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April 12, 2019

Britain - Brexit: May defends Brexit delay and hints at customs union compromise by Irene Kostaki

While defending her decision to delay the Brexit date to hostile MPs in the House of Commons, UK Prime Minister Theresa May simultaneously kept the door open for more talks with the opposition Labour party in the hope that the two can find a compromise over the customs union despite calls from her own Conservative backbenchers that she needed to resign.

Hours after the EU-27 granted May a six-month delay for Brexit, which includes an early exit clause, May admitting that “reaching an agreement will not be easy because to be successful it will require both sides to make compromises”.

May threw her support behind the EU-27’s Brexit delay after marathon talks in Brussels that was a part of an extraordinary summit focused on finding a way forward in the Brexit process. May’s statement on the decision to delay Britain’s EU exit for a second time brought an angry reaction from hardline Brexiteers from her own party. Conservative eurosceptic Bill Cash described the decision as “abject surrender”.

Along with Conservative Brexiteers, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with whom May is trying to negotiate a compromise on the future relationship with the bloc, said that “this second extension in the space of a fortnight represents not only a diplomatic failure but is another milestone in the government’s mishandling of the entire Brexit process”.

May and Corbyn have continued their talks, with the former saying she thought, “Reaching an agreement will not be easy, because to be successful it will require both sides to make compromises,” while adding, “However challenging it may be politically, I profoundly believe that in this unique situation where the House is deadlocked, it is incumbent on both front benches to seek to work together to deliver what the British people voted for. And I think that the British people expect their politicians to do just that when the national interest demands it.”

May claims that the Tories and Labour are relatively close to an agreement on the customs union, but that they still need to work on the wording of their position.

Read more: May defends Brexit delay and hints at customs union compromise

April 10, 2019

Turkey-Netherlands relations: Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu in the Netherlands discussing bilateral ties

Poland: Agriculture - Blue Berries are now produced worldwide and Cooperation was the slogan of The VII International Blueberry Conference in Poland March 7 - 8

Delegates from 27 countries and over 900 participants in total visited the VII International Blueberry Conference. This event confirmed that blueberry producers can work together to achieve common goals. They must continue to do so – there are still many challenges in cultivating and trading blueberries.

Blueberry production is growing in various European countries. One of them is Ukraine, where, as Taras Bashtannyk from Ukrainian Berry reported, the area of ​​blueberry cultivation increased rapidly and in the last 3 years it grew three times to the level of 2100 ha. In 2018, blueberry harvest in Ukraine amounted to 5,000 tons, and it is expected that exports will grow by about 2000-2500 tons in each subsequent year. This means that in 2020, blueberry harvest in Ukraine may exceed 10,000 tons.

In China  it is estimated that the area of blueberry cultivation in 2020 will reach 70,000 ha, and the fruit production will amount to 1 million tons in 2025.

A new selection of blueberry varieties gives a chance for further development of the industry. Their features were presented by Andrea Pergher from Fall Creek Farm and Nursery Europe. Fall Creek has started the breeding program almost 20 years ago. The selections have undergone very selective comparison trials before they were released.

Before becoming commercial, the variety must prove to be better than the existing varieties. Fall Creek is managing trial sites in different climatic area where we compare new releases with standard varieties. The plants are planted together at the same age for consistency in data
output.

Based on the the calculations presented by Hans Liekens from Fall Creek Europe, it is justified to say that blueberry market in Europe has a chance to grow, provided that it is possible to increase consumption and penetration of the market. Great Britain, where the average citizen eats 860 g of blueberries annually, sets an example. Meanwhile, the average European citizen consumes 180 g of blueberries annually.

"If we could increase consumption in Europe to the level of Great Britain, an additional 500,000 t of blueberries would be needed. To achieve these goals it is necessary to provide the market with high quality, hard, firm and tasty blueberries. The most important thing is
that the consumer who once buys blueberries will come back for more.

When they are disappointed, because of quality issues, he will cease to be our client. We all are blueberry producers. We all need to look after quality and keep working on it," said Hans Liekens.

During the second day of the 2 day event there were pruning demonstrations and workshops dedicated to establishing blueberry plantations. They were led by Paweł Korfanty, nurseryman and enthusiast of blueberries and Leon Schrijnwerkers - a nursery worker from Netherlands.

He showed how to form ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry bushes and which shoots are the most valuable, how many of them should remain in the bush to ensure good fruit quality.

For the complete report go to:
Cooperation is a key to success for all blueberry growers"

April 9, 2019

Britain - Brexit: Customs Union at Centre of compromise talks

Brexit: customs union at centre of compromise talks ahead of crucial EU summit 

Note EU Digest : The problem is that Theresa May has not been able to put a concrete proposal together supported by a parliamentary majority in the British parliament, and keeps wasting EU members time and finances discussing "pies in the sky".

It is high time now the EU starts to play some hard ball with Theresa May, and gives her an "indefinite extension" until she can come up with a concrete proposal, which is backed by a majority in the British parliament.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/07/brexit-uk-prime-minister-says-there-is-still-a-chance-of-a-compromise-deal

April 8, 2019

Turkey Democracy under corrupt Erdogan is a farce: Erdogan's AKP party which in 2018 Presidential Elections called Erdogan the winnner in just three hours, is now asking for recount after recount in Municipal elections they lost

Corrupt Erdogan's AKP party demands another full vote re-count in Istanbul they lost.

 And the AKP calls that democracy? In the world where democracy is practiced it is usually called, being a sore loser, or worse, a lack of Democracy.