european union

The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00GMT (midday NZ time), as replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security co-operation came into force.

Boris Johnson said the UK had "freedom in our hands" and the ability to do things "differently and better" now the long Brexit process was over.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the UK remained a "friend and ally".

UK ministers have warned there will be some disruption in the coming days and weeks, as new rules bed in and British firms trading with the continent come to terms with the changes.

Fifteen partner Pacific islands countries and four European Overseas Countries and Territories will benefit from this support.

The EU action will focus on strengthening partner countries’ health, water and sanitation systems and their research and preparedness capacities to deal with the pandemic, as well as mitigating its socioeconomic impact.

The bloc's ambassador to the Pacific, Sujiro Seam, said 15 Pacific states and four territories would be eligible for the support.

The money will be redirected from existing EU-funded programmes in the Pacific.

Mr Seam said the money would help strengthen countries' preparations, the capacity of their health systems and mitigate the pandemic's socioeconomic impact.

A detailed support programme for the Pacific will be announced "in the coming days".

The EU is one of the region's largest donors, but the Suva-based ambassador, Sujiro Seam, said he was working to make the EU's relationship with the region more than an aid donor.

He said his bloc's support for the Pacific on issues like multilateralism and climate change were increasingly important.

"The top priorities of the new leadership of the European Union is very much on par with the Pacific priority issues. And mainly, it means that the new top priority for the European Union is the European Union green deal."

Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle is up against five other candidates to head the office.

Ms Geslain-Lanéelle said the Pacific had little representation within the organisation, which needs to change as the challenges the region faces are immense.

"And this region is very much affected by climate change. We still have countries where have hunger, we have malnutrition and where we have food waste and loss. So this is important to address all of these challenges."

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rimbink Pato, who attended the ACP-EU Joint Ministerial Trade Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 26 October, signed the ACP Administrative Cooperation Agreement (ACA).

This makes it possible for PNG to enter into intra-ACP trade relations with the cumulation of the rules of origin.

Under this WTO multilateral trading rule, countries within the same Trade Agreement region could cumulate rules of origin.

American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, St Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates were named as "non-compliant jurisdictions" in the first EU blacklist of tax havens.

Six Pacific region countries were on the grey list - Fiji, Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia.

The EU said the countries weren't meeting international standards and hadn't made sufficient commitments to change their ways.

The leaders and representatives of 14 Pacific ACP states met in Apia, Samoa today to discuss concerns about significant delays in the programming of the EDF 11 Pacific Regional Indicative Programme (PRIP) and other partnerships related to the EU.

At a press conference after the meeting, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor expressed disappointment at the delay.

“We are disappointed because our countries have been insisting on the drawdown of these funds and the negotiations have been protracted,” she said.

The agreement outlines the EU's commitments in terms of aid, trade and development to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

There are 14 Pacific members of the ACP and the EU has already indicated it wants a more region specific approach.

The EU's Pacific Ambassador, Andrew Jacobs, said it had already been made clear that the Pacific wants a diversified approach that reflects the region's challenges.

The European Commission found that the U.S. tech giant denied "consumers a genuine choice" by using its search engine to unfairly steer them to its own shopping platform.

Regulators said that Google must change its behavior within 90 days or face additional penalties.