The European Union formally launches accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday, setting the fragile ex-Soviet states off on a long path towards membership that Russia has tried to block.

Ukraine begins EU membership talks; hopes to join bloc by 2030

EU kicks off formal accession negotiations with Ukraine; Zelensky hails the step as historic

Germany&#39;s EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger today said it is possible Britain will not exit from the European Union after the June 23 vote. 
 
Oettinger told Germany&#39;s daily Bild that although EU leaders considered the Brexit vote as &quot;politically binding&quot;, &quot;but it is possible that public opinion will tip if the economic situation in the wake of the Brexit vote worsens.&quot; 
 
&quot;In any case, I wouldn&#39;t place any major bets on Brexit,&quot; Oettinger, who has been Digital Economy and Society commissioner in EU bloc since 2014,&nbsp;told Bild. 
 
Once Article 50 &nbsp;- the legal process of leaving the bloc &nbsp;- is triggered, it would start a two-year countdown to Britain&#39;s exit from the European Union. 
 
Oettinger said the longer the British government waited to trigger Article 50 of the EU&#39;s Lisbon Treaty, &quot;the more insecure the situation will become &nbsp;- economically and politically&quot;. 
 
Prime Minister Theresa May has said that Britain would take time to exit the EU, the government needing time to clarify Britain&#39;s exit objectives first. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged more clarity on the timeline with regard to Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty. 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

It is possible that public opinion will change if the economic situation in the wake of the Brexit vote worsens, Oettinger told Bild

Germany's EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger today said it is possible Britain will not exit from the European Union after the June 23 vote. Oettinger told Germany's daily Bild that although EU leaders considered the Brexit vote as "politically binding", "but it is possible that public opinion will tip if the economic situation in the wake of the Brexit vote worsens." "In any case, I wouldn't place any major bets on Brexit," Oettinger, who has been Digital Economy and Society commissioner in EU bloc since 2014, told Bild. Once Article 50 - the legal process of leaving the bloc - is triggered, it would start a two-year countdown to Britain's exit from the European Union. Oettinger said the longer the British government waited to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, "the more insecure the situation will become - economically and politically". Prime Minister Theresa May has said that Britain would take time to exit the EU, the government needing time to clarify Britain's exit objectives first. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged more clarity on the timeline with regard to Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Britain may not exit European Union: Germany's EU Commissioner

Estonia will take over the rotating EU presidency from Britain in late 2017 after London pulled out to focus on negotiations to leave the bloc, the 28 members of the union said yesterday. 
 
In the first major step towards Brexit after last month&#39;s shock referendum result, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that Britain would no longer take up its scheduled six-month stint next July. 
 
Ambassadors of the 28 member states had reached a &quot;broad agreement&quot; on July 20 to bring forward Estonia&#39;s presidency by six months to take Britain&#39;s place, a spokesman for European Council president Donald Tusk said last week. 
 
A statement on yesterday said that decision was formalised. 
 
Croatia, which in 2013 became the latest state to join the EU, will take over the presidency in the first semester of 2020, the members&#39; statement added. 
 
Slovakia currently holds the presidency and will be followed by Malta in the first half of 2017. 
 
(AFP)

Britain will not take up its scheduled six-month term next July. Estonia will take control over the rotating presidency in late 2017

Estonia will take over the rotating EU presidency from Britain in late 2017 after London pulled out to focus on negotiations to leave the bloc, the 28 members of the union said yesterday. In the first major step towards Brexit after last month's shock referendum result, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that Britain would no longer take up its scheduled six-month stint next July. Ambassadors of the 28 member states had reached a "broad agreement" on July 20 to bring forward Estonia's presidency by six months to take Britain's place, a spokesman for European Council president Donald Tusk said last week. A statement on yesterday said that decision was formalised. Croatia, which in 2013 became the latest state to join the EU, will take over the presidency in the first semester of 2020, the members' statement added. Slovakia currently holds the presidency and will be followed by Malta in the first half of 2017. (AFP)

Estonia to take over EU presidency from UK

Financial movers and shakers gathered in France on Saturday urged a clear and timely political response to lift the uncertainty caused by Britain&#39;s shock vote to leave the European Union. 
 
A raft of top business leaders and intellectuals have gathered in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence for a three-day meeting to discuss how to react to the fallout from last week&#39;s &quot;Brexit&quot; vote. 
 
Participants swiftly agreed on at least one thing - nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next, the underlying source of their worries. 
 
Britain has not yet begun the process of disengaging itself from the European Union, with arguments raging after the country was split 52 per cent to 48 per cent in the referendum. 
 
Renault-Nissan automaker giant head Carlos Ghosn said the loss of Britain in itself from the EU bloc was not so much the problem as that the uncertainties such a move would provoke. 
 
&quot;Worried? Yes,&quot; said Ghosn. &quot;Not because of Brexit but worried by the uncertainty that has engendered.&quot; 
 
For Ghosn, &quot;companies, good or bad, are capable of adapting to everything. All kinds of situations&quot;. 
 
But with Britain&#39;s new status regarding the European Union not clear he said firms would have to live with uncertainty. &quot;We are going to navigate as we go along,&quot; said Ghosn, not least regarding the post-Brexit future of Nissan&#39;s factory employing 8,000 in the north east of England. 
 
&#39;Could cause damage&#39; 
 
Oil giant Total&#39;s CEO Patrick Pouyanne said for his part that Brexit would &quot;not have a direct impact&quot; as likely sterling weakness could bring down production costs for the group&#39;s North Sea operations. 
 
&quot;On the other hand, Brexit will have European growth impacts on the macro-economic front and that could cause damage,&quot; Pouyanne said. 
 
&quot;There is an element of more uncertainty, instability, in a world which is already facing up to a range of geopolitical difficulties, with Daesh (Islamic State), Ukraine, a swathe of financial crises and now Brexit.&quot; 
 
US ratings agency SP Global Ratings cut its rating for the EU by one notch last Thursday citing the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote. 
 
&quot;The only message I would like to transmit is we have to act fast,&quot; said Pouyanne or risk allowing uncertainty to &quot;destroy confidence&quot; in the whole bloc. 
 
Time to make decisions 
 
Politicians indicated they understand that message and its urgency. 
 
&quot;The first thing to do is lift the uncertainty as soon as possible so that economic actors are able to take decisions quickly, including decisions pertaining to investment and development,&quot; French minister of finance Michel Sapin said on Friday. 
 
&quot;Today,&quot; Sapin added, &quot;I feel economic actors are demanding political decisions - perhaps a revamping of politics?&quot; 
 
Paris is looking to use Brexit as a chance to bolster the attractiveness of France, and Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave an interview to Saturday&#39;s Le Parisien in which he set out France&#39;s stall to that end. 
 
&quot;We are working on means of reinforcing our attractiveness. I am thinking notably of tax policy or the status of expatriates. So I say to large international companies - Welcome to Paris! Come and invest in France,&quot; said Valls. 
 
&quot;We are the number one financial market place in the eurozone in terms of direct and indirect employment with 1.2 million jobs,&quot; Muriel Penicaud, director general of Business France, a public body tasked with showing off France&#39;s plus points to the business world, told AFP. 
 
The group has just published a paper highlighting reasons to do business in Paris, insisting the capital offers &quot;a robust stock market regulatory and financial system&quot;. 
 
(AFP)

Elites gathered for three days to panic about Brexit uncertainty in the markets

Financial movers and shakers gathered in France on Saturday urged a clear and timely political response to lift the uncertainty caused by Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union. A raft of top business leaders and intellectuals have gathered in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence for a three-day meeting to discuss how to react to the fallout from last week's "Brexit" vote. Participants swiftly agreed on at least one thing - nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next, the underlying source of their worries. Britain has not yet begun the process of disengaging itself from the European Union, with arguments raging after the country was split 52 per cent to 48 per cent in the referendum. Renault-Nissan automaker giant head Carlos Ghosn said the loss of Britain in itself from the EU bloc was not so much the problem as that the uncertainties such a move would provoke. "Worried? Yes," said Ghosn. "Not because of Brexit but worried by the uncertainty that has engendered." For Ghosn, "companies, good or bad, are capable of adapting to everything. All kinds of situations". But with Britain's new status regarding the European Union not clear he said firms would have to live with uncertainty. "We are going to navigate as we go along," said Ghosn, not least regarding the post-Brexit future of Nissan's factory employing 8,000 in the north east of England. 'Could cause damage' Oil giant Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne said for his part that Brexit would "not have a direct impact" as likely sterling weakness could bring down production costs for the group's North Sea operations. "On the other hand, Brexit will have European growth impacts on the macro-economic front and that could cause damage," Pouyanne said. "There is an element of more uncertainty, instability, in a world which is already facing up to a range of geopolitical difficulties, with Daesh (Islamic State), Ukraine, a swathe of financial crises and now Brexit." US ratings agency SP Global Ratings cut its rating for the EU by one notch last Thursday citing the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote. "The only message I would like to transmit is we have to act fast," said Pouyanne or risk allowing uncertainty to "destroy confidence" in the whole bloc. Time to make decisions Politicians indicated they understand that message and its urgency. "The first thing to do is lift the uncertainty as soon as possible so that economic actors are able to take decisions quickly, including decisions pertaining to investment and development," French minister of finance Michel Sapin said on Friday. "Today," Sapin added, "I feel economic actors are demanding political decisions - perhaps a revamping of politics?" Paris is looking to use Brexit as a chance to bolster the attractiveness of France, and Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave an interview to Saturday's Le Parisien in which he set out France's stall to that end. "We are working on means of reinforcing our attractiveness. I am thinking notably of tax policy or the status of expatriates. So I say to large international companies - Welcome to Paris! Come and invest in France," said Valls. "We are the number one financial market place in the eurozone in terms of direct and indirect employment with 1.2 million jobs," Muriel Penicaud, director general of Business France, a public body tasked with showing off France's plus points to the business world, told AFP. The group has just published a paper highlighting reasons to do business in Paris, insisting the capital offers "a robust stock market regulatory and financial system". (AFP)

Business leaders urge swift response to Brexit worries

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Ukraine begins EU membership talks; hopes to join bloc by 2030

EU kicks off formal accession negotiations with Ukraine; Zelensky hails the step as historic

Britain may not exit European Union: Germany's EU Commissioner

Estonia to take over EU presidency from UK

Business leaders urge swift response to Brexit worries