Oil slides from nine-week highs as market looks to OPEC

Oil prices edged down from nine-week highs on Monday, pressured by worries over high production from OPEC and the United States.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 67 cents, or 1.28 percent, at $51.75 a barrel at 1344 GMT. They traded as low as $51.56 a barrel earlier in the day.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 were down 67 cents, or 1.35 percent, at $48.91 per barrel, but up from the day's low of $48.78 a barrel.

Both contracts stood more than $1 below the levels hit last week, which marked their highest since late May, when oil producers, led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, had extended a deal to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of next March.

Doubts have since emerged about the effectiveness of the cuts because OPEC output hit a 2017 high in July and its exports hit a record.

"The market is looking for comment from Saudi Arabia signaling OPEC will meet its agreed target," Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist with ABN AMRO, said. "The possibility for (price) movement seems limited unless OPEC comes out with a statement."

Officials from a joint OPEC and non-OPEC technical committee are meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss ways to boost compliance with the deal.

The doubts about the OPEC production deal outweighed the impact of a protest at Libya's Sharara oilfield, which led to a brief shutdown starting late on Sunday. The country's National Oil Corp. said production at the 270,000 bpd field was restarting on Monday.

High oil output in the United States counteracted other bullish factors, including a Baker Hughes report on Friday that showed a cut of one drilling rig in the week to Aug. 4, bringing the total count down to 765. RIG-OL-USA-BHI

U.S. weekly oil production hit 9.43 million bpd in the week to July 28, the highest since August 2015 and up 12 percent from its most recent low in June last year. C-OUT-T-EIA

Still, some analysts said strong words from OPEC could help to shore up prices.

"The negative price impact at the start of the week coming from OPEC and compliance focus will probably dissipate," SEB Markets chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.

"Saudi Arabia will restate that they will export only 6.6 million bpd (six-year low) in August and inventories will continue to draw down."

Source: Reuters

U.S. no longer a 'friend' in Merkel election program

REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

In their campaign program for the German election, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have dropped the term "friend" in describing the relationship with the United States.

Four years ago, the joint program of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), referred to the United States as Germany's "most important friend" outside of Europe.

The 2013 program also described the "friendship" with Washington as a "cornerstone" of Germany's international relations and talked about strengthening transatlantic economic ties through the removal of trade barriers.

But the words "friend" and "friendship" are missing from the latest election program - entitled "For a Germany in which we live well and happily" - which Merkel and CSU leader Horst Seehofer presented on Monday ahead of a Sept. 24 election.

Instead, the United States is described as Germany's "most important partner" outside of Europe. CDU officials were not immediately available to comment on the change in wording.

The change in wording underscores how relations between Berlin and Washington have deteriorated since U.S. President Donald Trump entered the White House in January.

During his campaign for the presidency, Trump said that Merkel was "ruining" Germany with migration policies he described as "insane".

He has repeatedly denounced Germany's trade surplus with the United States, accused Berlin and other European partners of owing "massive amounts of money" to NATO, and unsettled western partners with his decision last month to pull out of the Paris climate accord..

A survey by the Pew Research Center last week showed that just 35 percent of Germans have a favorable view of the United States, down from 57 percent at the end of President Barack Obama's term.

Merkel is due to host Trump and other leaders at a G20 summit in Hamburg later this week.

In place of the 2013 passage about strengthening economic ties, the 2017 program refers to historical U.S. support for Germany after World War Two and in the run-up to German reunification.

The new CDU/CSU election program also repeats a line that Merkel used in a speech in Munich in late May after a difficult summit of G7 leaders, where Trump resisted pressure from six other nations to stay in the Paris agreement.

"The times in which we could fully rely on others are, to a certain extent, in the past. We Europeans must take our fate into our own hands more decisively than we have in the past," the program reads.

While affirming Germany's commitment to the NATO military alliance, the program says that the EU must be in a position to defend itself independently if it wants to survive in the long run.

It also adds a special section entitled "Germany and France as the Motor of Europe" which vows to "reinvigorate the friendship" between the two countries.

"We are ready, together with the new French government, to further develop the euro zone step by step, for example through the creation of its own monetary fund," it reads.

But it also rules out the mutualization of debt in Europe and says that "solidarity" will only be possible if EU countries stick to the rules of the bloc's Growth and Stability Pact.

Source: Reuters

European Commission chief Juncker: English is losing its importance in Europe

The President of the European Commission on Friday told an audience in Florence, Italy that the English language was losing its importance in Europe.

Before beginning his speech on the future of the European Union at the European University Institute, Jean-Claude Juncker deliberated over whether to use French or English.

Source: EFE

'No turning back': PM May triggers 'historic' Brexit

Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain's divorce from the European Union on Wednesday, saying there was "no turning back" from a decision pitching her country into the unknown and triggering years of fraught negotiations.

Nine months after Britons voted to leave, May notified EU Council President Donald Tusk in a letter that Britain was quitting the bloc it joined in 1973.

"The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union," May later told parliament in London. "This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back."

The prime minister, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, now has two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

May, 60, has one of the toughest jobs of any recent British prime minister: holding Britain together in the face of renewed Scottish independence demands, while conducting arduous talks with 27 other EU states on finance, trade, security and other complex issues.

The outcome of the negotiations will shape the future of Britain's $2.6 trillion economy, the world's fifth biggest, and determine whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centers.

For the EU, already reeling from successive crises over debt and refugees, the loss of Britain is the biggest blow yet to 60 years of efforts to forge European unity in the wake of two world wars.

Its leaders say they do not want to punish Britain. But with nationalist, anti-EU parties on the rise across Europe, they cannot afford to give London generous terms that might encourage other member states to break away.

BREXIT DIVORCE

May's notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty was hand-delivered to Tusk in Brussels by Tim Barrow, Britain's permanent representative to the EU.

Barrow gave the letter to Tusk, the EU summit chair and former Polish prime minister, in the Council President's offices on the top floor of the new Europa Building, according to a Reuters photographer in the room.

That moment formally set the clock ticking on Britain's two-year exit process. Sterling, which has lost 25 cents against the dollar since the June 23 referendum, jumped to $1.25.

May signed the Brexit letter on Tuesday, pictured alone at the cabinet table beneath a clock, a British flag and an oil-painting of Britain's first prime minister, Robert Walpole.

Source: Reuters

Putin meets with Le Pen, denies Russia wants to influence French elections

The Russian President on Friday met with the far-right French presidential candidate and denied that Moscow wanted to influence the upcoming national elections.

In an impromptu meeting with National Front (FN) candidate Marine Le Pen in Moscow, Vladimir Putin said he in no way wanted to influence events but that he had the right to meet with representatives from all political forces, as is done by Europe and the United States.

Source: EFE

Hundreds offer their cars to drive migrants from Greece to rest of Europe

Hundreds of people gathered in Brussels on Monday to demand migrants trapped in Greece be relocated to the rest of Europe as they had been promised, and many offered to drive them with their own cars.

In a protest organized by Amnesty International, cars drove beside the European Commission and Council headquarters waving flags that read "Let's bring them here" and showing pictures of migrants on the passenger seat windows.

Source: EFE

Belgium investigating video threatening terror attack on Antwerp station

Belgium's coordinating body for threat analysis is investigating a video threatening a terror attack at the main station in the northern city of Antwerp, a government spokesperson told EFE on Friday.

The Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis (OCAM) has informed Antwerp city police about the video and its content, Interior Ministry crisis center spokesperson Benoit Ramacker said.

"There is currently an analysis underway. We're awaiting the evaluation from OCAM to see if special measures need to be taken," said Ramacker.

The video, which lasts less than one minute, was spread by members of the Islamic State terror organization on social media, Belgian media reported.

The video showed scenes filmed by someone walking into the station, accompanied by the words "we're here" and "we're going to attack," according to Belgian news agency Belga.

The Interior Ministry said it was "too soon" to be able to say if the footage was linked to the IS and it was awaiting the results of an investigation to determine which measures, if any, needed to be taken.

City police told Belga that they were taking the video "very seriously" and had stepped up security at the station pending the results of the investigation.

In recent years, Belgian authorities have analyzed other videos targeting the country, such as footage released by the Islamist terror organization "Sharia4Belgium" showing the iconic Atomium in Brussels.

In March last year, Belgium became the target of two terror attacks, one against the Brussels-Zaventem international airport and another on the Brussels metro station of Maelbeek, which left 32 people dead.

Source: EFE

EU breaks deadlock between Spain, Portugal on nuclear waste disposal plan

Thanks to mediation by the European Commission, Spain and Portugal on Tuesday arrived at an amicable agreement to relaunch discussions on the future construction of a nuclear waste storage site on the Spanish banks of a major river that flows west to empty into the Atlantic by the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

Spain had planned to build a waste storage facility at the Almaraz nuclear power plant, which uses the Tagus River to cool its reactors, but Portugal objected and took the matter to the European Union.

Source: EFE

France's Hollande calls for specific measures against campaign cyberattacks

France's president on Wednesday called for specific security measures to be set in place to protect the country's upcoming presidential election campaign from cyberattacks.

François Hollande ordered his ministers in the Defense and National Security councils to prepare a plan to counter any outside influence that could affect the integrity of the campaign.

Source: EFE

New land-sea route opens between China and central Europe

The land-sea trade route between China and central Europe through the Greek port of Piraeus officially opened with the arrival of the first two Chinese goods trains to Hungary, official media reported Wednesday.

The containers were shipped from the eastern Chinese port of Ningbo to Piraeus by sea, and were then transported to Budapest in two trains that reached on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, according to China's official People's Daily newspaper.

Source: EFE

Brazil sees opportunities if Trump pursues protectionism: minister

Brazil has an opportunity to strengthen ties with Pacific and European nations that could be targeted if U.S. President Donald Trump pursues protectionist policies, the Brazilian trade minister said on Thursday.

In an interview with Reuters, Trade Minister Marcos Pereira pointed to Mexico, a longtime competitor for trade and investment in Latin America, as one of the countries that could develop stronger commercial relations with Brazil.

Tensions between Mexico and the United States have risen since Trump took office, with the U.S. president saying he intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday scrapped a planned summit with Trump.

Pereira also said he hoped Chile and Peru would gravitate toward Brazil and the South American trade bloc Mercosur now that Trump has pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

He added that Trump's political ascent and arrival in the White House has prompted the European Union to show greater interest in concluding a trade agreement with Mercosur that has been under discussion for 15 years.

At the same time, Brasilia is hoping Trump does not restrict U.S.-Brazilian trade. The United States is Brazil's second-largest trading partner after China and the largest market for its manufactured goods, including commercial planes.

"So far, Brazil has not appeared in Trump's sights," Pereira said. "I think Brazilian manufacturers will not be hurt and that our trade discussions with Washington will continue to advance."

Brazil may not be on Trump's radar because it buys more from the United States than it sells there - running a $646 million deficit last year - and is not drawing investment that threatens U.S. jobs.

'BUSY YEAR'

Mired in its worst recession in a century, Brazil is keen to expand its exports and stands ready to pick up the slack in trade with countries that face setbacks in their access to the U.S. market.

Trade with Mexico, Latin America's second largest economy after Brazil, has the potential to grow as the U.S.-Mexican relationship sours.

"We see this as an opportunity to expand trade and hope they have the same view," Pereira said. "It would be good for Brazil and especially good for the Mexicans who are under pressure."

The minister also came away from the World Economic Forum in Davos last week convinced the EU is keener than ever to reach a deal with Mercosur.

He said an agreement could be agreed politically by early next year, leaving thorny issues such as French and Irish resistance to lower agricultural barriers to be worked out later.

Brazil is in free trade talks with the European Free Trade Association that groups non-EU states Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as with Canada.

The Trudeau government in Canada has also signaled it wants to negotiate a solution to a dispute over subsidies for plane-maker Bombardier that Brazil has threatened to complain about to the WTO, Pereira said.

"It is going to be a busy year with lots of talks between these players to deal with the protectionism that is coming ... given the stance of the new U.S. president," he said.

Source: Reuters

European farmers spray milk in Brussels in protest over sector crisis

Dairy farmers on Monday staged a protest which entailed spraying powdered milk outside the European Council buildings to call on European Union institutions to introduce additional measures to regulate milk production, as evident in scenes captured by epa photographers.

About 100 farmers from countries such as Belgium, France and Germany came together to demonstrate as EU agriculture ministers gathered for a meeting to discuss market situations, particularly with regards to dairy products, after a series of measures were adopted last year aimed at helping producers.

Source: EFE

European stocks fall, investors seek safety after Trump address

European stocks and bond yields edged lower on Monday and the dollar briefly hit a six-week low after U.S. President Donald Trump began his term in office with a protectionist speech that drove a nervous market into safe-haven assets.

Wall Street was set to open slightly lower, tracking stock markets in Europe and parts of Asia, having hit multi-year highs earlier this month on expectations Trump would boost growth and inflation with extraordinary fiscal spending measures.

However, his inaugural address on Friday, signaling an isolationist stance on trade and other issues, led investors to retreat to the safety of higher-rated government bonds.

Trump also made it clear that he plans to hold talks with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

U.S. stock futures were down 0.2 percent, pointing to a lower open after European stocks touched their lowest levels this year in early trades. By midday, the broad STOXX index had come off the day's lows but was still down 0.3 percent.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.1 percent while shares in Australia fell 0.8 percent after Trump's administration also declared its intention to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade pact that Japan and Australia have both signed.

Other Asian shares were more resilient, however, in part due to dollar weakness, and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent.

"The focus this morning is on the protectionist rhetoric and the lack of detail on economic stimulus, so it's a nervous start (to the presidency)," said Investec economist Victoria Clarke.

"The other concern is how the Fed interprets Trump's stance, the worry being the less he does on fiscal stimulus the more nervous they may get on pushing the rate hikes through."

The U.S. Federal Reserve, which has indicated it expects to raise its benchmark interest rate three times this year, is due to hold its next meeting on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Rabobank analyst Michael Avery said a more protectionist United States could lead to a U.S. dollar liquidity squeeze, with Mexico and Asia likely the most badly hit.

"We would see outright confusion over what currency to invoice, trade, and borrow in: a 19th century world of competing reserve currencies in different geographic zones, but without the underpinning of gold," Avery said in a note.

The problem would be exacerbated if China tightens capital controls further, he said.

The U.S. dollar was down 0.4 percent against a basket of six major currencies.

The nervous start on Monday saw safe-haven assets in demand.

The yield on Germany's 10-year government bond, the benchmark for the region, led most euro zone bonds lower and was down 2 basis points to 0.34 percent.

This followed 10-year U.S. Treasuries yields, which fell to 2.43 percent, after having risen briefly on Friday to 2.513 percent, their highest since Jan. 3.

Spot gold prices, meanwhile, rose on Monday to their highest in two months.

Source: Reuters

European Commission hopes for agreement from Wallonia on Canada trade deal

The European Commission president on Wednesday said he hoped to see an agreement with a region of Belgium that was blocking a large trade deal between the European Union and Canada.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Jean-Claude Juncker said he hoped the Belgian government would reach an agreement with the Wallonia regional government by the end of the day.

Source: EFE

Google has until October 31 to reply to EU's Android antitrust charges

Alphabet's Google has been given until the end of October, the fourth extension, to rebut EU antitrust charges that it uses its dominant Android mobile operating system to block competitors, the European Commission said on Monday.

The Commission in April said the U.S. technology giant's demand that mobile phone makers pre-install Google Search and the Google Chrome browser on their smartphones to access other Google apps harms consumers and competition.

The EU watchdog had initially set a July 27 deadline for Google to respond to the charges. This had been extended three times at the company's request, with the previous deadline Sept. 20.

The new deadlines are Oct. 31 for the Android case and Oct. 26 and Oct. 13 for cases relating to online search advertising and shopping.

In the shopping case, Google has been accused of favoring its shopping service over those of rivals in internet search results while the AdSense case centres on the company's measures which block competitors in online search advertising.

"In each of these cases, Google asked for additional time to review the documents in the case file. In line with normal practice, the Commission analyzed the reasons for the request and granted an extension allowing Google to fully exercise its rights of defence," Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an email.

The EU antitrust enforcer intends to hit the company with deterrent fines in the Android and shopping cases, according to charge sheets seen by Reuters.

Google can be fined up to $7.4 billion, or 10 percent of its global turnover, for each case if found guilty of breaching EU rules.

Source: Reuters

At your service: cyber criminals for hire to militants, EU says

Cybercriminals offering contract services for hire offer militant groups the means to attack Europe but such groups have yet to employ such techniques in major attacks, EU police agency Europol said on Wednesday.

"There is currently little evidence to suggest that their cyber-attack capability extends beyond common website defacement," it said in its annual cybercrime threat assessment in a year marked by Islamic State violence in Europe.

But the internet's criminal shadow the Darknet had potential to be exploited by militants taking advantage of computer experts offering "crime as a service", Europol added: "The availability of cybercrime tools and services, and illicit commodities (including firearms) on the Darknet, provide ample opportunities for this situation to change."

Overall, the report found, existing trends in cybercrime continued to grow, with some of the European Union's member states reporting more cyber crimes than the traditional variety.

"Europol is concerned about how an expanding cybercriminal community has been able to further exploit our increasing dependence on technology and the internet," its director, Rob Wainwright, said in a statement. "We have also seen a marked shift in cyber-facilitated activities relating to trafficking in human beings, terrorism and other threats."

"Ransomware" - programs which break into databases and demand payment for unlocking codes via virtual currencies such as Bitcoin - continued to expand as a problem, as did highly targeted "phishing" attacks to extract security data from senior figures - "CEO fraud" - and video streaming of child abuse.

Attacks on bank cash-machine networks were also increasing, the report found, as were frauds exploiting new contactless payment card transactions, while traditional scams involving the physical presence of a card had been successfully reduced.

Source: Reuters

Philippines president rails against EU over criticism

The president of the Philippines has responded harshly to criticism by the European Union directed at his violent anti-drug campaign that has killed at least 3,500 people in the country since he took office on June 30.

"(Now) the European Union has the gall to condemn it. I repeat it - fxxx you," President Rodrigo Duterte said during a speech Monday night in southern Davao City, while showing his middle finger, according to local daily Philstar on Wednesday.

Duterte's latest outburst follows a resolution by the European Parliament on Thursday that expressed concern about the high number of deaths being caused by the Philippine leader's anti-drug campaign.

In the resolution, the European Parliament urged "the Government of the Philippines to put an end to the current wave of extrajudicial executions and killings" and "adopt specific, comprehensive policies and programs".

The EU condemnation, according to Duterte, stems from a sense of guilt for the crimes committed by European countries.

"Who did I kill? 1,700 here? You call that genocide? How many have they killed?" Duterte thundered.

Duterte also said France and Britain are extending support to the United States in conducting attacks against countries in the Middle East, which have also caused a high number of casualties.

When the US similarly criticized Duterte's aggressive war on drugs, Duterte had called it a "hypocrite" country, referring to the massacre committed by the US in the southern Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century.

Close to 3,500 alleged drug traffickers and addicts have died since Duterte began his mandate, among whom around 1,500 died in police encounters and the remaining were killed by vigilante groups, according to latest police data.

Source: EFE

Informal summit of 27 EU leaders gets underway in Bratislava

European Union leaders, with the exception of the United Kingdom, on Friday initiated proceedings for the informal EU summit in Bratislava to discuss future reforms and challenges in the wake of the shock Brexit vote.

The 27 leaders hoped to come up with a roadmap for a post-Brexit EU, and were to discuss topics such as the migrant crisis, future economic reforms, border control and collaborative security measures against terrorism.

"We need solutions for Europe and we are in a critical situation," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel upon her arrival, before adding that the meeting would not be able to solve all of the problems within the EU.

Her Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi said that the bloc should steer away from bureaucracy and focus on the fundamental questions.

Meanwhile French President Francois Hollande asked for priority to be given to security and an economic plan as well as outlining future employment terms that would deliver hope to young people.

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the lack of public confidence in the EU was due to a triple failure in security.

In his diagnostics he outlined a lack of border security, a lack of counter-terrorism security and a lack of financial security, specifically low economic growth, as contributing factors to the problem.

President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, called for unity ahead of the meeting in Slovakia, while European Council President, Donald Tusk, said that the differences between EU nations were easier to overcome than people thought.

The summit is due to open with a discussion on Britain's shock decision to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23, although negotiations on the terms of the secession will not be addressed as the UK has yet to submit its official request to exit.

The President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite, assured that the member nations would remain "open and cooperative" as ever with regards to the UK.

In the wake of the British vote, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that he hoped to find common ground in order to create a social Europe, with growth, employment and prosperity for its people.

"What Europe needs now is a new vision and a concrete agenda for change," he added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said that the Visegrad group (V4)_ a central European alliance comprising Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia_ would advocate the creation of an EU army, the devolution of immigration laws to national level and a curb of Brussels' powers.

The topic of an EU army returned to the discussion table following Brexit, although some leaders seemed less convinced of its necessity than others.

"I haven't heard talks of an army, we talk about improving defense cooperation, but not an army; we don't want to duplicate NATO," said the Lithuanian president.

Taavi Roivas, Prime Minister of Estonia, shared the view of Grybauskaite, and urged more defense coordination in order to increase stability in the region.

Incumbent Chancellor of Austria, Christian Kern, warned that Europe should be poised for all eventualities with regards to the migrant deal struck with Turkey earlier this year.

Source: EFE

Health ministry: rise in number of Zika virus cases in Spain since last weekX

The total number of diagnosed Zika virus cases in Spain rose by 15 since last week, three of which involved pregnant women, the Ministry of Health said on Monday.

The new figures bring the overall number of confirmed cases in Spain to 279, with 42 of those affecting pregnant women.

Source: EFE

Post-Brexit EU needs joint military HQ, Juncker says

The European Union's chief executive called on Wednesday for a joint command headquarters for EU military missions and greater defense cooperation, reviving long-running efforts to reduce reliance on the United States.

In his annual speech to the European Parliament, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said no single EU government had a military big enough to deal with security challenges on Europe's doorstep, from Islamic militants to a more hostile Russia.

The proposals, echoing a plan put forward this week by France and Germany, are part of a broader attempt to rally EU nations after Britain's vote to leave the bloc and to capitalize on its departure - London having opposed the idea.

"We must have a European headquarters and so we should work towards a common military force," Juncker told the European Parliament, although officials stressed this did not amount to an EU army. "This should be to complement NATO," he said, also outlining proposals for a common defense fund.

EU leaders struggling for support have identified security as one of citizens' main concerns following militant attacks in Paris, Brussels and Nice over the last year. Washington is keen to see Europe do more in its own neighborhood and U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has questioned whether NATO should support allies not seen to be spending enough on defense.

Leaders must also compensate for Britain's departure from the bloc. As Europe's biggest-spending European power, the British exit could reduce the EU's military capacity by a quarter without steps to remedy the situation, analysts say.

Even before Britain's decision to leave the EU, years of defense budget cuts, as well as militaries that work in isolation, have diminished Europe's ability to run missions including peace keeping, disaster relief and counter-terrorism operations at home and abroad.

The plan, which follows failed attempts in the 1950s and the 1990s, would not mean soldiers all wear the same uniforms, EU officials say. It involves more cooperation among countries that wish to run missions together, while avoiding duplication in developing military assets at the industrial level.

More than three-quarters of EU government defense contracts are awarded to their national industries, while the bloc has 19 types of armored infantry fighting vehicle, compared to just one in the United States, according to EU data.

"From an economic point of view, bringing together our military resources could be clearly justified," Juncker said. "The lack of cooperation is something that is costing Europe 20 to 100 billion euros a year," he said.

Still, the United States is wary about a new EU military headquarters, worried it would replicate NATO's command center, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, in Belgium.

Washington wants to see EU governments spend more money on equipment and not waste it on headquarters. One solution could be to turn an existing national army and navy command center in Germany or France into a European headquarters, experts say.

Source: Reuters