Didier Reynders

EU: Poland fines in rule of law dispute now top $170 million

By SAMUEL PETREQUINMay 3, 2022 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission said on Tuesday that the daily fines imposed on EU member country Poland for not complying with an order to suspend a disciplinary mechanism for judges have now piled up to more than 160 million euros.

EU proposes to extend COVID certificates by 1 year

February 3, 2022 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission proposed Thursday to extend by a year the use of COVID certificates aimed at facilitating travel across the 27-nation bloc during the pandemic, until the end of June 2023.

EU warns differing virus measures put free travel at risk

By LORNE COOKNovember 25, 2021 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union warned member countries Thursday that they risk undermining the 27-nation bloc’s COVID-19 travel and access certificate system with new restrictions that some are putting in place to try to thwart a surge in cases.

EU asks Poland to stop court review of EU vs. Polish law

By VANESSA GERAJune 10, 2021 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The European Union said Thursday it has asked Poland's government to withdraw a motion asking the nation's constitutional court to rule on whether EU or Polish law has primacy in the central European nation.

EU takes Poland to court over judicial independence concerns

SAMUEL PETREQUINMarch 31, 2021 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is referring Poland to Europe's top court over long-standing concerns about respect for the rule of law and the independence of the country's Supreme Court judges, EU officials said Wednesday...

EU proposes more travel restrictions to stop virus variants

By SAMUEL PETREQUINJanuary 25, 2021 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive body proposed Monday that the bloc's 27 nations impose more travel restrictions to counter the worrying spread of new coronavirus variants but make sure to keep goods and workers moving across EU borders.

Christians want Belgian opera’s naked Joan of Arc banned

By SAMUEL PETREQUINOctober 30, 2019 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A Christian association is trying to prevent Brussels opera house La Monnaie from staging a production of Arthur Honegger's oratorio "Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher," or "Joan of Arc at the Stake," in which the heroine appears dressed in men's clothes and, at one point, naked...