European Union

Health Minister Olivier Véran is expected to announce on Thursday (1 October) new government measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. The French capital, which has already reached a stage where it could fall into a high alert zone, fears...

The Finnish government had not by Wednesday evening (30 September) commented on the Commission’s Report. However, it would be safe to predict that the country would welcome the report. The rule of law has traditionally been high on Finland’s agenda,...

At the same time, Hungary’s parliament has warned it will withhold its consent for the EU’s recovery plan if there is a proposal to link the bloc’s funds to rule-of-law criteria. Read more. The Hungarian government said “Hungary is one...

With regard to Poland, the European Commission’s report states that justice system reforms introduced in 2015 raise serious concerns, noting that these reforms affected the Constitutional Tribunal, Supreme Court, common courts, National Council of the Judiciary and the prosecutor, which,...

As expected, Poland and Hungary said they have serious reservations regarding the report’s concept, methodology and sources of content. It cannot serve as a basis for the discussions on the rule of law in the EU, said Polish Justice Minister...

Greece looks for EU support this week in tough upcoming talks with Turkey after securing a diplomatic boost from the visiting US secretary of state.

Bulgaria’s Justice Minister Desislava Akhladova and the ruling GERB party described the European Commission’s report as “positive and objective”, despite it stating that there are no solid results in the fight against corruption and that most Bulgarian media outlets serve...

“Romania has long argued that we need such a report, instead of the CVM, which discriminates between Romania and Bulgaria and the other member states.” President Klaus Iohannis told reporters on Wednesday (30 September), confirming that the government agrees with...

EU leaders meet physically for an extraordinary summit in Brussels on Thursday (1 October) in an attempt to break the deadlock over imposing sanctions on Belarus and resolving a standoff with Turkey, both crucial for the EU's credibility on the international scene.

The European Commission has laid out plans to boost the education of citizens in digital skills across the bloc, as part of a drive that it hopes will aid Europe's long-term economic stability while the continent rebounds from the after-effects of the coronavirus crisis.

The only plausible exit strategy for our current global challenges is science and innovation. We need EU funding for science and innovation more than ever… yet the Council wants to cut Horizon Europe, warn Pascal Lamy and Carlos Moedas.

The inaugural annual rule of law review highlighted shortcomings in member states - but will not lead to concrete action.

The Czech Republic's foreign affairs ministry filed a complaint to the European Commission against Poland on Wednesday to stop the re-licence of operations at the Turow lignite mine. Environmental groups welcomed the decision, urging the EU executive to act since the mine expansion violates four EU environmental directives. The commission has now three months to react to the complaint before the Czech government can take Poland to court in January.

The European Commission's first report on the rule of law has raised concerns over the lack of effective anti-corruption efforts in some members sates - while it considers Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands have good governance measures.

Portugal has sought to be a leader at the EU level with regard to refugees and migrants, advocating a liberal position. It has consistently shown a willingness to take in refugees.

The European Commission says the EU is not providing any financial aid to Caprera, the Italian warship caught smuggling cigarettes from Libya. A recent investigation by the New York Times said the Caprera had stopped some 7,000 migrants from reaching Europe and had also smuggled some 700,000 contraband cigarettes from Libya. The EU helps fund Italian projects to shore up the Libyan coast guard.

EU regulators should have new laws ready by end-of-year on data transfer by EU firms to the US, the EU's digital affairs commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in Brussels Wednesday. The revamp comes after an EU court overturned a previous EU data-privacy pact that governed the exchange. The new regime was "very ambitious and [we] hope that it can be in place before Christmas," Vestager said at a Politico congress.

The UK has offered to let EU fishing boats use its waters between 2021 and 2024 in a post-Brexit transition period that would see their allowable catch scaled down over time, British newspaper The Guardian reported Wednesday. "If the other problematic issues can be sorted, it doesn't look like fisheries will stand in the way of an agreement", a senior EU diplomat said. Other problems concern access to state aid.

Germany has welcomed China's recent pledge to become carbon-neutral by 2060, while regretting the US was not following suit. "Unlike other large emitters, it's encouraging that China stands by the Paris climate accord," Merkel told MPs on Wednesday, referring to the US decision to exit the so-called Paris climate accord. "This is a very ambitious [Chinese] goal that should spur us in Europe to really fulfil our targets," she added.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia are to call states of emergency of 30-45 days' length in response to the second wave of coronavirus infections. The Italian parliament also suspended all meetings after two out of its 319 deputes tested positive on Wednesday. Infection rates are currently the highest in Belgium, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, as well as parts of central Europe, according to EU statistics.