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Digitisation fronts new Commission strategy to boost EU single market

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Digitisation fronts new Commission strategy to boost EU single market
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Efforts to promote digitisation of the single market underpin a new strategy to breathe life into the project set to be presented by EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné on Wednesday, according to a draft seen by Euronews.

The plan sets out six pillars for improvement of the single market and refers to the context of a global trade crisis. 

The Commission wants to remove ten “terrible” market barriers that currently “negatively impact trade and investment”, boost European services markets that bring the highest economic value, relieve the burden on SMEs, digitize administration, and push member states to address administrative barriers on national level. 

A separate Single Market Omnibus proposal set to be published on Wednesday alongside the strategy will be designed to cut red tape for SMEs and mid-cap firms, promising to shift the sector “from a document to a data-based single market”.

Fragmented IT systems, and a lack of data exchanges make it difficult for businesses to comply with regulatory requirements, the Commission text claims, stressing the need to move from “exchanging paper documents towards exchanging digital data.”

It proposes making a so-called Digital Product Passport (DPP) compulsory and allowing companies to disclose and share product information – including conformity documentation, manuals, safety and technical information – across all new and revised product legislation. 

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The first DPP, for batteries, is expected to become operational in 2027 under the plan and the tool will be rolled out to other product categories. This will “result in swift cost reduction for both economic operators and authorities,” the text says. 

Further digitisation efforts include promoting digital invoicing, which currently has a low uptake across the bloc. The Commission will table a proposal late next year for it to become the mandatory standard for public procurement. 

The strategy also envisages modernising the current framework of product rules determining what may be placed on the market, which it says need “improvement”, through planned reforms slated for the second quarter of next year. 

A spokesperson for European consumer group BEUC told Euronews that current rules don’t adequately address “the many challenges brought by e-commerce”, resulting in unsafe products entering the EU market via online marketplaces.

High-level political meeting to target services

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The strategy will target promotion of services across the single market and the document stresses regulations in member states which it claims currently restrict access to around 5,700 services activities. 

It proposes addressing this by harmonising authorisation and certification schemes for providers of services across the single market, and through new rules to make it easier for highly skilled workers to temporarily provide services cross-border. The European social security pass will also be deployed and enable the digital verification of social security rights.

In addition, a legislative proposal will target territorial supply constraints imposed by large manufacturers which hinder retailers buying products in one member state from reselling in another.

The strategy proposes that member states’ governments appoint so-called “Sherpas for the Single Market” to operate within in their prime minister’s or president’s office, to take charge of promoting the application of the rulebook.

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To strengthen an existing Single Market Enforcement Taskforce – a group which brings member states’ authorities together with and the Commission – the EU executive proposes staging an annual high-level political meeting of EU ministers, the national “sherpas” of the single market, as well as Séjourné to provide strategic and political guidance to the taskforce. A first high-level political meeting should take place at the end of the year.

The omnibus package presented Wednesday should also improve standardisation which remains too slow according to the EU executive by allowing the Commission to establish common specifications. The aim is also to strengthen the EU’s role as a global standard-setter. A review of the standards regulation will also be announced. 

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EU lawmaker Sophia Kircher (Austria/EPP) told Euronews that services and capital market sectors are currently suffering from the lack of harmonisation. “National differences in regulations slow down our SMEs in particular when they want to operate across borders,” Kircher said. 

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Israeli Strikes Kill a Journalist and Injure Another in Lebanon

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Israeli Strikes Kill a Journalist and Injure Another in Lebanon

Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, rattling a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an airstrike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were traveling in. About an hour and a half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.

The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams came under fire while trying to evacuate the journalists from the house, forcing them to withdraw. The rescue crews were targeted by a warning strike and machine-gun fire, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Zeinab Faraj, a photojournalist, was rescued from the house. The other journalist, Amal Khalil, who was a reporter for Al-Akhbar, remained trapped under rubble for hours before emergency medics recovered her body, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.

In addition to Ms. Khalil, the two people in the car in front of her were killed in the strikes, Al-Akhbar reported.

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Amid the 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon, Israel has continued strikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, citing its right to self-defense. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group, said that it had fired rockets and drones into Israel on Tuesday in response to what it said were violations of the cease-fire. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded two others in another part of the country.

The Lebanese health ministry called the strikes in Tayri a “blatant double breach, involving both the obstruction of rescue efforts for a civilian known for her media and humanitarian work, and the direct targeting of an ambulance clearly marked with the Red Cross.”

The Israeli military denied in a statement that it had prevented rescuers from reaching the injured journalists, and said the incident was under investigation.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said Israeli forces had spotted two vehicles emerging from a military building used by Hezbollah. The military observed the vehicles cross what the spokeswoman called the forward defense line, determining the move to be a violation of the truce agreement.

The spokeswoman confirmed that the Israeli military had struck one of the vehicles and the building some of the occupants of the second vehicle had taken shelter in.

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Ms. Khalil had covered southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah exercises strong control, since at least 2006. In a tribute to Ms. Khalil, a colleague from Al-Akhbar said she embodied the resilience of the southern Lebanese through her relentless reporting, refusing to leave the front lines of war where thousands of Lebanese had been displaced.

“As with every act of aggression, wearing a press vest did not protect those who wore it from the treachery of the Israeli enemy,” Al-Akhbar said in a statement. “Instead, it has become a danger to journalists’ lives, as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing anyone who seeks to expose the crimes and practices of the occupation.”

In a forceful statement on social media, Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese prime minister, accused the Israeli military of war crimes for targeting journalists and obstructing access to medical aid. He said that Lebanon would pursue action to ensure Israel is held accountable with international bodies.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that it was outraged by the attack, and that it raised serious concerns of deliberate targeting.

“The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

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Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports

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Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports

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A former Mexican beauty queen was found shot to death in her Mexico City apartment, with investigators examining the possible involvement of her mother-in-law, according to local reports.

Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead inside an apartment in the Polanco neighborhood, one of the city’s most affluent areas, Reporte Índigo, a Mexico-based news outlet, reported. 

Authorities said the death is being investigated as a homicide, after initial findings indicated she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Emergency responders were called to the scene, where paramedics confirmed she showed no signs of life.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Flores Gómez’s mother-in-law, Erika María, as well as a man described in reports as her partner or husband, may have been involved in her death.

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CALIFORNIA HIKER’S BODY FOUND NAKED IN BIG SUR BACKCOUNTRY

Carolina Flores Gómez was found shot dead in her luxury apartment April 15 in Mexico City. Her mother-in-law has been named the main suspect in the suspected homicide. (Jam Press)

The man, identified as Alejandro, accused his mother of killing Flores Gómez, Mexican news outlet Azteca Guerrero reported.

The outlet also reported that the woman’s mother-in-law was present at the scene when the gun was fired and that authorities are looking into the timeline of when the incident was reported.

WIDOW, SON OF LATE CHICAGO COMMISSIONER FOUND SHOT DEAD INSIDE HOME IN SUSPECTED HOMICIDE

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Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide with intent case in the death of former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez.  (Jam Press)

Preliminary reports cited by Mexican news outlet Diario Puntual indicate that a security guard at the building did not hear gunshots, adding uncertainty about how the crime occurred.

Authorities in Baja California, Mexico, also responded to the case, Diario Puntual reported.

CIA PERSONNEL KILLED IN MEXICO CRASH TIED TO CARTEL OPERATION; QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER US ROLE

Former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead in her Mexico City apartment. (Jam Press)

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Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda expressed solidarity with the victim’s family and called for the case to be clarified. 

State prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez also said there is coordination with Mexico City authorities to support the investigation.

Flores Gómez previously competed in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss Teen Universe Baja California in 2017.

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The case has drawn attention in Mexico amid ongoing concerns about violence against women, with advocacy groups calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

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The investigation into the matter is open and ongoing.

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‘Blockade and threats’: Iran blames US siege of ports for stalled talks

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‘Blockade and threats’: Iran blames US siege of ports for stalled talks
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