By , , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders clinched an historic deal on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-throttled economies in the early hours of Tuesday, after a fractious summit lasting almost five days.The agreement paves the way for the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to raise billions of euros on capital markets on behalf of all 27 states, an unprecedented act of solidarity in almost seven decades of European integration.Summit chairman Charles Michel called the accord, reached at a 5.15 a.m. (0315 GMT), a pivotal moment for Europe.Many had warned that a...…By , , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders clinched an historic deal on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-throttled economies in the early hours of Tuesday, after a fractious summit lasting almost five days.The agreement paves the way for the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to raise billions of euros on capital markets on behalf of all 27 states, an unprecedented act of solidarity in almost seven decades of European integration.Summit chairman Charles Michel called the accord, reached at a 5.15 a.m. (0315 GMT), a pivotal moment for Europe.Many had warned that a...WW…

By , , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders clinched an historic deal on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-throttled economies in the early hours of Tuesday, after a fractious summit lasting almost five days.The agreement paves the way for the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to raise billions of euros on capital markets on behalf of all 27 states, an unprecedented act of solidarity in almost seven decades of European integration.Summit chairman Charles Michel called the accord, reached at a 5.15 a.m. (0315 GMT), a pivotal moment for Europe.Many had warned that a...…By , , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders clinched an historic deal on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-throttled economies in the early hours of Tuesday, after a fractious summit lasting almost five days.The agreement paves the way for the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to raise billions of euros on capital markets on behalf of all 27 states, an unprecedented act of solidarity in almost seven decades of European integration.Summit chairman Charles Michel called the accord, reached at a 5.15 a.m. (0315 GMT), a pivotal moment for Europe.Many had warned that a...WW…

By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders stood at an impasse on Monday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them to make one last push on “mission impossible”.Charles Michel reminded the 27 leaders of the European Union that more than 600,000 people had now died as a result of the coronavirus around the world, and it was up to them to stand together in the face of an unprecedented crisis.“My hope is that we reach an agreement and that the headline ... tomorrow is that the EU has...…By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders stood at an impasse on Monday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them to make one last push on “mission impossible”.Charles Michel reminded the 27 leaders of the European Union that more than 600,000 people had now died as a result of the coronavirus around the world, and it was up to them to stand together in the face of an unprecedented crisis.“My hope is that we reach an agreement and that the headline ... tomorrow is that the EU has...WW…

By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe’s fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies intensified on Thursday when the European Union warned drug companies such as AstraZeneca that it would use all legal means or even block exports unless they agreed to deliver shots as promised.The EU, whose member states are far behind Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States in rolling out vaccines, is scrambling to get supplies just as the West’s biggest drugmakers slow deliveries to the bloc due to production problems.As vaccination centres in Germany, France and Spain cancelled or delayed appointments,...…By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe’s fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies intensified on Thursday when the European Union warned drug companies such as AstraZeneca that it would use all legal means or even block exports unless they agreed to deliver shots as promised.The EU, whose member states are far behind Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States in rolling out vaccines, is scrambling to get supplies just as the West’s biggest drugmakers slow deliveries to the bloc due to production problems.As vaccination centres in Germany, France and Spain cancelled or delayed appointments,...WW…

By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Britain and the European Union appeared close to clinching a long-elusive trade agreement on Wednesday, raising hopes that they were now set to avoid a turbulent economic rupture on New Year’s Day.A senior British government source said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was poised to do a trade deal with the EU, after media reports said the agreement had already been done, just over a week before Britain completes its journey out of the bloc.But there was no official confirmation from either side that the months of negotiations had reached a conclusion.A source at the...…By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Britain and the European Union appeared close to clinching a long-elusive trade agreement on Wednesday, raising hopes that they were now set to avoid a turbulent economic rupture on New Year’s Day.A senior British government source said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was poised to do a trade deal with the EU, after media reports said the agreement had already been done, just over a week before Britain completes its journey out of the bloc.But there was no official confirmation from either side that the months of negotiations had reached a conclusion.A source at the...WW…

By , LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union are seeking a post-Brexit trade deal, with failure likely to result in increased chaos in mutual trade, financial markets tumbling and huge economic costs.Here are some of the potential pressure points of a failure to reach agreement on trade.Investors and banks have long predicted a trade deal would be done, so a no-deal would hit the British pound, foreign exchange traders say.But investor sentiment was hit by the sides saying on Saturday that there was still no agreement covering annual trade worth nearly $1 trillion, and...…By , LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union are seeking a post-Brexit trade deal, with failure likely to result in increased chaos in mutual trade, financial markets tumbling and huge economic costs.Here are some of the potential pressure points of a failure to reach agreement on trade.Investors and banks have long predicted a trade deal would be done, so a no-deal would hit the British pound, foreign exchange traders say.But investor sentiment was hit by the sides saying on Saturday that there was still no agreement covering annual trade worth nearly $1 trillion, and...WW…

By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union’s Brexit negotiator said on Wednesday “very serious divergences” remained in trade talks with Britain and suggested the bloc would rather accept disruptions in commerce in eight weeks’ time than yield on its key demands.Britain left the EU in January and talks on salvaging a trillion dollars worth of annual free trade between the estranged allies are now in their final stretch before London’s transition out of the bloc completes on Dec. 31.“Despite EU efforts to find solutions, very serious divergences remain in level playing field, governance...…By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union’s Brexit negotiator said on Wednesday “very serious divergences” remained in trade talks with Britain and suggested the bloc would rather accept disruptions in commerce in eight weeks’ time than yield on its key demands.Britain left the EU in January and talks on salvaging a trillion dollars worth of annual free trade between the estranged allies are now in their final stretch before London’s transition out of the bloc completes on Dec. 31.“Despite EU efforts to find solutions, very serious divergences remain in level playing field, governance...WW…

By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders stood at an impasse on Monday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them to make one last push on “mission impossible”.Charles Michel reminded the 27 leaders of the European Union that more than 600,000 people had now died as a result of the coronavirus around the world, and it was up to them to stand together in the face of an unprecedented crisis.“My hope is that we reach an agreement and that the headline ... tomorrow is that the EU has...…By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders stood at an impasse on Monday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them to make one last push on “mission impossible”.Charles Michel reminded the 27 leaders of the European Union that more than 600,000 people had now died as a result of the coronavirus around the world, and it was up to them to stand together in the face of an unprecedented crisis.“My hope is that we reach an agreement and that the headline ... tomorrow is that the EU has...WW…

By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - It took a courtroom of scarlet-robed judges to spur Angela Merkel to make one of her boldest moves in 15 years as German chancellor: propose huge cash handouts to the European Union’s weaker economies.Merkel was already worried about the future of the Union after the coronavirus pandemic struck Europe in February, triggering a wave of deaths and crippling lockdowns.But it was Germany’s own Constitutional Court that tipped her hand, sources said. Its bombshell ruling on May 5 challenged the EU’s reliance on European Central Bank (ECB) money-printing to keep its...…By , BRUSSELS (Reuters) - It took a courtroom of scarlet-robed judges to spur Angela Merkel to make one of her boldest moves in 15 years as German chancellor: propose huge cash handouts to the European Union’s weaker economies.Merkel was already worried about the future of the Union after the coronavirus pandemic struck Europe in February, triggering a wave of deaths and crippling lockdowns.But it was Germany’s own Constitutional Court that tipped her hand, sources said. Its bombshell ruling on May 5 challenged the EU’s reliance on European Central Bank (ECB) money-printing to keep its...WW…