In Knack VIP (paywall), a Belgian weekly, Tomas Wyns said: “If the European Union sets standards for the energy-efficiency of electric devices, it also has an effect outside of the EU.” Wyns is a researcher at the Institute for European Studies, which is linked with Brussels’ university. His claim turns out to be true. The…
Belgium frequently uses Frontex funds to send back refugees. But how frequently exactly? According to Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration Maggie De Block (Open VLD, Flemish liberal party), one in three of all refugees who returned via Frontex last year were from Belgium. But that happens to be not completely correct. Frontex, also known…
The news article saying that Lithuania had introduced fines for free plastic bags distribution was published on a Belarus news website on January 28, 2020. It says that the Sejm of Lithuania has decided to impose large fines on those merchants who give free plastic bags to customers. The only exception applies for the bags…
The Prime Minister of Croatia, Mr Andrej Plenković, who was a member of the European Parliament, proudly states that Croatia and its citizens are progressing and that the situation in the country is not as bleak as it seems. His claim turns out to be mostly false. Croatia has assumed presidency of the Council of…
On Tuesday 31 December, French president Emmanuel Macron gave his speech for the new year on the national TV news. Among his wishes, and retrospective of 2019, he stated that “more than 500,000 jobs were created since May 2017” (the quote is stated at 1.49), this date marking the start of his mandate. So, is…
“Nobody has died because of contamination. I mean, I do not want to create a health public alarm, because we are not at that level”, said Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid in an interview in CadenaSER, a Spanish national radio broadcaster, on the 1st of January 2020. Her allegation, that nobody…
The information that South Korea ratified free trade agreement with Britain was published by several Russian news agencies: TASS, Rambler, Regnum and the others on October 28 and 29, 2019. It is reported that South Korea’s parliament ratified a trade deal with Britain signed on August 22, 2019. The agreement set to take effect automatically…
“Not so long ago there was an incident in Romania, in which a ship full of sheep turned over and the animals were left on their own’’, said the MEP for Renew Europe/VVD, Jan Huitema during his speech about animal transport within, to and from the EU on 19 December. ‘’No action was taken, and…
How did the UK end up in the confusing mess that is Brexit and who decided that they should take this road? On January 9, The British newspaper The Independent claimed in their article Brexit: Don’t settle for ‘isolation’, EU president tells Britain’s youth covering EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to London…
Pastor Gábor Iványi, rival of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, has published a text the “Advent Statement” in which he denounces Orban’s policy. In an interview, he criticizes this “Christian country” for having a constitution in which one can be put in prison for being homeless. He is right. In the Guardian article «…
