European Union

The European Commission’s proposed mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence laws and a forced labour ban are two powerful instruments that need to be executed effectively to successfully address Uyghur forced labour, write Koen Stoop and Helene de Rengerve.

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, an ever-growing divide between Western and Eastern Europe in terms of vaccination uptake becomes more apparent. But what's driving it?

The EU’s "restrictive" approach to biofuels sustainability criteria will harm producers’ ability to meet increased demand for green fuels coming from the transport sector, says Henna Virkkunen, a Finnish lawmaker in the European Parliament. 

Footage from social media showed hundreds of migrants marching from inside Belarus towards the Polish border on Monday (8 October), prompting the European Commission to decry Minsk's "misuse of people" and call the migration situation on the Belarusian border "matter of urgency". 

While the French seed industry, the government, and the European Commission agree on the need to develop crop varieties further, NGOs have warned of risks linked with deregulating new genomic techniques.

Covid infection rates are on the rise once again in many European countries. In Austria, new rules that go into effect on Monday mean that only those who can provide proof of vaccination or recovery will be allowed to enter public places such as bars and restaurants and use services such as hairdressers. In Italy, the vaccination, recovery or test rule is now compulsory - even in the workplace. Europe's press continues to debate about how to contain the fourth wave.

The second week of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow has just begun and declarations of intent by political leaders must now take concrete form if they are to have any effect. On Saturday hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to show their frustration at the lack of results. Commentators also list a host of reasons why an agreement seems unlikely.

The conflict in the Ethiopian region of Tigray is spreading across the country. Hundreds of thousands have already fled the violence and around 400,000 people are already in acute danger of starvation. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called on the population to stop the rebels in the north: 'There are sacrifices to be made' to 'salvage' Ethiopia, he declared on Twitter. How should the international community respond?

In Poland, a strict ban on abortions with only very few exceptions has been in place for a year. Now a pregnant woman in the town of Pszczyna has died after doctors refused to perform an abortion before the foetus's heart had stopped beating. Over the weekend tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated against the rigid abortion law. The press discusses why the protests are unlikely to die down anytime soon.