From Europe or about Europe

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.04-171532/https://www.ft.com/content/ca3c53ab-c6ad-4c83-8425-69e9a937b34a

> At a meeting of ambassadors on Thursday, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium said the EU should be prepared to use its “trade bazooka”, the anti-coercion instrument, for the first time ever to achieve this, said two EU diplomats.

> But a move using the instrument could be blocked by a weighted minority of member states. Given Italy’s size, it would be the decisive member of the No camp, which also includes Romania, Greece and Hungary, the diplomats said.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.05-042610/https://www.ft.com/content/9f750cdc-b50d-4232-9bd5-21ca7408639c

> (…) The Ukrainian officials said that lie detector tests had been administered on staff across several ministries, but declined to give further details or specify how many individuals had been questioned.

> The office of Ukraine’s president declined to comment. The security service said in a statement that it works within the law to protect Ukraine’s security and keeps certain details about its activities confidential.

> Polygraph tests are controversial and the science behind them has been questioned, but Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies have frequently used them for purposes including criminal investigations and screening foreignerslooking to join the army.

> The investigation follows the publication of details from the draft agreement on March 26 by opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who said he had obtained a copy. The Financial Times separately obtained the document and published its contents the following day.

> Zelenskyy told the FT at a briefing on March 28 he found it “strange” the US document had leaked. “I wonder who is transmitting this information,” he said. (…)

Archive:

> April 4 (Reuters) - Armenia's president on Friday signed into law a bill that sets a legal foundation for the South Caucasus country to move towards joining the European Union as it moves to diversify its international ties beyond traditional partner Russia.

> (…)

> Though Armenia has developed warm relations with the EU, joining will not be easy.

> The landlocked, mountainous country of 2.7 million people shares no border with the EU, and its bitter rival Azerbaijan is a major gas supplier to EU countries.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.04-150426/https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/germany-funds-eutelsat-internet-ukraine-musk-tensions-rise-2025-04-04/

> PARIS, April 4 (Reuters) - Berlin has been paying for Ukraine's access to a satellite-internet network operated by France's Eutelsat (ETL.PA), opens new tab, as Europe seeks alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink.

> Eutelsat’s chief executive Eva Berneke told Reuters the company has provided its high-speed satellite internet service to Ukraine for about a year via a German distributor.

> Speaking at the company's headquarters in Paris on Thursday, she said it was funded by the German government, but declined to comment on the cost.

> Bernese said there were fewer than a thousand terminals connecting users in Ukraine to Eutelsat’s network, which is a small fraction of the roughly 50,000 Starlink terminals Ukraine says it has, but she said she expected the figure would rise.

> "Now we're looking to get between 5,000 and 10,000 there relatively fast," she said, adding it could be "within weeks".

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.04-201631/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-caught-between-the-eu-and-uk-northern-ireland-faces-an-extra-layer-of/

> Because of its history and border with the EU-member Irish Republic, Northern Ireland has been in an unusual position ever since the U.K. left the European Union in 2020. Brussels and London spent years negotiating a post-Brexit agreement to keep the Irish border open and preserve a 1998 peace accord that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

> A deal, called the Windsor Framework, was finally struck in 2023. Under the agreement, Northern Ireland adheres to most EU regulations for trade with the Irish Republic, but it follows U.K. rules for anything moving back and forth from Britain.

> Mr. Trump has complicated matters by imposing different tariffs on products from the EU (20 per cent) and goods from the U.K. (10 per cent).

> The EU has vowed to retaliate, but the British government has yet to say whether it will impose counter-tariffs – all of which presents massive headaches for businesses in Northern Ireland.

> Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, said Mr. Trump’s announcement “doesn’t serve anybody’s interests and I think it creates a period of uncertainty and instability in terms of the economy here.”

> According to the Windsor Framework, all goods entering Northern Ireland from abroad must be charged the EU tariff.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.05-054154/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/intimacy/article/2025/04/05/in-spain-teenagers-are-as-free-as-the-air_6739858_310.html

> 'Parenting elsewhere.' Twice a month, one of our journalists overseas explores parenting beyond our borders. Spanish parents have no problem letting their offspring stay out until the late hours of the evening. Is this hands-off parenting or based on trust?

> The new regulation will lower effective contributions for business owners who pay taxes under so-called “general rules” (zasady ogólne), a flat 19% rate, or a lump-sum tax on recorded revenue, provided that their income remains below a specified threshold.

> Those who are taxed under general rules or the flat 19% rate will pay a contribution calculated at 9% of 75% of the minimum wage up to 1.5 times the average wage, which in September was 8,613.14 zloty (€2,025.08) per month. Higher earners will pay an additional 4.9% on income exceeding that threshold.

> Business owners who pay a lump-sum tax on recorded revenue will pay a 3.5% surcharge on earnings above a threshold of three times the average wage. The changes will not affect salaried employees, who will continue to pay a health contribution of 9% on their income.