European Union

Support for civil society in Belarus should be among the priorities of EU foreign policy, according to the Czech and Polish foreign ministers, Tomas Petricek and Zbigniew Rau, who held talks in Prague on Thursday (1 October) ahead of a...

While the EU carbon tax should be introduced at the bloc's borders by 2022, a report details the challenges and options of this mechanism, which still has many grey areas. EURACTIV France reports.

Italy’s state of emergency could be extended until 31 January 2021, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed, adding that he “will ask parliament for the extension.” Health Minister Roberto Speranza added that “everyone will have to resist the best they...

A Scottish National Party MP is facing calls to stand down from the UK parliament after admitting that she had travelled on public transport from Scotland to Westminster despite suffering COVID-19 symptoms and testing positive. Margaret Ferrier said on Thursday...

The eight EU member states around the Baltic Sea have signed a ministerial declaration to protect and clean their joint marine environment, aimed at reaching tangible commitments in accordance with the European Green Deal and its Biodiversity Strategy and Zero...

Belgium’s new government, led by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, is the first federal government to achieve gender balance, with 10 female and male members each. On Thursday (1 October), the assignment of portfolios has been finalised between the seven...

A platform was launched yesterday (1 October) to find 25,000 volunteers to carry out large-scale clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines, following a request made by France’s ministries of health and of higher education and research. In the Paris region, the...

Few topics have divided Europe as much in recent years as migration and asylum. The New Pact on Migration and Asylum puts migration back on the EU agenda, writes Michael Spindelegger.

BlackRock's controversial contract to advise the European Commission should be put on hold and new transparency criteria introduced to prevent such conflicts of interest, writes Aurore Lalucq and a group of 58 MEPs.

After weeks of bickering, EU leaders broke a longstanding deadlock to impose sanctions against members of the Belarus regime on Friday night (2 October) and fired a warning at Turkey over its gas drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean.

Boris Johnson's large majority has not made him immune from the demands of the eurosceptic European Research Group in his party, argues Brendan Donnelly, warning that that makes a 'no deal' scenario more likely.

Commission takes UK to court, spat erupts as Orban falls short, and Belgium finally has a government... of a sort.

Officials in the Spanish capital have 48 hours to introduce tighter measures on social life and implement a partial lockdown preventing residents from leaving the city limits without justification, according to new criteria approved by the Spanish government on Thursday (1 October). EURACTIV's partner EUROEFE reports.

On Friday morning, American president Donald Trump announced on Twitter he and the first lady had tested positive on Covid-19 and will go into quarantine. "Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!," he tweeted. Trump is a candidate to serve again as president in elections in November.

EU leaders have agreed to impose sanctions on 40 or so Belarusians, but not president Alexander Lukashenko, for violence and election-rigging using a fast-track written procedure on Friday. They also warned Turkey it would face sanctions in future unless it stopped "provocations" against Cyprus and Greece by sending gas-drilling ships into their waters. Cyprus had previously vetoed the Belarus move unless it got a tough line on Turkey.

The EU seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose for five consecutive months, reaching 7.4 percent in August, according to statistics on Thursday by Eurostat. It is estimated that 15.6 million people in the EU were unemployed at the end of the summer. The EU's youth unemployment rate was higher than the overall population, reaching 17.6 percent in August. While the rate for women increased slightly more than for men.

The German Federal Statistical Office revealed on Thursday that immigration decreased in the first half of the year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the first six months of 2020, 529,000 people moved to Germany - representing a drop of 29 percent year-on-year. From March to May, when Germany was under lockdown, the number of immigrants dropped by 42 percent. Meanwhile, emigration from Germany also decreased during the same period.

The Spanish government ordered on Thursday a partial lockdown in the capital Madrid and other affected areas by the coronavirus, the BBC reported. Restrictions apply to areas with more than 100,000 residents that meet the following criteria: 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, 35 percent patient occupancy in intensive care units, and a 10-percent positivity test rate. The order gives local authorities 48 hours to put restrictive measures in place.

France has accused Turkey's ally, Azerbaijan, of starting recent warfare with Armenia and importing "jihadist" fighters, as EU-Turkish relations continue to deteriorate.

The parliament's majorty dismisses the German EU presidency's proposal on the rule of law conditionality, which has emerged as the main political obstacle to agree on the next long-term EU budget.