European Union

Italy’s official coronavirus app known as ‘Immuni’ has been downloaded about 4.3 million times, a number which reflects just 12% of people between 24 and 75 with access to a smartphone, Italy’s Innovation Minister Paola Pisano told the Senate during...

On Thursday (23 July), a Hamburg court delivered the verdict in one of Germany’s last Holocaust trials. The court’s judges found the now 93 year-old former SS guard, known as Bruno D in German media, guilty of aiding and abetting...

After two days of talks, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) announced on Thursday (23 July) that a new coordination platform to tackle irregular migration would be established. The ministerial meeting had been organized by Austria with participants from 20...

It is the industry’s responsibility to roll-out the fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication networks without increasing energy consumption, Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson writes in a report outlining how this can be done. “Energy consumption is set to increase dramatically...

The European Parliament rejected on Thursday (23 July) the hard-won decisions of the EU Council. MEPs criticised, among other things, cuts to climate programmes and voiced fear that billions of euros could fall into the wrong hands. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša is the strongest challenger to a status quo in which the left has been in power in the country for too long, writes Žiga Turk.

In shaping the future of rare diseases policies all stakeholders should cooperate to create an environment that actively supports research and clinical development of orphan medicinal products (OMPs). This entails building synergies all across the innovation ecosystem to address the...

With the daily rate of COVID-19 infections on the rise, Belgium's National Security Council (CNS) decided on Thursday (23 July) to extend the obligations to wear masks and fill in a travel form for returning from vacation, and to postpone phase 5 of deconfinement.

The recovery fund is a “historic move”, but long-term EU priorities such as the Green Deal and the Digital Agenda are put at risk, MEPs say.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The recovery fund is a “historic move”, but long-term EU priorities such as the Green Deal and the Digital Agenda are put at risk, MEPs say.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Poland's biggest opposition party, the centrist Civic Platform (PO), said on Thursday (23 July) it had petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the recent presidential election unfair to trigger an annulment and re-run.

It only took a few short months for the accusation that the 2016 Brexit referendum was rigged, unfair and corrupt to start doing the rounds. This week, Boris Johnson’s government finally published the Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee report, which...

A trade agreement between the EU and the Uk is increasingly unlikely to be reached this year, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned on Thursday (23 July) following the last round of formal negotiations before a three-week summer break.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (23 July) demanded EU sanctions against Turkey for "violations" of Greek and Cypriot waters and said the European Union should act over the crisis in Libya.

The European Commission's economy boss, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed on Thursday (23 July) a large loan package supposed to stabilise the ex-Soviet country's ailing finances amid international concern that its leadership is backtracking on reforms.

In an extraordinary plenary session, MEPs commented on the 17-21 July European Council deal on EU financing and the recovery plan to tackle the pandemic fallout.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

In an extraordinary plenary session, MEPs commented on the 17-21 July European Council deal on EU financing and the recovery plan to tackle the pandemic fallout.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The Just Transition Fund, which supports EU regions dependent on fossil fuels, should be more goal-based and performance-oriented, according to an opinion published on Wednesday by the European Court of Auditors. The auditors also stressed that the EU Commission had not done a previous impact assessment to support the amended amount, after EU leaders cut it to €17.5bn - from the initial €40bn.

Spain seems to be again a European hotspot for Covid-19. Spain's health ministry reported on Wednesday 9,011 new infections within the last week - the highest figure in months, El País reported. Additionally, Spain's health minister Salvador Illa said there are 224 active outbreaks in the country, but they are "under control". The most affected areas are in Catalonia and Aragon, although a stricter lockdown has not been discussed yet.

German defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has told Deutsche Welle the US threat to remove some 9,500 troops from Germany is cause for concern for Nato. "If they [the troops] stay in Europe, then this remains a commitment towards Nato. But if they were to be re-stationed in the Indo-Pacific region, then that would indicate a change to US strategy, which then would spark a debate within Nato," she said.