
1999 May 5, The EU endorsed
Romano Prodi, the former prime minister of Italy, as the next
president of the European Commission.
(WSJ, 5/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 3, The 15-member EU
announced plans to establish itself as a military power with a
60,000-troop force. A day later the EU named Javier Solana as the
1st foreign policy and security czar of the union.
(SFC, 6/4/99, p.A14)(SFC, 6/5/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 4, The EU named Javier
Solana as the 1st foreign policy and security czar of the union.
(SFC, 6/5/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 14, Voters in the
15-nation bloc of the European Union overturned socialist dominance
with the election of the center-right European People's Party.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.C16)
1999 Jun 19, The Bologna
process for the creation of the European Higher Education Area
started. 29 European Ministers responsible for higher education
signed the Bologna declaration in which they undertake to create a
European Higher Education Area.
(www.aic.lv/ace/ace_disk/Bologna/about_bol.htm)
1999 Jul 14, The EU agreed to
resume British beef exports on Aug 1, ending a 3-year ban due to mad
cow disease.
(WSJ, 7/15/99, p.A13)
1999 Jul 20, Nicole Fontaine of
the European's People's Party was elected as leader of the European
Parliament.
(WSJ, 7/21/99, p.A19)
1999 Aug 1, The EU cleared
British beef for export. A ban had followed the 1996 mad cow crises.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Oct 11, South Africa and
the European Union signed a free-trade pact.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C16)
1999 Oct 29, A EU Commission
ruled that British beef was safe to eat despite French arguments for
a ban to guard against mad cow disease.
(SFC, 10/30/99, p.A12)
1999 Nov 24, Mexico and the EU
agreed on terms for a free trade treaty.
(SFC, 11/25/99, p.A14)
1999 Nov 30, It was reported
that the EU passed the Electronic Signature Directive, a law that
gave legal status to digital signatures.
(WSJ, 12/1/99, p.A24B15)
2000 Jan 11, An EU court ruled
in favor of a German woman who claimed that a German constitutional
ban against women bearing arms amounts to sexual discrimination.
(SFC, 1/12/00, p.A11)
2000 Jan 26, The EU and
Yugoslavia crafted a $24 million plan to clear Danube River bridge
debris due to NATO bombing.
(WSJ, 1/27/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 31, The European Union
warned Austria that its 14 members would diplomatically isolate
Austria if the Freedom Party of Joerg Haider entered into a
coalition government.
(SFC, 2/1/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar, EU leaders met in
Lisbon, Portugal, and agreed to turn Europe into the world’s most
competitive economy by 2010. this became known as the Lisbon Agenda.
(Econ, 3/19/05, p.15)(Econ, 3/25/06, p.58)
2000 May 19, China and the EU
agreed to open markets.
(SFC, 5/20/00, p.A8)
2000 Jun 23, The Cotonou
Agreement, a treaty between the European Union and the group of
African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP countries), was signed in
Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, by 79 ACP countries and the then
fifteen Member States of the EU. It entered into force in 2002 and
is the latest agreement in the history of ACP-EU Development
Cooperation. As of Dec 31, 2007, the Cotonou Agreement ceased to be
legal under the rules of the WTO.
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.78)(Econ, 1/5/08,
p.74)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotonou_Agreement)
2000 Sep 12, The EU lifted
diplomatic sanctions against Austria.
(SFC, 9/13/00, p.A12)
2000 Oct 25, Europe with
support from Canada and Japan announced a $280 million support
package for Colombian efforts to make peace with leftist rebels.
(SFC, 10/26/00, p.D8)
2000 Nov 20, The EU began to
build its own defense force, a 60,000 man, rapid reaction corps. EU
defense chiefs pledged 100,000 soldiers, 400 planes and 100 ships
for a rapid-reaction force.
(SFEC, 11/19/00, p.A16)(WSJ, 11/21/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 6, A European Union
summit began in Nice to prepare for expansion to 27 or more members.
(SFC, 12/6/00, p.C5)
2000 Dec 11, The EU in Nice
reached a compromise in the early hours on a treaty that gave the 4
most populous countries a stronger voice in decision making and
paved the way for as many as 13 new members over the next decade.
(SFC, 12/11/00, p.A12)(Econ, 3/17/07, SR p.9)
2000 EU Implementation of new
anti-pollution laws began. The EU in 1998 announced plans for
tougher anti-pollution laws to take effect to make car engines and
fuels burn cleaner.
(SFC, 7/3/98, p.D2)
2001 Jan 1, Sweden took over
the 6-month rotating presidency of the EU. Its priorities centered
on enlargement of the union, along with environment and employment
concerns.
(WSJ, 1/04/00, p.A15)
2001 Mar 6, The EU ordered all
livestock markets closed for 2 weeks to contain foot-and-mouth
disease.
(SFC, 3/7/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 13, US regulators
moved to ban all live animals and uncooked animal products from the
EU following the discovery of hoof-and-mouth disease in France.
(SFC, 3/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 24, EU leaders ended a
2 day meeting in Stockholm announced that they would dispatch a team
of mediators to help the peace process between North and South
Korea.
(SSFC, 3/25/01, p.C6)
2001 Mar 28, The EU expressed
concern over Pres. Bush’s abandonment of the Kyoto Treaty for
cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
(WSJ, 3/29/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 30, It was reported
that Germany’s Chancellor Schroeder had proposed a draft for turning
the EU Executive Commission into a European government and giving
the EU Parliament full power over the 15-nation budget.
(SFC, 4/30/01, p.A8)
2001 May 14, The European
Commission announced that it would establish diplomatic ties with
North Korea.
(WSJ, 5/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 8, Irish voters
rejected the EU’s Nice treaty to pave the way for 12 new members.
The Irish reportedly feared immigrants in search of jobs and
participation in an EU Rapid Reaction Force.
(SFC, 6/9/01, p.A9)(Econ, 3/17/07, SR p.10)
2001 Jun 14, Pres. Bush clashed
with EU leaders in Sweden over his global warming policy. The EU
leaders said they would move to implement the Kyoto treaty without
the US.
(SFC, 6/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 16, In Goteborg,
Sweden, 15 EU leaders ended a 3-day summit and agreed to a firm
timetable to admit new members by 2004.
(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.A12)
2001 Sep 9, EU foreign
ministers agreed on the need for a new int’l. military force to
provide security in Macedonia after NATO withdrawal.
(SFC, 9/10/01, p.B1)
2001 Oct 4, The EU made a joint
announcement with Spain that the Basque ETA would be put on the list
of terrorist organizations whose assets would be frozen by the EU.
(WSJ, 10/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 10, The EU and leaders
of several African nations agreed on a “Marshall Plan for Africa” to
combat poverty and disease and allow access to markets in the
industrialized world.
(SFC, 10/11/01, p.C2)
2001 Oct 19, EU leaders pledged
their continued support for the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.
(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.A16)
2001 Dec 14, European nations
began distributing a “Eurokit” of euro coins in advance of the Jan 1
day when the euro becomes legal tender.
(SFC, 12/15/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 15, EU leaders
concluded a 2-day Council at Laeken, Belgium. The adoption of the
Laeken Declaration on the Future of Europe, established the European
Convention. A constitutional convention was planned. This process
was supposed to simplify the EU’s legal architecture. The admittance
of 10 new members over the next 2 years was also planned. The EU
declared their nascent joint military force operational.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_Councils)(WSJ,
12/17/01, p.A14)(Econ, 10/27/07, p.16)
2001 Dec 28, The EU expanded
its list of terrorist organizations to include Irish, Basque, Greek
and Middle Eastern extremist groups.
(SFC, 12/29/01, p.A11)
2001 An EU directive gave
member nations until 2006 to comply with an art sale levy, droit de
suite (right of continuation), allowing artists to claim a sliding
scale royalty on the resale price of their works selling for over
1000 euros.
(WSJ, 1/13/06, p.P14)
2001 The EU began work on the
Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals
(REACH). The final package was expected to come into force in April,
2007.
(Econ, 12/9/06, p.70)
2001 At Washington’s request
the UN Security Council ordered that the assets of Yassin Qadi, a
Saudi businessman and multimillionaire, be frozen soon after the Sep
11 attacks in NYC. He was alleged to be a financier of Islamic
terrorism with close links to al-Qaida. The EU froze the assets of
Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi businessman, and the Al-Barakaat
International Foundation, a Sweden-based charity suspected of
funding al-Qaida terror groups. In 2008 the EU's highest court
overturned the decision saying the order failed to offer those on a
terror blacklist any legal rights to a judicial review under
European law. Also frozen were the assets of Omar Mohammed Othman,
also known as Abu Qatada, an extremist Muslim preacher from Jordan.
In 2009 an EU court voided the freeze on Othman due to lack of
proper judicial review. Othman has lived in Britain since 1993, has
been arrested several times there under anti-terrorist legislation
and currently faced deportation to Jordan.
(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A1)(AP, 9/3/08)(AP, 6/11/09)
2002 Jan 1, In Europe 50
billion new euro coins and 14 billion new euro notes began
circulating in 12 participating countries in the most ambitious
currency changeover in history.
(SFC, 1/2/02, p.A8)(AP, 1/1/03)
2002 Feb, The EU complained
that Thailand’s 10-baht coin, introduced in 1988, was being used in
vending machines all over Europe due to its similarity to the new
2-euro coin.
(SSFC, 2/24/02, p.C7)
2002 Mar 4, European Union’s 15
members ratified the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, but failed to
set pollutant-emission levels to meet the accord’s targets.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2002 May 28, The EU announced
plans to overhaul its 100,000-vessel fishing industry with some
national fleets to be cut by up to 60% due to overfishing.
(SFC, 5/29/02, p.A12)
2002 May 29, The EU upgraded
Russia to the status of a full market economy.
(SFC, 5/30/02, p.A8)
2002 May 31, EU members
ratified the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
(SFC, 6/1/02, p.A9)
2002 Jun 19, Air traffic
controllers in France and other nations went on strike to protest a
plan to dramatically reorganize the use of Europe's skies.
(AP, 6/19/02)
2002 Jun 22, Tens of thousands
of people banged drums, blew whistles and danced their way through
Seville's streets in a rally against globalization. The EU Summit
ended with new measures to deter illegal immigration.
(AP, 6/22/02)(SSFC, 6/23/02, p.A22)
2002 Jul 24, The European Union
will give an extra $32 million to the U.N. Population Fund to help
replace the U.S. money being withheld because of concerns about
coercive abortions.
(AP, 7/24/02)
2002 Aug 30, The WTO ruled that
the EU can impose $4 billion in penalties on the US because of an
American tax break that promotes exports. The EU planned to give the
US time to change the law.
(SFC, 8/31/02, p.A7)
2002 Oct 3, NATO and European
Union called on Croatia to cooperate with the U.N. War Crimes
Tribunal, urging the government to hand over indicted war crimes
suspect Gen. Janko Bobetko.
(AP, 10/3/02)
2002 Nov 20, The EU, except for
Portugal. banned Belarus Pres. Lukashenko and top aides to protest
human rights abuses under his rule.
(WSJ, 11/20/02, p.A1)
2002 Dec 6, The EU agreed to
ban single-hull tankers, likely to be effective in 2010.
(SFC, 12/7/02, p.A15)
2002 Dec 20, The European Union
agreed to cuts in its fleet and cod catch quotas, but ignored
scientific advice to ban cod fishing altogether to save stocks from
near extinction in EU waters.
(AP, 12/20/02)
2002 The EU set up Eurojust to
help prosecutors with the worst cross-border crimes.
(Econ, 6/10/06, p.52)
2002 An EU regulation forced
banks to charge no more for cross-border transfers within the euro
area of up to 12,500 euros than they did for domestic ones.
(Econ, 3/31/07, p.82)
2002 The EU decided to go ahead
and launch a satellite navigation network, Galileo, to rival
America's Global Positioning System (GPS). Operations were scheduled
to begin in 2008.
(Econ, 1/31/04, p.78)
2002 The European hedge fund
charity ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) was established to provide
AIDS treatment in Africa, to help children in orphanages in eastern
Europe and to finance education in Britain.
(Econ, 6/2/07, p.80)
2003 Jan 10, The European Union
proposed a diplomatic initiative to avoid war against Iraq and
increased pressure on Washington to pursue a peaceful solution to
the crisis over Iraq's arms programs.
(AP, 1/10/03)
2003 Jan 15, The EU Parliament
voted to ban the use of animals to test cosmetics by 2009. Imports
of cosmetics using animal testing would also be banned.
(WSJ, 1/16/03, p.A1)
2003 Jan 16, The European
Union's Court of Justice ordered Spain and Italy to drop national
rules on what constitutes chocolate, saying they can no longer bar
British and Irish confections made with vegetable fats instead of
cocoa butter.
(AP, 1/16/03)
2003 Feb 6, Belgium asked the
European Union to call an emergency meeting to discuss a peaceful
way out of the Iraq crisis.
(AP, 2/6/03)
2003 Feb 17, European Union
leaders declared their solidarity with the United States, warning
Saddam Hussein that Iraq faced one "last chance" to disarm
peacefully but calling war a last resort.
(AP, 2/17/04)
2003 Mar 10, The
European Union opened a new office in Cuba.
(AP, 3/10/03)
2003 Mar 17, Berlin Plus
agreement, a short title for a comprehensive package of agreements
between NATO and EU, was based on conclusions of the NATO
Washington Summit.
(www.nato.int/shape/news/2003/shape_eu/se030822a.htm)(Econ, 2/10/07,
p.54)
2003 Mar 27, EU governments
agreed to ban single-hulled oil tankers carrying heavy fuel in an
attempt to reduce the risk of slicks.
(AP, 3/27/03)
2003 Mar 31, In Macedonia the
EU began its first military operation by taking over peacekeeping
duties from NATO.
(AP, 3/31/03)
2003 Apr 1, Seven EU nations,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Portugal and
Belgium, said they oppose a proposal by larger countries for a new
permanent European Union presidency.
(AP, 4/2/03)
2003 Apr 7, Cuba handed down
sentences of 15-27 years to the 1st 7 of 80 recently rounded
dissidents. Activists of Oswaldo Paya’s Christian Liberation
Movement made up more than two-thirds of those arrested. In response
the EU imposed diplomatic sanctions and Cuban officials boycotted
embassy functions in what came to be called the “cocktail war.” The
sanctions were suspended in 2005 and lifted in 2008.
(AP, 4/8/03)(Econ, 12/17/05, p.38)(Econ, 6/28/08,
p.44)
2003 Apr 8, Twenty-two European
countries submitted a proposed resolution to the UN’s top human
rights body accusing Russia of grave rights violations in the
breakaway republic of Chechnya.
(AP, 4/8/03)
2003 Apr 9, The European
Union's parliament ratified a historic expansion, making it nearly
certain that 10 mostly eastern European countries will join the bloc
next year.
(AP, 4/9/03)
2003 Apr 16, Leaders of 25
European nations gathered in Athens to sign treaties sweeping away
the 20th century's Iron Curtain divide. The 10 new EU members will
formally join May 1, 2004 following ratification of treaties.
(AP, 4/16/03)
2003 May 15, The economies of
Germany, Netherlands and Italy contracted during the first three
months of 2003 as the European Union as a whole showed no growth for
the first time in almost two years.
(AP, 5/16/03)
2003 Jun 13, European Union
delegates agreed on a draft constitution that details how the
coalition of nations will be run as it adds new members and evolves
into what many hope will be a world power to rival the United
States.
(AP, 6/14/03)
2003 Jun 19, European leaders
gathered at a secluded Greek seaside resort for a three-day summit
to discuss Middle East peace, illegal immigration, and the
contentious draft of a first-ever European Union constitution.
(AP, 6/19/03)
2003 Jul 10, Framers of the
European Union's first constitution finalized their draft charter
but failed to settle differences over how much power national
governments would cede to Brussels.
(AP, 7/10/03)
2003 Jul 29, A heat wave and a
drought gauged a multibillion-dollar hole into Europe's economy,
crippling shipping, shriveling crops and driving up the cost of
electricity.
(AP, 7/29/03)
2003 Sep 6, The European Union
said it will declare all wings of the militant Palestinian group
Hamas a terrorist organization and freeze its assets after dozens of
deadly attacks in Israel.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Sep 9, The European
Union's high court ruled that Italy and other EU governments can
temporarily ban genetically modified foods while they examine health
risks, but must provide "detailed grounds," not general fears, to do
so.
(AP, 9/9/03)
2003 Sep 27, Europe's first
mission to the moon blasted off aboard a European Ariane rocket from
French Guiana. The SMART-1 probe made it to within 3,100 miles of
the moon on Nov 15, 2004, and proceeded to move into an elliptical
orbit. The spacecraft ended its mission Sep 3, 2006, when it crashed
into the lunar surface.
(AP, 9/28/03)(SFC, 11/17/04, p.A3)(SSFC, 9/3/06,
p.A5)
2003 Oct 17, The EU pushed
ahead with efforts to build its own defense arm but sought to ease
U.S. concerns by insisting the plan would neither duplicate nor
undermine NATO.
(AP, 10/17/03)
2003 Oct 21, A top European
Union official defended the bloc's $233 million contribution for
Iraqi reconstruction and said that more could be forthcoming next
year.
(AP, 10/21/03)
2003 Nov 3, The EU condemned
lingering anti-Jewish bias it said was reflected in a new survey,
which found that many Europeans see Israel as a threat to world
peace.
(AP, 11/3/03)
2003 Nov 24, British PM Tony
Blair and French President Jacques Chirac confronted the sensitive
issue of European defense and in a show of unity announced plans for
a small rapid-reaction force of EU peacekeepers.
(AP, 11/24/03)
2003 Nov, Wim Duisenberg,
president of the European Central Bank, retired and presented a bell
to his successor Jean-Claude Trichet for keeping order during
meetings.
(WSJ, 12/2/03, p.A16)
2003 Dec 13, EU efforts to seal
its first-ever constitution collapsed, after leaders in Brussels
could not agree on the best way to divvy power once the bloc adds 10
new members next year.
(AP, 12/13/03)
2003 Dec 19, Fisheries
ministers of the 15 European Union nations reached a compromise deal
to protect dwindling stocks of cod, hake and other species.
(AP, 12/19/03)
2003 The European Union's
anti-fraud office, OLAF, alerted French prosecutors to a "vast
enterprise of Looting" at Eurostat, the commission’s statistical
service.
(Econ, 7/26/03, p.51)
2004 Jan 5, A letter bomb
addressed to a senior member of the European Parliament burst into
flames. Italian anarchists were suspected in the 7 mail attacks
since Dec 27.
(AP, 1/5/04)(SFC, 1/6/04, p.A10)
2004 Jan 13, The European
Commission proposed an initiative aimed at creating a single market
for services within the European Union (EU), similar to the single
market for goods act of 1986. It came to be known as
Bolkestein Directive after the Dutch Commissioner Frits Bolkestein
(b.1933), who launched it. Trade unions opposed it. On 16 February
2006, the European Parliament in plenary session in Strasbourg voted
in favor of a compromise proposal that went a long way towards
meeting the trade union demands
(www.etuc.org/a/499)
2004 Apr 24, Greek Cypriots
overwhelmingly rejected a UN plan, the Annan Plan, to reunite
Cyprus. The European Union pledged to start searching for ways to
extend a hand of friendship to the island's long-ostracized Turkish
side. It meant that only the Greek side of Cyprus would join the
European Union on May 1.
(AP, 4/25/04)(WSJ, 4/26/04, p.A13)(Econ, 5/1/04,
p.49)
2004 Apr 27, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov and EU officials signed an accord extending
the EU-Russia partnership accord to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and
Malta, which join May 1.
(AP, 4/27/04)
2004 May 1, Revelers across
ex-communist eastern Europe celebrated their historic entry to the
European Union. 10 new members joined. Malta joined with 70
exemptions to EU rules. Poland had 43 exemptions. Latvia had 32.
(AP, 5/1/04)(Econ, 2/28/04, p.50)
2004 May 19, The European Union
lifted its 6-year-old ban on biotech products by approving imports
of an insect-resistant strain of sweet corn for human consumption.
(AP, 5/19/04)
2004 May 21, The European Union
confirmed its backing for Russia to join the World Trade
Organization, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow in
turn would speed up ratification of the troubled Kyoto accord on
global warming.
(AP, 5/21/04)
2004 May, The EU and the USA
reached a deal regarding US security interests and the transfer of
passenger data from European airlines. The deal was challenged by
civil liberty groups. In 2006 a court upheld that the agreement
lacked an adequate legal basis.
(Econ, 6/3/06, p.47)
2004 Jun 10, Europeans began
casting ballots across 25 member nations of the expanded European
Union for a new European Parliament.
(Econ, 6/19/04, p.49)
2004 Jun 13, EU balloting,
begun June 10, ended. Some 150 million Europeans cast ballots across
25 member nations of the expanded European Union. Turnout was 45.3
percent.
(AP, 6/14/04)(Econ, 6/19/04, p.49)
2004 Jun 18, European Union
leaders sealed a hard-fought deal on a new constitution. It needs
approval by all 25 member states before it can take effect, expected
in 2007.
(AP, 6/19/04)
2004 Jun 21, Local and
international police officials warned that Europe is awash in
counterfeit euro bills of excellent quality.
(AP, 6/21/04)
2004 Jun 28, The European Union
denied China's request to be officially recognized as a market
economy, saying that an assessment of the Chinese economy showed too
much state interference and poor corporate governance.
(AP, 6/28/04)
2004 Jul 20, EU lawmakers
elected a pro-European from Spain to be its next president as the
expanded European Parliament met for the first time. The 732-member
assembly chose Josep Borrell, a relatively unknown Spanish
Socialist, to its top job.
(AP, 7/20/04)
2004 Sep 10, European finance
ministers chose Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker to represent the
group of 12 European Union countries that share the euro currency.
(AP, 9/10/04)
2004 Sep 22, The European
Commission approved a multi-billion pound bailout of the nuclear
group British Energy, after securing guarantees that the company
would not breach EU competition rules.
(AP, 9/22/04)
2004 Sep 22, The European Union
agreed in principle to lift an arms embargo on Libya after pressure
from Italy.
(AP, 9/22/04)
2004 Oct 6, The EU recommended
Turkey be put on the path to full membership.
(AP, 10/7/04)
2004 Oct 11, The European Union
ended 11 years of sanctions against Libya and eased an arms embargo
to reward the North African country for giving up plans to develop
weapons of mass destruction.
(AP, 10/11/04)
2004 Oct 20, The EU revamped
its trade rules. Nations with more than 15% of European market share
of any goods were set to lose their discounted tariffs. China and
India were expected to be the main losers.
(WSJ, 10/20/04, p.A15)
2004 Oct 22, The EU said its
member states will contribute $125 million to an African Union (AU)
force in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
(AP, 10/23/04)
2004 Oct 29, European leaders
signed the EU's first constitution.
(AP, 10/29/04)
2004 Nov 5, The DJ rose 72 to
10,387. The euro reached a new high of 1.2962 to the dollar. The US
dollar fell to an all-time low against the euro as EU political
leaders signaled they have no unified plan to stem the rise in their
five-year-old currency.
(SFC, 11/5/04, p.C1)(AP, 11/5/04)
2004 Nov 17, The EU will
consider giving Greece until the end of 2006 to cut its budget
deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product.
(AP, 11/17/04)
2004 Nov, Manuel Durao Barroso,
former PM of Portugal, took over as head of the European Commission.
(Econ, 2/19/05, p.52)
2004 Dec 2, The European Union
began its biggest-ever military operation, formally taking over
NATO's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia with 7,000 troops.
(AP, 12/2/04)
2004 Dec 8, The European Union
and China agreed to boost relations, but the EU made clear there can
be no early lifting of its 15-year-old arms embargo until Beijing
improves its human rights record.
(AP, 12/8/04)
2004 Dec 17, European Union
leaders and Turkey agreed on a compromise formula to overcome
differences over Turkish recognition of Cyprus' government as a
condition for opening EU membership talks.
(AP, 12/17/04)
2004 Dec 22, A European Union
court ruled that Microsoft Corp. must immediately divulge some trade
secrets to competitors and produce a version of its flagship Windows
operating system stripped of the program that plays music and video.
(AP, 12/22/04)
2004 T.R. Reid authored “The
United States of Europe: The new Superpower and the End of American
Supremacy.”
(WSJ, 11/2/04, p.D6)
2004 Frontex, a Warsaw-based
agency, was created to manage the EU’s external borders. The agency
started to be operational on October 3, 2005 and was the first EU
agency to be based in one of the new EU states.
(Econ, 8/21/10,
p.43)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontex)
2005 Jan 1, Europe’s 7,000
listed companies adopted int’l. financial reporting standards
(IFRS), replacing the mishmash of 25 local accounting regimes with
one set of rules. Over 90 countries began switching to a new int’l.
accounting standards.
(WSJ, 12/9/04, p.C1)(Econ, 6/18/05, p.73)
2005 Jan 11, The EU and the US
agreed to settle their dispute over subsidies to Airbus SA and
Boeing Co. through bilateral talks rather than asking the WTO to
resolve it.
(AP, 1/11/05)
2005 Jan 12, The European
Parliament gave its overwhelming endorsement to the European Union's
first-ever constitution and urged EU governments to quickly follow
suit.
(CP, 1/12/05)
2005 Jan 13, The European-built
space probe Huygens entered the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon,
Titan.
(Reuters, 1/14/05)
2005 Jan 31, EU foreign
ministers agreed to restore normal diplomatic relations with the
Cuban government while pledging to increase contacts with critics of
Pres. Fidel Castro.
(AP, 1/31/05)
2005 Jan, The EU Emissions
Trading Scheme (ETS), a market for carbon emission permits, was
created.
(Econ, 5/6/06, p.75)
2005 Feb 2, The EU told Italy,
France and Germany, to do more to bring their budgets in balance as
required by the rules of Europe's single currency.
(AP, 2/2/05)
2005 Feb 7, The EU head office
called for closer coordination among all member governments to hunt
down and prosecute those illegally spreading unsolicited e-mails, or
spam, across the 25-nation bloc.
(AP, 2/7/05)
2005 Feb 17, EU finance
ministers warned Greece to get its finances in order by the end of
2006 and bring its annual budget deficit in line with EU spending
rules or face hefty fines.
(AP, 2/17/05)
2005 Feb 21, In Brussels
President Bush appealed to Europe to move beyond animosities over
Iraq and join forces in encouraging democratic reforms across the
Middle East. He also prodded Russia to reverse a crackdown on
political dissent, demanded that Iran end its nuclear ambitions and
told Syria to get out of Lebanon.
(AP, 2/21/05)(SFC, 2/22/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 22, The EU intends to
end its ban on arms sales to China, French Pres. Jacques Chirac said
after talks with Pres. Bush, who highlighted Washington's security
concerns.
(AP, 2/22/05)
2005 Apr 6, The European
Commission proposed a major boost in EU spending in the 2007-2013
period to create jobs, spur growth and fund programs to make the
25-nation European Union safer and healthier for its 455 million
inhabitants.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 6, Under pressure to
stem a rising tide of textile imports from China, the European
Union's executive unveiled guidelines for imposing curbs on a
country which already has 20 percent of a $400 billion market.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 8, The EU’s executive
commission said it had recommended guidelines to member states to
boost the market for low-cost, high-speed Internet access delivered
over electricity power supply lines.
(AP, 4/8/05)
2005 Apr 13, The European
Parliament approved the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU in
2007, but it said both countries still need to carry out necessary
reforms.
(AP, 4/13/05)
2005 Apr 25, EU trade ministers
backed a full investigation into allegations that cheap textiles and
clothing from China were flooding the EU market, but disagreed on
imposing fast action to block imports.
(AP, 4/25/05)
2005 Apr, The Council of
Europe, Europe's top human rights body, rejected euthanasia as a
legitimate means to end life.
(AP, 12/21/06)
2005 May 10, Russian Pres.
Vladimir Putin and top European Union leaders unveiled a new
partnership accord which aims in particular to deepen ties in the
economic sphere, where Europe's thirst for energy dovetails with
Russia's need for investment.
(AP, 5/10/05)
2005 May 11, The European Union
parliament voted to abolish loopholes that give member states,
especially Britain, a way around the bloc's 48-hour maximum
workweek.
(AP, 5/12/05)
2005 May 11, Austria's
parliament overwhelmingly ratified the European Union's
constitution, the seventh nation to do so.
(AP, 5/11/05)
2005 May 24, The EU announced
that its members would double their aid to poor countries by 2015.
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.77)
2005 May 27, The EU
constitution cleared its final legislative hurdle in Germany, two
days before French voters have their say on the document. The Prum
Treaty was signed by Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Austria and Belgium (Italy has since said it wants to
join too). It covers a series of justice and home affairs issues
including the "exchange of information" (in effect, the "principle
of availability").
(AP,
5/27/05)(www.statewatch.org/news/2006/sep/05eu-g6.htm)
2005 May 29, French voters
rejected the EU's first constitution, dealing a potentially fatal
blow to the charter. In 2007 it was repackaged as the Lisbon treaty.
(AP, 5/30/05)(Econ, 10/10/09,
p.28)
2005 May, Italy reported that
it had fallen back into recession for the 1st quarter of 2005.
(Econ, 5/21/05, p.13)
2005 May, In Portugal an audit
estimated that the nation’s deficit could reach 7% of GDP this year,
well over the 1999 EU limit of 3%.
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.53)
2005 Jun 1, Dutch voters
worried about social benefits and immigration overwhelmingly
rejected the European Union constitution in what could be a knockout
blow for a charter meant to create a power rivaling the United
States. Slow economic growth in the Netherlands was seen as a key
reason for the massive rejection of the EU constitution
(AP, 6/1/05)
2005 Jun 2, Latvian lawmakers
voted to ratify the European Union constitution and challenged other
European nations not to give up hope that the charter can be
implemented.
(AP, 6/2/05)
2005 Jun 5, A narrow majority
of Swiss voters approved joining a European Union passport-free
zone, abolishing checks on the country's border by 2007, according
to final results from a two-issue national referendum.
(AP, 6/5/05)
2005 Jun 7, The EU head office
said that Italy broke the bloc's budget rules with excessive
deficits in 2003 and 2004 and is likely to breach the limit again
this year and in 2006.
(AP, 6/7/05)
2005 Jul 1, An EU directive
took effect banning lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and
2 types of brominated flame retardants. Some exceptions were
allowed.
(SSFC, 2/27/05, p.E1)
2005 Jun 15,The EU commission
slapped a 40 million pound fine on pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca
for illegally pushing rivals of a stomach ulcer medicine out of the
market.
(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jun 18, EU leaders blamed
each other after a summit collapsed without any real agreement on
what lies ahead for the half-century project of uniting the
continent. But they agreed Europe is in a crisis.
(AP, 6/18/05)
2005 Jun 20, European Union
agriculture ministers agreed to share out an annual 12.7
billion-euro ($15.51 billion) package to support rural development.
(AP, 6/21/05)
2005 Jun 22, The European
Commission unveiled proposals for a radical overhaul on EU sugar
subsidies.
(Econ, 6/25/05, p.73)
2005 Jun 22, The European
Union's head office told Portugal to cut its burgeoning budget
deficit and public debt, saying the country's economic slowdown was
no excuse for violating euro-zone rules on sound finances.
(AP, 6/22/05)
2005 Jun 29, The EU gave Italy
until the end of 2007 to cut its budget deficit in line with
euro-zone rules, a warning that is powerless as it carries no
punishment.
(AP, 6/29/05)
2005 Jun 30, The EU and China
plunged into a 2nd trade row, this time over shoes, but Brussels
said a deal was still possible over Beijing's surging footwear
exports.
(AP, 6/30/05)
2005 Jul 7, Luxembourg PM
Jean-Claude Juncker asked his citizens to pass a referendum in favor
of the EU Constitution.
(WSJ, 7/8/05, p.A5)
2005 Jul 18, The EU said it
will allow member countries to adopt different approaches in
patenting biotech drug innovations.
(WSJ, 7/19/05, p.A12)
2005 Aug 8, The EU head office
gave its clearance for the import of a genetically modified corn
product made by American biotechnology company Monsanto Co. for use
in animal feed.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Sep 1, The European
Commission proposed new rules for the 25 European Union nations to
establish common standards on immigration and asylum.
(AP, 9/1/05)
2005 Sep 1, Turkey insisted
that it has fulfilled conditions for EU membership, as foreign
ministers of the 25-nation group started meeting in Wales to assess
the predominantly Muslim nation's efforts to join the bloc.
(AP, 9/2/05)
2005 Sep 2, EU governments said
Europe will dip into its emergency stocks of gasoline to help the US
through an energy crisis due to Hurricane Katrina.
(Reuters, 9/2/05)
2005 Sep 4, European Union and
NATO said the US has asked for emergency assistance, requesting
blankets, first aid kits, water trucks and food for the victims of
Hurricane Katrina.
(AP, 9/4/05)
2005 Sep 5, China and the EU
reached an agreement to unblock some 77 million garments held up at
European borders after Chinese textile imports broke through 2005
quota limits.
(AP, 9/5/05)
2005 Sep 7, European Union
governments backed a deal to unblock Chinese textiles held at EU
borders, ending a trade dispute that saw some 77 million garments
pile up after imports broke through 2005 limits.
(AP, 9/7/05)
2005 Sep 21, EU nations agreed
that Turkey must recognize EU member Cyprus during its membership
talks, warning that non-recognition could lead to paralysis in the
negotiations.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 30, The EU insisted
that governments and the private sector must share the
responsibility of overseeing the Internet, setting the stage for a
showdown with the United States on the future of Internet
governance.
(AP, 9/30/05)
2005 Oct 3, EU nations reached
a tentative agreement on pursuing full membership talks with Turkey,
diplomats said. A spokesman for the Turkish prime minister denied
reports that Ankara had agreed to the deal.
(AP, 10/3/05)
2005 Oct 3, The EU imposed an
arms embargo on Uzbekistan, cut aid, and suspended a cooperation
accord to punish the increasingly isolated country for refusing to
investigate the violent suppression of an uprising in May.
(AP, 10/3/05)
2005 Oct 4, In London Russia’s
Pres. Putin met with EU leaders for talks on expanding cooperation
in the fight against crime, including terrorism, and strengthening
trade ties.
(AP, 10/4/05)
2005 Oct 4, Croatia began
delayed EU membership talks, after UN chief war crimes prosecutor
Carla del Ponte endorsed Zagreb's cooperation with her court.
(AFP, 10/4/05)
2005 Oct 12, The European
Commission said companies that want to sell music online in the
European Union can now get a single license to operate in all 25
member states.
(AP, 10/12/05)
2005 Oct 12, The EU agreed to
legally require telecommunications companies to keep records of
phone and e-mail traffic for up to one year as part of the bloc's
anti-terrorist campaign.
(AP, 10/12/05)
2005 Oct 12, The European
Commission presented a new development aid strategy focused
primarily on easing poverty in Africa and on holding EU member
states to their promises to double aid to the continent.
(AP, 10/12/05)
2005 Oct 13, The EU said the
bird flu virus found in Turkish poultry was the H5N1 strain that
scientists worry might mutate into a human virus and spark a
pandemic. Turkey's health minister said the outbreak had been
contained.
(AP, 10/13/05)
2005 Oct 17, The European Union
unblocked $87 million in development aid for Haiti, ending a freeze
imposed almost five years ago because of allegedly flawed elections
in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Oct 21, The European
Commission agreed to open talks with Bosnia on a cooperation
agreement that could lead to full EU membership for the Balkan
nation.
(AP, 10/21/05)
2005 Oct 25, The EU's highest
court finally settled the fate of feta cheese, decreeing it a
traditional Greek product deserving protection throughout the
25-nation bloc in a ruling that went against other European
producers.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Oct 26, The EU said the
dangerous H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in Croatia.
Authorities said a 2nd parrot that died in quarantine in Britain was
also infected with the virus.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Oct 28, The EU offered to
reduce average agricultural tariffs by 46 percent, its steepest ever
farm tariff cuts, in a proposal aimed at breaking a deadlock in
world trade talks.
(AP, 10/28/05)
2005 Nov 3, European Union
officials said they would investigate a report that the CIA set up
secret jails in Eastern Europe to interrogate top al-Qaida suspects.
The international Red Cross also said it asked the US to let a
representative visit detainees if such a facility exists. At least
10 nations denied that the prisons were in their territory. Human
Rights Watch in New York said it has evidence indicating the CIA
transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland
and Romania.
(AP, 11/3/05)
2005 Nov 7, The EU agreed to
monitor a Gaza-Egypt border crossing that serves as the main gate to
the world for Palestinians.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 7, EU foreign
ministers agreed to launch a three-year police training mission to
help the Palestinian Authority build up a new "sustainable and
effective" police force.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 8, The EU said Morocco
will join its Galileo satellite navigation program, becoming the
first African nation to participate in the project that aims to
rival the US' GPS system.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Nov 9, Europe's first
mission to Venus was successfully launched from the Baikonur
cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and emitted a first signal at the start of
its 163-day journey to the turbulent planet.
(AFP, 11/9/05)
2005 Nov 14, EU Council
decision Nr. 2005/815/EB officially gave Vilnius, Lithuania, and
Linz, Austria, status as a European Capital of Culture for the year
2009.
(www.culturelive.lt/en/european_capitals_of_culture)
2005 Nov 21, EU defense
ministers adopted a plan to open up their $35 billion arms industry
to increased cross-border competition within the 25-nation bloc, a
landmark move designed to cut costs for tight military budgets.
(AP, 11/21/05)
2005 Nov 21, EU foreign
ministers authorized the start of negotiations on an agreement to
prepare Bosnia for EU membership a decade after the Balkan nation
was ravaged by Europe's worst fighting since World War II.
(AP, 11/21/05)
2005 Nov 25, EU Enlargement
Commissioner Olli Rehn officially opened landmark negotiations on
closer ties between Bosnia and the 25-member European Union.
(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 25, Slovakia joined
the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) as a first step towards
adopting the European Union's common euro currency.
(AFP, 11/26/05)
2005 Nov 28, EU Justice and
Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini warned that that any of
the 25 bloc nations found to have operated secret CIA prisons could
have their EU voting rights suspended.
(AP, 11/28/05)
2005 Nov 28, The European Union
managed to get Israel and its Arab neighbors to endorse an
anti-terrorism code of conduct at the end of a fractious two-day
summit.
(AP, 11/28/05)
2005 Dec 7, The EU and host
Canada piled pressure on the US to join an international pact to
curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit the predicted chaos from
global warming.
(Reuters, 12/08/05)
2005 Dec 7, European businesses
rushed to sign up for the new ".eu" Internet domain name, putting in
100,000 Web site applications by the end of its first day available.
(AP, 12/08/05)
2005 Dec 15, European and US
officials said the EU has formally protested to Russia about its
sale of sophisticated missiles to Iran, saying the diplomatic row
reflected disarray on how to pressure Tehran to scale back its
suspect nuclear program.
(AP, 12/15/05)
2005 Dec 15-2005 Dec 16, Tony
Blair’s EU presidency culminated in the summit in Brussels.
(Econ, 12/10/05, p.13)
2005 Dec 17, EU leaders agreed
on a 7-year spending plan for the 25-nation bloc, a hard-won deal
seen as key to shaping the future of an enlarged EU and to restoring
faith in its unity.
(AP, 12/17/05)
2005 Dec 17, Macedonia moved a
step closer to realizing its dream of EU membership when the bloc's
leaders gave their blessing for it to start membership talks.
(AFP, 12/17/05)
2005 Dec 22, The European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to put in place within three
months an effective reparations mechanism for Greek Cypriots who
were stripped of their possessions in the 1970s.
(AP, 12/22/05)
2005 Dec 26, The EU announced a
166 million euros ($196.9 million) aid package for 10 African
countries. The aid will go to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Burundi, Chad, Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia, the Ivory Coast,
Madagascar and Comoros.
(Reuters, 12/26/05)
2005 Dec 28, The EU launched
the first satellite in its Galileo navigation program, which
officials expect one day will end the continent's reliance on the US
Global Positioning System.
(AP, 12/28/05)
2005 Dec 29, France reported a
second death from freezing temperatures as blizzards swept through
northern and central Europe, forcing flight cancellations at Prague
airport and cutting power lines and rail links in Scandinavia.
(AP, 12/29/05)
2005 Dec 30, Europe's second
snowstorm this week piled drifts on tracks and roads, slowing rail
service, stranding motorists and causing hundreds of traffic
accidents. At least four deaths were attributed to a week of icy
weather.
(AP, 12/30/05)
2005 Mark Leonard authored “Why
Europe Will Run the 21st Century.”
(Econ, 2/26/05, p.83)
2006 Jan 10, European airlines
lost a legal bid that aimed to strike down new EU rules guaranteeing
passengers compensation for flight delays or cancellations.
(AP, 1/10/06)
2006 Jan 12, EU governments
refused to ascribe market-economy status to 13 Chinese shoemakers,
opening the way for duties to be imposed on their imports to Europe.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006 Jan 18, The European
Parliament rejected plans to liberalize port services across the
European Union that had sparked mass strikes by dock workers and a
violent protest in front of the EU legislature in France.
(AP, 1/18/06)
2006 Jan 28, A 2-day European
conference on the future of the EU ended in Salzburg, Austria.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that Europe
must face globalization head-on and not shy away from the issue.
(AP, 1/28/06)
2006 Jan 30, European Union
foreign ministers called on Hamas to recognize the state of Israel,
renounce violence and disarm.
(AP, 1/30/06)
2006 Feb 16, Serbia rejected
European Union's guidelines for an independence vote in Montenegro,
increasing tensions within the troubled Balkan state.
(AP, 2/16/06)
2006 Feb 24, The EU opened an
in-depth antitrust probe into mining company Inco Ltd.'s $11 billion
planned purchase of Falconbridge Ltd., a deal that would create the
world's largest nickel producer.
(AP, 2/24/06)
2006 Feb 27, EU foreign
ministers threatened to freeze talks with Serbia on its membership
bid, setting a March deadline for Belgrade to hand over war crimes
fugitive Ratko Mladic.
(AP, 2/27/06)
2006 Feb 27, The EU agreed to
grant $145 million in urgent aid to the Palestinians before a
government led by the Islamic militant group Hamas takes power, a
move aimed at preventing a financial collapse that could add to the
chaos in the Middle East.
(AP, 2/27/06)
2006 Mar 2, The European
Central Bank raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage
point to 2.5 percent amid worries about inflation.
(AP, 3/2/06)
2006 Mar 3, In Austria talks
between EU negotiators and Iran over its nuclear ambitions broke up
without any agreement, paving the way for potential UN Security
Council action against Tehran as early as next week.
(AP, 3/3/06)
2006 Mar 3, An EU executive
said Sweden's first case of mad cow disease has been confirmed by
the European Union's central laboratory.
(AP, 3/3/06)
2006 Mar 10, The EU threatened
legal action against member states that create biotech-free growing
zones in their countries, warning that doing so would violate EU
trade rules.
(AP, 3/10/06)
2006 Mar 10, The EU threatened
to cut off aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian government "unless it
seeks peace by peaceful means," its strongest signal to the new
leadership.
(AP, 3/10/06)
2006 Mar 10, The EU and the US
signed a new wine deal that allows the US to export wines made using
practices many European vintners shun. The bilateral accord resolved
most elements of a 2-decade-long dispute over wine making methods
and names.
(SFC, 3/11/06, p.C1)(WSJ, 3/11/06, p.A4)
2006 Mar 14, EU trade chief
Peter Mandelson told China to remove barriers on imports of European
goods if it wants to be recognized as a market economy by the
25-nation bloc.
(AP, 3/14/06)
2006 Mar 21, The EU said it
would pay for half of a 16 million euro ($19 million) international
promotion campaign to sell European-produced foods such as fruits,
cheese and wine in 11 countries, including the United States, China,
Japan and Canada.
(AP, 3/21/06)
2006 Mar 22, The EU approved a
first-ever joint blacklist of nearly 100 mostly African airlines
considered to be unsafe, in a move spurred by a spate of fatal
crashes last year. The list, effective March 25, bans 92 airlines
from plying EU skies all together and puts restrictions on another
three from flying certain types of airplanes into the 25-nation
bloc.
(AFP, 3/22/06)
2006 Mar 31, The EU gave Serbia
an extra month to hand over genocide suspect Ratko Mladic or face
suspension of its talks on closer EU ties, after being reassured of
progress in the manhunt.
(AFP, 3/31/06)
2006 Apr 7, The EU said it has
cut off direct aid payments to the Hamas-led Palestinian government
because of its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel.
(AP, 4/7/06)
2006 Apr 10, The EU barred
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and dozens of his senior
officials from entering any bloc countries to protest his
re-election last month in a vote that international observers said
was rigged.
(AP, 4/10/06)
2006 Apr 10, EU foreign
ministers endorsed a freeze of aid to the Palestinian government but
said they would seek alternative ways of providing money for
humanitarian projects.
(AP, 4/10/06)
2006 Apr 11, A European
spacecraft went into orbit around Venus on a mission to explore the
mysterious atmosphere of Earth's nearest planetary neighbor.
(AP, 4/11/06)
2006 Apr 26, EU Parliament
investigators said the CIA has conducted more than 1,000 undeclared
flights over European territory since 2001, a clear violation of an
international treaty.
(AP, 4/26/06)
2006 May 3, The European Union
suspended aid and trade talks with Serbia after Belgrade failed to
deliver fugitive Gen. Ratko Mladic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
(AP, 5/3/06)
2006 May 3, The European
Commission fined 7 companies a total of $489.8 (388.1 euros) for
running a cartel in bleaching chemicals.
(WSJ, 5/4/06, p.A2)
2006 May 5, The European
Commission said safety belts will have to be used in all seats on
tour buses and vans across the European Union.
(AP, 5/5/06)
2006 May 11, The EU and Latin
America opened a three-day summit in Vienna with over 60 national
leaders attending, including Venezuela's fiery, often
anti-Washington President Hugo Chavez. Bolivian President Evo
Morales said that foreign oil companies would not be compensated for
oil and gas resources that have been nationalized, and European
Union president Austria called for explanations.
(AFP, 5/11/06)
2006 May 15, A top official
said the EU will support an Iranian nuclear program that cannot be
put to military use and will boost political and economic
cooperation if Tehran accepts international oversight.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 22, The NYSE under
John Thain made a $10.2 billion cash and stock bid for Euronext NV,
a European exchange operator, in an attempt to become the world’s
first transatlantic stock trading center. Euronext had formed
earlier as a combination of the Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels
exchanges.
(SFC, 5/23/06, p.C3)(Econ, 5/27/06, p.66)
2006 May 25, Russian President
Vladimir Putin and EU leaders met for a summit focused on EU
concerns about Russia's reliability as a key energy supplier.
(AP, 5/25/06)
2006 May 27, The EU agreed to
give itself another year to sort out the impasse over its troubled
constitution and build confidence in the bloc's plans for further
expansion.
(AP, 5/27/06)
2006 Jun 8, The European
Central Bank (ECB) meeting in Madrid raised its key interest rate by
a quarter point to 2.75% amid worries that high oil prices would
spur inflation. Stock markets in Asia tumbled to their lowest levels
in months and European shares also declined amid anxiety that
possible US interest rates hikes will slow global growth.
(SFC, 6/9/06, p.D3)(AP, 6/8/06)(Econ, 6/10/06,
p.75)
2006 Jun 12, EU foreign
ministers reached agreement with Cyprus on a formula to enable
Turkey to take its first step in detailed accession talks with the
25-nation bloc.
(AP, 6/12/06)
2006 Jun 16, EU leaders gave
Slovenia a green light to join the eurozone next year, launching a
new wave of expansion for the currently 12-nation single currency
club. EU leaders also gave their backing to the assessment of the
EU's executive arm that Lithuania would not be ready to join the
eurozone next year because inflation had overshot the limit required
to join.
(AFP, 6/16/06)
2006 Jun 16, EU leaders agreed
to channel aid to cash-starved Palestinians for health care,
utilities and social services while still maintaining a funding
freeze on the Hamas-led government.
(AP, 6/16/06)
2006 Jun 26, The EU urged all
nations to sign a global convention against torture, calling the
practice "cruel, inhuman and degrading" not only to victims but to
those who inflict such treatment on people.
(AP, 6/26/06)
2006 Jun 29, Trade ministers
struggled for a breakthrough in deadlocked global free trade talks
as the US and EU accused each other of failing to come up with the
necessary concessions.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jul 6, The European
Central Bank held its key interest rate steady at 2.75% as was
widely anticipated but pledged to exercise "strong vigilance" on
inflation.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 11, EU finance
ministers made Slovenia the 13th member of the euro zone. This gave
Slovenia 5 months to print and mint euro notes to replace the tolar
on January 1.
(WSJ, 7/12/06, p.A10)
2006 Jul 12, The EU fined
Microsoft Corp. $357 million and threatened new penalties of $3.82
million a day beginning July 31 because it says the software maker
failed to obey a 2004 antitrust order to share program code with
rivals.
(AP, 7/12/06)
2006 Jul 12, The EU joined the
US in warning Iran it faced UN Security Council action if no
solution could be found to a stand-off over its nuclear program.
World powers agreed to send Iran back to the UN Security Council for
possible punishment, saying the clerical regime has given no sign it
means to negotiate seriously over its disputed nuclear program.
(AP, 7/12/06)
2006 Jul 13, The EU criticized
Israel for using "disproportionate" force in its attacks on Lebanon
following the cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerillas who captured
2 Israeli soldiers.
(AP, 7/13/06)
2006 Jul 24, WTO members in
Geneva called a halt to more than five years of commerce
liberalization talks (the Doha talks) as differences over farm aid
proved unbridgeable. The 25-nation EU criticized US intransigence
over agricultural subsidies for the breakdown, while the US blamed
Brazil and India for being inflexible on cutting barriers to
industrial imports and the EU for refusing to make deeper cuts in
its farm import tariffs.
(AP, 7/24/06)
2006 Jul, Mauritania netted
$700 million from the EU for fishing rights over 6 years.
(WSJ, 1/18/07, p.A13)
2006 Aug 3, A pair of European
central banks raised interest rates, increasing expectations on Wall
Street that the Federal Reserve would follow suit next week. The
European Central Bank hiked rates .25% to 3%, with a similar hike by
the Bank of England to 4.75%.
(AP, 8/3/06)
2006 Sep 3, The SMART-1
spacecraft, Europe's first moon probe launched Sep 27, 2003, signed
off its mission on schedule by crashing into the lunar surface,
completing a project scientists hope will tell them more about the
moon's origin.
(Reuters, 9/3/06)(SSFC, 9/3/06, p.A5)
2006 Sep 13, The EU's foreign
policy chief and Iran's top nuclear negotiator abruptly postponed
talks on easing tensions over the refusal of the Tehran regime to
suspend uranium enrichment.
(AP, 9/13/06)
2006 Sep 15, The US joined with
the EU and Canada charging that China has erected illegal barriers
to the sale of U.S. and other foreign-made auto parts there.
(AP, 9/15/06)
2006 Sep 20, EU regulators
fined 30 companies a total of $399.1 million for fixing prices for
copper-pipe fittings.
(WSJ, 9/21/06, p.A8)
2006 Sep 26, The European
Commission recommended that Bulgaria and Romania join the EU next
year, but under some of the harshest terms ever faced by new
members.
(AP, 9/26/06)
2006 Sep 27, EU air safety
officials backed tightened rules on the amount of liquids and size
of carry-on baggage passengers can bring onto commercial flights.
(AP, 9/27/06)
2006 Oct 5, The European
Central Bank, sticking to its tough line on inflation, raised its
key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25% and
hinted that another rate increase is in the offing before next year.
(AP, 10/5/06)
2006 Oct 5, EU ministers
endorsed a plan to make permanent joint patrols that pick up
migrants on the high seas, moving to end internal divisions over
dealing with a surge of illegal immigration from Africa.
(AP, 10/5/06)
2006 Oct 5, US-based Human
Rights Watch (HRW) said the EU's decision to abandon a trade pact
with the reclusive Central Asian state of Turkmenistan was a
"landmark move against tyranny."
(Reuters, 10/5/06)
2006 Oct 6, US and European
negotiators reached an interim deal on sharing trans-Atlantic air
passenger data for anti-terrorism investigations.
(AP, 10/6/06)
2006 Oct 13, The EU condemned a
French bill making it a crime to deny that the World War I-era
killing of Armenians in Turkey was genocide, calling it unhelpful at
a critical stage in the Muslim country's EU entry talks.
(AP, 10/14/06)
2006 Oct 13, EU and Indian
leaders agreed to boost cooperation in fighting terrorism,
particularly by focusing on improving the flow of intelligence.
(AP, 10/13/06)
2006 Oct 17, The EU said it
felt obliged to back limited sanctions against Iran's nuclear
program after Tehran refused to halt uranium enrichment as a
condition to start negotiations.
(Reuters, 10/17/06)
2006 Oct 20, In Lahti, Finland,
25 EU leaders held a one-day summit on energy. Russian President
Vladimir Putin defended his government's tough stance on Georgia and
dodged EU leaders' demands that he commit to a legally binding
energy charter that would guarantee better access to Russia's oil
and gas fields.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 24, Britain said
Bulgarians and Romanians will have only limited rights to work in
Britain for at least a year after their countries join the European
Union on January 1.
(AP, 10/24/06)
2006 Oct 25, In Finland the US
and the EU ended a 2-day meeting on cleaner energy. They agreed on
tighter cooperation on renewable energy and other environmental
policies despite splits over the UN’s Kyoto Protocol on global
warming.
(WSJ, 10/26/06, p.A6)
2006 Oct 26, Belarusian
opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich was awarded the Sakharov
Prize by the EU Parliament for his fight for democracy in the former
Soviet republic.
(AP, 10/26/06)
2006 Oct 26, Europe's six
largest countries agreed on ways to pre-empt terrorist attacks
through sharing intelligence about threats and driving extremists
from the Internet. The six states also signaled increased
cooperation in stopping criminal gangs from defrauding the EU of
billions of euros a year in tax revenue, amid fears terrorists might
be involved.
(AFP, 10/26/06)(AP, 10/26/06)
2006 Nov 8, The European
Commission set Turkey a mid-December deadline to open its ports to
shipping from Cyprus or face consequences for its troubled EU
membership bid.
(Reuters, 11/8/06)
2006 Nov 21, The UN Security
Council voted to extend the EU peacekeeping force in Bosnia for a
year, welcoming "tangible signs" of the Balkan nation's progress
toward EU membership.
(AP, 11/21/06)
2006 Nov 22, The European
Commission said Russia had told the 25-nation bloc it intends to ban
all animal product exports from the EU starting next year because
Moscow claimed new members Bulgaria and Romania had poor animal
health standards.
(AP, 11/22/06)
2006 Dec 3, Andris Piebalgs,
the EU Energy Commissioner from Latvia, signed an accord on nuclear
cooperation with Kazakhstan. The EU hoped to increase Kazakhstan
uranium sales to the EU from 3% to 20%.
(WSJ, 12/4/06, p.A6)
2006 Dec 5, The EU presidency
backed a proposal to partially suspend EU membership talks with
Turkey because of Ankara's refusal to open up to trade with Cyprus.
(AP, 12/5/06)
2006 Dec 7, Turkey offered to
open a major seaport and an airport to longtime foe Cyprus to try to
keep its EU entry talks on track. The EU called the step positive
but insufficient.
(AP, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 11, European Union
foreign ministers decided to suspend 8 out of 35 parts of
entry talks with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to
trade with EU member Cyprus.
(AP, 12/11/06)(Econ, 12/16/06, p.53)
2006 Dec 15, The US and the EU
stepped up calls for Sudan to let international troops in to support
African Union forces in Darfur amid growing talk of sanctions on
Khartoum.
(AP, 12/15/06)
2007 Jan 1, Bulgaria and
Romania joined the EU. Some 30,000 Israelis gained EU citizenship
due to their dual registration in Romania.
(WSJ, 10/4/07, p.A11)(AP, 1/1/07)
2007 Jan 1, Slovenia adopted
the euro, becoming the 13th EU nation to use the single European
currency. The transition to the euro included a 14-day period for
dual use of the euro and Slovene tolar.
(WSJ, 12/30/07, p.A4)(AP, 1/1/07)
2007 Jan 16, The European
Parliament elected German conservative Hans-Gert Poettering as
president of the chamber to replace outgoing Spanish Socialist Josep
Borrell.
(AFP, 1/16/07)
2007 Jan 19, Europeans labored
to restore services across the continent after hurricane-force winds
toppled trees, brought down power lines and damaged buildings,
killing at least 47 people and disrupting travel for tens of
thousands.
(AP, 1/19/07)(SFC, 1/20/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 19, The EU said it has
donated an additional 3.95 million euros ($5 million) to support the
implementation of the Nigeria-Cameroon boundary demarcation project.
(AP, 1/20/07)
2007 Jan 22, The EU threatened
Sudan with sanctions if it refused to allow UN peacekeepers into
war-torn Darfur, but rights groups and analysts said the warning was
not enough to stop the killings.
(AP, 1/22/07)
2007 Jan 23, A special
committee of the European Parliament approved a report alleging EU
nations including Britain, Poland, Germany and Italy were aware of
secret CIA flights over Europe and the abduction of terror suspects
by US agents into clandestine detention centers.
(AP, 1/23/07)
2007 Feb 7, Michel Niaucel, a
French diplomat with the European Union in Ivory Coast, was shot to
death in his home overnight. Niaucel was in charge of West Africa
security operations for the EU.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 12, EU foreign
ministers approved plans for implementing UN sanctions against Iran,
a move that is meant to punish Tehran over its refusal to halt
uranium enrichment.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 14, The European
Parliament approved a controversial report accusing Britain,
Germany, Italy and other European nations of turning a blind eye to
CIA flights transporting terrorism suspects to secret prisons in an
apparent breach of EU human rights standards.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Feb 19, The EU extended
sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year including an arms embargo,
travel ban and asset freeze on President Robert Mugabe and other top
officials.
(AP, 2/19/07)
2007 Feb 20, EU ministers
agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below their 1990 level
by 2020.
(SFC, 2/21/07, p.C5)
2007 Feb 21, Europol said
Police in seven European countries have broken up a network that
carried out more than 200 carefully choreographed armed robberies of
jewelry stores, and channeled $53 million in loot into drugs and
real estate.
(AP, 2/21/07)
2007 Mar 1, EU officials
launched the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, an effort to stamp
out intolerance in the 27-nation bloc under a crush of immigrants.
(SFC, 3/2/07, p.A14)
2007 Mar 2, Checkpoint Systems
Inc. said it will provide Reno GmbH with RFID (radio frequency
identification) tags and store tagging systems. Reno GmbH plans to
embed wireless chips in shoes sold at hundreds of stores across the
continent.
(http://tinyurl.com/2cpo45)
2007 Mar 8, The European
Central Bank raised its key interest rate a quarter percentage point
to 3.75%, a move aimed at keeping growth from moving too quickly.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 9, EU leaders agreed
on a bold set of measures to fight global warming, pledging that a
fifth of the bloc's energy will come from green power sources such
as wind turbines and solar panels by 2020 and that 10% of European
cars will run on biofuels.
(AP, 3/9/07)(Econ, 3/17/07, p.59)
2007 Mar 14, Italy and Russia
said they wanted talks between Moscow and the European Union on a
new strategic partnership agreement to start as soon as possible.
(AP, 3/14/07)
2007 Mar 15, The EU said it
would put pressure on members of the Southeast Asian regional
grouping ASEAN at talks in Germany to urge Myanmar to improve its
human rights record.
(AP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 15, The European
Commission and the UN Development Program said Malaysia should
empower its forest-dependent indigenous people to alleviate poverty
and safeguard their environment.
(AP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 21, The EU and the UN
eased their diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian government,
holding talks with non-Hamas ministers.
(Reuters, 3/21/07)
2007 Mar 22, The EU approved an
aviation deal with the US that opens up restricted trans-Atlantic
routes to new rivals, but bowed to British concerns in delaying when
the agreement takes effect. The EU said Boeing has benefited from
$23.7 billion in illegal state aid, hitting back at the US in a
tit-for-tat row at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over plane
subsidies.
(AP, 3/22/07)(Reuters, 3/22/07)
2007 Mar 25, European Union
leaders celebrated half a century of unity by hailing the bloc's
achievements in bolstering peace, democracy and prosperity, then
pledged to end two years of deadlock over plans to radically
overhaul the way the EU does business.
(AP, 3/25/07)
2007 Mar 25, European leaders
called for new international sanctions on Sudan over its treatment
of civilians in Darfur, where the new UN humanitarian chief warned
that humanitarian efforts were at risk of collapse.
(AP, 3/25/07)
2007 Mar 31, EU foreign
ministers backed an Arab peace initiative and agreed to engage with
ministers of the new Palestinian national unity government who are
not members of the Islamist Hamas movement.
(AP, 3/31/07)
2007 Apr 10, The European Court
of Human Rights ruled that a British woman left infertile after
being treated for ovarian cancer has no right to frozen embryos
against the wishes of her former fiancé, who provided the
sperm.
(AP, 4/10/07)
2007 Apr 13, Five European
countries and the European Commission signed an accord on under
which they will give 5.2 million dollars for administrative reforms
within the Palestinian presidency.
(AP, 4/13/07)
2007 Apr 19, European Union
members agreed to new rules to combat racism and hate crimes across
the 27-nation bloc, including setting jail sentences against those
who deny or trivialize the Holocaust.
(AP, 4/19/07)
2007 May 2, The US and EU
warned Turkey's military to stay out of the country's political
showdown between the Islamic-rooted government and those in the
secular establishment who fear the country will shift toward Islamic
rule.
(AP, 5/2/07)
2007 May 3, Russia lashed out
at the EU and NATO for supporting Estonia in its row with Moscow
over the relocation of a Soviet war monument.
(AP, 5/3/07)
2007 May 7, South Korea and the
European Union started free trade talks aimed at linking Asia's
third largest economy to the world's biggest trading bloc.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 7, A large explosion
in Ukraine knocked out of service one of the main pipelines which
carries Siberian gas through Ukraine to Germany and other EU
clients. Shifting soil led to a break in the pipeline.
(AP, 5/7/07)(AP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 14, EU foreign
ministers gave the green light for a 40-million euro aid package to
the African Union peacekeeping force in the troubled Sudanese
province of Darfur.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 14, EU foreign
ministers decided to drop a visa ban against four Uzbek officials,
while extending other sanctions against the Central Asian nation
imposed after a crackdown on an uprising in 2005.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 18, In Russia EU
leaders criticized Russia's human rights record, and were faulted in
return, at the end of a summit that produced no formal agreements
but helped illustrate the widening political chasm between Moscow
and the West.
(AP, 5/18/07)
2007 May 28, Officials said
heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at
least 23 people in Europe and Turkey.
(Reuters, 5/28/07)
2007 Jun 21, Leaders of the
EU's 27 nations gathered to discuss a new EU treaty.
(AP, 6/21/07)
2007 Jun 21, The European Court
of Human Rights found the Russian authorities responsible for the
killings of four members of a Chechen family in 2003 and ordered
Moscow to pay a relative $114,000.
(AP, 6/21/07)
2007 Jun 21, Talks in Germany
between the US, EU, India and Brazil to save the World Trade
Organization’s (WTO) Doha round of free trade negotiations
collapsed.
(Reuters, 6/21/07)
2007 Jun 22, Southeastern
Europe baked under soaring temperatures, with nearly 30 deaths
across the region blamed on the year's first major heat wave.
(AP, 6/22/07)
2007 Jun 23, European Union
leaders agreed on a "precise mandate," no longer called a
constitution, that will guide and govern the expanded EU. They
agreed on the key points of a treaty meant to strengthen the bloc's
foreign policy role and eliminate unwieldy bureaucracy.
(AP, 6/23/07)(WSJ, 6/25/07, p.A1)
2007 Jun 28, The European
Commission said all Indonesian airlines and several from Russia,
Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the EU due to
safety concerns.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jul 4, On the historic
occasion of their first summit, the EU and Brazil decided to
establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, based on their
close historical, cultural and economic ties. Brazil and EU leaders
met in Lisbon, Portugal.
(www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Noticias_Documentos/20070704BRSUM.htm)(Econ,
7/7/07, p.40)
2007 Jul 6, EU officials said
they have asked Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to join patrols of
Europe's border control agency in a bid to stop massive clandestine
immigration.
(AFP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 9, The EU's top
justice official said EU citizens will be protected by the US
Privacy Act under an anti-terror deal with Washington on the sharing
of trans-Atlantic air passenger data.
(AP, 7/10/07)
2007 Jul 10, Cyprus and Malta
received approval from EU finance ministers to join the euro.
(Econ, 7/14/07, p.57)
2007 Jul 12, France told Serbia
its EU bid depends on letting Kosovo break away.
(WSJ, 1/13/07, p.A1)
2007 Jul 20, A heat wave
sweeping central and southeastern Europe killed at least 13 people
this week, with soaring temperatures sparking forest fires, damaging
crops and prompting calls to ban horse-drawn tourist carriages.
(AP, 7/20/07)
2007 Jul 23, The European Union
took the first step towards sending forces to Chad and the Central
African Republican to help the United Nations protect refugees
trapped in the violent region bordering Darfur.
(AP, 7/23/07)
2007 Jul 24, Heavy rain and
extreme temperatures continued to batter Europe, with Britain caught
in its worst floods in living memory while the Balkans sizzled in
heatwaves that killed at least 35 people.
(AP, 7/24/07)
2007 Jul 26, The European Court
of Human Rights ordered the Russian government to pay damages of
$196,000 to the family members of 11 Chechen civilians killed by
Russian soldiers in 2000, when security forces rampaged through
Novye Aldi, setting fire to houses and killing at least 50
civilians.
(AP, 7/27/07)
2007 Jul 30, The European
Commission said it was seeking a court injunction against Polish
plans to build a key continental highway to prevent permanent damage
to the Rospuda Valley, a "unique environmental site."
(AFP, 7/30/07)
2007 Aug 6, The European
Commission announced a formal EU-wide import ban on meat and
livestock from the British mainland following the outbreak there of
foot and mouth disease.
(AP, 8/6/07)
2007 Aug 10, The European
Central Bank injected another $83.8 billion into the banking system
amid signs that bad US mortgages were digging deeper into the world
economy. Europe's main stock markets slumped further, with London
and Paris shedding more than 3.0 percent, amid turmoil ignited by
concerns about a weak US housing sector.
(AP, 8/10/07)
2007 Aug 19, Israel opened a
crossing with the Gaza Strip to let in fuel shipments, but tens of
thousands of homes remained without electricity because fuel for a
major Gaza power company hadn't arrived. The EU cut off vital
funding to a Gaza power plant, forcing it to shut down the last of
its generators and darken tens of thousands of Palestinian homes.
Palestinian Information Minister Riad Maliki said the EU ceased
payment "because Hamas took over the electric company and started
collecting the revenues and taking them to its pocket."
(AP, 8/19/07)(AP, 8/20/07)
2007 Aug 21, The European
Central Bank provided more cash for banks that have been clamoring
for money, injecting $370.6 billion in its normal weekly
refinancing.
(AP, 8/21/07)
2007 Aug 21, The EU said it
will resume vital fuel aid to the Gaza Strip's electric company,
money the bloc suspended because of suspicions that Gaza's Hamas
rulers were diverting revenues.
(AP, 8/21/07)
2007 Aug 22, Russia nominated
Josef Tosovsky, a former Czech prime minister and head of that
country's central bank, to head the International Monetary Fund, a
move that put the Kremlin and the European Union at odds.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 23, The EU relaxed a
ban on exports of British livestock, meat and dairy products that
was imposed after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in
southeastern England earlier this month.
(AP, 8/23/07)
2007 Aug 23, Sudan summoned the
envoy of the European Commission and the Canadian charge d'affaires
and informed them they were considered persona non grata because
they interfered in Sudanese affairs. The UN chief called on the
Sudanese military to remove troops remaining in southern Sudan,
expressing disappointment that a July 9 deadline was not met as
called for in a 2005 peace deal.
(AFP, 8/24/07)(AP, 8/24/07)
2007 Aug 25, Sudan said it will
allow an EU envoy it ordered out of the country to remain until his
tenure expires next month, following an EU apology.
(AP, 8/25/07)
2007 Sep 11, The European
Commission has ditched its attempt to impose the metric system on
Ireland and Britain, where a grocer was once convicted of selling
bananas by the pound rather than by the kilo. The EU said it will
lift all remaining restrictions on British meat and livestock next
month after veterinary experts agreed that the threat from a
foot-and-mouth disease outbreak was over.
(AP, 9/11/07)(AFP, 9/11/07)
2007 Sep 15, EU finance
ministers and central bankers agreed in Portugal to step up
co-operation among themselves to improve their handling of
cross-border financial crises.
(AP, 9/15/07)
2007 Sep 17, Microsoft lost its
appeal of a European antitrust order that obliges the technology
giant to share communications code with rivals, sell a copy of
Windows without Media Player and pay a $613 million fine, the
largest ever by EU regulators.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2007 Sep 21, Google filed with
the EU competition regulator for permission to buy rival DoubleClick
for $3.1 billion.
(Reuters, 9/21/07)
2007 Sep 25, The UN Security
Council unanimously passed a French resolution endorsing sending a
European Union-UN force to Chad and the Central African Republic to
protect civilians reeling from a spillover of the Darfur conflict.
(AP, 9/25/07)
2007 Sep 26, The EU accused the
US of trying to weaken aircraft maker Airbus and causing 27 billion
dollars (19 billion euros) in losses by paying subsidies to US rival
Boeing.
(AFP, 9/26/07)
2007 Aug 9, The US Federal
Reserve injected $24 billion to the banking system in the wake of a
credit squeeze due to failing subprime mortgages and another $38
billion the next day. The European Central Bank (ECB) offered
unlimited loans at 4% to stem the credit squeeze as it extended to
Europe.
(Econ, 8/18/07, p.64)(WSJ, 11/6/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 4, Egypt sent a
high-level protest to dozens of European nations expressing
"astonishment and regret" at their refusal to endorse Cairo's call
for a Middle East nuclear free zone at a conference last month. At
last month's IAEA session, 25 of the 27 EU nations abstained as did
other countries hoping to join the union. In all, 47 nations
abstained. Israeli objections forced a vote in which 53 countries,
Muslim states and their supporters from the developing world, backed
the proposal.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 5, Europe's .eu
Internet domain registrar EURid said the Internet address
www.sex.asia is likely to be the domain name most in demand next
week when dot Asia Web sites are launched.
(AP, 10/5/07)
2007 Oct 15, European Union
foreign ministers gave their final approval to deploy a 3,000-strong
EU peacekeeping force for one year to help refugees and displaced
people living along Darfur's borders with Chad and the Central
African Republic.
(AP, 10/15/07)
2007 Oct 19,
European Union leaders in Portugal endorsed a reform treaty to
replace their failed European constitution and give the 27-nation
union a more influential say in world affairs. The new Treaty of
Lisbon created 2 new posts, a European foreign minister in all but
name and a new standing president of the European Council.
(AP, 10/19/07)(Econ, 10/27/07, p.64)
2007 Oct 22,
Microsoft Corp. dropped a nearly decade-long legal battle with
European regulators, agreeing to key parts of an antitrust ruling
that has already led to hundreds of millions in fines.
(AP, 10/22/07)
2007 Oct 29, In Portugal senior
officials from the EU, three US states (California, New York, New
Jersey), Canada, Norway and New Zealand launched the International
Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), an international effort to fight
climate change by building a global carbon trading market.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Nov 5, Authorities said
police from across Europe have arrested 92 suspects linked to an
alleged network that produced and sold child abuse videos to 2,500
customers around the world. The 15-month investigation was triggered
by an Australian police discovery in July 2006 of a video depicting
a Belgian father raping his daughters, aged 9 and 11.
(AP, 11/5/07)
2007 Nov 14, The EU reached an
accord with the East African Community (EAC) states of Burundi,
Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. They will enjoy duty free, quota
free access to the EU for all products, except sugar and rice, from
January 1. Originally established in 1967, the EAC collapsed a
decade later amid diverging economic philosophies. It was
resurrected in 2000 as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda agreed to create
an EU-style common market for their 90 million citizens. Rwanda and
Burundi became members in July this year.
(AP, 11/17/07)(Econ, 9/5/09, p.52)
2007 Nov 29, The European
Parliament voted to allow Britain and Ireland to keep some of their
old imperial measurements so pubs can still serve pints and road
signs can show miles instead of kilometers.
(AP, 11/29/07)
2007 Dec 12, The European
Central Bank said it would take joint action with the US Federal
Reserve and other institutions to offer short-term funding to the
money markets to help ease a global credit squeeze. The ECB said it
would provide as much as $20 billion to European banks, in part to
fill their demand for dwindling dollars.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 13, EU leaders signed
the Treaty of Lisbon to reform the bloc's institutions and give it
stronger leadership, marking the end of a difficult process that has
lasted nearly a decade.
(Reuters, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 14, EU leaders held a
formal meeting in Brussels, where they agreed in principle to send
1,800 policemen, judges and officials to Kosovo. They also agreed to
set up a reflection group to think about challenges facing the EU
between 2020 and 2030.
(Econ, 12/22/07, p.87)
2007 Dec 16, The EU signed a
new trade agreement with the 15-member Caribbean Forum.
(Econ, 1/5/08, p.74)
2007 Dec 17, US trade officials
said the US has reached a deal with the EU, Japan and Canada to keep
its Internet gambling market closed to foreign companies, but is
continuing talks with India, Antigua and Barbuda, Macau and Costa
Rica.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 18, EU regulators said
Mastercard must drop fees it charges for cross-border transactions
or face daily fines of 3.5 percent of daily global turnover.
(AP, 12/19/07)
2007 Dec 20, Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania halted land and sea border controls at midnight,
becoming the first in a wave of new members of Europe's
passport-free Schengen zone.
(AFP, 12/20/07)
2007 Dec 27, The Afghan
government expelled UN advisor Mervyn Patterson and EU official
Michael Semple, on accusations they held unauthorized meetings with
Taliban militants. A spokesman for the UN mission said the diplomats
had traveled to Musa Qala, a former Taliban stronghold in southern
Helmand province on Dec 24, where they met with local leaders.
(AP, 12/27/07)
2008 Jan 1, Slovenia became the
first of 12 newcomers to take over the rotating presidency of the EU
Union, a big psychological boost to a nation that gained
independence from the ruins of the former Yugoslavia 16 years ago.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2008 Jan 1, EU newcomers Cyprus
and Malta adopted the euro, bringing to fifteen the number of
countries using the currency with increasing clout over the slumping
US dollar.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2008 Jan 3, A bitterly cold
winter storm pummeled parts of Europe, killing at least three
sailors when a ship sank in rough seas, and piling up snow that
stranded thousands at airports, on mountain roads and in remote
villages.
(AP, 1/3/08)
2008 Jan 11, The EU food-safety
agency endorsed meat and milk derived from cloned animals.
(WSJ, 1/12/08, p.A1)
2008 Jan 17, Members of the
European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing Egypt's human
rights record, even after Cairo summoned EU ambassadors to complain
about the text.
(AFP, 1/17/08)
2008 Jan 21, President Pervez
Musharraf in Brussels pledged to hold free elections as he began a
European trip aimed at bolstering outside support, but urged the
West not to hold Pakistan to unrealistic rights standards.
(Reuters, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 23, The EU unveiled
its comprehensive climate and energy proposals.
(www.inforse.dk/europe/pdfs/INFORSE-on-EU-energy-package.pdf)
2008 Jan 28, The EU launched
its long-awaited peacekeeping force for Chad and the Central African
Republic to help protect hundreds of thousands of refugees from
strife-torn Darfur.
(AFP, 1/28/08)
2008 Jan 31, The EU ordered
Italy to clean up Naples within a month, or face legal action.
(AP, 1/31/08)
2008 Jan 31, Human Rights Watch
charged that Europe and the US increasingly tolerate autocrats
posing as democrats out of pure self-interest, in countries such as
Pakistan, Kenya, Nigeria and Russia, as human right abuses go on.
(AFP, 1/31/08)
2008 Jan 31, It was reported
that the EU is suing Malta for permitting residents to hunt 2
species of birds in the spring. The Maltese government said it
qualifies for an exemption under EU rules.
(WSJ, 2/1/08, p.A6)
2008 Feb 4, EU nations gave
preliminary approval to plans to send a 1,800-strong policing and
administration mission to the breakaway province to replace the
current UN mission.
(AP, 2/5/08)
2008 Feb 8, Officials said that
the WTO has ruled against the EU's import tariffs for bananas,
possibly opening the door to millions of dollars in US commercial
sanctions.
(AP, 2/8/08)
2008 Feb 12, European Union
antitrust regulators raided Intel Corp. and computer resellers
searching for evidence that they may have broken cartel or monopoly
rules.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 12, The EU resumed
deployment of a much-awaited peacekeeping force for two countries
neighboring Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 13, The EU's top
justice official called for a massive shake-up of the bloc's border
security, recommending that all visitors be screened and
fingerprinted and a satellite surveillance system be set up to keep
illegal migrants out.
(AP, 2/13/08)
2008 Feb 16, The EU gave the
final approval for the deployment of a 1,800-member policing and
administration mission in Kosovo.
(AP, 2/16/08)
2008 Feb 27, The EU fined
Microsoft Corp. $1.3 billion for charging rivals too much for
software information. The fine is the largest ever for a single
company and the first time the EU has penalized a business for
failing to obey an antitrust order.
(AP, 2/27/08)
2008 Feb 28, The European Court
of Human Rights ruled that a government may not deport an individual
to a state where he may be at risk of torture or other
ill-treatment.
(Econ, 3/1/08, p.63)
2008 Mar 3, The US and EU filed
a WTO case against China demanding that it loosen restraints on
foreign companies vying for a greater slice of the country's
lucrative market for financial information.
(AP, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 5, The EU urged Serbia
to make clear it saw its future with Europe and laid out incentives
on visas, education and transport to try to boost the bloc's image
in the Balkans.
(AP, 3/5/08)
2008 Mar 11, EU regulators
cleared Google's $3.1 billion bid for online ad tracker DoubleClick,
saying the acquisition won't curb competition for online ads.
(AP, 3/11/08)
2008 Mar 11, Serbia and Russia
demanded that the UN administration in Kosovo halt the transfer of
authority to the European Union, calling a handover illegal and
declaring they will never recognize the independence of the Serb
province.
(AP, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 17, An EU force of
3,700 troops still deploying in Chad and the Central African
Republic (CAR) announced the official start of its year-long mission
to protect refugees and displaced people.
(AFP, 3/17/08)
2008 Apr 7, The EU opened the
way for air travelers to use mobile phones to talk, text or send
e-mails on planes throughout Europe's airspace.
(AP, 4/7/08)
2008 Apr 14, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel arrived in Dublin to discuss a European Union reform
treaty that still bemuses most Irish voters ahead of a June
referendum that will determine the pact's fate.
(Reuters, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 16, The euro struck an
all-time peak of 1.5969 dollars as eurozone inflation spiked to a
record high.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 29, European nations
failed to convince Lithuania to allow the EU to launch talks on a
new partnership pact with Russia.
(AFP, 4/29/08)
2008 May 20, The European
Parliament censured Italy for its treatment of Gypsies.
(Econ, 5/24/08, p.71)
2008 May 25, EU foreign
ministers approved much delayed plans to begin talks with Russia
aimed at forging a new "strategic partnership."
(AP, 5/26/08)
2008 Jun 5, The European
Parliament called for the peacekeeping mandate for Russian troops in
the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia to be revised. The chamber
also demanded the EU sends its own border mission into the conflict
zone in Abkhazia.
(AP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 10, President Bush,
speaking in Slovenia at his final EU-US summit, said the United
States and Europe must rally to keep Iran from developing a nuclear
weapon, calling the threat an incredible danger to world peace.
(AP, 6/10/08)
2008 Jun 11, The Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Resolution establishing
the election procedure of the members of the Group of Experts on
Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). By mid August it
was ratified by 17 countries.
(www.coe.int/t/DG2/TRAFFICKING/campaign/default_en.asp)(Econ,
8/16/08, p.58)
2008 Jun 12, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Kosovo's leaders he intends to
reshape the UN mission there to allow the EU to take on key tasks,
according to a letter in the letter to Kosovo President Fatmir
Sejdiu. Russia demanded disciplinary action against the head of the
UN mission in Kosovo for preparing to hand over powers to a EU
mission that Moscow says is illegal.
(Reuters, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 13, Substantial
election returns showed that Ireland's voters have rejected the EU
reform treaty, a blueprint for modernizing the 27-nation bloc that
cannot become law without Irish approval. A majority of voters
appeared determined to register their opposition to the growth of a
continental government that would erode Ireland's sense of
independence.
(AP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 14, Rebels in Chad
attacked the eastern town of Goz-Beida, and Irish EU troops took up
defensive positions between the fighting and a refugee camp.
(Reuters, 6/14/08)
2008 Jun 14, The EU presented
Iran with a modified package of incentives to suspend its uranium
enrichment program, but an Iran government spokesman said the
country would reject the offer if it requires a halt to sensitive
nuclear work. As part of the package Western nations told Iran that
they could cut off any new help to Iran's anti-drug units unless the
Islamic regime halts uranium enrichment.
(AP, 6/14/08)(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 15, The EU threatened
to impose sanctions against Sudanese who do not cooperate in
bringing those accused of war crimes in Darfur to the international
court.
(AFP, 6/16/08)
2008 Jun 18, The European
Parliament approved controversial new rules for expelling illegal
immigrants from the bloc, overcoming opposition from left-leaning
lawmakers and ignoring protests from human rights activists.
(AP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 18, A European Union
delegation met Fiji's coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama, seeking
assurances that he will stick to a pledge to hold elections to
restore democracy by March 2009.
(AP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 19, The EU agreed to
lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, but imposed tough
conditions on the communist island to maintain sanction-free
relations.
(AP, 6/20/08)
2008 Jun 23, European Union
nations approved new sanctions against Iran, including an assets
freeze of the country's biggest bank. The sanctions also include a
travel ban on high-level experts dealing with Iran's nuclear
program.
(AP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jun 24, The EU named
Iran's largest commercial bank, the chief of the Revolutionary
Guards and the head of the country's nuclear program as the targets
of new sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear defiance as part of
an updated blacklist of nuclear experts and companies in Iran being
targeted under new sanctions.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 27, EU and Russian
leaders, meeting in Siberia, agreed to launch formal negotiations on
a new strategic agreement governing relations. A first round of
negotiations will be held in Brussels on July 4.
(Reuters, 6/27/08)
2008 Jul 7, European Union
nations gave their backing to a French-drafted pact calling for
tightening immigration and asylum rules across the 27-nation bloc.
(AP, 7/8/08)
2008 Jul 8, The EU formally
invited Slovakia to join the euro zone on Jan. 1, 2009.
(AP, 7/8/08)
2008 Jul 10, The European
Parliament called the fingerprinting of Gypsies in Italy a clear act
of racial discrimination and urged the authorities to stop it.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2008 Jul 10, European Union
lawmakers called for tougher EU sanctions against Zimbabwe,
including putting businessmen who finance Pres. Mugabe's regime on a
visa ban list.
(AP, 7/10/08)
2008 Jul 15, The EU agreed to
an emergency aid package for its fishing industry to cope with fuel
prices.
(WSJ, 7/17/08, p.A8)
2008 Jul 23, The European
Commission froze almost euro500 million ($800 million) in aid to
Bulgaria, citing corruption, organized crime, severe spending
irregularities and alleged vote-buying in a country that only joined
the EU last year.
(AP, 7/23/08)
2008 Jul 25, The EU and South
Africa began their first-ever summit in the French city of Bordeaux.
Brussels solidly backed Pretoria's mediating role in Zimbabwe as the
only way of ending ruinous political chaos.
(AFP, 7/25/08)
2008 Aug 5, The EU said it will
give Haiti $4.6 million to help pay for food in the world's poorest
country.
(AP, 8/5/08)
2008 Aug 8, The EU tightened
trade sanctions against Iran to punish Tehran for not committing to
a long-standing demand of the international community that it freeze
its nuclear enrichment program.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Sep 5, EU nations called
for an international probe to find out which country should shoulder
responsibility for starting the conflict between Georgia and Russia.
(AP, 9/5/08)
2008 Sep 7, Italy's foreign
minister, after meeting US Vice President Dick Cheney, said the EU
wants to work closely with the United States in resolving the
Georgian crisis.
(AP, 9/7/08)
2008 Sep 9, The 27-member EU
stopped short of offering Ukraine membership during an EU-Ukraine
summit hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But the two sides
began work on an "association accord," a step that offers closer
political and economic ties and in the past has been designed to
prepare nations for eventual membership.
(AP, 9/10/08)
2008 Sep 9, Serbian lawmakers
ratified a pre-membership agreement with the EU and an oil and gas
deal with Russia after months of heated debate over the direction of
the country's policies.
(AP, 9/9/08)
2008 Sep 15, Europe's major
central banks moved quickly to calm markets, pumping billions of
euros and pounds into the financial system to shore up confidence in
the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy filing
in the United States.
(AP, 9/15/08)
2008 Sep 16, Urgently trying to
keep cash flowing amid a Wall Street meltdown, the Federal Reserve
pumped another $70 billion into the nation's financial system to
help ease credit stresses. Late in the day the Federal Reserve
agreed to a 2-year $85 billion loan to insurance giant American
International Group (AIG) in exchange for a 79.9% equity stake in
the form of warrants called equity participation notes. Central
banks in the US, Europe and Japan pumped tens of billions into their
banking systems to keep money flowing.
(AP, 9/16/08)(SFC, 9/17/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/17/08,
p.A1)
2008 Sep 19, Singapore banned
all dairy imports from China and the European Union demanded answers
from Beijing as the baby formula scandal, which left 4 babies dead
and over 6 thousand infants ill across China, spread to liquid milk.
(Reuters, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 24, The European Union
warned that Iran is nearing the ability to arm a nuclear warhead
even if it insists its atomic activities are peaceful.
(AP, 9/24/08)
2008 Sep 25, The EU banned
imports of baby food containing Chinese milk as tainted dairy
products linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candy and
other Chinese-made goods that were quickly pulled from stores
worldwide. More than a dozen countries have banned or recalled
Chinese dairy products as melamine was found in milk products from
22 Chinese dairy companies.
(AP, 9/25/08)(SFC, 9/25/08, p.A3)
2008 Sep 29, In Georgia almost
300 monitors from 22 EU nations were in place to oversee Russia's
promised troop withdrawal from the large swaths it has occupied
since the August war.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Sep 30, Bank rescues
spread in Europe and some investors expressed faith that the US
Congress would eventually pass a $700 billion bailout plan for the
financial sector.
(AP, 9/30/08)
2008 Oct 1, The EU imposed one
of its highest ever cartel fines on a "paraffin mafia" accused of
fixing prices and markets for everyday household products like
chewing gum, tires and candles.
(AP, 10/1/08)
2008 Oct 1, EU monitors began
patrolling Georgian territory and Russian troops allowed some of
them into a buffer zone around the breakaway region of South Ossetia
despite earlier warnings from Moscow they would be blocked.
(AP, 10/1/08)
2008 Oct 8, Six central banks
jolted markets by cutting interest rates together in an attempt to
shore up confidence in the world's crisis-stricken financial system.
The US Fed reduced its key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. The
Bank of England unexpectedly slashed its key lending rate by a
half-point to 4.50 percent. The Bank of Canada cut its key interest
rate by 50 basis points to 2.50 percent. China also cut its key
interest rates for a second time in less than one month. The
European Central Bank sliced its rate by half a point to 3.75
percent. Sweden, and Switzerland also cut rates. Earlier in a day
Japan's Nikkei showed its biggest drop since the October, 1987 stock
market crash.
(AP, 10/8/08)(AFP, 10/8/08)
2008 Oct 12, European leaders
hammered out action to confront the financial crisis, adding their
voices to a global chorus of demands for coordinated action against
the turmoil.
(AFP, 10/12/08)
2008 Oct 13, Europe put $2.3
trillion on the line to protect the continent's banks, a figure that
dwarfed the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue program.
(AP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 13, The EU temporarily
lifted a travel ban on the president of Belarus, a country regarded
as Europe's last dictatorship, as relations with the country start
to thaw.
(AP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 13, The EU condemned
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's "unilateral decision" to form a
new government and threatened fresh sanctions unless he respects a
power-sharing deal. Mugabe swore in his two vice presidents, casting
doubt on a new mediation effort aimed at saving a power-sharing deal
with the opposition.
(AFP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 15, EU leaders agreed
to stick to ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20% by
2020, but divisions over how to share out the cuts were widened by
fears over the impact of the financial crisis.
(AP, 10/15/08)
2008 Oct 15, In Barbados 13
Caribbean countries approved a new Economic partnership Agreement
(EPA) with the EU.
(Econ, 10/18/08, p.50)
2008 Oct 16, The European
Commission announced 15 million euros (20 million dollars) of
emergency food aid for victims of drought and soaring food prices in
five east African countries. The biggest share will go to Ethiopia
and Somalia and smaller amounts to Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti.
(AFP, 10/16/08)
2008 Oct 16, The European
Central Bank extended emergency loans to Hungary’s central bank. The
ECB said it will lend up to $6.75 billion.
(SFC, 10/17/08, p.A5)
2008 Oct 21, EU lawmakers
joined US civil liberty campaigners in criticizing a new scanner
that allows airport security to see through passengers' clothes,
calling it a virtual strip search that should only be used as a last
resort.
(AP, 10/21/08)
2008 Oct 22, Officials said the
EU, the US and other international donors have pledged more than
$4.5 billion for rebuilding parts of Georgia that were damaged in
its war with Russia.
(AP, 10/22/08)
2008 Oct 23, The European
Parliament awarded a prestigious rights prize to jailed Chinese
dissident Hu Jia on the eve of a key Beijing summit and despite
pressure from Beijing not to honor him.
(AFP, 10/23/08)
2008 Oct 23, A European Union
court has ruled that EU governments should no longer freeze the
funds of People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, an Iranian
opposition group on the bloc's terror blacklist. A British court
ruled in its favor last year.
(AP, 10/23/08)
2008 Oct 23, Cuba and the
European Union ended a five-year standoff by signing an agreement
that calls for EU members to send the island euro2 million (US$2.6
million) in immediate hurricane recovery aid and up to euro30
million (US$38.8 million) more in financing next year.
(AP, 10/23/08)
2008 Oct 24, Asian and European
leaders, meeting in Beijing, called for a coordinated response to
the global financial meltdown and prepared to endorse a critical
role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding the hardest-hit
countries.
(AP, 10/24/08)
2008 Oct 25, In China a 2-day
economic summit closed. 43 Asian and European leaders pledged around
$4 trillion to support banks and restart money markets to try to
stem the global crisis.
(Reuters, 10/25/08)
2008 Oct 26, Hungary reached
agreement with the IMF and the EU on a broad economic rescue
package, including substantial financing, steadying its battered
currency. The deal was expected to be finalized over the next few
days.
(AP, 10/27/08)
2008 Oct 29, Officials said
that EU governments promised to lend Hungary 6.5 billion euros ($8.1
billion) as part of a 20 billion euro ($25 billion) international
rescue package to help it weather a financial crisis that has
sharply devalued its currency.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Nov 6, The European
Central Bank cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to
3.25% and the Bank of England made an even more aggressive reduction
of 1.5% in an effort to ease the financial crisis and boost their
flagging economies.
(AP, 11/6/08)
2008 Nov 13, The European Union
proposed plans to toughen up rules covering taxes on foreign
accounts in an effort to stop tax evasion which has been endemic in
some EU nations.
(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 13, China signed an
agreement in Geneva to loosen controls on financial news providers
in an out-of-court settlement of a dispute with the US, the EU and
Canada.
(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 14, The EU said that
the 15 countries that use the euro are officially in a
recession, as their economies shrank for a second straight
quarter because of the world financial crisis and sinking demand.
(AP, 11/14/08)
2008 Nov 20, The European Union
formally recognized Welsh, which dates back to the 6th century, as a
minority tongue. It became an official tongue in Wales in 1993, 450
years after British rulers gave it the boot in favor of English.
(AP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 25, EU ministers
sought to enlist counterparts from 27 African countries in a new
effort to curb the flood of illegal immigration.
(AFP, 11/25/08)
2008 Nov 26, European ministers
pledged euro10 billion ($12.8 billion) to an ambitious list of 30
space missions, including one to put a robotic rover on Mars.
(AP, 11/26/08)
2008 Nov 26, The UN Security
Council approved the deployment of a European Union mission
throughout Kosovo under the UN umbrella.
(AP, 11/26/08)
2008 Nov 27, Switzerland
reached an agreement with the EU to join the European Union's
Schengen passport-free travel zone effective next month.
(AP, 11/27/08)
2008 Dec 4, Europe's top human
rights court ruled that storing DNA from people with no criminal
record is in breach of their rights, a landmark decision that could
force Britain to destroy the samples of nearly 1 million people on
its database.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 4, The
Luxembourg-based European Court of First Instance said EU
governments "violated the rights of defense" of the People's
Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), and that the EU nations have
not provided sufficient proof to blacklist the group.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 8, The EU formally
launches its anti-piracy task mission off the Somali coast,
preparing to take over from the NATO flotilla guarding one of the
world's most important shipping lanes.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 8, The EU joined calls
for President Robert Mugabe to step down after 28 years ruling
Zimbabwe, where spreading cholera and food shortages have worsened a
desperate humanitarian crisis.
(AP, 12/8/08)
2008 Dec 9, The European Union
and Canada reached a deal to open their aviation markets to each
other by removing restrictions on direct flights and foreign
ownership in airlines.
(AP, 12/9/08)
2008 Dec 10, The European
Commission awarded the first Chaillot Prize to the Al-Nahda
Philanthropic Society for Women, a Saudi charity which helps
divorced and underprivileged women.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 12, European Union
leaders agreed to give concessions to Ireland so it will hold a new
referendum on the EU's stalled Lisbon reform treaty, which aims to
make the 27-nation bloc a stronger player on the world stage.
(AP, 12/12/08)
2008 Dec 12, Switzerland became
the 25th member of the passport-free zone of the Schengen countries,
after interior and justice ministers of the 27 EU member states
formally approved the accession of this non-EU country on Nov 27.
The number of Chinese visitors quickly soared.
(www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/eur/vbel/ref_visinf/visbel.html)(Econ,
12/18/10, p.116)
2008 Dec 15, Europe's biggest
bank, HSBC, joined a list of top names in world finance admitting
huge potential losses in a suspected pyramid fraud scam run by Wall
Street figurehead Bernard Madoff.
(AP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 17, The European
Parliament gave a jailed Chinese dissident a one-minute standing
ovation as it honored him in absentia with its top human rights
award.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 19, France’s finance
ministry unveiled a package of financial aid from the EU and others
totaling $10.7 billion to help Latvia.
(WSJ, 12/20/08, p.A8)
2008 Anand Menon authored
“Europe: The State of the Union,” a history of the EU.
(Econ, 5/17/08, p.103)
2009 Jan 1, Slovakia became the
16th European Union member state to adopt the euro. This day also
marks 10 years since the euro was introduced.
(AP, 1/1/09)
2009 Jan 2, Ukraine sought
support in European capitals a day after Russia cut off gas supplies
and hardened its stance on prices. The cutoff came after Ukraine
made a $1.5 billion overdue payment, but Russia demanded another
$600 million, including $450 million penalties for the late payment
for gas shipped in November and December. The two sides also have
not agreed on prices for 2009. Russia accused Ukraine of stealing
gas destined for the rest of Europe.
(AP, 1/2/09)(Reuters, 1/2/09)
2009 Jan 4, Russia asked the EU
to provide monitoring of Ukraine's gas transit system and charged
Ukraine was stealing gas bound for Europe, as Kiev leveled its own
charges. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that the state-controlled
company wanted $450 per 1,000 cubic meters, up from its last offer
of $418. The reductions in gas supplies spread to the Czech Republic
and Turkey.
(AP, 1/4/09)(Reuters, 1/4/09)
2009 Jan 6, A natural gas
crisis loomed over Europe, as a contract dispute between Russia and
Ukraine shut off Russian gas supplies to six countries and reduced
gas deliveries to several others. Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia,
Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Jan 6, Signs mounted that
the conflict in Gaza is starting to spill over into violence in
Europe's towns and cities, with assaults against Jews and arson
attacks on Jewish congregations in France, Sweden and Britain.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Jan 7, The EU said Russia
and Ukraine will accept using international monitors to verify the
transit of natural gas from Russia through Ukraine's pipelines.
Russia's gas giant Gazprom completely stopped sending gas to
European consumers at 7:44 a.m. (0544 GMT). 80% of Russian gas
shipped via Ukraine.
(AP, 1/7/09)
2009 Jan 7, Freezing
temperatures and exceptional snowfall caused travel delays across
Europe and were blamed for at least 12 deaths, including that of a
man in Milan who was crushed when a canopy collapsed under the
weight of snow.
(AP, 1/7/09)
2009 Jan 8, Russia's
state-controlled gas monopoly said it would restore supplies to
Europe through Ukraine, cut off after a dispute between Moscow and
Kiev, as soon as international monitors are in place.
(Reuters, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 10, Russia and the EU
took a step toward securing the resumption of gas flows to Europe
when the two signed a deal on monitoring the supplies through
Ukraine. PM Vladimir Putin said Russia will restart gas supplies to
Europe once an EU-led monitoring mission begins to track gas transit
via Ukraine.
(AP, 1/10/09)(Reuters, 1/10/09)
2009 Jan 11, Russia, Ukraine,
and the EU struck an agreement to try to resume Russian supplies
through Ukraine to Europe. President Dmitry Medvedev said energy
giant Gazprom would only resume gas supplies once Russia had a copy
of the document signed by Ukraine and once the various teams of
international observers were in place. The text of the accord calls
for the EU, Russia and Ukraine to each provide 25 experts to "carry
out checks on the basis of equal parity both on Ukrainian and
Russian territory.
(Reuters, 1/11/09)(AFP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 12, Russia's state-run
monopoly Gazprom announced it will resume shipping natural gas to
Europe, where tens of thousands of homes and buildings have been
left without heat in freezing weather.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 13, Russia and Ukraine
hotly blamed each other as Russia restarted natural gas supplies but
little or no gas flowed toward Europe. EU officials watched in
dismay and criticized both nations for their intransigence.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 15, Ukraine rejected
Russia's latest request to pipe natural gas westward to increasingly
frustrated EU consumers, deepening the bitter economic and political
dispute that has paralyzed energy shipments to Europe.
(AP, 1/15/09)
2009 Jan 16, The EU threatened
new sanctions against Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe, blamed
for political deadlock, a surging cholera epidemic and runaway
inflation. The UN said the death toll from the cholera outbreak had
risen to 2,201 and that the epidemic is still not under control.
(AP, 1/16/09)
2009 Jan 15, The European
Central Bank cuts its key rate by half a point to 2%, matching its
lowest level ever, set in December 2005.
(WSJ, 1/16/09, p.A5)
2009 Jan 17, Russia and Ukraine
held gas crisis talks in Moscow that the European Union said were
the "last and best chance" to resolve the row that has left Europe
struggling without key gas supplies.
(AFP, 1/17/09)
2009 Jan 18, Russia and Ukraine
announced a deal to end the bitter dispute that has blocked Russian
natural gas from Europe following talks between Russian PM Vladimir
Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko. Under the
terms, Ukraine will pay 20 percent less than the European "market
price" price for gas this year, which Russia says is $450 per 1,000
cubic meters. That's more than twice as much as the $179.50 Ukraine
paid in 2008.
(AP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 19, Russia and Ukraine
signed a deal that restores natural gas shipments to Ukraine and
paves the way for an end to the nearly two-week cutoff of most
Russian gas to a freezing Europe.
(AP, 1/19/09)
2009 Jan 20, Russian gas
reached Europe via Ukraine for the first time in two weeks after
Moscow and Kiev ended a contract row that cut supplies to about 20
European countries.
(Reuters, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 22, European Union
antitrust regulators said they raided Slovakia's main telecom
operator last week on suspicion of monopoly abuse.
(AP, 1/22/09)
2009 Jan 26, European Union
leaders said they were willing to take in prisoners being released
from the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, but stressed that
American authorities must show ex-inmates pose no security threat
before they can be resettled.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 26, The European Union
decided to remove an Iranian opposition group from the EU's terror
list and lift the restrictions on its funds, a move likely to
further damage relations strained over Tehran's nuclear program.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 26, European Union
nations announced the addition of 26 Zimbabwean officials and 36
companies to the EU's visa and assets freeze blacklist to pressure
President Robert Mugabe to share power with Zimbabwe's opposition.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 28, The European Union
promised billions of dollars in aid to the world's poorest nations
to entice them to sign a new global climate change pact.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Jan 29, The European Union
signed an agreement to give Ethiopia 251 million euros (322 million
dollars) in aid to boost development projects across the Horn of
Africa nation.
(AFP, 1/30/09)
2009 Feb 8, Voters in
Switzerland approved an expanded labor deal with the European Union
that allows Romanians and Bulgarians to work in the Alpine republic.
(AP, 2/8/09)
2009 Feb 10, The European Union
announced that it has signed a pact with 17 social networking
providers including Facebook, MySpace and Google to improve
safeguards against the bullying of teenagers online.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 10, EU ministers
demanded the reopening of negotiations with Liechtenstein on
fighting fraud.
(Econ, 2/21/09, p.53)
2009 Feb 19, Europe's highest
human rights court has awarded Abu Qatada, an extremist Muslim
preacher, euro2,800 ($3,550) for being held unlawfully by British
authorities during an anti-terrorist probe. A day earlier Britain's
highest court ruled that Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan
despite fears he could face torture there. The European Court of
Human Rights ruled that Qatada and 10 other detainees had their
right to liberty violated when they were held in high-security
conditions.
(AP, 2/19/09)
2009 Feb 22, The heads of
Europe's largest economies agreed on the need for greater regulation
of financial markets and of products such as hedge funds, as they
met in Berlin to hammer out a joint European position for the G20
meeting in London on April 2.
(AFP, 2/22/09)
2009 Feb 24, China’s state
media reported that a Chinese delegation will buy as much as $15
billion worth of machinery, automobiles and food products while on a
trip to Europe this week.
(WSJ, 2/25/09, p.A11)
2009 Feb 25, The European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development said that it would invest a
record 7.0 billion euros this year in the former Soviet bloc to
combat an economic crisis in eastern Europe.
(AFP, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 27, Leading
international financial institutions said Eastern Europe's
struggling banks will receive euro24.5 billion ($31.1 billion) worth
of emergency help to shore up their battered finances. Regional
leaders were scheduled to meet this weekend. The Hungarian, Polish
and Czech currencies strengthened on the news of the aid package.
(AP, 2/27/09)
2009 Mar 5, The European
Central Bank cut its main interest rate by a half percentage point
to 1.5 percent, dropping the cost of borrowing in the 16 countries
that use the euro to a new record low amid grim economic news.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 5, The European Court
of Justice said Britain's law requiring retirement at age 65 is
legal under EU rules. The advocacy group Age Concern took the
British government to court in 2006 to demand the reversal of the
forced retirement rule.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 6, The EU and Kenya
agreed to allow the country to prosecute suspected pirates captured
by European forces on the high seas.
(AP, 3/6/09)
2009 Mar 20, EU leaders pledged
a 125 billion euros in support for eastern Europe and the IMF after
rejecting calls to plough more taxpayer cash into their own
faltering economies.
(AFP, 3/20/09)
2009 Mar 25, Czech PM Mirek
Topolanek, the current rotating president of the EU, slammed US
plans to spend its way out of recession as "a road to hell."
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Mar 25, The EU laid
out new labeling rules laid allowing Rose wine customers to know
exactly how their grapes were treated to turn their tipple a
blushing pink.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Mar 25, Romania was given
a loan totaling 20 billion euros (27 billion dollars) by the IMF,
the EU, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD). An austerity program accompanied the loans.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Apr 6, The US Federal
Reserve said it will supply new lines of credit worth up to $287
billion to the central banks of Japan, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom and EU.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 14, The EU started
legal action against Britain for not applying EU data privacy rules
that would restrict an Internet advertising tracker called Phorm
from watching how users surf the Web.
(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 Apr 15, A blockade by
French fishermen angry at EU quotas cut ferry links with Britain for
a second day as a union official threatened to block the Channel
Tunnel in support of the movement.
(AFP, 4/15/09)
2009 Apr 16, French fishermen
allowed traffic to resume to three English Channel ports after
receiving a government promise of euro4 million ($5.27 million) in
aid, but they vowed to keep up their fight against European fishing
quotas.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 22, With almost all
stocks overfished, the European Commission called for drastic cuts
in the EU's 90,000-strong fishing fleet and subsidies to safeguard a
sustainable and economically viable fishing industry.
(AP, 4/22/09)
2009 Apr 23, The EU development
commissioner said an international conference has already pledged
over 250 million dollars to help Somalia improve its security.
(AP, 4/23/09)
2009 Apr 27, Belarus'
authoritarian Pres. Lukashenko met with Pope Benedict XVI on his
first trip to Western Europe since the European Union lifted a
travel ban imposed in 1999 over his dismal human rights record. The
EU lifted the ban to allow Lukashenko to attend an East-West summit
in Prague, Czech Republic, in May.
(www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_12237339)
2009 Apr 27, In Kosovo Serbs
protesting the building of homes for ethnic Albanians in northern
Kosovo threw two hand grenades and fired gunshots at European Union
police officers, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades to
drive the crowd away.
(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 Apr 27, America, Canada,
Europe and Japan promised to cooperate on validating alternatives to
using animals in medical research. An estimated 50-100 million
animals were used in research annually around the world.
(Econ, 5/9/09, p.18)
2009 May 3, Swine flu extended
its reach through Europe and Latin America, with at least five
countries reporting new cases. Health experts were investigating a
case of the virus jumping from a person to pigs, trying to determine
if the disease was reaching a new stage.
(AP, 5/3/09)
2009 May 4, The EU admitted
that its previous forecasts were way off the mark. It now predicts
"a deep and widespread recession" across the continent and said
unemployment among the 16 nations that use the euro will rise to a
postwar record of 11.5 percent in 2010.
(AP, 5/4/09)
2009 May 5, The European
Parliament voted to update the rules on the use of animals in
research and to ban imports of seal products, including fur coats
and even omega-3 pills, trying to force Canada to end the annual
seal hunt that animal rights groups call barbaric.
(AP, 5/5/09)(Econ, 5/9/09, p.84)
2009 May 6, Canada and the EU
signed an "open skies" pact under which airlines from the two
trading partners will be able to fly freely between any airport in
the 27-country EU and any in Canada.
(Reuters, 5/6/09)
2009 May 6, New H1N1 flu cases
across Europe and a second US death kept health officials on alert
despite signs Mexico's epidemic had passed its peak. Mexican health
officials said that testing of backlogged cases has increased the
confirmed swine flu death toll from 31 to 42, including three new
deaths in the past two days.
(Reuters, 5/6/09)(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 7, The European Union
extended its hand to former Soviet republics, holding a summit to
draw them closer into the EU orbit despite Russia's deep misgivings.
Presidents, premiers and their deputies from 33 nations signed an
agreement meant to extend the EU's political and economic ties. The
six ex-Soviet republics to whom the partnership would apply are
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 May 7, The European
Central Bank cut interest rates a quarter point and said it would
buy euro-denominated bonds as well as offer longer-term credit to
banks as it moves to get more money flowing through the 16-nation
euro zone economy.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 May 13, The European
Commission, after an eight-year investigation, fined Intel Corp a
record 1.06 billion euros ($1.45 billion) and ordered it to halt
illegal rebates and other practices it used to squeeze out its
rival, AMD.
(AP, 5/13/09)
2009 May 15, Among perks
enjoyed by EU Parliament lawmakers: flying no-frills and expensing
the cost of a full fare ticket, listing spouse or child as aides and
paying them fat salaries, wining-and-dining friends at
Michelin-starred restaurants and billing the taxpayer. Unprecedented
reforms, agreed in long and difficult negotiations, mean the
incoming 736 assembly members of the EU assembly will earn far less
than their predecessors and face far stricter spending rules.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 20, EU and Chinese
leaders met in Prague to tackle the economic crisis and turn the
page on tensions over the Dalai Lama. Lingering differences cast a
shadow over the talks.
(AFP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 22, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev challenged EU leaders meeting at a summit in
Khabarovsk to help Ukraine pay its gas bills in order to prevent
disruption of Russian supplies to Europe.
(Reuters, 5/22/09)
2009 May 25, Dairy farmers
created traffic chaos in Berlin, blocked milk processing plants in
France and protested at EU headquarters in Brussels, seeking more
aid to cope with a sharp drop in milk prices.
(AP, 5/25/09)
2009 May 28, In Senegal UN,
African Union, EU and Arab League representatives met with Mauritian
political parties in Dakar to discuss upcoming polls and a political
stalemate since a coup.
(AFP, 5/28/09)
2009 Jun 4, About 375 million
voters across the 27-nation European Union began 4 days of voting,
to appoint candidates to 736 seats on the assembly in the
second-largest election in the world after India's. Voting began in
Britain and the Netherlands.
(AP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jun 7, Europe leaned to
the right as tens of millions of people voted in European Parliament
elections, with conservative parties favored in many countries
against a backdrop of economic crisis. Center-right parties won the
most seats in the election. Only 43% of 375 million eligible voters
cast ballots. In Bulgaria the xenophobic Ataka party won 12% of the
vote.
(AP, 6/7/09)(Reuters, 6/8/09)(SFC, 6/8/09,
p.A5)(Econ, 2/6/10, p.58)
2009 Jun 8, Final results
showed a British far-right party won its first-ever parliamentary
seats in EU elections. The British National Party, which does not
accept nonwhite members and calls for the "voluntary repatriation"
of immigrants, won two of Britain's 72 seats in the European
Parliament. Austria's Freedom Party, which also campaigned on an
anti-Islam platform, more than doubled its share of the vote to
13.1%. Hungary's Jobbik party, which describes itself as
Euro-skeptic and anti-immigration and wants police to crack down on
what it calls "Gypsy crime," won three of the country's 22 seats and
almost 15% of the vote. The Greater Romania Party, which is, among
other things, pro-religion, anti-gay and anti-Hungarian, made
surprise gains, winning almost 9% of the vote and taking two of
Romania's 33 seats. A bloc of center-right parties remained the
largest group.
(AP, 6/8/09)
2009 Jun 15, The European Union
agreed to help the administration of President Barack Obama "turn
the page" on Guantanamo, saying individual EU nations will take
detainees from the American prison in Cuba.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 19, EU leaders agreed
to establish a European System Risk Board. It was intended to sound
an alarm over the build up of risk and to create new European
supervisory authorities to keep an eye on big cross-border financial
institutions.
(Econ, 7/4/09, p.73)
2009 Jun 23, US Trade
Representative Ron Kirk said the United States is launching a World
Trade Organization case against China over its export restrictions
on raw materials. The EU said it was joining the US in the action,
which follows failure to persuade China to reduce its export tariffs
and raise quotas on materials such as zinc, tin, tungsten and yellow
phosphorous.
(Reuters, 6/23/09)
2009 Jun 25, The EU said it
will give China up to euro50 million ($70 million) to build a carbon
capture and storage plant that will test a technology aimed at
limiting climate change.
(AP, 6/25/09)
2009 Jun 29, The European Union
Chamber of Commerce in China urged Beijing to reconsider
implementing a controversial Internet filter, saying it raised
serious concerns about security, privacy and user choice.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jun 29, The European
Commission said top mobile telephone suppliers have agreed to back
an EU-wide harmonization of phone chargers, hailing the pact as good
news for consumers and the environment.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jul 1, Sweden took over
the rotating presidency of the EU.
(Econ, 7/4/09, p.51)
2009 Jul 13, Turkey and four EU
countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary) formally agreed
to route the Nabucco natural gas pipeline across their territories,
pushing ahead with a US- and EU-backed attempt to make Europe less
dependent on Russian gas.
(AP, 7/13/09)(Econ, 7/18/09, p.47)
2009 Jul 14, The European
Parliament elected ex-Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek as its
president, making him the first leader from a former Soviet bloc
country to hold one of the top European Union posts.
(Reuters, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 15, The EU urged
Canada to restore visa-free travel for Czech visitors, removed by
Ottawa after hundreds of Roma from the central European country
sought asylum.
(Reuters, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 23, Iceland formally
applied to join the European Union but said it would not accept a
"rotten deal" for its fishing industry, a key sector of the island
nation's troubled economy.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 27, European Union
nations gave their final approval to a ban on imports of seal
products in an effort to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt.
(AP, 7/27/09)
2009 Aug 13, The EU said it was
extending its sanctions on Myanmar to cover members of the judiciary
responsible for the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
(Reuters, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 22, The EU published a
list of nearly 4,000 airlines that it says should reduce their
impact on the environment from 2012 or face being banned from
European airports.
(AP, 8/22/09)
2009 Aug 29, The EU signed a
temporary trade pact with Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and
Madagascar calling for tariffs on European goods to be removed over
the next 15 years.
(AP, 8/29/09)
2009 Aug 31, The European
Commission said an EU-wide transition of power-draining light bulbs
to more energy efficient ones will start Aug 1. The new rules follow
an agreement reached by the 27 EU governments last year to phase out
the traditional incandescent light bulb over three years starting
this year to help European countries lower greenhouse gas emissions.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Sep 3, EU regulators
launched an antitrust probe into US software maker Oracle Corp.'s
takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc., saying they wanted to make sure
Oracle was committed to developing Sun's rival open-source database
software MySQL.
(AP, 9/3/09)
2009 Sep 8, The EU said that a
member states could be allowed to ban gambling websites if its
intention was to stop crime.
(Reuters, 9/8/09)
2009 Sep 11, South Africa and
the European Union started a summit expected to be dominated by
calls from African nations for sanctions against Zimbabwe to be
lifted.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 12, Zimbabwe’s
President Robert Mugabe welcomed the first top-level European Union
delegation to visit in seven years with "open arms" and said talks
on implementing a power-sharing deal went well.
(Reuters, 9/12/09)
2009 Sep 13, Zimbabwe's PM
Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe of violating a
fledgling power-sharing deal. The EU said ties with Zimbabwe would
only normalize once a unity accord is properly implemented, but
pledged a further 90 million euro this year to assist the troubled
nation.
(AFP, 9/13/09)
2009 Sep 16, The European
Parliament gave Jose Manuel Barroso another five-year term as
European Commission president, but its vote reflected lingering
misgivings about the conservative ex-Portuguese premier.
(AP, 9/16/09)
2009 Sep 17, In Brussels French
Pres. Sarkozy said EU leaders have agreed to impose a cap on
bankers’ pay.
(SFC, 9/18/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 22, A sharply divided
EU failed to protect the threatened bluefin tuna, as the bloc's
Mediterranean nations refused to back even a temporary a ban on
catching the fish prized by sushi aficionados. Greece, Cyprus,
Malta, Spain, France and Italy, with strong fishermen's lobbies at
home, insisted on continuing the hunt despite the precarious state
of the species. Conservation groups had earlier criticized the EU
for not pushing to list the bluefin tuna under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species.
(AP, 9/22/09)
2009 Sep 23, Europe laid out
new proposals to police its banks and financial markets, seeking to
set an example on the eve of a summit of G20 major economies.
(AFP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 24, Swiss lawmakers
decided not to join the European Union's anti-piracy efforts, amid
concern that participating in the mission off Somalia could violate
the Alpine nation's long-standing neutrality.
(AP, 9/24/09)
2009 Sep 30, An EU-commissioned
report said Georgia's attack on its breakaway South Ossetia region
marked the start of last year's war with Russia, which retaliated
with excessive force.
(AP, 9/30/09)
2009 Oct 2, Ireland voted 67%
to 33% in favor of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, overturning a previous no
vote and taking a key step towards ending the 27-nation bloc's
deadlock.
(AFP, 10/3/09)(Econ, 10/10/09, p.25)
2009 Oct 5, In Belgium hundreds
of dairy farmers drove tractors into Brussels to pressure EU farm
ministers on declining milk prices, as 20 of 27 member nations
called for more protection from the volatile world market.
(AP, 10/5/09)
2009 Oct 5, Drugmaker
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said its new diabetes drugs, Onglyza, has
been approved for sale in the European Union's 27 countries.
(AP, 10/5/09)
2009 Oct 9, Czech Rep. Pres.
Vaclav Klaus set out his terms for signing the Lisbon Treaty,
demanding an exemption to protect Prague from post-war property
claims and safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary.
(Reuters, 10/10/09)
2009 Oct 10, Polish President
Lech Kaczynski signed the EU’s reform treaty, the Lisbon Treaty,
into law, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to
ratify the document.
(Reuters, 10/10/09)
2009 Oct 15, Top EU and South
Korean trade officials signed a free trade deal which the EU said
could boost trade between the two by euro19 billion ($28 billion).
(AP, 10/15/09)
2009 Oct 16, The European
Commission called for sharp cuts in cod quotas, up to 25% in some
areas, saying the prized fish is sliding toward commercial
extinction in several historic Atlantic fishing grounds.
(AP, 10/16/09)
2009 Oct 18, The EU used the
world's biggest book fair in Frankfurt to launch the EU Bookshop's
digital library, making more than 50 years of documents in about 50
languages available for free on the Internet. The files dated back
to 1952 when six countries created the High Authority of the Coal
and Steel Community, the EU's precursor.
(AFP, 10/18/09)
2009 Oct 19, The EU agreed to
give the dairy sector an extra $420 million in special aid in an
effort to quell a season of unrest in agriculture. Meanwhile angry
farmer pelted riot police with eggs and buckets of milk in
Luxembourg.
(SFC, 10/20/09, p.A2)
2009 Oct 22, The EU's
parliament awarded its annual Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought
to three prominent Russian rights activists, in recognition of the
difficult conditions they face in defending human rights in Russia
today. The prize was awarded to Lyudmila Alexeyeva (82), Sergei
Kovalyov (79) and Oleg Orlov (56) on behalf of the human rights
organization Memorial and "all other human rights defenders in
Russia."
(AP, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 22, The EU said it has
launched an investigation into a prized Spanish wetland that has
turned bone dry through mismanagement of water resources and is now
on fire underground, white smoke now rising from areas where fish
once swam. The EU wants the Spanish government to explain how it
plans to save Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park in the central
Castilla-La Mancha region. It is classified as a UNESCO biosphere
site and an EU-protected area because of its birdlife.
(AP, 10/22/09)
2009 Oct 29, The EU's stalled
reform treaty overcame a crucial hurdle after EU leaders agreed to
last-minute demands from the Czech Republic in return for the
country's ratification of the ambitious deal. Czech President Vaclav
Klaus had refused to sign the treaty until his country was an
offered an opt-out from its Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Czech
leader asked for the option over worries of property claims by
ethnic Germans stripped of their land and expelled after World War
II.
(AP, 10/29/09)
2009 Oct 30, European Union
leaders agreed to contribute to a euro50 billion ($74 billion)
annual aid fund that would help developing nations adapt to climate
change, but failed to set a firm figure for exactly how much the EU
would pay.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Nov 3, Europe's court of
human rights ruled the display of crucifixes in Italian public
schools violates religious and education freedoms under the
continent's rights convention. The court ordered Italy to pay a
$7,390 fine to a mother who has fought for 8 years to have
crucifixes removed from public school classrooms. The Vatican
denounced the ruling.
(AP, 11/3/09)(SFC, 11/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Nov 6, Turkey rebuffed an
EU call to reconsider its decision to allow Sudanese President Omar
al-Beshir, who is accused of war crimes in Darfur, to attend a
summit in Istanbul. Turkey has not signed the Rome Statute which set
up the ICC and has said previously the ICC arrest warrant for Beshir
could hurt moves to end the conflict in Darfur.
(AFP, 11/6/09)
2009 Nov 16, The EU Commission
said over 45 countries who catch tuna have agreed to cut catches of
the threatened Atlantic bluefin tuna next year.
(AP, 11/16/09)
2009 Nov 16, The Palestinians
asked the European Union to support their plan to ask the UN to
recognize an independent Palestinian state without Israeli consent.
(AP, 11/16/09)
2009 Nov 17, The European Union
joined the US in discouraging Palestinian intentions to seek
international recognition of an independent state, urging instead a
return to stalled peace talks with Israel.
(AP, 11/17/09)
2009 Nov 19, Herman Van Rompuy,
Belgium's Prime Minister and former economist, was named the
European Union's first permanent President. Baroness Catherine
Ashton, Britain's European Commissioner, was appointed as the EU’s
Foreign Minister-designate, with the unwieldy title of High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
(AP, 11/19/09)
2009 Nov 19, The European
Commission signed a 677 million euro (one billion dollar) deal in
Brussels to help Nigeria tackle challenges in its restive
oil-producing region, promoting peace.
(AFP, 11/20/09)
2009 Nov 26, European banks
were hit by concern about potential exposure to debt problems in
Dubai, while companies where Middle Eastern investors own big stakes
also came under pressure.
(Reuters, 11/26/09)
2009 Nov 30, The EU Council of
Ministers for Interior and Justice abolished visa requirements for
citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area#Current)
2009 Dec 1, The new EU Treaty
of Lisbon went into effect. It provided the EU with modern
institutions and optimized working methods to tackle both
efficiently and effectively today's challenges in today's world.
(AP,
1/1/10)(http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/index_en.htm)
2009 Dec 1, Israel sternly
warned the EU against recognizing east Jerusalem as the Palestinian
capital, saying such a move would damage Europe's credibility as a
Mideast mediator. Sweden, the current EU president, was floating an
initiative to recognize east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
(AP, 12/1/09)
2009 Dec 4, Major European
public financial institutions launched a pan-European equity fund to
boost key EU policies in areas such as climate change, energy
security and transport networks.
(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 8, EU nations agreed
that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a future
Palestinian state, assuaging Israeli anger over earlier mention of
east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. An earlier proposal by
the Swedish EU presidency, to explicitly support the idea of east
Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, was dropped
by the foreign ministers.
(AFP, 12/8/09)
2009 Dec 11, EU leaders agreed
to commit euro2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) a year until 2012 to help
poorer countries combat global warming, as they sought to rescue
their image as climate change innovators and bolster the talks in
Copenhagen. A new draft agreement at the climate talks pulled
together the main elements of a global pact but left gaping holes on
financing and cutting greenhouse gas emissions for world leaders to
fill in next week.
(AP, 12/11/09)
2009 Dec 15, Ecuador said that
it had reached a deal with the EU aimed at ending a long-running
dispute between Latin American nations and the EU over tariffs on
bananas.
(AFP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 17, Oxfam said some
areas of East Africa had received less than 5% of the normal
November rains and that many people are malnourished in Uganda,
Tanzania, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. It was the sixth failed rainy
season for war-ravaged Somalia and the worst drought there for 20
years. The European Commission announced that it would immediately
release an extra $75 million to fund emergency relief for
drought-stricken areas of East Africa. It estimated that 16 million
people will need aid in the coming months.
(AP, 12/17/09)
2009 Dec 18, The European
Medicines Agency (EMEA) recommended the withdrawal of all medicines
containing benfluorex, a diabetes and weight-loss drug, in the
European Union. In 2010 French officials said the drug, marketed as
mediator, may have been linked to the deaths of 500 people over the
33 years it was on the market. Fenfluramine, a related drug, had
been withdrawn from the market in 1997 after reports of heart valve
disease, pulmonary hypertension, and development of cardiac
fibrosis.
(SFC, 11/17/10,
p.A2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benfluorex)
2009 Dec 19, The European Union
opened its borders unrestricted to more than ten million Serbs,
Montenegrins and Macedonians after nearly 20 years, a major boost
for the troubled region's hopes for closer ties with the 27-nation
bloc.
(AP, 12/19/09)
2009 Dec 20, Tens of thousands
of European travelers were stranded in rail stations, traffic jams
and airports as heavy snow and ice caused massive disruption at the
start of the Christmas holiday season.
(AGFP, 12/20/09)
2009 Dec 21, Eurostar halted
services for a third day to probe a breakdown of trains through the
Channel Tunnel that stranded thousands, prompting an angry French
government to demand an explanation and call its own inquiry.
President Nicolas Sarkozy summoned the head of the French train
authority to the Elysee Palace and ordered him to get the Eurostar
moving again after a three-day suspension of the cross-Channel train
service that has wreaked havoc on the holiday travel plans of some
40,000 people. The death toll from winter storms across Europe rose
to at least 80 as transport chaos spread amid mounting anger over
the failure of high-speed trains.
(AP, 12/21/09)(AFP, 12/21/09)(Reuters, 12/21/09)
2009 Dec 22, Hansjoerg Haber,
EU monitoring mission chief, said Russia has failed to fully observe
an EU-brokered peace deal that ended last year's war with Georgia.
He said Russia has not met an obligation to withdraw its forces to
positions held before the August 2008 conflict.
(AP, 12/23/09)
2009 Dec 22, The EU Court of
Human Rights said Bosnia’s constitution discriminates against Jews
and Roma because it does not allow them to run for parliament of
president. Only Bosnians, Serbs and Croats are allowed to run for
those offices.
(SFC, 12/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Dec 23, Thousands of
Eurostar passengers anxious to get away for Christmas battled for
train places out of London as heavy rains and freezing conditions
sparked yet more travel chaos across Europe.
(AFP, 12/23/09)
2009 Dec 28, Slovakia said that
Russia had warned it might halt oil supplies through Ukraine to
three European Union countries over a price dispute.
(AFP, 12/28/09)
2010 Jan 1, Spain took over the
presidency of the EU, with PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero promising
to work to end the continent's economic crisis.
(AP, 1/1/10)
2010 Jan 7, Eurostar passengers
faced further disruption after one of its high-speed trains got
stuck for 2 hours in the Channel Tunnel again, weeks after a major
breakdown due to the cold.
(AFP, 1/7/10)
2010 Jan 8, The beleaguered
Eurostar train service cancelled half of its trains between London
and Paris because of freezing temperatures.
(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 8, The EU said it will
pursue a new deal on global warming through the Group of 20, since
last month's UN climate conference of nearly 200 nations led to
unwieldy negotiations that didn't accomplish much.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 9, Germans faced the
cancellation of hundreds of flights as fresh snow blew in from the
south, and Britons shivered through the country's longest cold snap
in three decades as icy weather maintained its grip on Europe.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 10, Heavy snowfall
caused havoc in parts of Europe, causing hundreds of traffic
accidents, downing power lines in Poland, halting flights out of
southern France and trapping more than 160 people overnight on a
frozen highway in northeastern coastal Germany.
(AP, 1/10/10)
2010 Jan 12, The European Court
of Human Rights condemned British anti-terror legislation allowing
people to be searched by police without reasonable suspicion of
wrongdoing.
(AFP, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 13, Major Inuit
organizations said Canada's Inuit people have filed a lawsuit
against the European Union in a bid to overturn an EU ban on imports
of seal products. The EU ban was imposed in July after decades of
protests from animal activists, who said the annual seal hunt was
cruel and inhumane. The ban will go into effect in time for the 2010
hunting season.
(Reuters, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 18, EU finance
ministers began 2 days of talks with worries over Greece's swelling
debt expected to dominate the session, as the euro fell to a ten-day
low against the dollar.
(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 18, The European Union
said some 200,000 people may have been killed in the magnitude-7.0
quake, quoting Haitian officials who also said about 70,000 bodies
have been recovered so far.
(AP, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 18, The OSCE, Europe's
main security and human rights watchdog, said that Turkey was
blocking some 3,700 Internet sites for "arbitrary and political
reasons" and urged reforms to show its commitment to freedom of
expression.
(Reuters, 1/18/10)
2010 Jan 21, General Motor
Co.'s Opel unit will cut 8,300 jobs across Europe, including 4,000
in Germany, and close a plant in Antwerp, Belgium, cutting over
2,300 jobs.
(AP, 1/21/10)
2010 Jan 28, Toyota Motor Corp
extended its safety recall of millions of its most popular cars to
Europe and China in a further blow to the reputation of the world's
largest auto maker.
(Reuters, 1/28/10)
2010 Jan 30, The European Union
said Italy is to stop fishing for bluefin tuna, the lucrative but
over-exploited species beloved of Japanese sushi fans, for 12
months.
(AP, 1/30/10)
2010 Feb 3, The EU backed
Greece's “stability and development” plan to shrink a massive budget
gap as "achievable," but warned it would demand tougher cutbacks if
Athens does not stick to promised spending curbs and reforms.
(AP, 2/3/10)(Econ, 2/6/10, p.55)
2010 Feb 11, The Philippines
launched a European-funded program to reduce the country's large
number of extralegal killings and disappearances of activists,
journalists and union workers. The EU has pledged euro3.9 million
($5.36 million) for the EU-Philippines Justice Support Program to
provide technical aid and training to bolster the country's criminal
justice system.
(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 15, Libya suspended
the issuing of entry visas to European citizens apart from British
nationals. Italy's foreign ministry confirmed the measure and said
it was in retaliation for Switzerland's recent decision to publish a
blacklist of 180 Libyans banned from entering the country.
(Reuters, 2/15/10)
2010 Feb 16, In Austria 14
countries and the European Commission adopted the Danube River Basin
Management Plan, a cleanup plan for the Danube River and its
tributaries. Participating countries included Austria, Bosnia,
Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro,
Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
(AP, 2/16/10)
2010 Feb 18, Microsoft won
unconditional European Union approval for its planned search deal
with Yahoo Inc to challenge market leader Google.
(Reuters, 2/18/10)
2010 Feb 28, A violent late
winter storm named Xynthia battered France, Spain, Portugal and
Germany with fierce rain and hurricane-strength winds. The storm
smashed sea walls and killed at least 62 people across western
Europe.
(AP, 2/28/10)(AP, 3/1/10)(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 1, The European Union
urged Greece to take extra austerity measures within days to tackle
a debt crisis that has shaken the euro zone and promised to help
Athens overcome the problem.
(Reuters, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 1, Ukraine’s Pres.
Viktor Yanukovych visited Brussels saying "Our priorities will
include integration into the European Union, bringing up
constructive relations with the Russian Federation, and developing
friendly relations with strategic partners such as the United
States."
(AP, 3/1/10)
2010 Mar 8, The EU said it
plans to create a European Monetary Fund to better coordinate the
economies of the 16 countries that use the euro and prevent
financial debacles such as the Greek debt crisis from undermining
the credibility of Europe's single currency.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 23, Luxury goods
manufacturers said a ruling from the EU's highest court will stop
Google Inc. selling their brand names as advertising keywords to
unauthorized sellers or counterfeiters.
(AP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 23, The EU Naval Force
said Somali pirates have hijacked the Malta-flagged MV Frigia, a
Turkish ship with 21 crew on board.
(AP, 3/23/10)
2010 Mar 25, Leaders of the 16
eurozone countries agreed to a plan to rescue Greece if it finds
itself unable to borrow.
(AP, 3/26/10)
2010 Mar 27, Libya lifted a
visa ban on citizens of 25 European countries after EU president
Spain said a Swiss-instigated visa blacklist against 188 Libyans in
those countries had been scrapped.
(Reuters, 3/28/10)
2010 Mar 30, Amnesty
International said Europe had its first year without executions in
2009. But the London-based organization said the spell was recently
broken by the execution of two men in Belarus.
(AP, 3/30/10)
2010 Apr 8, The European Space
Agency launched CryoSat 2 on a Russian rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite was designed to measure the
effects of climate change on the Earth’s polar ice caps.
(SFC, 4/9/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 13, Ethiopian
authorities and the European Union signed accords allowing EU
observers to monitor May's general elections in the Horn of Africa
country.
(AFP, 4/13/10)
2010 Apr 15, British airport
operator BAA Ltd. said all flights at London's Heathrow Airport have
been suspended for the rest of the day, causing travel chaos as ash
clouds from Iceland's spewing volcano halted air traffic across
Europe.
(AP, 4/15/10)
2010 Apr 16, Volcanic ash
blanketed parts of rural Iceland and left a widening arc of grounded
aircraft across Europe, as thousands of planes stayed on the tarmac
to avoid the hazardous cloud. Travel chaos engulfed major European
cities and the UN warned of possible health risks from falling ash.
(AP, 4/16/10)
2010 Apr 17, A lingering
volcanic ash plume forced extended no-fly restrictions over much of
Europe, as Icelandic scientists warned that volcanic activity had
increased and showed no sign of abating, a portent of more travel
chaos to come. Nearly 17,000 flights to and from Europe were
cancelled out of about 22,000 on a normal day.
(AP, 4/17/10)(Econ, 4/24/10, p.63)
2010 Apr 20, Airplanes
gradually took to the skies after five days of being grounded by a
volcanic ash cloud that has devastated European travel. Only limited
flights were allowed to resume at some European airports and UK
authorities said London airports would remained closed for at least
another day due to new danger from the invisible ash cloud.
(AP, 4/20/10)
2010 Apr 20, India’s trade
ministry said it will launch a formal dispute against the EU at the
World Trade Organization (WTO) over EU seizures of Indian generic
drugs.
(Reuters, 4/20/10)
2010 Apr 22, European airports
sent thousands of planes into the sky after a week of unprecedented
disruptions, with airlines piling on more flights and bigger planes
to try to get as many people home as possible.
(AP, 4/22/10)
2010 Apr 22, Markets hammered
Greece after the EU revised the debt-ridden country's deficit and
debt figures upwards, sending the country's borrowing costs to
unsustainably high levels and pushing Athens closer to calling for
an expensive rescue.
(AP, 4/22/10)
2010 Apr 28, EU Pres. Herman
Van Rompuy said he is fully confident that debt-laden Greece will
receive the financial assistance it needs in time to address its
debt problems and to preserve eurozone stability. Greece faced a May
19 deadline, when around euro 10 billion of debt comes due.
(AP, 4/28/10)
2010 Apr 29, Thailand's "Red
Shirt" protesters called on the European Union to send observers to
prevent a crackdown by the army, but the government warned others
not to meddle in its internal affairs. Theo-establishment activists
demanded military action against anti-government protesters and an
end to "anarchy" in the capital.
(AFP, 4/29/10)(AP, 4/29/10)
2010 Apr 30, The EU's foreign
affairs chief Catherine Ashton said that China is willing to discuss
sanctions on Iran as long as they are carefully targeted and bolster
efforts to curb the Iranian nuclear program.
(AP, 4/30/10)
2010 May 2, Greece reached
agreement with the EU and the International Monetary Fund on rescue
loans, a lifeline worth $146 billion, to keep Athens from defaulting
on its debts, a deal that will impose harsh cuts on the county's 11
million people for years.
(AP, 5/2/10)(SFC, 5/3/10, p.A2)
2010 May 4, Iceland's volcanic
ash renewed its threat to European air space, forcing Ireland to
shut services temporarily for the first time in 12 days. Ireland and
Britain lifted flight restrictions after temporarily closing
airspace due to the return of ash.
(AP, 5/4/10)(AFP, 5/4/10)
2010 May 8, Hundreds of flights
between Europe and North America were either delayed or canceled due
to the spreading cloud of volcanic ash stretching across much of the
northern Atlantic. Spain shut 19 northern airports including
Barcelona because of the cloud of ash.
(AP, 5/8/10)(Reuters, 5/8/10)
2010 May 9, European Union
leaders agreed to provide $572 billion in new loans and $78 billion
under an existing lending program to contain its spreading
government debt crisis and keep it from tearing the euro currency
apart and derailing the global economic recovery. An IMF
contribution of $325 million would raise the amount to over $975
million. The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) fund was
conjured up as a backstop for Eurozone countries should they shut
out of bond markets. On Sep 20 it was given a AAA grade by the three
major ratings agencies.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Financial_Stability_Facility)(AP,
5/10/10)(SFC, 5/10/10, p.A2)(SFC, 5/11/10, p.D2)(Econ, 9/25/10,
p.83)
2010 May 9, A plume of volcanic
ash snaked its way through southern France, Switzerland, Italy and
Germany, shutting down airports and disrupting flights across
Europe.
(AP, 5/9/10)
2010 May 10, EU finance
ministers agree to a €500 billion “stabilization fund” for euro-zone
countries.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.83)
2010 May 12, The European Union
set out plans to vet member state budgets before national
parliaments do in a power-grab that could trigger a divisive
referendum in Britain and provoked Swedish anger. Spain announced
big public sector wage cuts and market sentiment buoyed by positive
growth figures as several states shook off recession.
(AP, 5/12/10)
2010 May 18, Britain’s new
chancellor George Osborne called for a freeze to the EU's 2011
budget, saying it was "unacceptable" for Brussels to demand a huge
increase.
(AFP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 18, Greece received a
14.5 billion euro ($18 billion) loan from the EU and can now repay
its immediate debt, but still faces a mammoth task to claw its way
out of recession.
(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 21, European Union
finance ministers started laying out new, tougher rules for their
public finances in the hopes of winning back market confidence and
preventing a repeat of the debt crisis that is threatening the euro.
(AP, 5/21/10)
2010 May 29, The 55th annual
Eurovision song competition was expected to be watched by more than
120 million viewers in 39 European countries as well as in Burma,
Australia and New Zealand. Norway's public broadcaster NRK spent 200
million kroner (25 million euros, 30 million dollars) to host the
show.
(AFP, 5/29/10)
2010 Jun 3, The European
Commission announced it has sent a final warning to Britain over its
failure to comply with EU air quality rules, due to the levels of
dangerous airborne particles in London and Gibraltar.
(AFP, 6/3/10)
2010 Jun 17, European Union
leaders agreed tighter sanctions against Iran, including measures to
block oil and gas investment and curtail its refining and natural
gas capability.
(Reuters, 6/17/10)
2010 Jun 24, The
Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that
European law does not require countries to grant same-sex couples
the right to marry, even if some states have already done so. The
ECHR is part of the Council of Europe, which promotes democracy and
the rule of law among its 47 member states.
(Reuters, 6/25/10)
2010 Jun 24, Noorsat, the
operator which handles the broadcasting of Al-Aqsa TV to parts of
Europe and throughout the Middle East, shut down the broadcasts of
Al-Aqsa TV, a Gaza-based television station accused of inciting
hatred of Jews and Israel.
(AFP, 6/25/10)
2010 Jul 6, EU foreign affairs
chief Catherine Ashton urged Iran to stop the execution of three
people including a woman who faces death by stoning for adultery.
Ashton said she was "deeply concerned" about reports that the
executions of Mohammad Reza Haddadi, who was sentenced to hang for a
murder he committed when he was a minor, and the woman, Sakineh
Mohammadi-Ashtiani, "may be imminent." She also renewed her call for
Iran to drop the death sentence against Zeynab Jalalian, a Kurd who
awaits execution for being an "enemy of God."
(AFP, 7/6/10)
2010 Jul 6, An EU lawmaker
urged member governments to open their secret files on UFOs. Mario
Borghezio, an Italian member of the European Parliament, said that
the EU needs its own "X Files" archive where anyone can see
information on UFOs, including data gathered by the military.
(AP, 7/6/10)
2010 Jul 6, The EU banned most
of Iran Air's jets from flying to Europe because of safety concerns,
emphasizing that the move was not related to UN sanctions against
Iran over its nuclear program.
(AP, 7/06/10)
2010 Jul 7, European Union
lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to cap bankers' short-term cash
bonuses from next year, a move that European leaders hope other
parts of the world will follow.
(AP, 7/7/10)
2010 Jul 23, Seven out of 91
banks failed European stress tests, which were organized in hope of
reviving investor confidence in Europe's embattled banking sector.
German state-owned lender Hypo Real Estate, five regional savings
banks in Spain and ATEBank of Greece failed the test of whether they
could resist a new financial shock. All have been ordered to
recapitalize or take state aid.
(AFP, 7/24/10)
2010 Jul 26, The EU adopted
tighter sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear program, with
steps to block oil and gas investment and curtail Tehran's refining
and natural gas capability.
(Reuters, 7/26/10)
2010 Aug 14, The EU told
military-run Myanmar that its Nov. 7 elections, the first in two
decades, will not be considered legitimate in the eyes of the world
unless it can ensure the vote is free and fair.
(AP, 8/14/10)
2010 Aug 20, The European
Union's high court temporarily exempted Inuit hunters in Canada and
Greenland from the bloc's new trade ban on seal products, while
asking European Parliament and EU governments to justify the ban.
(AP, 8/20/10)
2010 Aug 26, The archbishop of
Paris joined the tide of criticism over France's crackdown on
Gypsies, calling it a "circus," while the EU's justice commissioner
denounced French officials' discriminatory tone about the vulnerable
minority.
(AP, 8/26/10)
2010 Sep 3, Finland and Sweden
urged the European Union to create an independent peace institute to
broaden the scope of the bloc's peacekeeping efforts around the
world.
(AP, 9/3/10)
2010 Sep 7, The EU condemned
the stoning to death sentence passed against Sakineh Mohammadi
Ashtiani, an Iranian woman convicted for adultery, saying it was
"barbaric."
(AP, 9/7/10)
2010 Sep 9, The European
Parliament called on France to suspend its expulsion of gypsies. The
rare criticism of an EU state was backed by 337 lawmakers meeting in
Strasbourg, France, with 245 opposed and 51 abstentions. To date
France had deported 8,000 people to Romania and Bulgaria this year
alone.
(AP, 9/9/10)(Econ, 9/18/10, p.73)
2010 Sep 12, In Kosovo a French
Gendarme was shot and wounded during clashes between ethnic
Albanians and Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica as
European Union police fired tear gas to disperse the violent crowd.
(AP, 9/12/10)
2010 Sep 14, The European
Commission threatened legal action against France over its crackdown
on Roma minorities, drawing a parallel between their treatment and
World War II-era deportations.
(AFP, 9/14/10)
2010 Sep 22, The European Union
Parliament approved new financial oversight institutions aimed at
preventing another financial crisis like the one that led to massive
bank bailouts at taxpayer expense.
(AP, 9/22/10)
2010 Sep 24, European coastal
nations agreed to review rules for offshore drilling, but said each
country should decide individually on how to improve safety oil rig
safety to avoid disasters like the Gulf of Mexico spill.
(AP, 9/24/10)
2010 Sep 29, The European Union
decided to launch legal action against France over its expulsions of
Gypsies, or Roma, to poorer EU nations.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Sep 29, Anti-austerity
protests erupted across Europe. Greek doctors and railway employees
walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man
even blocked the Irish parliament with a cement truck to decry the
country's enormous bank bailouts.
(AP, 9/29/10)
2010 Oct 1, European oil majors
resisted pressure from the US to stop all business with Iran, in
spite of Washington's drive to isolate Tehran over a nuclear program
the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.
(Reuters, 10/1/10)
2010 Oct 1, The European
Commission said it has decided to more than double its Pakistan
flood aid to 150 million euros (205 million dollars). The UN has
issued a record two-billion-dollar appeal for funds to cope with the
disaster, which UN agencies say affected 21 million people and left
12 million in need of emergency food aid.
(AFP, 10/1/10)
2010 Oct 4, In Belgium European
and Asian leaders opened a formal summit amid high security and
palace opulence, hoping to agree on commitments to keep the global
financial system on an even keel and find a better balance on the
Europe-dominated IMF.
(AP, 10/4/10)
2010 Oct 4, The European
Commission offered Libya up to 50 million euros (70 million dollars)
in aid to stop the flow of illegal migrants to Europe and protect
refugees. Cecilia Malmstroem, EU home affairs commissioner, and
European neighbourhood policy commission Stefan Fuele signed a
migration cooperation agenda with Libya.
(AFP, 10/5/10)
2010 Oct 6, The US and EU said
that UN climate talks in Ttianjin, China, were making less progress
than hoped due to rifts over rising economies' emission goals, while
China pushed back and put the onus on rich nations.
(AP, 10/6/10)
2010 Oct 8, Organizers said a
ticket-holder in Britain has won a record 129 million euros (181
million dollars) on the Euromillions lottery, although nobody has
yet come forward to claim the prize. The Euromillions lottery,
launched in 2004, is now played by nine countries across western
Europe.
(AFP, 10/9/10)
2010 Oct 18, Germany, yielding
to French pressure, softened its stance on stricter eurozone budget
rules, angering governments that counted on Berlin to force through
sanctions for nations living beyond their means.
(AP, 10/18/10)
2010 Oct 19, European Union
finance ministers sealed a deal to regulate the trillion-dollar
hedge fund industry after Britain and France settled a long-running
conflict.
(AFP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 19, The European
Commission said it will temporarily suspend its human rights
complaint against France for its expulsions of Gypsies, or Roma,
after Paris promised to alter some of its laws to match EU
regulations.
(AP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 19, The EU announced
plans for a five-year ban on animal cloning for food production as
well as a traceability system for imports of semen and embryos of
clones.
(AFP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 19, Iran said some
Western companies were refusing to refuel its planes in Europe and
warned it would "confront" such measures, which it deemed illegal
under international law.
(AFP, 10/19/10)
2010 Oct 21, The European
Parliament awarded its annual human rights prize to Guillermo
Farinas (48), the Cuban dissident whose 134-day hunger strike helped
draw attention to the plight of political dissidents jailed in a
2003 crackdown on dissent.
(AP, 10/21/10)
2010 Oct 23, The European
Commission warned Italy that it may face sanctions if it doesn’t
remove some 2,400 tons of trash piled up in the streets of Naples.
(SSFC, 10/24/10, p.A6)
2010 Oct 29, Britain’s PM David
Cameron claimed that the days of "crazy" European Union spending are
finished after a deal to keep Brussels in line with reduced national
budgets.
(AFP, 10/29/10)
2010 Oct 29, Iran notified the
EU that it is willing to restart international negotiations over its
nuclear program after Nov. 10, potentially reviving talks that
foundered a year ago.
(AP, 10/29/10)
2010 Nov 4, European computer
guards battled against a simulated attempt by hackers to bring down
critical Internet services in the first pan-continental test of
cyber defenses. All 27 of the EU member nations as well as Iceland,
Norway and Switzerland took part in the simulation. The USA held its
own major exercise against a large-scale cyber attack on critical
infrastructure in late September with 12 international partners and
60 private companies. Cyber security will be one of the top issues
that NATO leaders will tackle at a summit of the 28-nation military
alliance in Lisbon on November 20-29.
(AFP, 11/4/10)
2010 Nov 10, Human rights
groups said they have filed a complaint with the EU accusing the
Czech government of failing to comply with a court order that it
stop placing thousands of healthy Roma children in schools for the
mentally disabled.
(SFC, 11/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 11, An EU indictment
revealed that at least seven people, including former Kosovo senior
health ministry official Ilir Rrecaj, were suspected of involvement
in an international network that falsely promised poor people
payment for their kidneys and then sold the organs for as much as
euro100,000 ($137,000). Five Kosovo nationals, Turkish doctor Yusuf
Sonmez and Moshe Harel, an Israeli citizen, were listed as wanted by
Interpol.
(AP, 11/12/10)
2010 Nov 16, The European Union
issued a stark assessment of the Irish debt crisis, warning that the
future of the 27-nation bloc was at risk as ministers headed for
talks on an increasingly probable rescue.
(AFP, 11/16/10)
2010 Nov 17, Ireland agreed to
work with an EU-IMF mission on urgent steps to shore up its
shattered banking sector.
(Reuters, 11/17/10)
2010 Nov 22, Ireland's the
government said banks will be pruned down, merged or sold as part of
a massive EU-IMF bailout taking shape. Ireland's Greens pulled the
plug on the deeply unpopular coalition government by calling for a
national election in January after an EU/IMF bailout package is in
place.
(AP, 11/22/10)(Reuters, 11/22/10)
2010 Nov 23, The European Union
urged Ireland to adopt an austerity budget on time to unlock
promised EU/IMF funding, responding to a deepening political crisis
that threatens to derail the financial rescue.
(Reuters, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 23, The EU’s
anti-piracy naval force said that have caught 16 suspected Somali
pirates over the past 5 days in the Indian Ocean with the help of
the Seychelles coast guard.
(SFC, 11/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 25, The EU high court
ruled that there is no such thing as "pure chocolate," ending an
EU-Italy food fight over chocolate labels. It also said the EU's
1999 chocolate labeling rules make no room for a "pure chocolate"
reference like the one Italy enacted in a 2003 law.
(AP, 11/25/10)
2010 Nov 25, European lawmakers
voted in favor of an independent, UN-backed investigation into
violence in Western Sahara that has left up to 11 people dead in the
disputed territory.
(Reuters, 11/25/10)
2010 Nov 28, The EU's finance
ministers agreed in an emergency meeting in Brussels to give Ireland
a euro67.5 billion bailout to help it survive its massive banking
crisis, and sketched out new rules for future emergencies to restore
faith in the euro currency.
(AP, 11/29/10)
2010 Nov 30, The EU announced
that Iran has agreed to discuss its nuclear program at a meeting
next week in Geneva.
(AP, 11/30/10)
2010 Dec 6, European nations
wrestled over whether to commit more money to help stabilize the
euro, as finance ministers gathered in Brussels to find ways to
fight the debt crisis that has rocked the currency bloc.
(AP, 12/6/10)
2010 Dec 7, The EU conceded
that its previous bank stress tests were not stringent enough as it
confirmed that it will start a new round in February, while the
continent's strongest economies bet they can sort out the region's
debt crisis without the need to top up bailout funds.
(AP, 12/7/10)
2010 Dec 8, The EU competition
watchdog fined 5 Taiwanese and South Korean electronics companies
euro649 million ($857 million) for fixing prices on LCD panels
between 2001 and 2006. Samsung Electronics Co., also participated in
the price fixing but escaped a fine because it blew the whistle on
the cartel.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 10, EU banking
supervisors agreed on finalized mandatory guidelines for awarding
bank bonuses, saying key requirements can be "neutralized" for less
risky firms and staff.
(Reuters, 12/10/10)
2010 Dec 13, The EU said it
will impose sanctions on Ivory Coast unless the incumbent president
recognizes his rival as the winner of last month's election, as
panic spread in Abidjan after shots were briefly fired.
(AP, 12/13/10)
2010 Dec 14, EU Parliament
President Jerzy Buzek said that Guillermo Farinas, whose 134-day
hunger strike helped draw attention to the plight of Cuban political
dissidents, would be represented by an empty chair at the midweek
ceremony to award the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought.
(AP, 12/14/10)
2010 Dec 14, Amnesty
International accused the European Union and Libya of cooperating to
prevent migrants from Africa from reaching Europe.
(AFP, 12/14/10)
2010 Dec 15, Cuban dissident
Guillermo Farinas (48) used a video address at today’s award of the
EU's main human rights prize, to call for the release of political
prisoners in his homeland and for the government to end attacks on
the opposition. Farinas was not allowed by Cuba to travel to receive
the prize in Strasbourg, France.
(AP, 12/15/10)
2010 Dec 16, Human Rights Watch
urged the EU to stop returning migrants and asylum seekers to
Ukraine, saying that they faced abuse and torture in the former
Soviet republic.
(Reuters, 12/16/10)
2010 Dec 18, Fresh snow brought
much of Britain to a standstill, on what is traditionally the
busiest weekend for shopping and travel in the run-up to Christmas.
Blizzards and freezing temperatures shut down runways, train tracks
and highways across Europe.
(Reuters, 12/18/10)(AP, 12/18/10)
2010 Dec 19, Europe saw little
respite from the Arctic conditions that have closed airports and
disrupted travel on the weekend before Christmas.
(Reuters, 12/19/10)
2010 Dec 20, Snow and frigid
temperatures caused disruption across northern Europe for a third
day, stranding travelers, snarling traffic and shutting schools, and
the bad weather is likely to run through Christmas.
(Reuters, 12/20/10)
2010 Dec 23, The EU and the US
jointly threatened to review ties with Belarus following an
opposition crackdown after elections that kept President Alexander
Lukashenko in power.
(AFP, 12/23/10)
2010 Dec 24, Heavy snow
stranded thousands of Christmas travelers in Europe, with Belgium's
main airport closed for landing and icy roads in Sweden choked with
traffic.
(AP, 12/24/10)
2010 Dec 29, The spokesman for
the EU's anti-piracy force said Somali pirates over the Christmas
weekend unsuccessfully targeted two ships, going farther south than
ever before to attack vessels.
(AP, 12/29/10)
2011 Jan 1, The new European
External Action Service (EEAS) came into being.
(Econ, 2/5/11, p.64)
2011 Jan 1, In Hungary a new
media law went into effect the same day Hungary took over the
rotating EU presidency from Belgium. The law greatly expanded the
state's power to monitor and penalize private news outlets,
including on the Internet. Publications deemed to be unbalanced or
offensive in their coverage could face large fines.
(AP, 1/7/11)
2011 Jan 11, Japan said it
plans to buy at least a fifth of the initial installment of the
bonds being sold to finance Europe's bailout fund, which is aimed at
rescuing Ireland.
(AP, 1/11/11)
2011 Jan 15, The EU raised
pressure on Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo to step down, freezing
assets of the country's cocoa-exporting ports, its state oil firm
and three banks.
(Reuters, 1/15/11)
2011 Jan 19, The European
Commission, which regulates the trading of carbon emissions
certificates, shut the carbon credit trading system down following a
spate of computer attacks that stole certificates worth about $62
million. The shutdown was expected to last a week.
(SFC, 1/20/11, p.D3)(Econ, 2/5/11, p.88)
2011 Jan 26, The European
Union's top competition regulator blocked the merger between Greek
airlines Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines SA, saying a combined
carrier could monopolize Greek air travel.
(AP, 1/26/11)
2011 Jan 27, The European
Commission launched legal action against Sweden for allowing hunters
to shoot 20 wolves this year even though the species is threatened
with extinction.
(AFP, 1/27/11)
2011 Jan 30, Israel signed an
agreement with the European Space Agency for cooperation on space
technology and exploration of the solar system.
(AFP, 1/30/11)
2011 Jan 31, The EU said that
the World Trade Organization found US aid to Boeing violated
international rules, confirming a preliminary ruling in the
long-running subsidy battle between the Chicago-based plane maker
and European rival Airbus.
(AP, 1/31/11)
2011 Jan 31, European Union
foreign ministers agreed to freeze the assets of Tunisia's former
President Zine-al Abidine Ben Ali and his wife.
(Reuters, 1/31/11)
2011 Jan 31, The US and the EU
imposed sanctions against Belarus Pres. Lukashenko and scores of
other officials for a broad crackdown on the opposition following
fraudulent elections last year.
(SFC, 2/1/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 1, Maj. Gen. Buster
Howes, commander of the EU Naval Force, said Somali pirates have
begun systematically torturing hostages and using them as human
shields.
(AP, 2/1/11)
2011 Feb 4, European leaders
launched a trillion-euro bid to slash dependency on Middle East oil
and Russian gas, clearing the way to place nuclear power at the
center of 21st century needs.
(AFP, 2/4/11)
2011 Feb 11, Canada asked the
World Trade Organization to set up a panel to resolve its dispute
with the European Union over the EU's ban on trade in seal products.
(Reuters, 2/11/11)
2011 Feb 12, Greece slammed EU
and the IMF inspectors overseeing efforts to reform its
debt-crippled economy. The IMF, the European Central Bank and the
European Commission said Greece must privatize $68 billion in state
assets and speed up structural reforms. Unemployment was at 13.5%
and was forecast to reach 15%.
(SSFC, 2/13/11, p.A4)(Econ, 2/5/11, p.62)
2011 Feb 14, European ministers
in Brussels fought over the best way to combat the debt crisis that
has crippled the eurozone over the past year.
(AP, 2/14/11)
2011 Feb 15, The European Union
said it is extending visa bans and an asset freeze against President
Robert Mugabe and 163 individuals and 31 companies in Zimbabwe.
(AP, 2/15/11)
2011 Feb 21, Egypt asked
Britain for its support in seeking debt forgiveness from Europe, in
the latest push to boost an economy bruised by weeks of protests
that toppled Pres. Mubarak. Egypt owed the EU member states about $9
billion. According to central bank figures the country's total
foreign debt stood at about $34.7 billion as of the end of September
2011.
(AP, 2/22/11)
2011 Feb 22, A French creator
of specialized search engines filed a new complaint with the
European Union about alleged anticompetitive behavior by Google Inc.
(AP, 2/22/11)
2011 Feb 28, The European Union
slapped its own arms embargo, visa ban and other sanctions on Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
(AP, 2/28/11)
2011 Mar 1, The European Court
of Justice said insurers must stop setting prices based on gender,
in a move that could raise costs for women drivers, cut male
pensions, and prompt more legal challenges to insurance pricing
practices.
(Reuters, 3/1/11)
2011 Mar 8, The European Union
agreed to slap new sanctions on Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's
regime, notably targeting the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the
overseas investment vehicle for Tripoli's oil revenues.
(AFP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 11, Euro-zone leaders
began a 2-day summit to launch the “pact for the euro,” a pledge to
align members’ economic policies and enhance their competitiveness.
(Econ, 3/19/11, p.62)
2011 Mar 16, Europol said
police in several countries have arrested 184 alleged members of an
online pedophile ring and rescued 230 children in one of the biggest
operations of its kind. Dubbed Operation Rescue, Europol said the
probe started three years ago.
(AFP, 3/16/11)
2011 Mar 18, The European Court
of Human Rights in Strasbourg France, ruled that crucifixes in
public schools do not violate a student’s freedom of conscience.
(SFC, 3/19/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 21, The European Union
froze the assets of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and 18
people in his inner circle.
(AFP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 21, The European Union
agreed new economic sanctions against Moamer Kadhafi's regime,
targeting both individuals and economic entities.
(AFP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 25, European leaders
agreed a new package of anti-crisis measures at a two-day summit,
but were forced to delay increasing their rescue fund and
acknowledged they faced new threats from a government collapse in
Portugal.
(Reuters, 3/25/11)
2011 Mar 25, European Union
leaders called for worldwide stress testing of nuclear plants and
committed to putting their 143 reactors through the toughest
security checks possible.
(AP, 3/25/11)
2011 Apr 8, According to a
study about one in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women in
western European countries are caused by current and past alcohol
consumption.
(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 8, Europe's top
financial officials said that debt-ridden Portugal will need around
euro80 billion ($114 billion) in rescue loans and that negotiations
over a full, multiyear bailout program will begin immediately.
(AP, 4/8/11)
2011 Apr 11, The European Union
agreed to impose sanctions on 32 Iranian officials for human rights
abuses.
(AP, 4/12/11)
2011 Apr 17, A train carrying
Tunisian immigrants from Italy was halted at the French border in an
escalation of an international dispute over the fate of North
African migrants fleeing political unrest for refuge in Europe,
unprecedented since the introduction of the Schengen travel-free
zone.
(AP, 4/17/11)
2011 May 3, Portugal announced
a bailout of 78 billion euros by the IMF, the EU and the European
Central Bank to avoid default. The conditions as well as the key
reaction of opposition parties remain unclear.
(AFP, 5/4/11)
2011 May 4, The European Union
said six Zimbabwean state-media journalists are on a sanctions list
because they incite hatred in their reporting. The journalists who
fiercely support President Robert Mugabe are among some 200
individuals linked to Mugabe's party who face banking and travel
bans from the EU, the US and Britain.
(AP, 5/4/11)
2011 May 6, The EU agreed to
place sanctions on Syrian officials next week as it tries to halt a
government crackdown against protesters.
(AP, 5/6/11)
2011 May 7, Europe faced the
specter of Greek calls for new financial aid as Athens'
"catastrophic" finances returned to haunt stressed eurozone states,
despite efforts to prevent panic. The Greek public deficit for 2010
was recently revised upwards, from 9.4 percent of gross domestic
product to 10.5 percent.
(AFP, 5/7/11)
2011 May 10, The Court of
Justice of the EU ruled that gay couples in civil partnerships
should enjoy the same rights as heterosexual married couples.
(SFC, 5/11/11, p.A2)
2011 May 10, Iran said it has
accepted the European Union's proposal for more talks about the
country's controversial nuclear program.
(AP, 5/10/11)
2011 May 22, The European Union
established formal diplomatic contact with the opposition seeking to
topple Moammar Gadhafi by opening an office in the eastern rebel
stronghold of Benghazi and promised support for a democratic Libya.
(AP, 5/22/11)
2011 May 23, EU foreign
ministers decided to impose asset freezes and travel bans on more
Iranian officials and companies with links to the nuclear program.
It was not yet clear how many officials and companies were involved.
(AP, 5/23/11)
2011 May 23, The EU imposed
sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad because of his
government's continuing crackdown on anti-government protesters,
condemning the violence in which more than 900 people have
reportedly been killed.
(AP, 5/23/11)
2011 May 26, African leaders
demanded an outright end to NATO air strikes on Libya. Spain says it
and other European governments have received a message from Libyan
PM Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi proposing an immediate cease-fire in his
country's war. Global Witness said Goldman Sachs and HSBC together
held $335 million of the Libyan oil fund's assets, while Societe
Generale held $1 billion in structured products for the fund.
(AFP, 5/26/11)(AP, 5/26/11)(Reuters, 5/26/11)
2011 May 28, Japan and the EU
agreed at a summit meeting to begin negotiations on a free trade
agreement that would deepen economic ties between two of the world's
largest economies. As a bloc, the EU is the world's largest economy;
Japan is number four.
(AP, 5/28/11)
2011 May 30, European
anti-trust regulators launched in-depth probes into proposed US
takeovers of South Korean and Japanese businesses manufacturing
computer hard disk drives (HDD). The planned acquisitions of the
hard disk drive operations of South Korean electronics giant Samsung
by Seagate Technology, and the storage business of Japan's Hitachi
by Western Digital Corporation in a sector with just five
manufacturers worldwide have raised concerns. Brussels officials
have until October 10 to decide what action if any they will take.
(AFP, 5/30/11)
2011 May 31, Europe's human
rights court ruled that Russia was guilty of violations in its
jailing of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but found no firm
proof that the case was politically motivated.
(Reuters, 5/31/11)
2011 Jun 2, Spain's prime
minister hit out at the European Commission and Germany for singling
out the country's produce as a possible source of a deadly bacterial
outbreak in Europe, and said the government would demand
explanations and reparations. The World Health Organization said the
E. coli bacteria responsible for a mysterious outbreak that has left
18 people dead and sickened hundreds is a new strain that has never
been seen before. The illness had now spread to at least 10 European
countries and fanned uncertainty about eating tomatoes, cucumbers
and lettuce.
(AP, 6/2/11)
2011 Jun 7, The EU imposed
sanctions on 6 ports still held by Colonel Qaddafi. Russian
President Dmitri Medvedev sent an envoy to Libya For the first time
to meet with rebel leaders in the city of Benghazi and promise
support. At least 40 NATO strikes hit Tripoli as Khadafy spoke in an
audio address and vowed never to surrender.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.53)(AFP, 6/7/11)(SFC, 6/8/11,
p.A4)
2011 Jun 16, Palestinian
foreign minister Riyad al-Malki urged Spain and the rest of the EU
to recognize a Palestinian state with borders from before the 1967
Six Day War.
(AFP, 6/16/11)(AFP, 6/16/11)
2011 Jun 19, European aerospace
giant EADS unveiled its "Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation"
(Zehst) rocket plane it hopes will be able to fly from Paris to
Tokyo in 2.5 hours by around 2050.
(AFP, 6/19/11)
2011 Jun 20, Euro zone finance
ministers applied intense pressure on Greece, saying it had to
approve stricter austerity measures before a final decision is made
on a further 12 billion euros in loans.
(Reuters, 6/20/11)
2011 Jun 22, Russia and the EU
signed a deal agreeing conditions for the resumption of EU fresh
vegetable imports to Russia, which banned them because of a deadly
E.coli outbreak.
(Reuters, 6/22/11)
2011 Jun 24, European Union
leaders appointed Italy's Mario Draghi as the next president of the
European Central Bank, a move that gives investors much-needed
certainty over who will lead the institution in its pivotal role in
the fight against the crippling debt crisis.
(AP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jun 24, EU officials said
Croatia will become a European Union member in two years, making it
the first new country to join the bloc since 2007 and offering hope
to other nations from the former Yugoslavia seeking to join.
(AP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jul 1, Poland took over
the rotating presidency of the EU.
(Econ, 6/25/11, p.66)
2011 Jul 4, The European Union
said it will restart food aid to North Korea after the country's
repressive communist regime agreed to an unprecedented monitoring
system as it suffers through its worst food crisis in years. The WFP
will check delivery at every stage and pay more than 400 visits a
month to distribution sites, hospitals, child-care facilities and
households.
(AP, 7/4/11)
2011 Jul 5, The EU announced
action against Egyptian bean and seed imports, after tests indicated
that a 15-ton batch of Egyptian fenugreek seeds imported in 2009 to
Germany and then distributed elsewhere was at the root of an E.coli
outbreak that killed 50 people.
(AFP, 7/14/11)
2011 Jul 5, Moody’s Investor
Service cut Portugal’s debt to junk status, a decision condemned by
all of Europe. Europe Central Bank pres. Jean-Claude Trichet called
for a European-based rating agency.
(SSFC, 7/10/11, p.A4)
2011 Jul 6, The EU Parliament
passed a resolution calling for EU-wide legislation stipulating that
at least 40% of seats on listed companies’ supervisory boards be
reserved for women by the year 2020.
(Econ, 7/23/11, p.61)
2011 Jul 11, The European Union
signed an agreement to provide 2.5 million euros ($3.5 million) to
help care for rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(AFP, 7/11/11)
2011 Jul 14, Switzerland
suspended imports of some seeds, beans and sprouts from Egypt, after
the EU blamed Egyptian fenugreek seeds for E.coli outbreaks in
Germany and France. The temporary ban would expire in October 31,
2011, in line with the EU's suspension.
(AFP, 7/14/11)
2011 Jul 19, The European
Commission resumed aid to Niger, releasing 25 million euros ($35
million) after the west African nation returned to democracy this
year following a coup.
(AFP, 7/19/11)
2011 Jul 21, Eurozone leaders
agreed to give Greece euro109 billion ($156 billion) in new
financing in a complex package that includes new loans, buybacks of
Greek debt, and credit guarantees under the deal agreed.
(AP, 7/22/11)
2011 Aug 16, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel called for
greater economic and political unity among the 17 nations that share
the euro.
(AP, 8/17/11)
2011 Aug 18, Four EU countries
(Austria, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia) said they want hundreds
of millions of euros in collateral as security for a bailout of
Greece. Finland had just struck a deal with Greece for cash
collateral on Aug 16.
(SFC, 8/19/11, p.A2)
2011 Aug 18, Stock markets
around the world plunged as rising signs of a US recession combined
with renewed worries over the financial health of Europe's banks.
(AP, 8/18/11)
2011 Aug 18, Syrian President
Bashar Assad told the UN chief that military operations in his
country have ended. The EU urged Syria's President Assad to resign
amid a mounting crackdown on an anti-government revolt. Activists
reported intense shooting around noon in the flashpoint city of
Latakia.
(AP, 8/18/11)
2011 Aug 24, The EU announced
that it was leveling sanctions against Iran’s Al Quds military
force, saying it had given technical and material aid to Pres. Assad
of Syria in his efforts to quell a 5-month old uprising against his
rule.
(SFC, 8/25/11, p.A2)
2011 Aug, Belgium, France,
Italy and Spain introduced bans to prevent the short selling of
financial stocks. The EU banned naked shorting of shares in October,
effective in Nov, 2012.
(Econ, 10/22/11, p.88)
2011 Sep 2, The EU banned oil
imports from Syria in a move that will cost the embattled regime
millions of dollars each day as it uses deadly force to try to crush
a 5-month-old uprising. Activists said at least six people were
killed in the crackdown.
(AP, 9/2/11)
2011 Sep 5, The EU's
counter-terrorism coordinator said Al-Qaeda's north African branch
has acquired a stockpile of weapons in Libya, including
surface-to-air missiles threatening air travel.
(AFP, 9/5/11)
2011 Sep 16, The EU said
helicopters are being used to ferry staff and supplies to border
crossings in the north after minority Serbs blocked main roads in
anger over Kosovo's efforts to take over customs posts. Both
northern crossings remained closed for commercial goods, but
Kosovo's trade minister Mimoza Kusari said Serbian goods started
entering Kosovo's eastern border with Serbia minutes after the EU
mission took over control.
(AP, 9/16/11)
2011 Oct 11, Slovakia's
parliament rejected a bill that would have strengthened the powers
of the regional rescue fund to help bail out strapped economies in
the eurozone. Outgoing PM Iveta Radicova and her main opponent said
they will work to try to get the bill through Parliament.
(AP, 10/12/11)
2011 Oct 12, Serbia received
European Union notice for recommendation to become an official EU
candidate. The recommendation must formally be approved by the EU's
Council of Ministers on Dec 9. A date to begin formal accession
talks depended on the country and neighboring Kosovo to improve
relations.
(AP, 10/12/11)(AP, 10/15/11)
2011 Oct 18, The EU’s top court
ruled that scientists cannot patent stem cell techniques that use
human embryos for research.
(SFC, 10/19/11, p.A2)
2011 Oct 27, Europe sealed a
last-ditch deal to fix its festering debt crisis by shoring up its
bailout fund, pledging new funds for Greece and pushing banks to
share the pain at a summit vital to the health of the global
economy. Greece was provided with a second bailout package worth
€130 billion ($184 billion) to stave off bankruptcy.
(AFP, 10/27/11)(AP, 10/28/11)
2011 Oct 27, Five Arab Spring
activists won the European parliament's Sakharov prize awarded to
campaigners for freedom. They include Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia,
awarded posthumously, Egyptian militant Asmaa Mahfouz, Libyan
dissident Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi, Syrian lawyer Razan
Zeitouneh and Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat.
(AFP, 10/27/11)
2011 Oct 31, In Zimbabwe a $430
million fund was launched with the help of the EU and UNICEF to give
children and pregnant women free medical care at public hospitals.
(AFP, 10/31/11)
2011 Nov 1, Mario Draghi
succeeded Jean Claude Trichet as president of the European Central
Bank.
(Econ, 10/22/11, p.16)
2011 Nov 3, Officials close to
the Greek PM Papandreou said he has scrapped his plan to hold a
referendum on the latest European debt deal for Greece after the
main opposition leader said would back it. A spokesman for Greece's
government says it is prepared to discuss an opposition demand for
the creation of a transitional government to approve the latest
European bailout deal and secure the next installment of rescue
loans for the country.
(AP, 11/3/11)
2011 Nov 12, EU foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton officially opened a delegation in Tripoli
before holding talks with Libya's interim leaders as the bloc moved
to cement relations.
(AFP, 11/12/11)
2011 Nov 14, EU foreign
ministers decided to impose additional sanctions on 18 Syrians in
response to the killings of protesters by Syrian President Bashar
Assad's regime. The sanctions also include suspending the
disbursement of European Investment Bank loans.
(AP, 11/14/11)
2011 Nov 15, Europe's top court
barred Britain from enacting a corporate tax reform in its tiny
territory of Gibraltar, ruling the scheme would amount to illegal
state aid for offshore companies.
(AFP, 11/15/11)
2011 Nov 15, The EU said it has
tightened controls on imports of Chinese rice products after a
growing number of shipments were contaminated by unauthorized
genetically-modified rice.
(AFP, 11/15/11)
2011 Nov 18, The European
Commission said an extra 10 million euros ($13.5 million) in
humanitarian funding will go on addressing "major shortfalls" in
food in the Sahel region. The crisis is affecting 7 million people
in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria.
(AFP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 22, The European
Commission announced that it will send additional aid to Afghanistan
to help drought victims in need of food for themselves and their
animals before winter snows block roads. That brings the total
commission response to the Afghan drought to euro4.5 million, or
about $6.1 million.
(AP, 11/22/11)
2011 Nov 24, The EU said that
protecting civilians caught up in Syria's crackdown on
anti-government protests "is an increasingly urgent and important
aspect" of responding to the bloodshed there. At least three more
people were killed by Syrian security forces. The British-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination
Committees said 15 defectors were either killed or wounded in
clashes near Rastan. 6 elite pilots and 4 technical officers were
killed in an ambush in Homs. The Arab League gave Syria 24 hours to
agree to an observer mission or face sanctions.
(AP, 11/24/11)(AP, 11/25/11)
2011 Nov 30, Amid fears of a
eurozone collapse, central banks of the United States, the eurozone,
Britain, Japan, Canada and Switzerland said that they would cut the
cost of providing dollars to banks. The move pushed the DJIA up 490
points, its biggest gain since March 2009.
(AFP, 12/1/11)(SFC, 12/1/11, p.D1)
2011 Dec 1, Berlin-based
Transparency International (TI) said corruption is hampering efforts
to tackle the eurozone debt crisis, as Greece (80) and Italy (69)
scored badly in a list of nations seen to be the most sleaze-ridden.
Nepal ranked 154th out of 183 countries. New Zealand ranked the
cleanest, while the US ranked 24th.
(AFP,
12/1/11)(cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/)
2011 Dec 2, Britain’s PM David
Cameron held emergency talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
while France and Germany tried to drum up support for a new EU
treaty to enforce budget discipline.
(AFP, 12/2/11)
2011 Dec 2, Kosovo and Serbia
have agreed on normalizing border procedures, one of the thorniest
issues in current talks between the two rivals. An EU statement
said, "The parties will gradually set up the joint, integrated,
single and secure posts at all their common crossing points."
(AP, 12/3/11)
2011 Dec 2, In Syria hours of
intense shooting and clashes killed at least four people and wounded
dozens more, including an 11-year-old girl who was struck by stray
bullets that whizzed across the border into Lebanon. The European
Union released the names of Syrian officials and companies to be
added to a growing sanctions blacklist.
(AP, 12/2/11)
2011 Dec 5, France and Germany
reached a compromise agreement to seek mandatory limits on budget
deficits among debt-laden European governments.
(SFC, 12/6/11, p.A9)
2011 Dec 8, The European
Central Bank (ECB) lowered its benchmark rate from 1.25 to 1
percent, the second quarter point cut in as many months.
(Econ, 12/17/11, p.127)
2011 Dec 9, The EU said that 26
of its 27 member countries are open to joining a new treaty tying
their finances together to solve the euro crisis. Only Britain
remained opposed, creating a deep rift in the union. Britain's
leaders argued that the revised treaty would threaten their national
sovereignty and damage London's financial services industry.
(AP, 12/9/11)
2011 Dec 13, European
Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said that a demand by Britain
for its financial services industry to be exempted from EU
regulation threatened to break up the single market.
(AFP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 14, European
Parliament lawmakers blocked a deal allowing special access for EU
fishermen to Moroccan waters, prompting Rabat to issue an immediate
ban on European fishing boats. European lawmakers said they wanted
to wanted to wait until the interests of Western Sahara trawlers
were taken on board before agreeing to a 12-month extension.
(AFP, 12/14/11)
2011 Dec 16, Europol said
police have arrested 112 people in 22 countries after a yearlong
investigation into child pornography, warning that technology is
making combating the spread of child abuse images ever more
difficult.
(AP, 12/16/11)
2011 Dec 20, The European Court
of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay more than €1 million ($1.3
million) to dozens of plaintiffs over the country's bungled efforts
to end a 2002 Moscow theater siege by Chechen militants.
(AP, 12/20/11)
2012 Jan 1, As of today the EU
began billing all the world’s airlines for the carbon emissions into
and out of the EU.
(Econ, 1/7/12, p.58)
2012 Jan 6, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to push ahead with a new tax on financial
transactions, also known as a Tobin tax, even without France's EU
partners, in the face of stiff British resistance. The EU's
executive European Commission adopted plans last September for a
financial transaction tax under which stock and bond trades would be
taxed at the rate of 0.1 percent, with derivatives taxed at 0.01
percent.
(Reuters, 1/8/12)
2012 Jan 8, Britain’s PM David
Cameron said he would veto a European-wide financial transaction tax
unless it was imposed globally, deepening a confrontation with
European Union heavyweights France and Germany. Cameron also
suggested that legislation to curb excessive executive pay,
including giving shareholders new voting powers, could be set out in
the spring.
(Reuters, 1/8/12)
2012 Jan 17, The European Union
and Hungary brought their fight over democratic rights fully into
the open, with the EU Commission launching legal challenges against
the former Soviet-bloc country many fear may be slipping back into
authoritarianism.
(AP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 17, The European Court
of Human Rights blocked Britain from extraditing Abu Qatada (aka
Omar Mohammed Othman), an alleged top aide of Osama bin Laden to
Jordan, saying evidence against him may have been obtained through
torture.
(AFP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 18, The EU said it is
doubling humanitarian aid to Africa's Sahel area to 95 million euros
in a "race against time" to lift two million people facing food
shortages out of danger.
(AFP, 1/18/12)
2012 Jan 20, The European
Medicines Agency said it is investigating a multiple sclerosis drug
made by Novartis after at least 11 patients taking the drug died.
The drug, Gilenya, was licensed last year in the EU to treat
patients with a severe type of multiple sclerosis.
(AP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 22, Croatians voted in
a referendum on whether to join the European Union. 68% approved the
referendum with a turnout of 47% of eligible voters. Croatia signed
an EU accession treaty last year and is on track to become a member
in July 2013.
(AP, 1/22/12)(SFC, 1/23/12, p.A2)
2012 Jan 25, The Haitian
government and European Union signed an agreement for building a
road to connect the capital with the country's second largest city.
(AP, 1/25/12)
2012 Jan 27, Fitch ratings
downgraded the debt of Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain
even as European finance chiefs gathering in Davos sought to
reassure global business leaders that Europe is on track to solve
its debt crises.
(SFC, 1/27/12, p.A4)
2012 Jan 30, Across eastern
Europe heavy snow and a severe cold snap have killed at least 36
people and many areas were under emergency measures as schools
closed down, roads became impassible and power supplies were cut
off.
(AP, 1/30/12)
2012 Jan 31, Ukrainian
authorities said that the number of people who died of hypothermia
in recent days has reached 30 as the country grapples with an
unusually severe cold spell. In all, at least 58 people have died
from the cold in Europe over the last week.
(AP, 1/31/12)
2012 Feb 1, The death toll from
a severe cold spell in Eastern Europe rose to 71, including 43 in
the Ukraine, most of them homeless people.
(AP, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 2, At least 11,000
villagers have been trapped by heavy snow and blizzards in Serbia's
mountains, as the death toll from Eastern Europe's weeklong deep
freeze rose to 122, many of them homeless people.
(AP, 2/2/12)
2012 Feb 3, The death toll from
a severe cold spell in Eastern Europe rose to 222, including 101 in
the Ukraine, 37 in Poland, 24 in Romania and 16 in Bulgaria.
(AFP, 2/1/12)
2012 Feb 8, A senior European
Union official said the EU will impose harsher sanctions on Syria,
as Russia tried to broker talks between the vice president and the
opposition to calm violence. Activists reported at least 50 killed
in military assaults targeting government opponents in Homs.
(AP, 2/8/12)
2012 Feb 11, In Europe snow
drifts reaching up to rooftops kept tens of thousands of villagers
prisoners in their own homes as the death toll from the big freeze
rose past 550. On the French Mediterranean island of Corsica snow
was up to one meter thick in the higher villages and all flights
were cancelled from Bastia airport.
(AFP, 2/11/12)
2012 Feb 14, China's Premier
Wen Jiabao said his country was ready to increase its participation
in efforts to resolve Europe's debt crisis, after meeting EU
president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose
Manuel Barroso in Beijing.
(AFP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 15, China's top
central banker expressed confidence in the euro and pledged to
continue buying European sovereign debt, as the Asian giant seeks to
shore up support for its biggest trading partner.
(AFP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 15, United Nations and
EU aid chiefs called for "urgent" assistance for West Africa's
drought-hit Sahel region, saying it needed $725 million (552 million
euros) this year.
(AFP, 2/15/12)
2012 Feb 16, The European
Parliament approved a divisive new fishing and farming accord with
Morocco that will reduce customs costs and boost trade across the
Mediterranean.
(AP, 2/16/12)
2012 Feb 17, The EU partially
lifted sanctions on Zimbabwe to encourage further progress in
political reforms but kept restrictions on veteran President Robert
Mugabe.
(AFP, 2/17/12)
2012 Feb 21, Greece reached an
agreement on a $172 billion in loans through 2014 from the EU
governments and the IMF.
(SFC, 2/22/12, p.A4)
2012 Feb 27, European Union
foreign ministers said they were increasingly appalled by the Syrian
government's ruthless campaign of repression against civilians, and
imposed new sanctions in hopes of pressuring the regime to change
course.
(AP, 2/27/12)
2012 Feb 28, The EU announced
the withdrawal of its envoys from Belarus, hours after Belarus asked
the head of the EU's delegation in Minsk and the Polish ambassador
to leave and said it was withdrawing its own from Brussels and
Warsaw. The tit-for-tat followed EU sanctions passed a day earlier
on Belarus over repression of the political opposition.
(AP, 2/29/12)
2012 Mar 1, The European Union
formally granted Serbia the status of a candidate for membership in
the bloc during their summit in recognition of its government's
efforts to round up war crimes suspects and normalize relations with
Kosovo, its former province.
(AP, 3/1/12)(http://tinyurl.com/7scyr3k)
2012 Mar 2, Leaders of 25 EU
countries signed a new treaty in Brussels designed to limit
government overspending. Spain’s PM Mariano Rajoy said he would miss
deficit targets this year to spare his country from austerity
overload.
(SFC, 3/3/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 5, The Institute of
International Finance, the group representing private creditors in
talks on Greek debt, said a dozen banks, insurers and investment
funds holding Greece's bonds will participate in a massive debt
relief plan for the country.
(AP, 3/5/12)
2012 Mar 13, Japan, the EU and
the US brought a case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) alleging
that China was exporting too little of tungsten, molybdenum and 17
rare earth elements.
(Econ, 3/17/12, p.86)
2012 Mar 15, European Union
nations agreed to ban financial transfers such as SWIFT payments to
hundreds of Iranian firms and individuals blacklisted by the bloc
over Tehran's contested nuclear drive.
(AFP, 3/15/12)
2012 Mar 19, EU nations backed
a complete ban on removing shark’s fins before throwing them into
the sea to die.
(SFC, 3/20/12, p.A3)
2012 Mar 21, European Union
anti-trust regulators approved British government plans to provide
pension relief and slash the debt of Royal Mail Group as part of its
privatization.
(AFP, 3/21/12)
2012 Apr 2, The Eurozone
reported that unemployment now totaled 17.1 million, its highest
level since the Euro was introduced in 1999.
(SFC, 4/3/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 3, The European
Commission prohibited Conviasa, Venezuela’s state airline, from
flying into the EU due to safety concerns. Venezuela called the
decision unfair.
(SFC, 4/4/12, p.A2)
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