European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen drew sharp criticism last month when she hastily proposed triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol that.
Couche-Tard - were to present itself as a prospective buyer of French supermarket group
Carrefour, France would probably be inclined to accept the deal. That is what Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune has stated.
Food sovereignty
Recently, the French government tossed and turned when Canada s Couche-Tard emerged as a potential buyer of Carrefour. While the Canadians were having exploratory and friendly talks with Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard, the French Minister for the Economy Bruno Le Maire went to the barricades.
Le Maire used terms like food sovereignty to justify his opposition. He considers Carrefour to be an essential link in the French food chain, which should not fall into foreign hands. A rather strong statement, which in fact had to mask a typical French protectionist reaction. Although Le Maire did go a bit overboard in his zeal to suggest that pasta or rice could suddenly no longer be found on the shelves of Carrefour if the cha
UAWire
Monday, February 1, 2021 12:07:00 PM
Germany should stop construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline amid violent crackdown on protesters in Russia, announced French Minister of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune on the radio station France Inter, Deutsche Welle reports. We have always said that we have huge doubts about this project in this context, he said.
When asked if this meant a call for Berlin to abandon the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Beaune said: This is correct, we have already talked about it.
He also noted that EU leaders are now considering the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia amid violent suppression of protests that are taking place in support of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
A vaccination certificate currently under discussion in the EU should act as proof of safety and lift certain requirements at the EU’s internal borders, Portugal’s Minister of the Interior Eduardo Cabrita has said.
At a meeting with European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, Cabrita accepted as “a new challenge” the link with free movement within the Schengen area of this type of certificate, “which should act as proof of security and do away with certain requirements at borders – in particular, the requirement for PCR tests”.
He said restrictions on movement within the Schengen area “should be limited to very specific situations and with mutual agreement between countries”, citing as an example the closure and subsequent reopening of the land border between Portugal and Spain between March and June.
COVID-19 vaccination certificates are “important but not sufficient” to ensure the resumption of free movement within the EU during the pandemic, EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said on Tuesday (19 January), adding instead that rapid tests should also be introduced.