One of the changes announced by Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, includes giving European users of Facebook and Instagram the option to view different types of content not based on profiling, a requirement under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has met with diplomat Assadollah Assadi, recently freed by Belgium in a high-profile prisoner swap case in May, the presidency site said on Saturday. "The claimants of human rights have shown once again that they do not adhere to any law," Raisi said in...

Brussels, Belgium - Europe's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports fell to the lowest level since the start of the Russian military operations in Ukraine after a drop in prices reduced the regions appeal. LNG deliveries fell 7% in July from a year earlier to 8.6 million tons, the least since...

European regulators in January had dismissed the previous legal basis -- "legitimate interest" -- Meta had used to justify gathering users' personal data for targeted advertising.

Brussels, Belgium - The European Commission on Thursday announced an antitrust probe into Microsoft bundling its Teams communication app with its popular Office suite, on concerns it could be cutting out competitors. The investigation, to see whether the US software giant is "abusing and defending its market position" through the practice,...

The painful PMI data comes as the European Central Bank is eyeing a further rate hike this week in its quest to tame inflation.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM- The European Commission approved US chipmaker Broadcom's planned $61 billion takeover of cloud computing firm VMware on Wednesday, conditional on the company fulfilling certain commitments to ease competition concerns. The massive deal had raised concerns about competition, prompting probes by antitrust watchdogs in the European Union and Britain. The...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  Sudan's warring sides must face "accountability" for the "crimes" committed in their conflict, which risks spiraling into a regional crisis, the head of UN mission in the country said on Wednesday. The fighting, which has gone on for three months, "risks morphing into an ethnicized, tribalized and ideologized...

The European Union and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement which Brussels says can lift exchanges between the two by 30 percent with a decade. The deal, agreed in June 2022 after four years of tough negotiations, is "ambitious", said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  Seven tech giants, including Amazon and Apple, have informed the European Union they meet the threshold to come under landmark new rules to curb their market dominance, Brussels said on Tuesday. The firms - Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok owner ByteDance, Facebook umbrella Meta, Microsoft and Samsung...

Turkey dropped its objections to Sweden's nordic neighbour Finland joining earlier in the year and Helsinki became a NATO member in April. Sweden has been a NATO "invitee" since June 2022, but its membership bid, which must be ratified by all 31 member states, has been blocked by Turkey and...

"Once the data act enters into force, it will unlock the economic and societal potential of data and technologies and contribute to an internal market for data," said Sweden's minister for public administration Erik Slottner.

The rules will apply from January 1, 2025, two years later than the 2023 deadline agreed under the reforms.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  Eurozone economic activity worsened in June to a five-month low, hit hard by a fall in industrial production, a keenly watched survey showed on Friday. The eurozone entered a technical recession at the start of the year, according to official figures published earlier this month. But inflation remains...

Last year's donors' conference in Brussels for displaced Syrians raised pledges of $6.7 billion, and the one before that $6.4 billion. The EU overall contributed more than 70 percent of those totals.

The eurozone entered into a technical recession at the start of the year, shrinking by 0.1 percent for a second consecutive quarter, figures from the EU's statistic agency showed. Eurostat revised down an earlier forecast that had predicted slight growth, after economic powerhouse Germany said last month it had fallen...

The European Commission announced May 27 that Twitter had decided to leave the code of practice, to which other major online platforms such as Google, Microsoft and TikTok continue to adhere.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  The EU exported US$1.1 billion (€1.1 billion) worth of bicycles in 2022 (both electric and non-electric, a rise of 22 percent compared with 2021), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union on the World Bicycle Day. The imports were double the exports, with US$2.6...

One Dane and two Austrian-Iranian citizens released from detention by Tehran arrived in their home countries, after the latest in a series of prisoner swaps. The three Europeans had landed at Melsbroek military airport just outside Brussels. They had flown there from Muscat, the capital of Oman which helped broker...

Iran released one Danish and two Austrian-Iranian citizens it had been holding after mediation by Oman, and they are being flown to Belgium, said the country's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. This comes a week after Tehran freed a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was...

European Central Bank vice president Luis de Guindos on Wednesday previewed the slowing eurozone inflation rate, calling it "positive" but cautioning that "I would not say that the victory is there".

Twitter has decided to leave the EU's disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms, but "its obligations remain," EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted. Launched in 2018, the EU's code of practice on disinformation counts nearly three dozen signatories including Meta, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European Investment Bank (EIB) lending to circular economy projects has consistently increased over the years, amounting to US$3.6 billion (€3.4 billion) over the past five years, with a record level of US$1.18 billion alone in 2022. The figures were released ahead of the World Circular Economy...

Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele after almost 15 months in custody, in a prisoner exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism. Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said the 42-year-old had arrived in Oman and added: "If all goes to plan, he'll be with us this evening....

The European Union imposed an asset freeze on the investment arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, over Tehran's brutal crackdown on protests over the death of Mahsa Amini. The sanctions - the eighth imposed by the EU over the repression - came after Iran hanged three more men convicted in relation...

AJMAN, UAE -   Chairman of the Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Abdullah Al Muwaiji discussed trade and investment opportunities with Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the UAE Antoine Delcourt and his delegation. The meeting, held at the Ajman Chamber's headquarters, was attended by Mohamed Ali Al...

Once it is signed by Brussels and London, it will create a framework for voluntary regulatory cooperation in the area of financial services between the EU and the UK.

On Monday, the European Commission boosted its 2023 economic growth outlook for the 20-country euro area by 0.2 points to 1.1 percent.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  The European Commission boosted its 2023 economic growth outlook for the eurozone on Monday but it also raised the inflation forecast for the single currency area. The EU executive's spring forecast is more optimistic than that issued late last year, despite inflation proving "stickier than expected" in its...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -  The EU imported US$524 billion (€482 billion) worth of high-tech products from extra-EU countries in 2022 (+22 percent compared with 2021), according to an estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union . Exports to these countries reached US$485 billion (€446 billion) (+16 percent...

Consumer prices edged up from 6.9 percent in March, which could further encourage the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise interest rates on Thursday. Analysts for FactSet and Bloomberg had predicted the rate would remain stable. The ECB has hiked rates repeatedly since July last year to rein in inflation.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  - In the European Union countries, 75 percent (193.5 million) of people in the 20-64-year- age group were employed, the highest since the start of the time series in 2009, as per the labor force data published by Eurostat. The employment rate dropped to 72 percent in 2020...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - A UAE delegation led by Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, visited Belgium, aiming to strengthen economic ties and promoting investment opportunities with Brussels and the wider European Union (EU). The delegation discussed growing trade relations with Vladis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner...

Aviation emissions in Europe were on an upward curve of around five percent per year between 2013 and 2019, dropping off after that only because of travel curbs under the coronavirus pandemic. Those curbs are now largely lifted, and aviation traffic is bouncing back.

Brussels, Belgium - Comments made by the Chinese ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries were "unacceptable," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday. Borrell added that he hoped the comments did not reflect Beijing's official stance. "Unacceptable remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France," Borrell tweeted. "The...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Environmental groups lodged a lawsuit against the European Commission on Tuesday to challenge its definition of natural gas as a "green" energy source. In addition, one other non-governmental organization, Greenpeace, sued the EU executive separately for deciding that nuclear energy was worthy of its sustainable investment label. The legal...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  - The EU trade in goods registered a large deficit of US$469 billion (€432 billion) in 2022, reaching its lowest level since the start of the time series in 2002. The deficit was due, in particular, to a steep rise in the value of energy imports, which started...

Women earn on average nearly 13 percent less per hour than men for the same work in the 27-nation European Union, according to official data for 2020. Under the new rules, workers can demand to know individual and average pay levels, broken down by gender, in their workplace.

Brussels, Belgium - The 27 EU member states approved Monday a deal between Brussels and Germany that lifted Berlin's block on a planned phaseout of sales of new fossil fuel cars by 2035. A spokesman for Sweden, which holds the EU presidency, said ambassadors backed the agreement. Energy ministers are expected...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European Union and Germany on Saturday said they had struck a deal after a dispute over the planned phaseout by 2035 of the sale of cars using fossil fuels. A landmark deal to prohibit new sales of fossil fuel cars from 2035 is key to the bloc's...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Economic growth in the eurozone accelerated in March and hit a 10-month high, according to a closely watched survey published on Friday, despite turmoil in the markets and concerns over banks. The S&P Global Flash Eurozone purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed the indicator at 54.1, up from 52.0...

A Lebanese judge has asked central bank chief Riad Salameh to appear before visiting European investigators, a judicial official said Monday, part of a multinational probe into his personal wealth. The embattled central bank chief faces embezzlement accusations in separate investigations in Lebanon and abroad, looking into the fortune he...

Brussels, Belgium - The European Union must urgently lower energy prices and ease regulations to stop industry fleeing the continent, European businesses said on Monday, as Brussels prepares plans to stimulate the green economy. The European Union is racing to make Europe more attractive for the companies that could be tempted...

Brussels, Belgium - The eurozone annual inflation rate fell to 8.5 percent in February, the EU's statistics agency said Thursday, but the drop was less than expected as food costs soar. Inflation was down last month from 8.6 percent in January but analysts at financial data firm FactSet had forecast...

The ban also means European Commission staff cannot use the Chinese-owned video-sharing app on personal devices including phones that have official apps installed, the spokesperson said, confirming a report by news website Euractiv.

The EU called it "deeply disappointing" and "surprising" that Israel stopped and deported a Spanish MEP who had arrived for an official trip to the Palestinian territories. European Parliament lawmaker Ana Miranda tweeted that the action by Israeli authorities against her was a "diplomatic affront" and showed "disrespect" to the...

They have been routinely extended for six-month periods over the past eight years. The EU has imposed nine rounds of sanctions on Moscow since it launched a major cross-border offensive last year. Some eastern European nations had sought to extend the sanctions by one year this time.

The EU will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian officials and organizations over the crackdown on protests, but is still debating listing the Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist" group, diplomats said. Foreign ministers from the bloc are to agree to adopt the fourth package of sanctions on Tehran over its...

The annual figure was released one day after an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in a gun attack on an Antwerp home that the city's mayor dubbed the latest outrage in an ongoing "drug war". Belgium's main container terminal is now considered the main gateway for illegal drugs into Europe,...

SHARJAH,  UAE -  A Belgian delegation met with Sheikh Majid Al Qasimi, Director of the Department of Government Relations (DGR) in Sharjah. Antoine Delcourt, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the UAE was also present on the occasion. Al Qasimi welcomed the Belgian delegation comprising Juren Seleslag, Political Affairs...