Multi-speed Europe

Iceland is planning to try again to withdraw its application to join the EU, Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has said.

"Participating in EU talks isn't really valid anymore," Gunnlaugsson said as quoted by the Reykjavík Grapevine.

By Chryssa Liaggou

A few hours after the second vote for a new president in Parliament on Tuesday, industrialists called on political parties to reach a national consensus on four key points.

Three days after his visit to Athens was completed, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici stated in Washington that the monitoring of Greece’s economy by its international creditors should become «lighter» and less «interventionist,» with inspectors visiting only twice a year.

Menda Stoyanova, Chair of the parliamentary budget committee, has suggested that Bulgaria is unlikely to be penalized by the European Commission over the budget deficit exceeding 3% as it is a one-off case.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu said on Tuesday that as far as Romania's Schengen accession is concerned, deadlines have been successively set, but the "most prudent" approach would be to first do some "intense" work out of the public eye to accomplish this foreign policy goal and announce the results only afterwards, regardless if they are positive or negative.

Admitting Bulgaria into the EU's borderless Schengen zone is a legal problem rather than a political one, according to European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Brussels on Thursday, Schulz said that when EU member states meet certain criteria, they become entitled to certain legal rights.

Greece will have to ask for an extension on its bailout program before parliaments in eurozone nations close for Christmas because a new credit line will not be ready in time, a senior euro zone official said on Wednesday.

Eurozone finance ministers will discuss in early December conditions for providing Greece with credit when its current aid programme expires, German Finance Minster Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday.

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras has called for a compromise between Athens and the troika in an interview with Sunday’s Kathimerini, while also insisting that the eurozone should provide Greece with further debt relief.

Bulgaria's Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov expects a negative annual report on justice and internal affairs of the European Commission on Bulgaria.

Ivanov told the BNT public broadcaster breakfast show, that most likely the EC will conclude that Bulgaria "has lost direction in the judiciary reform and loses the trust of its international partners."