European Union

Few people know that the code of conduct for the European Council president is substantially weaker than the code of conduct for commissioners.

British PR firm Chelgate worked for the Maltese government on the case of murdered journalist Caruana Galizia, three well-placed sources have told EUobserver.

Albania’s parliament elected Olsian Çela as prosecutor general on Thursday (5 December) as part of judicial reforms sought by the West that are intended to kick out corrupt judges. The European Union has told Albania the reforms must remain a...

Although the Paris Agreement itself is an unquestionable success, the real struggle still lies ahead of us. It is time to turn political commitment into policy, write Jytte Guteland, Nicolás González Casares, and Mohammed Chahim.

European Greens claimed victory on Thursday (5 December) after EU negotiators reached agreement on a green finance taxonomy aimed at channelling billions of private investor’s money into clean technologies. Coal, and – in principle – nuclear power, are out.

In protest at the government's pension reform proposal, French workers staged a massive strike on Thursday (5 December), which paralysed the country. With teachers and transport sector workers expected to strike again today, this will be Macron's ultimate test. EURACTIV France reports.

Bosnia and Herzegovina must overhaul its complex and opaque justice system and do more to protect the rule of law if it wants to press its case to join the European Union, legal experts said in an EU-commissioned report on Thursday (5 December).

Facebook-sponsored digital currency Libra is determined to getting the green light by European regulators next year, despite the numerous concerns raised by EU finance ministers, a senior representative of the project told EURACTIV.com.

As the new European Commission President prepares to make her first trip to Ethiopia, Chloe Teevan and Amanda Bisong suggest how Ursula von der Leyen can flesh out her commitment to seeking a new partnership with Africa.

Poland's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday (5 December) that a new judicial council charged with nominating and disciplining judges lacks independence, calling into question the government's court reforms.

VDL Commission takes up its seat, Trump under fire as NATO leaders meet, and Rule of Law in Malta feeling the heat.

Slovakia's president asked the Constitutional Court on Thursday (5 December) to strike down a lengthy ban on publishing opinion polls ahead of elections in February, a restriction seen by most opposition parties as an attempt to sideline political newcomers.

Europe is no exception to the decline in freshwater biodiversity, due to many threats such as agricultural pollution, or the overwhelming development of hydropower, writes Dr Steven Weiss. Dr Steven Weiss is an associate professor at the Institute of Biology,...

MEPs and the Finnish presidency of the EU Council agreed Thursday (5 December) on a taxonomy to determine what economic activities can be considered ‘green’, paving the way for billions of euros to be channelled into investments to fight climate change.

The EU executive responds that its public opinion survey is not a statistic, but a snapshot, after concerns were raised over the method that could result in pro-EU bias.

Let’s face it: the choice facing British voters next Thursday is not an appealing one. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are locked in an unpopularity contest – both are deeply divisive, on Brexit and a swathe of domestic policies – and the winner will be the person deemed least unpalatable.

The EU has proven to be successful in legislating in the digital age but it needs to keep up the work to avoid being left behind, because "the digital revolution has been moving faster than legislation", MEP Angelika Niebler (EPP, Germany) told EURACTIV in a written interview.

Last year (2018) the number of beer breweries in Europe passed 10,000, double the amount of five years ago, according to the Brewers of Europe. The increase is almost entirely due to an explosion of microbreweries, mostly in the UK and France. Despite an overall decrease in alcohol consumption, beer consumption in Europe increased, partly due to the growing popularity of non- and low-alcohol beers.

The EU council said on Thursday that "stablecoins" (a type of cryptocurrency designed to minimise the volatility of the price) "should not come into operation until all of these risks and concerns are properly addressed". The lack of adequate information about the operability and risks of stablecoins makes it difficult to reach definitive conclusions on whether and how the existing EU regulatory framework applies, the institution concluded.

After the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that organisms obtained by new plant breeding techniques (NBTs) should, in principle, fall under the GMO Directive, the Council of the EU has requested a study from the Commission to clarify the situation. But what this means in practice remains unclear.