According to the Schengen Agreement, people and goods can freely cross the borders of the 26 signatory countries without any checks or requirements. Internal border controls within the Schengen area can only be reintroduced as a last resort in response to serious threats to internal security.

Citing concerns about migration and/or terrorism, Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France have kept border controls in place at all times since displaced people started arriving in Europe in growing numbers in 2015. Countries have just extended controls for another six months.

This is the second extension since the European Court of Justice ruled in April that temporary reintroductions of border controls cannot last longer than six months per announced threat.

A 2019 DW analysis had also found that these border controls violate the terms of the Schengen agreement, which is considered binding law for the 22 EU countries that signed it, as well as Iceland. Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

“Too politically sensitive”

It would generally be the role of the European Commission to reprimand member states for breaking EU laws. Such infringement procedures can lead to heavy financial penalties. In 2018, for example, Spain had not fully implemented rules requiring all EU citizens to have access to bank accounts at reasonable prices. The Commission ordered Spain pay €50,000 a day until he can implement a national law that complies with the rules.

The Commission has not launched infringement proceedings against any of the Member States concerned for continuing border controls. “The question is simply too politically sensitive,” said Leon Züllig, research assistant at the Chair of Public Law, International Law and European Law at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, who is writing his thesis on internal borders. of the EU. “Member states and their interior ministries would be furious.

The European Commission did not respond to DW’s requests for comment. During a hearing with members of the European Parliament in January 2021, the Commission argued that adapting the rules could be a better solution than initiating infringement procedures. He cited the fact that member states had stopped complying with the rules as evidence that the rules themselves might be inadequate.

The recent Commission report on the state of Schengen lists “the lifting of all lasting internal border controls” among its priorities for 2023.

It seems that the Commission intends to try to convince Member States to stop controls voluntarily by modifying the Schengen Borders Code. A first draft of such a reform failed in 2017 because the Council of the European Union, a round table of relevant ministers from member governments, did not back it.

Proposed changes require mass surveillance

The Commission’s latest proposal would introduce a series of changes to the rules governing the Schengen area. It aims in particular to broaden the range of “alternative measures” that Member States can introduce instead of border controls. In the consultations on the reformMember States have specifically requested that technologies currently used only at the EU’s external borders also be applied in the Schengen area.

These technologies would include automatic surveillance and data collection by authorities through, for example, analysis of passenger name record data and advanced passenger information. This is in addition to what Leon Züllig calls an “invisibility” of border controls. “From a fundamental rights perspective, these measures are perhaps even more dangerous than a physical barrier,” he said, “because they ultimately rely on a kind of mass surveillance – including EU citizens”.

These alternatives could also increase the risk of discrimination at the border. PICUM, an NGO dedicated to safeguarding the human rights of undocumented migrants, has expressed concern that the proposal opens the door to racial profiling. The organization also refers to reports showing that surveillance technologies reproduce and enshrine biases against marginalized people.

The proposal now belongs to the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, which has just presented its draft report. The report suggests deleting some relevant sections of the proposal, warning that “allowing more controls which will resemble border control does not correspond to the objective of providing EU citizens with an area of ​​freedom, security and of justice without internal frontiers”.

Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, chairman of the committee, also told DW: “Any technological development must comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU data and privacy standards, which are the highest in the world. “. The European Parliament has criticized ongoing border controls in the past and generally supported free movement over increased national security.

It remains to be seen whether these suggestions, in turn, will be accepted by the Commission and EU member states.

For now though, border controls in the free movement area will now enter their eighth consecutive year – with no consequences in sight.

Editing: Milan Gagnon, Peter Hille, Gianna Grün

More data journalism by DW

Data, code and methodology behind this story

DUBAI, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Iran’s religious leaders faced growing international pressure on Monday over their crackdown on protests, with the European Union imposing additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic and the French president calling the unrest a revolution.

The nationwide protests, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in vice police custody on September 16 after her arrest for “inappropriate dress”, have turned into a crisis of legitimacy for the clerical establishment which took power more than four decades ago.

“Something unprecedented is happening,” Frenchman Emmanuel Macron told France Inter radio. “The grandchildren of the revolution make a revolution and devour it.”

Macron said the crackdown on Iran’s leaders would make it harder to reach a deal on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which would give Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

“This revolution changes a lot of things,” Macron said. “I don’t think there will be any new proposals that can be made right now to salvage the nuclear deal.”

Speaking after meeting four Iranian women activists in Paris over the weekend, Macron said more European Union sanctions would be adopted in response to Tehran’s actions.

Women and students have played a leading role in calling for the fall of the Islamist regime under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in defiance of a harsh crackdown by security forces.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman slammed Macron on Saturday after meeting the activists, calling his stance “shameful” and a violation of France’s responsibilities in the fight against terrorism.

‘CLEAR SIGNAL’

The European Union hit Iran with new sanctions, targeting 29 people and three organisations, in response to what it condemned as Tehran’s widespread use of force against peaceful protesters.

The EU said those sanctioned with travel bans and asset freezes included Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, four members of the team that arrested Amini and high-ranking members of the security guards. the revolution – the main paramilitary force tasked with protecting the Shiite clergy. system of government.

The sanctions aim “to send a clear message to those who think they can repress, intimidate and kill their own people without consequences”, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters in Brussels.

Meanwhile, Iran has summoned the German ambassador to protest German Chancellor Olaf Sholz’s remarks on Saturday when he criticized the leaders for their crackdown.

The militant HRANA news agency said 341 protesters had been killed in the unrest, including 52 minors. Iranian authorities have given no figures on those killed or injured during the protests. They neither denied nor confirmed the HRANA reports on the death toll.

HRANA said 39 members of the security forces had been killed and more than 15,820 people had been arrested during protests in 140 towns and villages and 138 universities on Sunday.

Iranian leaders blame foreign enemies, including the United States, for what they call riots.

Eight weeks after the protests began, students staged a sit-in at Sharif University in Tehran to protest against the arrest of other students and to support the protest movement, HRANA said.

In a letter published by the Emtedad news site, some 2,300 graduate students from Amirkabir University in Tehran urged the authorities to release the detained students.

A video shared by HRANA on Monday shows students gathered at the University of Medical Sciences in the city of Qazvin, shouting slogans in support of activist and blogger Hossein Ronaghi. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the video.

He was transferred to a hospital in Tehran on Sunday from Evin prison, where he has been held since his arrest in September. His brother said on Twitter that Ronaghi had been on a hunger strike for over 50 days and both his legs were broken in jail.

However, court news agency Mizan said “Ronaghi will soon be discharged from hospital and his health is fine.” He said all claims that his legs were broken are false.

Justice released a photo of Ronaghi’s mother visiting him in a hospital room.

Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and John Irish in Paris and Dubai newsroom; Written by Michael Georgy; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Cawthorne

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BRUSSELS, Nov 11 (Reuters) – The European Union has passed a law to expand its forests, marshes and other “sinks” that absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), a move that could help the bloc raise its reduction target net greenhouse gas emissions.

On Friday morning, negotiators from the European Parliament and the European Council, which represents EU governments, agreed to a deal on legislation called the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation (LULUCF).

The law sets a goal of eliminating 310 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 through the use of soil, trees, plants, biomass and wood.

Binding targets are to be set for all 27 EU members, aiming to gradually increase removals and reduce emissions in order to reach the EU-wide target.

Currently, EU countries must ensure that they offset emissions from land use and forestry with at least an equivalent amount of carbon absorption. Under the new law, from 2026 CO2 removals must exceed emissions.

The law could see the EU increase its target for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to almost 57% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, from 55% currently, while putting it on the right track. path to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

The deal is the latest of three the European Union had hoped to reach in time for a UN climate summit that started in Egypt on Sunday.

The bloc struck a deal last month on a law effectively banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 and on Tuesday agreed to a law setting national carbon emission reduction targets.

Increased carbon sequestration can take the form of recreating old forests or generating new ones, rewetting peatlands, or changing agricultural practices such as reducing tillage or planting crops to longer roots to trap more carbon in the soil.

EU governments had sought to make the system more flexible, but faced opposition from EU lawmakers who said the bloc had already lost around a quarter of its carbon sink in the past 20 years and that the law required guarantees on both carbon sink objectives and biodiversity.

Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer; Editing by Robert Birsel

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

For years, the European Union (EU) has relied on Russia to provide the oil and gas it needs to power industries and heat homes. Last year, 40% of the gas flared by the Europeans came from Russia, and the bloc paid $108 billion to the Kremlin.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February forced the EU to radically revise its energy strategy to wean itself off Russian oil and gas, in a bid to shed its dependence on the Kremlin. and to deprive it of energy revenues to finance its war. Over the past six months, the bloc has begun phasing out Russian oil and gas imports and looking for alternative suppliers. In December, the EU will ban imports of Russian crude oil, and by next February it will ban Russian petroleum products (although pipeline products are excluded from the bans). The EU has also pledged to phase out all Russian gas by the end of the decade.

But all that Russian oil and gas needs to be replaced to keep industries running and people to keep heating their homes.

Along with several other countries, the EU now hopes that Azerbaijan, a relatively small country sandwiched between the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea, will become an important alternative to Russian energy. EU Chancellor Ursula Von der Leyen called Azerbaijan “reliable, trustworthy… [and] crucial energy partner” that could double its gas exports to the EU in no time. “a few years” as Europe tries to rapidly diversify away from Russian energy.

But experts say there are major problems with betting big on Azerbaijan. The country currently does not have the supply or capacity to deliver what it said it could deliver. And in an effort to distance itself from one autocratic regime, Europe is throwing itself into the arms of another – a strategy that could backfire given the post-Soviet state’s traditionally close ties to Russia. .

A new chapter for European energy

In the search for new sources of fuel, Europe has made all sorts of arrangements over the past year with suppliers like Norway and Algeria.

Norway is now the EU’s biggest gas supplier and has pledged to supply “as much gas as possible” to the bloc’s countries; its gas exports to the EU are up 8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, EU Mediterranean countries have courted Algerian gas; the North African country is expected to increase its gas exports to Italy, for example, by 20% to 25 billion cubic meters this year.

Last July, the EU and Azerbaijan signed a new agreement, marking what von der Leyen called at the time “a new chapter in [the EU’s] energy cooperation with Azerbaijan, a key partner in our efforts to move away from Russian fossil fuels.

Brussels presents the agreement as one which “will contribute significantly to the security of supply in Europe”, according to the European Chancellor. The MoU promises to double Azeri gas exports to at least 20 bcm by 2027, which would equate to around 6% of EU gas demand, but experts have cast doubt on the Azerbaijan’s ability to keep that promise.

Although its contributions are relatively small, the recruitment of Azerbaijan as a key energy partner is attractive to the EU due to its perceived stability and the potential scalability of Azeri gas projects and pipelines.

Azerbaijan, a country bordering Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Russia, transports its gas to Europe via the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline network (SGC) of 3,500 kilometers, which was announced in 2013 and started operating at the end of 2020.

The country’s oil and gas production is jointly operated by its state-owned oil company SOCAR and foreign partners, BP being the most notable. The government is unique in that it has not sought to revise the terms of its production sharing agreement with international companies, making it a ‘fairly reliable’ energy partner for the EU, John Roberts, non-resident senior researcher at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Sector and a member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Gas Expert Group, said Fortune. “His approach has… been that when things are going well, toughen the terms of the next production sharing deal. [But] when they are hard, relieve them,” he said.

Gas flows from Azerbaijan to the EU have increased over the past eight months. By the end of this year, the bloc is expected to import 11.6 billion m3 of Azeri gas, a 40 percent growth from last year’s 8.2 billion m3. And Azerbaijan’s TAP is intended to be scalable, meaning it can double its gas transit capacity to the 20 billion cubic meters outlined in the deal, said Tom Purdie, senior gas analyst and EMEA gas analyst. to commodity services firm S&P Global Commodity Insights. Fortune. Azerbaijan’s gas volumes are not enough to replace Russia’s alone – which total 150 billion cubic meters a year – but combine with other measures to remove Russian energy from the energy mix of the EU. EU, he noted.

And some optimists think the deal could be bigger than just natural gas. Closer cooperation between Brussels and Baku could help convert the post-Soviet state into a “key European partner”, moving it beyond Russia’s sphere of influence, political risk analyst Ilayda Nijhar wrote focused on Russia and former Soviet states, for Global Affairs Think. ODI tank in August. As Russia increasingly isolates itself, Azerbaijan has become more important to the Kremlin as a trade link with Iran and Asia.

imperfect partner

Yet Azerbaijan is far from the reliable partner von der Leyen promotes – nor does it have the gas, infrastructure or funds to expand its infrastructure to meet its EU deal. , according to some experts.

The EU’s agreement with Azerbaijan effectively offers “zero relief” to EU citizens “this winter or next… and probably not the next either,” Bowden said. This mainly serves to show EU citizens that policy makers are “doing something”, he said.

He explains that TAP gas comes from two projects in Shah Deniz, Azerbaijan’s largest natural gas field; operators are now ramping up production to its maximum output.

Meanwhile, the country’s two biggest potential sources – a third development at Shah Deniz and another at Azeri’s Chiraq Guneshli gas field – are “technically complex…and when deals are made, it will take many years to put them together.” online,” according to Roberts. At the same time, Azerbaijan’s domestic gas consumption is increasing. The French energy giant Total is planning a new project which will produce 1.5 billion m3 of gas, but which is intended for domestic consumption.

“There is no immediate prospect of large-scale gas developments…by 2027,” Bowden said. Any major gas project – if it materializes – will not happen until 2030, making it impossible for the EU and Azerbaijan to meet the conditions set out in their July agreement, he said.

Azerbaijan also lacks funds to increase production and infrastructure and needs to “invest heavily” to deliver more gas to Europe, said Gubad Ibadoghlu, senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) and senior analyst for social and economic studies in Azerbaijan. Center for Economic Research, says Fortune. And the high cost of bringing Azeri gas to Europe previously inhibited gas flows to the continent.

Azerbaijan could, in theory, buy gas from countries like Turkmenistan, Iran and Russia to meet its domestic needs, and in turn sell its own gas to Europe. But it would still need to improve and expand its infrastructure, and the sanctions make it “impossible” to buy from Russia, he said.

Trading one strong man for another

Along with arguments about whether or not the Azerbaijan deal is feasible, critics say that in an effort to distance itself from Putin’s Russia, Europe has simply traded one authoritarian for another.

The EU’s new energy deal shows that it is “rooting itself more [Azerbaijan’s] despotic regime” and continues to ignore the human rights abuses and corruption taking place under the regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Gligor Radečić, a gas activist at CEE Bankwatch, a network of non-governmental organizations focused on the environment, said Fortune.

Aliyev, who ruled the Caspian country for 19 years, continues to wage a “brutal crackdown on critics and dissenting voices. Independent activism, critical journalism and opposition political activity have been virtually extinguished,” according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW). In September alone, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of attacking its territory – the recent conflict killed nearly 300 soldiers – a claim that Aliyev’s government has denied, but the US has condemned as “unlawful and murderous”.

This dictatorship could also be bad for business. Azerbaijan is a “poor partner” for the EU in terms of quality and stability, Ibadoghlu said. “In Azerbaijan, the ruling family makes its own decisions. They can back off or postpone [cooperation] at any time due to Russian influence,” potentially leaving the EU in a bind, he said.

Philippe Dam, HRW’s Europe and Central Asia director, warns that Europe has missed a major opportunity to put human rights at the top of its agenda with its partnership with Azerbaijan. The EU-Azerbaijan deal benefits the government, but does not “guarantee any protection of human rights”, Dam said. Fortune.

“A country that suppresses its own people…is not reliable enough to engage with the EU,” he said.

The EU was left with few good options. With gas storage sites across the EU now 95% full, the bloc could still face a shortfall of 30bn m3 of gas next summer, underscoring the urgent need for more other suppliers or significantly reduce gas consumption, according to a new analysis from the International Energy Agency. The bloc’s best bets for gas suppliers are Russia, Azerbaijan, Algeria and Norway – and except for the latter, all are authoritarian states that will use gas exports as a political weapon, Radečić said.

But the bloc’s diversification strategy as a whole — which includes supplying the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market — could “replace Russian gas volumes if all goes well,” Bowden said. Azerbaijan is not a “one-size-fits-all solution” for the EU, but one partner among many, he noted.

It is now up to investors and banks to step in to finance the expansion of pipelines and the exploration of new gas fields in Azerbaijan. As Ibadoghlu said: “If they don’t, Azerbaijan will not achieve its goal of becoming a reliable gas supplier for Europe by 2027.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. Scholz is leading a delegation of business leaders as the first EU leader to visit China since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The visit comes less than two weeks after Chinese leader Xi Jinping won an unprecedented third term.

VOA’s Mandarin Service interviewed Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, on October 27. Wuttke, who has spent some 30 years in China, is a respected observer of the world’s second-largest economy who says Xi Jinping is clearly picking a senior loyalist adviser, and some have far less experience in their roles than their predecessors. Wuttke says that has increased uncertainty about how they will handle their new leadership responsibilities at a difficult time for China’s economy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

VOA Mandarin: Obviously this great moment has passed. The Party Congress is now behind us. What was your first impression or reaction to the members, names of the new Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo?

Jörg Wuttke: It was definitely a surprise. We have greater clarity now; it’s obviously Xi Jinping taking the lead to an extent we haven’t seen before. He has lined up a group of people who are totally loyal to him. We have basically left the sphere of achievement and meritocracy. It’s all about loyalty. And we have to see where this group of people takes China.

VOA: The premiership goes to Li Qiang, who is currently Shanghai’s party leader. Tell us about your impression of Li Qiang.

Wuttke: Well, I’ve never met Li Qiang, but what concerns me more than an individual is the fact that since 1988, we have never seen a prime minister take office who did not follow his predecessor. So in a way, we have for the first time someone, running a city, becoming head of the state council, which of course is a whole different ship to sail. So I guess it’s going to be very difficult. Also, the head of the economy, Mr. Xuexiang Ding, will be someone who is not knowledgeable about business.

VOA: Besides Li Qiang as premier, there are other important people to replace the current members of Xi Jinping’s economic team. How about those people?

Wuttke: Yes, we are in a turbulent time here. We have a real estate crisis. We have a severe impact from US sanctions. We have an increasing debt burden in localities as well as uncertainty as to when we will emerge from this COVID lockdown. It would be great to have a stable and good communication team on the economic front to tell the market where we are heading. And we don’t. We are essentially entering a period of uncertainty. But the uncertainty is intentional. The president decided to have a group of loyalists with him in the Politburo. So let’s see at the end of the day and whatever happens or doesn’t happen is under President Xi’s watch.

VOA: I think on another occasion you spoke with other media, you talked about the fact that the Chinese Communist Party is not monolithic. There are a variety of views. Some are more liberal, more pro-market and others like Xi Jinping himself are more pro-state. After this reshuffle, the changing of the guard, do you think there will be more liberal voices in the next administration?

Wuttke: Well, there will always be different voices and the fifty shades of gray about where to run the country. But it is already very clear in the speech of (Xi) (before the party congress). (Xi Jinping) mentioned Karl Marx 15 times. He mentioned the market three times, which clearly indicates that he expects international tensions. He mentioned the struggle 17 times and 12 times in the context of international affairs. Thus, he prepares the country for the struggle, and the struggle means…uncertainty and difficult times. He is obviously trying to rally the population behind him. And we have to see where that leads. We have a meeting with the (German) Chancellor Scholtz next week. The arrival of the German chancellor could give a clue if Xi Jinping wants to engage with foreign countries, with Europe in particular, as he has been off the scale for 1,000 days. (It) will be very interesting to see how this kind of view of the struggle translates into engagement with foreign leaders. Is he trying to adapt? Is he trying to reconnect with them on positive terms? Or is it going to be all about, you know, wrestling and offense in a way?

VOA: Compared to four or five months ago, are you now more pessimistic or are you about the same or more optimistic for the next, say, three or five years?

Wuttke: I think my struggle is trying to be realistic in order to (see) which direction it might go. We have not entered the space where we know where we are going. I have been here for about 30 years. I grew up in overture mode by Deng Xiaoping. My first Party Congress that I personally attended was in 1982, where Deng Xiaoping was clearly trying to integrate China, open up and so on. But maybe at the end of my career in China, I have to see China closing in to some extent. So in a way it’s come full circle, which of course is disappointing. But at the same time, it’s their country, their choice.

VOA: Do you envisage a decoupling on the road? How confident are you, as a member of the business community, of this new leadership, particularly on the economic front?

Wuttke: Decoupling is difficult to achieve because China is the story of globalization, which means that China is deeply embedded in very many markets. But decoupling is in the cards (and) can only be achieved in small incremental steps. Fortunately, because we want to stay coupled. We want to be connected. So in a way we have a situation where when you talk about struggle, when you talk about autonomy, that’s a strong indicator that China actively wants to decouple. It would be very sad. I think that would actually mean lower growth potential and will certainly have a negative impact on the global economy as well. Will it stop there? I’m not sure, but we will definitely see small steps in that direction. Let’s hope pragmatism and reason prevail because we have too much to lose, frankly, if we decouple.

VOA: Are foreign companies, like European companies like American companies, are we going to see it more as a retreat? Are we going to see more people leaving China?

Wuttke: We are seeing more people leaving China, that is clear. We do not see business people leaving in the sense of (of) business departures. We see more engagement on the top 10, for example, of European companies. It’s mostly German. It’s mainly cars, chemicals, mechanics, machinery. Because there is no other China, there is no other choice. They need to be here, and they need to be even more engaged there.

But then 10 companies do not necessarily represent 1,800 members represented by the European Chamber. We haven’t seen any companies walk away and I don’t expect that, but what we’ve noticed is that new investment, additional new business from those companies that normally would come to China has been redirected to other regions. So we see more interest in Thailand, Southeast Asia, India, but even closer to home, Turkey and Eastern Europe, for the simple fact that executives can get in and out easily. They also realized that the World Bank has predicted that China will grow this year by 2.8% and the rest of Asia by 5.3%. These leaders follow the money and therefore there will be no exodus of European companies out of China. But we will certainly underperform given the potential of this economy.

VOA: In your opinion, do you think the Chinese leadership, especially Xi Jinping himself and his other senior advisers, are aware of the situation that their economy is not in good shape and foreign companies are leaving, or at least put (new) investments on hold?

Wuttke: I think they have to be aware of that, that they have smart ministries, consultants and advisers. But again, if you have a totally different political approach, then actually, you know, foreign affairs doesn’t mean much to you. Yes, you needed it to make sure you could bridge the technology gap. But he had made it clear that he was focusing on state-owned companies. Its primary objective is not necessarily growth. It is a question of security, of stability. It is about the distribution of wealth. It is about common prosperity. In a way, they seek more stability and are ready to pay the economic price for it.

VOA: You said it was the end of an era for China.

Wuttke: Yes. Obviously, Jiang Zemin, the era of Hu Jintao was the era when it was about integrating China peacefully. It was about becoming rich first and then powerful. But now, basically, as Mao unified China and Deng Xiaoping enriched it, it seems that Xi Jinping’s emphasis really makes China powerful.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

FRANKFURT, Germany —

Inflation hit a new high in the 19 countries that use the euro, fueled by runaway natural gas and electricity prices due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Economic growth has also slowed ahead of what economists fear is a looming recession, largely due to higher prices sapping Europeans’ ability to spend.

Annual inflation hit 10.7% in October, the European Union’s statistical agency Eurostat reported on Monday. This is up from 9.9% in September and the highest since statistics began to be compiled for the euro zone in 1997.

Natural gas prices soared following the invasion of Ukraine as Russia cut pipeline supplies to a trickle of pre-war levels. Europe has had to resort to expensive shipments of liquefied gas by ship from the United States and Qatar to keep generating electricity and heating homes.

While liquid gas has managed to fill Europe’s storage for the winter, rising prices have made some industrial products such as steel or fertilizers expensive or simply unprofitable to manufacture. Consumer purchasing power has been depleted in stores and elsewhere as more income is used to pay fuel and utility bills.

Natural gas prices for short-term purchases have eased recently, but remain elevated in markets for months to come, suggesting that expensive energy could be a lingering drag on the economy. A survey of professional forecasts last week by the European Central Bank showed inflation expectations for next year rose to 5.8% from 3.6% expected three months ago.

The inflation epidemic has been an international phenomenon, driving prices to nearly 40-year highs in the United States as well.

Eurostat figures showed that food, alcohol and tobacco prices increasingly joined energy prices as a major contributor, rising by 13.1%, while energy prices rose 41.9%.

The economy, which had rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic, grew 0.2% in the July-September quarter, slowing from 0.8% in the second quarter. Economists say one of the main reasons is rising prices, and many predict the economy will contract in the final months of this year and the first part of next year.

Rising inflation sent a chain of jolts through the economy.

This led the European Central Bank to raise interest rates at the fastest rate in its history with two three-quarter point increases at its October 27 and September 8 meetings. This has pushed up borrowing costs in the market for businesses and governments and raised fears that the war on inflation will hurt growth.

Meanwhile, higher bond market costs for governments remain a concern for heavily indebted eurozone countries like Italy.

After receiving permission to do business in the Netherlands, which has the fifth largest economy in the European Union, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will start providing its services there.

According to reports, they are now the first major cryptocurrency exchange in the world to successfully register with De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank.

This achievement is part of the company’s continued global expansion.

The approval, according to Nana Murugesan, vice president of international and business development at Coinbase, shows how the company is trying to regulate its cryptocurrency services to support industry growth and foster public trust in the industry. ‘space. to improve.

With this permission, the company is now able to market cryptocurrency items to Dutch customers and businesses. More than 30 companies, including Coinbase, have been recognized by the central bank as Bitcoin service providers.

Leading US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, which is headquartered in California, claims to already have customers in around 40 European countries. They claim there are pending registration or licensing applications in a number of major markets.

Does the adage “slow and steady wins the race” apply here?

Even though Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, it faces fierce competition from newer entrants like Binance, FTX, and Crypto.com. Coinbase shares fell following recent news that the US branch of Binance will no longer charge users to trade bitcoins.

Coinbase is trying to keep pace with its competitors, which dominate markets outside of the United States.

For example, in the Middle East, Dubai has licensed Binance and FTX. Additionally, Binance has been licensed in France and Italy, and is currently seeking approval in other European countries.

The increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve and the disappearance of the stablecoin UST are two reasons that have an impact on the market. In investment firms like Three Arrows Capital that have built up leverage following falling token values, there are now solvency challenges.

This month, Coinbase abruptly changed course on its cost-cutting plan and announced plans to lay off more than 1,100 people worldwide. Murugesan claims that while the cuts affected 18% of Coinbase’s total global workforce, local staff in the UK were only affected by 7% of job losses.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday congratulated far-right leader Giorgia Meloni on her appointment as Italy’s prime minister and said she looked forward to “constructive cooperation” with her government.

“Congratulations to Giorgia Meloni on her appointment as Italian Prime Minister, the first woman to hold this post,” von der Leyen tweeted.

Congratulation to @GiorgiaMeloni upon her appointment as Prime Minister of Italy, the first woman to hold that position.

I look forward to constructive cooperation with the new government on the challenges we face together.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 22, 2022

“I look forward to constructive cooperation with the new government on the challenges we face together and look forward to that cooperation.”

European Council chief Charles Michel also welcomed Meloni as Italy’s new prime minister and tweeted, “Let’s work together for the benefit of Italy and the EU.”

The congratulations were echoed by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who tweeted in Italian that “Europe needs Italy”.

Congratulation to @GiorgiaMeloni as you take office as Italy’s first female Prime Minister.

Let’s work together for the benefit of Italy and the EU

La aspetto al Consiglio Europeo per lavorare insieme per il bene dell’Unione Europea #EUCO

—Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) October 22, 2022

Meloni, the 45-year-old leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, was named Italy’s prime minister on Friday, taking over the EU’s third-largest economy.

She named a former president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, as her foreign minister.

Meloni’s coalition wants to renegotiate Italy’s share of an EU post-Covid recovery fund, arguing that the current energy crisis should be taken into account for their disbursement.

But the funds are tied to a series of reforms and analysts say Meloni has limited leeway on this issue.

Singapore (Urban Transport News): The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on the development of urban air mobility on October 18 2022. Representatives of the two agencies signed the pact on the sidelines of the four-day EU-Asia Symposium on Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Urban Air Mobility, held in Singapore.

The agreement will see EASA and CAAS collaborate in areas such as the development of safety and regulatory standards, awareness strategies, as well as other activities and conferences related to urban air mobility issues.

“Over the past few years, we have seen quantum leaps in [unmanned aircraft systems] and [urban air mobility] development. The potential benefits are enormous. Achieving them will require concomitant regulatory development, and regulators must keep pace with technological and business developments to ensure safety and security and build public trust and acceptance,” said Han Kok Juan, Managing Director of CAAS. .

“We know that regulators have traditionally lagged behind industry developments and innovations. This MoU and the wider symposium will help regulators get ahead of the technology curve to support our future safety oversight responsibilities,” commented Luc Tytgat, Director of Strategy and Management of EASA safety.

The deal comes as Singapore doubles down on urban air mobility efforts, including the deployment of electric take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, as well as the use of drones for ship-to-shore deliveries and other purposes. freight and logistics.

European company eVTOL Volocopter has a strong presence in the city-state, having carried out test flights with its planes in Singapore’s central business district.