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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 26th 2025 - 18:34 UTC

Tag: European Union

  • Wednesday, May 30th 2018 - 09:18 UTC

    Italian lawmakers demand EU budget commissioner be forced out of office

    EU commissioner Oettinger said here had been a “noticeable downturn” in government bonds, banks' market values and in Italy's economy in general”

    Senior Italian politicians on Tuesday called for EU budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger to resign over an “absurd” comment in which he voiced the hope that the country's poor economic situation will keep populist parties out of government.

  • Wednesday, May 30th 2018 - 09:13 UTC

    EU facing an existential crisis, argues billionaire George Soros

    Addressing the European Council on Foreign Affairs, a think tank he helped found, Soros said: “Divorce will be a long process, taking more than five years”.

    Anti-Brexit billionaire George Soros has urged the EU to “transform itself into an association that countries like Britain would want to join”. Soros said in a speech that Brexit was an “immensely damaging process” for both sides that would “probably” take more than five years to sort out. He warned the EU was “facing an existential crisis” on several fronts.

  • Tuesday, May 29th 2018 - 09:04 UTC

    Nicola Sturgeon in Brussels raised Scottish concerns over Brexit

    Sturgeon told Mr Barnier that the Scottish government believed the UK should remain within the customs union and single market after leaving the EU. (Reuters)

    Nicola Sturgeon has raised Scottish concerns over Brexit in a meeting with chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier. The first minister said they held a “constructive and positive discussion” during her trip to Brussels. She said she told Mr Barnier that the Scottish government believed the UK should remain within the customs union and single market after leaving the EU.

  • Tuesday, May 29th 2018 - 08:11 UTC

    Italy's Mattarella appoints ex IMF interim prime minister and quells the situation... for now

    President Sergio Mattarella vetoed the parties' choice of a euro skeptic as economy minister, prompting populist parties to accuse the president of betraying voters

    Italy's president set the country on a path back to fresh elections on Monday, appointing a former International Monetary Fund official as interim prime minister with the task of planning for snap polls and to pass the next budget. The decision to appoint Carlo Cottarelli to form a stopgap administration sets the stage for elections that are likely to be fought over Italy's role in the European Union and the euro zone, a prospect that is rattling global financial markets.

  • Saturday, May 26th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

    Brexit talks in Brussels lead to strong exchanges with Chancellor Hammond

    “There are obviously a wide range of views on both sides but everybody that I have engaged with has been very constructive, very keen”, Hammond said

    Chancellor Philip Hammond has criticized claims from European Union officials that Britain has a “fantasy” approach to Brexit negotiations. Mr Hammond insisted that talks with EU officials were “constructive” after reports from the continent that Britain was being “unrealistic” and little progress made in discussions in recent days.

  • Thursday, May 24th 2018 - 08:35 UTC

    Six out of ten voters said UK's exit from EU increased prospect of splitting up

    “Support for the Union is strong, but people are understandably nervous about the future. The UK needs a ‘new Unionism’”

    Most voters are in favor of the Union but believe Brexit has made the break-up of the United Kingdom more likely, polling has found. In England, 68% of adults backed the UK status quo followed by 66% in Wales, 59% in Northern Ireland and 52% in Scotland, according to the ICM research. But across the four nations, up to six out of 10 voters said Britain’s exit from the European Union had increased the prospect of the UK splitting up.

  • Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 09:18 UTC

    Italy readies for a populist euro skeptic coalition; challenge for Brussels and the Euro

    “More than 94% of 5-Star Movement members said yes to the contract for the ‘Government of Change’!”, 5-Star’s leader Luigi Di Maio said on Facebook

    Italy’s two anti-establishment parties promised on Friday to ramp up spending in a program for a new coalition government, putting them on a collision course with the European Union despite having dropped some of their most radical proposals.

  • Friday, May 18th 2018 - 07:37 UTC

    Cross-party group of UK parliamentarians on two-day visit to Gibraltar

    The Parliamentarians received a detailed briefing on Brexit issues from the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, and later toured the frontier area with Spain

    A cross-party group of UK parliamentarians is in Gibraltar on a two-day working visit. The visit takes place against the backdrop of the negotiations for the United Kingdom and Gibraltar to leave the European Union, which means that it will centre on Brexit issues.

  • Friday, May 18th 2018 - 06:58 UTC

    Post-Brexit concern: Britain “net contributor” to security collaboration in the EU

    Lord Evans said the UK is a “net contributor” in terms of the “information flows and expertise” that it provides, adding that the country is “very good at security”.

    Britain is the largest contributor to security collaboration in the EU, a former spy chief has said. Ex-MI5 director general Lord Evans of Weardale highlighted the UK’s input on information flows and expertise. He told a Lords Committee there was a “mutual benefit” from co-operation with Europe on security.

  • Thursday, May 17th 2018 - 08:53 UTC

    Brazil reacts strongly to EU ex-leaders asking for Lula to run for office

    French ex-president Francois Holland and Spanish former PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, called Lula's imprisonment for corruption “hurried”

    Brazil on Wednesday lashed out at a demand by former European leaders for disgraced ex-president Lula da Silva to be allowed to take part in elections this year. A group of former EU left leaning leaders, including French ex-president Francois Holland and Spanish former prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, called Lula's imprisonment for corruption “hurried” and said he should be “free to present himself before Brazilian voters.”