European Union

Parliament’s Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic has adopted recommendations to improve EU crisis management and preparedness for future health emergencies.
Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

The European Commission on Monday (12 June) said it cannot yet release details of €105m to prevent migrants from leaving Tunisia. But similar past proposals for Tunisia in the past may offer some clues.

EU labour ministers have finally agreed their position on the directive for platform workers — but with major internal differences and a very different position from that of the parliament and council.

The race to win the clean-tech race is heating up, but according to the Centre for European Reform, European policymakers are fretting too much about green competitiveness.

While the European Commission has introduced a voluntary solidarity mechanism, stronger regulation is needed for all countries to participate and share responsibility for asylum seekers across Europe.

With a new, pro-European Bulgarian coalition government installed in Sofia, now is the time for a sharp U-turn in Sofia regarding Bulgaria's historical responsibility for the deportation and ultimate murder of 11,343 Jews from Bulgarian-controlled Macedonia, Thrace and Pirot.

A coalition of corporations come out in support of the EU Nature Restoration Law, following attacks from centre-right politicians and EU member states.

On Wednesday (14 June), MEPs are expected to quiz top officials from the EU Commission and the Council and lay out their own demands on what should be discussed with leaders.

Old rifts resurfaced in Britain's ruling Conservative Party on Saturday (10 June) following former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's abrupt resignation from parliament, while the opposition Labour Party sensed opportunity ahead of a general election next year.

German investigators are examining evidence suggesting a sabotage team used Poland as an operating base to damage the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday (10 June).

Montenegrins head to the polls on Sunday (11 June) for a snap election many hope will bring in a new government to implement economic reforms, improve infrastructure and take the NATO member state closer to European Union membership.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged on Saturday (10 June) that his military was engaged in "counter-offensive and defensive operations" a day after Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said Kyiv's long-vaunted drive to retake territory was well under way.

The Net Zero Industry Act must accelerate the deployment of solar if the EU wants to reach its ambitious 2030 targets. However, the exact opposite will happen if current market access provisions are not changed. The EU needs to tear down market barriers, not raise new ones. We must enable solar to shine.

China is strategically far better prepared when it comes to the Green transition and has an edge of at least 15 years when it comes to the mining and processing of critical raw materials that will fuel the net-zero industry, according to an expert.

In Germany, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is gaining popularity, with a recent poll putting it in second place - ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD.

The European Parliament is seeking to launch negotiations on key asylum reforms with member states as early as next week. The demand follows Thursday's breakthrough political agreement in Luxembourg among EU interior ministers.

France admitted it has "considerable scope for progress" in reaching EU waste recycling targets by 2025, after the European Commission warned 18 member states they were not on track to reach the EU-wide goals. 

EURACTIV spoke to former diplomats who gave a positive assessment of Kazakhstan’s cooperation potential with the EU and advised the Union against being overtaken by China, a much more assertive geopolitical player.

Thursday night's migration deal struck by EU home affairs ministers in Luxembourg is not ambitious. However, it was never going to be. 

After several attempts to reach a common position, the EU Council could finally reach an agreement on the platform workers' rules at the upcoming ministerial meeting — but disagreements over the employment status of these workers remain sharp.