Summer Economic Forecast: Road to recovery is still paved with uncertainty

Greek and EU authorities must investigate recurrent reports of violent pushbacks at the border with Turkey, which if true would mean Greece is not ensuring the right to asylum, urged MEPs from the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE).

Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan on Tuesday warned Israel against annexing parts of the Palestinian territories, saying that doing so could have consequences for bilateral relations. In a statement distributed by the German Foreign Ministry, the countries, which include two of Israel's leading partners in the Middle East, said their foreign ministers had discussed how to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Tuesday urged the EU to reach an agreement on overhauling its asylum system, admitting that the bloc’s handling of refugee arrivals was "not dignified".

The Regional Development Committee approved the establishment of the Just Transition Fund (JTF) and request a significant increase in the budget allocated from the 2021-2027 financial framework from €11.27bn in current prices to €25.36bn in 2018 prices. 

To support the wine sector, following the coronavirus crisis and its consequences on the sector, the Commission adopted on Tuesday an additional package of exceptional measures. The wine sector is among the hardest hit agri-food sectors, due to rapid changes in demand and the closure of restaurants and bars across the EU, which was not compensated by home consumption.

Top British and European Union negotiators will dine at Number 10 Downing Street later on Tuesday, kicking off the latest round of Brexit talks that have all but stalled because of major differences over their future relationship, news wires reported.

The EU executive published on Tuesday its latest report on the Commission's system to prevent or restrict the selling of dangerous products on the market, the so-called ‘Rapid Alert System'. The report shows that the number of actions taken by authorities following an alert is growing year on year, reaching 4,477 in 2019 compared to 4050 in 2018.

With travel uncertain and the coronavirus still striking nations Dubai reopened for tourism on Tuesday, news wires reported. Strongly relying on for tourists, this city-state wants to begin coaxing people back to its beaches and its cavernous shopping malls. But all that depends on controlling a virus that the United Arab Emirates as a whole continues to fight.

Boryana Petkova and Michail Michailov are two artists whose paths often cross not only because of their similar fates as expat artists (they live in Paris and Vienna, respectively), but because of a shared interest in the way an artwork functions and develops as well. The body of work of both artists is characterised by an in-depth yet minimalistic approach.

The Summer 2020 Economic Forecast, presented by the Commission on Tuesday, estimates that the euro area economy will contract by 8.7% in 2020 and grow by 6.1% in 2021. At large, the EU economy is forecast to shrink by 8.3% this year and grow by 5.8% in 2021. The pandemic has hit the European economy tougher than previously expected, even if a cautious rebound is commencing.