European Commission

The European Commission on Monday gave the Greek Infrastructure Ministry the nod for the construction of the northern part of European route E65 the runs from Trikala to Grevena.

The European Union sought Monday to ease concerns that citizens might be obliged to get shots against the coronavirus before they're allowed to travel, as debate swirls over the use of vaccination certificates to help reopen tourism across the 27-nation bloc.

Euro zone finance ministers were discussing on Monday how to best design and coordinate economic plans to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, while the European Commission said the pandemic was exacerbating economic imbalances within the bloc.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will pay a one-day visit on Jan. 18 to hold talks on Turkey-EU relations days before Ankara and Brussels are set to engage in an intense dialogue to re-energize ties and discuss the renewal of a 2016 migrant deal.

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday left open the possibility of meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, his Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu insisted that the agenda of the upcoming exploratory contacts between Athens and Ankara must include "all disagreements" and not just maritime areas of responsibility as Greece wants.

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s energy company Petrol has taken over an outright stake in Croatian petroleum products seller Crodux as a result of which Petrol will acquire 91 service stations in Croatia once the deal has been cleared by regulators.

US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has confirmed it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its Covid-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity to 2 billion vaccine doses per year.

The European Commission is working on a vaccine certificate, dubbed "Vaxproof", that could help restore cross-border travel, EU officials said, but the plan is dividing EU nations.

The issue has been discussed for months but has led to no compromise because of fears over vaccine hesitancy and privacy.

"The vaccination certificate will not be a precondition for somebody to travel to Greece," Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis said on Thursday. He added that the relevant proposal by Prime Minister Kyrikaos Mitsotakis to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was aiming to stir the waters so that the European Union coordinates on this issue.

The Covid-19 pandemic is increasing economic imbalances in the eurozone, the European Commission will tell the bloc's finance ministers on Monday, but reforms and investments funded by European Union money should help address that.