Europe Briefing – Macron to face the press, Iceland volcano eruption A look at the big…

Farmers clogged Berlin streets with their tractors on Monday, honking their horns in protest at a plan to scrap tax breaks on the diesel.

The world’s wealthiest five men have more than doubled their fortune since 2020 from $405 billion to $869 billion last year, the charity Oxfam said Monday in a report published as the global elite hobnob at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Yet since 2020, nearly five billion people worldwide have grown poorer, Oxfam said. Pointing to the level of “staggering, obscene inequality”, Oxfam International Interim Director Amitabh Behar told FRANCE 24’s Yuka Royer that the world is “entering into an era of billionaire supremacy”.

Denmark turned a page in its history on Sunday when Queen Margrethe formally abdicated and her son became King Frederik X, with big crowds gathered in Copenhagen to witness history. 

A Serbian opposition party formally lodged a complaint on Friday against alleged fraud by President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling party during parliamentary and local elections last month.

Talking Europe interviews the EU commissioner in charge of jobs and social rights, Nicolas Schmit. He speaks to the importance of protecting workers, particularly the “gig” or “platform” workers, whose status is at the core of a dispute between the European Commission and several EU member states. He also addresses the issue of “social dumping” – people being paid below their level of skills – an issue of relevance not only to EU workers, but also to Ukrainian refugees that have been granted permission to live and work in the EU. Plus, he explains the implementation of the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages, as economic conditions in Europe threaten people’s purchasing power; especially that of poorer members of society.