European Union

From now on people over the age of 16 in Portugal can change their name and gender without a medical diagnosis certifying a gender identity disorder. However, up to the age of 18 they must present a medical report on their decision-making ability. Portugal's press welcomes the new law even if it says that some questions remain open.

The EU has signed its most comprehensive free trade agreement to date - with Japan. The deal, which has been in preparation since 2013 and is known as the Jefta, is to come into effect next year and removes 99 percent of all the tariffs between the two economic areas. Has the EU learned nothing from the public outcry over Ceta, or is it right to seek new partners?

The EU welcomed Thursday the lifting of the state of emergency in Turkey but warned that a new bill to maintain some measures "would dampen any positive effect of its termination." In a statement by the EU commission spokesperson on foreign affairs, it called on Turkey to "reverse all measures that continue to impact negatively on the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and the fundamental freedoms."

The EU’s eagerness to further unconditional engagements with Iran seems to have only made Europe more vulnerable to state sponsored terrorism, writes Alejo Vidal-Quadras.

The state of emergency introduced after the failed coup in 2016 ended on Thursday morning - but a new terror bill will maintain some of its measures.

The UK's new proposal for a bespoke EU customs deal would not fly, but Brussels did not want to publicly reject it in order to protect a British government crisis, British daily The Guardian reported. "The white paper's not going to form the basis of negotiations," a "senior EU diplomat" reportedly said, but rejecting it "would likely prove an existential threat" to the British PM, "senior sources in Brussels" added.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has announced plans to re-launch news services in Bulgaria and Romania in a bid to strengthen the media landscape in both countries. In both cases, it marks a return for RFE/RL: the company previously served...

Hungary has become the only EU state to refuse to sign a UN treaty urging parties to "uphold ... their obligations under international law" on migrants. The pact "could inspire millions" of people to come to Europe, Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday. "Its main premise is that migration is a good and inevitable phenomenon. We consider migration a bad process, which has extremely serious security implications," he said.

Nato has said its mutual defence pact was "unconditional and iron-clad" after US president Donald Trump questioned "why" a US soldier should fight for Montenegro, Nato's newest member. "They [Montenegrins] may get aggressive and congratulations, you're in World War III," Trump had said Tuesday. The comments come after he threatened to quit Nato in a row on money and, last year, physically barged aside Montenegro's PM at a Nato summit.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will avoid lending to Iran because US sanctions could jeopardise its ability to raise money on US markets. "There is no European bank which is presently able to do business with Iran," EIB chief Werner Hoyer said in Brussels Wednesday. "We'd risk the business model of the bank," he said, frustrating EU efforts to engage with Iran in line with a nuclear arms control pact.

EU fiscal affairs chief Pierre Moscovici has warned that a US tariff war with the EU could destabilise financial markets. "An escalation - no matter from which side - would have serious consequences for the economy, including for the financial markets, which would hurt all sides," the French commissioner told German daily Augsburger Allgemeine. "That's why we need a gateway to get out of this spiral," he added.

Greece has rejected comments it was forced by outside forces to recently expel two Russian spies. "States, regardless of size, are independent and can exercise an independent, multidimensional and democratic foreign policy" the Greek foreign ministry has said. It spoke after the Kremlin told press the expulsions were "dirty provocations, into which, unfortunately, Athens was dragged." Russia did "not understand the principles and values of Greek foreign policy", Greece said.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker demanded "respect" from media in Brussels Wednesday after being asked whether he had consumed alcohol at a recent Nato summit. "I had sciatica last Wednesday and I had cramps in my legs [at the summit]," he said. He spoke after video footage showed him staggering, chuckling, and being held up by colleagues at the event. Juncker has been dogged by accusations of drunkenness before.

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EU Ministers of Employment and Social policy and Health meet for an Informal session on 19 and 20 July 2018 in Vienna.

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Environmental NGOs have questioned the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) scientific capacity to grant EU member states emergency authorisations for neonicotinoids, whose usage was recently banned.