European Union

On the sidelines of a conference dedicated to Kazakhstan’s experience with the presidential model of governance, EURACTIV spoke to Sanat Kushkumbayev, a prominent foreign policy analyst, about Kazakhstan's diplomatic and geopolitical efforts, including its relations with China and the EU.

French president Emmanuel Macron will face one the biggest strikes of his mandate on Thursday as unions organised more than 240 demonstrations. French rail workers, air-traffic controllers, teachers and public sector staff are expected to march across France against the proposed changes to the pension system. About half of the Eurostar trains between Paris and London have been cancelled. Many schools and shops will also be closed.

On Wednesday a new regulation by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, came into force increasing its participation in border surveillance and support for EU member states and Schengen countries, Ekathimerini writes. It is a new step in the creation of a unified European border service of 10,000 border and coast guards to support national authorities with border control and migration management.

Bomb squad experts on Wednesday defused a grenade after it was thrown over the wall of a center for unaccompanied foreign minors in Madrid, El País reported. According to police sources, the device was a type of grenade used by the Spanish army. However, the amount of explosive was very small and there were no reported injuries. Far-right party Vox has repeatedly criticised the facility.

A study found that 500,000 hermit crabs died after being trapped in plastic bottles and other rubbish on two remote archipelagos at the Indian and Pacific Ocean, the Guardian reported. This could produce a possible global species decline. The researchers from University of Tasmania and the Natural History Museum in London previously revealed that the Cocos and Henderson islands are polluted with millions of pieces of plastic.

Israel's foreign ministry said on Twitter that it fully supports Greece, and expressed concern over Turkey's increasing activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. "Israel follows with concern recent steps taken by Turkey in the Mediterranean. Ignoring customary international laws of the sea can jeopardise peace and stability in the area," the ministry said, adding that "Israel reiterates its full support and solidarity with Greece in its maritime zones."

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out about Germany's diplomatic spat with Russia, as well as so much more. The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network.

A group of Irish content moderators are preparing to take legal action for personal injuries caused by exposure to "disturbing content" during their employment by third-party company CPL in Dublin, on behalf of Facebook, the Irish Times writes. Facebook said in a statement that it is "committed to providing support for those that review content for Facebook as we recognise that reviewing certain types of content can sometimes be difficult".

“People, planet and partnerships” will be the three pillars of the European Commission’s energy policy in the next five years, said Kadri Simson, the EU’s recently-appointed Energy Commissioner, announcing a “massive renovation wave” to tackle energy poverty.

Current Earth observation technologies are not accurate enough when it comes to monitoring carbon dioxide emissions, according to delegates at the EU’s space week in Helsinki. A new system set to launch in 2025 should change all that.

The European Parliament's development committee says its overarching priority will be to deliver on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving that will require an action plan and targeted investments, says its chair Swedish centre-right MEP Tomas Tobé.

While planes, trains, and automobiles can expect particular attention under the EU’s upcoming Green Deal, the new Commission has already set its sights on cleaning up the transport industry - the only sector of the European economy where emissions are still growing. 

The EU's eastern neighbourhood is in flux. The collapse of the pro-reform government in Moldova and the stagnation of anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine was recently followed yet by another political crisis in Georgia.

Moscow on Wednesday (4 December) said transit tariffs proposed by Ukraine to ship Russian gas through its territory next year were unacceptable and too high, claims swiftly dismissed by Kyiv.

Hungary has a deep controversy with Hungary over minority rights. In this context, a heated controversy has unfolded over reports that Budapest asked the Duma, the lower chamber of Russia's parliament, for joint efforts to uphold minority rights in Ukraine.

The self-confessed middleman in the murder of a journalist told a court on Wednesday (4 December) a wealthy Maltese businessman was the brains behind the killing but also implicated people tied to government in the growing scandal.

Europe wants to use all the tools available to transit toward a 'green' economy. But ‘green’ lending should not be incentivised by easing capital requirements for banks, the European Banking Authority chief, Jose Manuel Campa, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

Next week EU leaders have a chance to reach a deal on the 2050 climate neutrality target. If heads of state and government agree to this, it should begin to steer investments in the greening of the EU economy. This is particularly important for the EU’s biggest CO2 emitters, where much of the financing will be needed; our buildings.

"I have not been a lobbyist" the Swedish woman who wants to oversee good conduct by EU institutions, Cecilia Wikström, has said.

Hungarian foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, pledged on Wednesday that his country would block Ukraine's membership in Nato unless Kiev restores the rights that about 150,000 ethnic Hungarians had before a language law from 2017 put a curb on minorities' access to education in their mother tongues, Reuters writes. "We ask for no extra rights to Hungarians in Transcarpathia [Ukraine], only those rights they had before," said Szijjártó.