00:01The European Parliament and EU member states failed to reach a deal on eliminating EU tariffs on US industrial goods,
00:09as agreed under the Turnberry Agreement struck last summer.
00:12The setback comes just days after the US intensified pressure on European negotiators by threatening to impose 25% tariffs
00:21on EU cars, exceeding the 15% ceiling on US tariffs for EU goods, agreed last summer by US President
00:29Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.
00:33Despite the failed round of talks, the Cypriot presidency representing EU member states said discussions had generated positive momentum.
00:43One EU diplomat told Euronews that the objective talks was mainly for both sides to lay out their political positions,
00:50with the technical negotiations expected at a later stage.
00:55Parliament has included robust safeguards in the EU-US deal, although member states do not back all of them, despite
01:02broadly agreeing on the need to protect the agreement from future threats by Trump, such as those concerning EU cars
01:10or Greenland earlier this year.
01:12Negotiators are now set for a new round of discussions on May the 19th.
01:19EU Commissioner for Equality Hajj Al-Abib sat down with Euronews to discuss disability rights and accessibility across the EU.
01:28We are now halfway through the European Commission's 10-year plan on improving the lives of some 19 million people
01:36living in the EU with disabilities.
01:38Labib noted that most important requests include more independent living and being included in the labour market.
01:46We are launching a new EU alliance for independent living, with a budget also to support service-based communities instead
02:01of institutions.
02:02To be sure that a person with disabilities can live their own life independently, and it is about their dignity,
02:10their choice.
02:11Commissioner Labib also addressed the political debate shifting towards one that emphasises power and might, which looks at ideas of
02:19diversity and inclusion as too woke.
02:21Yes, I'm concerned about it because I'm Commissioner for Equality and we see a regression when it comes to gender
02:29equality and all kinds of discrimination is something that we need to combat because this is not the Europe we
02:39want to live in.
02:41The reinforced EU strategy presented on Wednesday aims to put a stronger focus on implementation, delivery on the ground and
02:49real impact for people's lives.
02:51But disability groups across Europe have accused the Commission's initiative of not going far enough.
02:58Yanis Varda-Castanis, president of the European Disability Forum, said in a statement that the disability strategy has the right
03:07words but lacks teeth and strength.
03:14European Commission vice-president Roksana Minsatu has said in an interview with Euronews that she is committed to eliminating poverty
03:22in the EU within 25 years.
03:24Her comments followed the Commission's presentation of its first ever anti-poverty strategy, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and
03:32social exclusion by 2050 through non-binding recommendations and best practice guidelines for member states.
03:39The strategy comes amid alarming statistics. Almost one out of five European is at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
03:47The number that I've presented to you, 93 million people in risk of poverty in Europe, can change dramatically because
03:57of the energy shocks that we see.
04:00And we've just recently assessed, we now assessed the impact of the energy crisis because of the Middle East crisis.
04:07We will see in a couple of months what it means, but it for sure creates additional burden on households,
04:12on the cost of living, on their bills.
04:14So this 93 million number could become higher in a few months or in a very short time.
04:22The EU anti-poverty strategy focuses on several aspects, from helping children in disadvantaged families to expanding social and affordable
04:32housing.
04:33However, the plan does not come with a dedicated budget for its implementation.
04:38The Commission considers that the EU already provides significant funding to tackle poverty.
04:44Strengthening the EU program meant to help households, supporting unemployed people to get a job, and improving support for older
04:51citizens through adequate pensions are among the strategy's key objectives.
05:00The Minister for the European Union of the Catalan government, Drama Duque, has told Euronews that when it comes to
05:06taking a stance against criticism from Washington, Spain is more resolute in its position than the European Union.
05:14Duque, who acts as the link between Brussels and Barcelona, said Madrid has been, quote,
05:19smart in analysing the situation concerning President Donald Trump, including on the conflict in the Middle East.
05:26We were also among the first in criticising this conflict, or the way this conflict has been opened or produced
05:35in Iran,
05:37and then how in the following weeks this position was adopted also by a majority of member states of the
05:46European Union.
05:47This means that we were just, let's say, more convinced about our own positions.
05:55You think the EU is not convinced of its positions?
05:58I think that the EU has evolved a lot in the last months.
06:02I think that there was a turning point, which was all the threats against Greenland.
06:07I think that this opened wide the eyes of many governments in this continent, and since then the positions have
06:14changed.
06:15Shifting the conversation of politics to a more local level, Duque argued that a closer relationship is needed between regional
06:22governments and Brussels.
06:23Many of the decisions that are taken in Brussels, by the Commission, the Council of the European Parliament, at the
06:29end of the day,
06:30have to be applied by the regional governments, not by the national ones.
06:34And competencies on agriculture, on fisheries, on trade, on housing, on many, many, many other topics, are in the hands
06:42of the Catalan government,
06:44which means that in reality what you need is a very good relationship between those who are deciding here in
06:49Brussels
06:49and those who are implementing the rules, the European laws, in the territory, in this case in Catalonia.
06:55Duque said European and Catalan priorities are more aligned than most would think,
07:01with shared interests such as strategic autonomy, defence and energy.
07:10Concern is mounting in Cyprus over this year's tourism outlook due to the war in Iran
07:14and initial data showing a significant drop in arrivals in April and the first days of May, ranging from 30
07:20% to 40%.
07:22Euronews visited Agia Napa, where the absence of tourists is evident.
07:27Business owners say that events in the Middle East have significantly impacted the situation.
07:33The sun is shining, temperatures are around 20 degrees Celsius, the businesses are open, but what's missing is the tourists.
07:41We can't say there's nobody here, of course, but locals tell us that they're well down on the figures they
07:46had last year.
07:47Tourism business owners in Agia Napa are seeing a very different picture this May, compared to last year's record-breaking
07:52season.
07:53Normally it's busy the boats, busy the hotels, busy all the restaurants.
07:58At this time, normally all the hotels almost was fully booked last year.
08:03Compared to this year, I think so, we are lower numbers from last year, about 30-40%.
08:10The mayor of Agia Napa, Christos Zanet, to emphasize that the situation in the Middle East has caused significant damage,
08:16but tourists have begun to realize that Cyprus is a safe destination.
08:20That is why, as he says, there is now recovery.
08:22The 2020-2025 was the best tourist period in the Middle East, of course, in the Middle East, of 2019.
08:31But when we talk about a set of restrictions, we must have to do this in mind.
08:36The last two weeks, we see an announcement.
08:39We believe that the world believes in the Middle East and in the Middle East is an safe place now,
08:47and it seems that it starts to be interesting for the buildings to move on.
08:52Tourists who have started visiting Cyprus don't seem worried about anything.
08:55As they say, they are enjoying the sun, the sea and the beauty of Cyprus.
08:59We have decided to take a shot for a while,
09:03even a few,
09:05but the sun is very clear to us,
09:08and the sun is very clear to us,
09:10and the sun is very clear to us.
09:14Some tourists, however,
09:15haven't forgotten what's going on in the world right now.
09:18We like this here very well.
09:20Unfortunately, the world-critical situation is a bit relaxed,
09:26and we hope for a future peace for the whole world.
09:31In May, flies from the UK are operating at 92% capacity.
10:06In May, flies from the PGA community will pay many quarantines,
10:07floating around in the front of people.
10:08It has a lot of quindi and large,
10:12because it makes a lot of interesting responses to this.
10:15It's a super hypocrisy that they are participating.
10:19I mean, they tell that art is beyond the politics,
10:23but they are using art as a weapon in hybrid war in Europe.
10:27So this is absolutely insane that they are here,
10:31and I think no one progressive could accept that.
10:49I'm saying they should have included the US of A in that list of countries excluded,
11:00because it's because of the politics of hate and war and all that
11:07that's been going on now for too long.
11:21We'll see you next time.
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