Budapest says farmers need cheaper fertilizer as prices rise, challenging an EU policy meant to curb funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Listen AI generated Text-to-speech Source link
“Our joint message is clear: The Commission needs to hear the sign of the times,” said German Minister of State Günther Krichbaum. “When we talk about improving competitiveness, cutting red tape and scaling down national administrations, the Commission’s call to further increase staff numbers is simply out of touch with reality. It would be best for the Commission to retract this proposal.” The letter, signed by ministers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands, reads: “We expect the Commission to present ambitious, quantified proposals as a direct input for ongoing negotiations on the next MFF, including on an EU administrative system that reflects the challenges of our times.” “In this context, the proposed increase [from the Commission] of 2,500 posts as well as the overall significant increase of heading 4 (administration) runs counter to the stated objectives of efficiency, restraint and reform, and risks undermining the credibility of the broader MFF proposal.” Heading 4 of the 2028-2034 MFF refers to administrative costs. EU countries are in the midst …
Although Porsche is considering scrapping the 718 Boxster and Cayman EVs, Audi’s CEO told employees that the electric TT successor is still on track. Audi says its EV sports car is still on track Following the Taycan, Macan Electric, and Cayenne Electric, Porsche was planning to introduce the 718 Boxster and Cayman EVs as early as this year. That may no longer be the case. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Porsche’s new CEO, Michael Leiters, may cancel the EV sports cars altogether, citing sources familiar with the matter. The source said higher expenses and development were to blame. Following the report, speculation arose that sister brand Audi’s upcoming electric TT successor, which will share batteries, drivetrains, and other components with the 718 EVs, was also on the chopping block. Advertisement – scroll for more content Audi’s CEO, Gernot Döllner, told employees in an internal letter (via Autocar) that “The delivery of the platform by Porsche is not in question.” The letter, first reported by the German newspaper Donaukurier, added that the partnership is “proceeding …
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is set this week to scrap a landmark scientific finding that greenhouse gases jeopardise public health by driving climate change – the bedrock of US regulations to curb planet-warming pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last summer proposed reversing the so-called “endangerment finding” of 2009, in the administration’s latest boost to the fossil fuel industry. “On Thursday, President Trump will be joined by (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to formalise the rescission of the 2009 Obama-era endangerment finding,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a news briefing Tuesday. “This will be the largest deregulatory action in American history, and it will save the American people US$1.3 trillion in crushing regulation.” The finding under then-President Barack Obama concluded that six greenhouse gases – including carbon dioxide and methane – endanger public health and welfare by driving climate change. That determination flowed from a 2007 Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v EPA, which ruled that greenhouse gases qualify as pollutants under the Clean Air Act and directed the EPA to determine whether they pose …
Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick when they were in Boris Johnson’s cabinet. NurPhoto via NurPhoto via Getty Images Reform UK MPs Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick voted to scrap the two-child benefit cap – even though their party is now in favour of keeping it. The bungling pair accidentally walked into the wrong voting lobbies in the House of Commons on Tuesday night. The five other Reform MPs who took part voted against scrapping it, in keeping with what is now their party’s policy. One Labour MP said the mix-up showed they “couldn’t run a bath, let alone a country”. Reform UK sources initially tried to claim that it was a “genuine mistake” by Braverman and Jenrick – who both defected from the Tories last month – and that their votes had not been registered. However, official Commons records show that the pair did vote along with Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, DUP and Plaid Cymru to scrap the cap. The motion to end the cap, which was introduced by the last Tory government …
The Isle of Man’s upper chamber has passed a bill today to end its bishop’s voting powers, in what the National Secular Society has hailed as a “landmark constitutional moment”. The Church of England bishop of Sodor and Man sits and votes by right in the Legislative Council (LegCo), the upper chamber of Tynwald, the Isle of Man’s parliament. The Isle of Man Constitution Bill 2023, introduced by House of Keys (Tynwald’s lower chamber) member Lawrie Hooper, does not remove the bishop’s ex officio seat but removes the voting powers. Hooper said unelected appointments to positions of “power and authority” were contrary to the “concept of what a democracy should be”. LegCo voted unanimously for the bill to pass its final stage. However, it was amended to specify the bishop’s vote will continue until the incumbent bishop Tricia Hillas’ (pictured) term ends, or five years after the bill receives royal assent and becomes law, whichever comes first. The amendment originally required the bishop’s vote to end three years after royal assent, but was increased to …
