European Union

In Spain, the conservative Popular Party (PP) won local and regional elections on 28 May with 31.5 percent of the vote, leaving Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialists in second place with 28.2 percent followed by the far-right Vox party in third position. Faced with the heavy losses of the left-wing parties, Sánchez has brought forward the general election from December to 23 July. The press sees major upheavals in Spain's and Europe's party landscape.

The European Commission has recently launched its first call for companies to jointly buy gas on international markets via the EU Energy AggregateEU Platform, and while it offers smaller companies access to new gas suppliers, it raises questions related to EU competition law, writes Ernesto Bonafé and Simina Suciu.

Organised crime operations between Russia and Ukraine had flourished since the 1990s along with vast corruption. The Russian aggression has disrupted those links, although they persist.

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whom polls suggest could be Spain's next prime minister, admitted Thursday (1 June) he didn't speak English but brushed it off saying there were always "translators".

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the Albanian prime minister mediating with Vucic in Moldova, the German Greens calling for Hungary’s EU presidency stint to be postponed, and so much more.

Serbia’s President Aleksander Vučić said that meeting European leaders in Chisinau is essential not only because of the situation in the north of Kosovo but also for EU progression, investments and energy. Read more. European leaders met in Moldova for...

The interinstitutional negotiations on the EU Data Act are at a critical stage, with fundamental aspects such as data-sharing and trade secrets still on the table.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama held talks with Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the European Community Summit in Moldova, in which he demanded an end to the current situation...

The Christian Democrats are pushing for the right of healthcare workers to refuse to carry out abortions amid the now five-week-long government talks, Hufvudstadsbladet reported on Thursday. The Christian Democrats, currently in government talks with the National Coalition Party, the...

Right-wing leaders across the EU welcomed the consolidation of the far-right party Vox (ECR) in Spain’s recent elections, while the conservative governing coalition in Italy stressed the need to close ranks among the European right-wing spectrum. One of the biggest...

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said he would call new elections in the north of Kosovo following a phonecall with United States Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer on Thursday and after increased EU member state pressure. The call comes...

Electricity producer Slovenské elektrárne recorded the second-highest loss for a Slovak company in a decade and is suing the state for making it sell at a loss to customers. Slovakia’s biggest electricity producer, Slovenské elektrárne, ended their 2022 yearly accounts...

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS, ECR) said the absence of formal conclusions allowed European politicians to debate openly at Thursday’s European Political Community summit in Moldova. Fiala said the summit in Moldova confirmed that the European Political Community is...

Icelandic Transport Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson is not impressed by the European Commission’s proposal to harmonise driving licence requirements in EU and EEA states, as this would set the age limit at 18, the minister said Thursday. The proposals were...

European Parliament lawmakers say they have reached a compromise deal on European Union plans to restore damaged natural ecosystems, even after the biggest group walked out of negotiations.

BRICS foreign ministers on Thursday (1 June) asserted their bloc's ambition to rival Western powers but their talks in South Africa were overshadowed by questions over whether Russia's president would be arrested if he attended a summit in August.

Luxembourgish Prime Minister Xavier Bettel criticised his Belgian counterpart’s call to put a halt to enacting new EU climate laws to ease the burden on companies at the Second European Political Community Summit in Moldova.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s party (VVD/Renew) members are growing impatient about the lack of a harsher migration policy, with some even being willing to accept a fall of the current cabinet. The party is set to hold a congress on...