EU commissioner for budget Guenther Oettinger will today reveal details of the bloc’s multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027. European Commission

EU commissioner for budget Guenther Oettinger will today reveal details of the bloc’s multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027. European Commission

EU budget eagerly awaited

All eyes will be on Brussels today as Commissioner for budget and human resources Guenther Oettinger unveils plans for the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework. The Financial Times says the new budget could increase spending from €1 to €1.25 trillion, or around 1.1% of the total gross national income of the EU, which could rise to 1.14% with the inclusion of off-budget items. But with an annual budget hole of between €12 and €14bn left by the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, that also means some cuts will be included in Oettinger’s plans. Agriculture and “cohesion” are likely to be the two areas in which the budget cuts are deepest, according to the BBC. Spending will instead be more focused on defence and the digital economy, as well as the EU border agency Frontex, which could be the recipient of between €20 and €25 billion over seven years as its staff grows from 1,600 to more than 5,000. Whether Oettinger formally announces that some budget allocations will be linked to the extent to which member states respect EU “democratic values and rule of law” remains to be seen. Some members want Hungary and Poland to face financial consequences over what they see as an undermining those values.

Mixed reception for steel exemption extension

The decision by the US to grant a one-month extension to the European Union's exemption from import tariffs on steel and aluminium has received a mixed greeting from the European Commission. Canada and Mexico have also had their exemption extended until 1 June. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Commission said it should be granted a permanent exemption. “Overcapacity in the steel and aluminium sectors does not originate in the EU.,” said the statement. The Commission argues that the extension only prolongs market uncertainty. It also said it would not “negotiate under threat” as the US seeks to link the steel and aluminium ink exemptions to a reduction of tariffs on US car imports into the EU. Meanwhile, Politico cites White House trade adviser Peter Navarro saying that tariffs and quotas are necessary to support the US industry in defence of national security.  “The guiding principle of this administration, from the president down to his team, is that any country or entity like the European Union, which is exempt from the tariffs, will have a quota and other restrictions,” Navarro told meeting of steel industry executives.

Air pollution stats “unacceptable”

Air pollution around the world remains at “dangerously high levels” says one of the authors of a new WHO report. The report says that globally 9 in 10 people on the planet live with poor, even dangerous, air quality. And 7 million people a year die due to airborne contaminants. “Seven million deaths is a totally unacceptable figure. The fact that 92% [of people] are still breathing unacceptable air is the news. Pollution remains at dangerously high levels,” Sophie Gumy was reported saying in The Guardian. But while poorer countries continue to suffer, the report states that 57% of cities in the Americas and more than 61% of cities in Europe had seen a fall in particulate matter between 2010 and 2016.

May Day riots

Protests and demonstrations around Europe are a tradition on the day of the workers, but some cities regularly see protest turn to rioting on 1 May. This year, German cities such as Hamburg and Berlin, which have in the past been targeted by left-wing extremists, seem to have escaped any violent protest. But in Paris police arrested nearly 200 masked demonstrators who smashed shop windows and torched cars. The BBC reports that some 1,200 masked and hooded protesters hijacked a peaceful rally against President Emmanuel Macron's public sector labour reforms. And police in Istanbul arrested around 80 people--May Day protests in Turkey have been illegal since 2014. Der Spiegel reports that some 26,00o police were deployed in Turkey.