Turkey has rejected accusations it snubbed one of the European Union’s most powerful executives European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen because of her gender.

Organisers behind the meeting at the Turkish presidential palace insisted that the European Union’s own protocol requests were applied during a meeting at the Turkish presidential palace.

European Council President Charles Michel still cannot get over the inopportune “sofa incident” in Ankara and it haunts him even in his sleep.

Reliving this awkward episode, that saw Ursula von der Leyen left without a seat, Michel confessed in an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt that he would have acted differently, if only he could turn back time.

“I make no secret of the fact that I haven’t slept well at night since because the scenes keep replaying in my head”, Michel told the paper.

The European Council president, alongside his colleague Ursula von der Leyen and Turkish President Erdogan, met in Ankara on Tuesday.

The talks were marred by an unfortunate chair arranagement – there were only two seats, which were promptly occupied by Michel and Erdogan, leaving von der Leyen with no other option than to take a seat on a sofa further away from the two men.

The incident was quickly nicknamed “sofagate” by social media users.

(This story originally appeared in on Apr 10, 2021)

At a time when the European Union is toying with the idea of ‘carbon border tax’ as part of its green push, the BASIC nations — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — have jointly opposed the move, saying such trade barrier would not only be discriminatory but also against the principles of equity under the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The BASIC nations expressed concerns over the issue while discussing climate actions during the two-day ministerial meeting which concluded on Thursday. India was the host of the 30th BASIC ministerial meeting, chaired by environment minister Prakash Javadekar.

“Ministers expressed concerns regarding the proposal for introducing trade barriers, such as unilateral carbon border adjustment, that are discriminatory and against the principles of equity and CBDR-RC (common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities),” said the joint statement of the BASIC nations.

The EU is mulling a ‘carbon border tax’ (carbon border adjustment) on imports in order to force emerging economies to adopt cleaner (non-fossil fuel-based) practices to manufacture goods. Several reports suggest that the Union, representing 27 nations, would come out with its formal proposal in June with a clear roadmap to discuss the issue ahead of the 26th session of the UN climate conference (COP26) to be held in Glasgow (UK) in November.

The Group’s joint stand against the proposed carbon trade tax assumes significance ahead of the upcoming leaders’ summit on climate on April 22-23 where 40 world leaders, including from EU nations, UK, India, China and Australia, may express their views on such trade barriers. The US, host of the summit, is expected to clear its stand on the issue at the forum.

It is believed by policy-makers in emerging economies that the ‘carbon border adjustment’ concept is being discussed in the garb of pushing developing countries to ‘net-zero’ (emission minus removal of carbon amounts to zero) goals on the basis of untested and expensive technologies for carbon removal.

Besides the controversial issue of carbon trade tax, the BASIC nations also raised the issue of climate finance noting that “finance is the key enabler of enhanced ambitions and climate action, particularly at a time when developing countries are facing multiple developmental challenges and the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The meeting also expressed concern over the rich nations’ failure to fulfil their pre-2020 promises under the Kyoto Protocol whose Doha amendment, incidentally, entered into force just a day before it was due to expire.

“Commitments made by developed countries in the pre-2020 period must be honoured even as we have moved into the post-2020 era. The substantial gaps in mitigation, adaptation and support provided by developed countries to developing countries in the pre-2020 period must be counterbalanced by ambitious climate change action by developed countries in the post-2020 period,” said the joint statement.

The ministers also urged rich nations to revisit their targets on mitigation under the UN Convention (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol, and fulfil their commitments of providing support to developing countries.

European Council President Charles Michel is suffering from bad nights due to his embarrassment over a seating arrangement incident at a meeting in Ankara this week, he told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Ursula Von der Leyen, the first female president of the European Commission, expressed surprise and raised a hand in disbelief when she found Michel had taken the only chair available next to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the talks.

In the episode, caught on camera, she ended up being relegated to a sofa, further away.

“I make no secret of the fact that I haven’t slept well at night since because the scenes keep replaying in my head,” Michel told Handelsblatt, adding if it were possible he would go back and fix it.

“Uhm …”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stood stunned. As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, sat in their gilded seats for a photo op, there was no chair for her. https://t.co/NaUlY8G7gF pic.twitter.com/RZ3ir7K3KF

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 7, 2021

The uncertain legal status of the Northern Ireland Protocol could lead to major confusion and the UK becoming de facto bound by EU subsidy rules, according to a report by UK lawmakers published on Friday (9 April).

The report by the House of Commons European Scrutiny committee warned that different interpretations of state aid rules by the UK and the EU under the Protocol, which was a key part of the agreement that took the UK out of the EU last year, could impact the willingness of companies to accept subsidies, or of state authorities to grant them.

The Protocol’s provisions are “complex, controversial and have given rise to various practical difficulties”, said the MPs.

Under the terms of the Protocol, Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods and is still subject to EU subsidy rules for trade in goods.

However, Article 10 of the Protocol potentially widens this scope by stating that the UK as a whole should also follow EU rules if a UK-wide subsidy is determined to affect trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the European Union.

That “could, in theory, result in the EU assuming competence to intervene directly with respect to UK subsidies that only have a limited link to Northern Ireland and, potentially, minimal impact on the trade between Northern Ireland and the EU,” the committee warned.

In December, EU and UK officials agreed a compromise whereby Article 10 would only apply if a UK subsidy were to have “real and foreseeable” impact on NI-EU trade.

The Protocol, and its implementation, was one of the thorniest issues throughout the negotiations on the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement and then the post-Brexit trade pact that entered into force in January, and remains controversial, particular among Conservative lawmakers.

By introducing customs checks on goods travelling from Britain, Unionists say the Protocol separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK in trade terms. The four main Unionist parties, including the governing Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Unionist Party, want the Protocol to be abolished.

Northern Ireland has seen a week of rioting in predominantly pro-British unionist and loyalist communities, with many citing public anger over the Protocol as one of the causes.

In January, the European Commission used the Protocol to block delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Northern Ireland, although it quickly backed down following an angry reaction from London and the Irish government.

The report stated that “the continued application of EU state aid rules under the Protocol on Northern Ireland was always likely to be controversial. However, it is worrying that the extent to which such rules will continue to be binding on the UK under Article 10 of the Protocol are still interpreted very differently by the government and the European Commission”.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

PRAGUE, April 9 (Xinhua) — The Czech police announced on Friday that they had uncovered a large-scale international operation of illicit trafficking in hormonal substances.

The police said in a press release that the operation was trading at least five million ampoules of anabolic steroids a year to be used mainly by professional bodybuilders, powerlifters and owners and customers of various fitness centers across the European Union (EU).

The investigation was initiated by the Czech Republic and Slovakia, later joined by Hungary and Europol, and involved cooperation from Romania, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy and Spain.

The substance manufactured by the operation, according to the investigators, is a counterfeit of an official drug used in the EU.

Police detained six people in the Czech Republic in connection with the investigation, along with 18 others in Slovakia and an unspecified number in other participating countries.

In the Czech Republic, police seized about 20 million Czech crowns (about 917,000 U.S. dollars) worth of property related to the alleged organized criminal activity, including two properties, three cars, a large number of different types of anabolic steroids and counterfeit medicines, as well as mobile phones.

Police also seized a fully equipped manufacturing plant in Romania, which they believe was the center of the operation’s drug manufacturing. (1 U.S. dollar = 21.821 Czech crowns)