RIGHTS: EU Selling Torture Equipment
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS, Mar 17, 2010 (IPS) – Equipment designed for torturing prisoners is still being exported from European Union (EU) countries despite a four-year-old ban on such trade, according to a new report by Amnesty International.
The human rights group has found that companies active in several [...]
HEALTH-UGANDA: EU Supports Law Threatening Access to Medicines
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, Mar 15 , 2010 (IPS) – The European Union (EU) is funding the drafting of Uganda’s controversial Counterfeit Goods Bill, a proposed law that has caused an outcry as it threatens access to life-saving generic medicines in this low income East African country. Some 90 [...]
DR-CONGO: EU Urged to Ban ‘Conflict Minerals’
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Ida Karlsson
STOCKHOLM, Mar 4 (IPS) – After the United States senate’s move to stem the flow of money from mineral mines fuelling the brutal civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the watchdog group Global Witness (GW) is calling on Europe to follow suit.
”We are [...]
CLIMATE CHANGE: Polluters Dragging EU Back
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS, Jan 20, 2010 (IPS) – Barely a month after world leaders gathering in Copenhagen reached a weak accord on climate change, the European Union’s top polluters are fighting a fresh battle to dissuade policy-makers from taking more robust action.
The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), [...]
SRI LANKA: Gov’t, EU in Back-channel Talks Over Fate of Trade Pact
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO, Nov 8 (IPS) – Sri Lanka has reacted strongly to a European Commission (EC) probe on its human rights record, saying it is politically motivated.
But beyond the public sparring and rhetoric, informal diplomatic contacts between the two sides are underway to save a crucial [...]
SRI LANKA: Colombo’s Diplomatic Sparring Games with EU, U.S.
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Analysis by Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Nov 7 (IPS) – One thing that has set apart the current administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa from those of his predecessors is its diplomatic duels with international heavyweights.
While battling the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the government took criticism of its conduct [...]
US-EUROPE: An Ocean Apart in More Ways Than One
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS Matthew Berger WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (IPS) – As a delegation of European Union leaders descends on Washington Tuesday, a new report argues that ”European governments prefer to fetishise transatlantic relations, valuing closeness and harmony as ends in themselves, and seeking influence with Washington through various [...]
SRI LANKA: Mixed Reactions to EU Threat to Cut Trade Concessions
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Oct 23 (IPS) – When the European Union announced last year that it was seeking an investigation into alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka as a precondition for extending concessionary tariff rates for exports from the island state, the government promptly cried foul.
Thus began [...]
EUROPE: Lottery Time for Development Policy
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
By Cillian Donnelly
BRUSSELS, Jun 5 (IPS) – While the European Parliament elections are raising many questions about the future direction of the EU, the practicalities of the precise make-up of the parliament mean that development policies look set to be put on hold until autumn.
A European official [...]
Q&A: European Election Brings a Wake-Up Call
Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IPS
Mario de Queiroz and Miren Gutierrez* interview MARIO SOARES, former Portuguese President
LISBON, Jun 3 (IPS) – Global house prices are diving further, unemployment in the 16 countries using the euro increased in April to its highest level in almost ten years, and Eurozone Gross Domestic Product is expected [...]
EUROPE: New President and Foreign Minister Choices ‘Boring’
Posted by editors on November 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
BY RICHARD WHITMAN*
IDN-InDepthNews Service
LONDON (IDN) – So after almost a decade of discussing reforms to increase the effectiveness and profile of the European Union, last night it ended with the dampest of squibs. The EU Heads of State and Government have elected their own President for the first time and chosen a candidate, [...]
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