European Union

Critics accuse Georgian Dream -- in power for more than a decade -- of having steered the country away from the EU in recent years and of moving closer to Russia.

Gains by far-right groupings in Sunday's parliamentary vote after a campaign dominated by voters' concerns over budget problems and the cost of living could upend Romania's pro-Western orientation.

Attacks on journalists are rising. Europe has been slow to act in response. A new European approach to media strategic communications is needed.

With funding commitments of €380 million, the New European Bauhaus has sparked 500 projects. Creativity is flourishing. What lessons have been learned, and how will the project continue to unfold?

China has emerged as a global leader in nuclear fusion research, driven by strong government backing, significant investment, and a focus on cutting-edge technology. Europe is playing catch-up. Are fusion partnerships the way forward for the EU?

Europe is ill-equipped to diagnose Alzheimer’s early and accurately, yet Alzheimer’s is a condition affecting millions of European citizens. Prioritising research is critical to success.

Foreign influences on EU media are part of hybrid attacks, the spread of disinformation and the undermining of institutions. What can be done to stem the tide and revitalise quality journalism across the union?

European democracy struggles to resist foreign influence attacks. EU legislative processes are bombarded daily with disinformation. Funding quality media effectively is just one approach to slow the slide to ‘the dark side’ of journalism, regulation is another.

Danish Green MEP Rasmus Nordqvist, a designer who has collaborated with many architects, spoke with Euractiv after the New European Bauhaus white paper presentation in the European Parliament about what it means for Europe’s urban spaces.

A surge in sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia is complicating the HIV epidemic. STIs increase the risk of contracting HIV if exposed. A decline in condom use is adding to the crisis.

Problems will only deepen with new structure of Von der Leyen Commission, he warned.

Written by Kjeld van Wieringen.

Europe is lagging behind the US and China in electric vehicle (EV) innovation and has become China’s largest EV export market. The double pressure of Western companies moving production facilities to China and Chinese companies that are looking to Europe to sell EVs risks disrupting the European automotive supply chain. As the automobile sector generates 7 % of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) and close to 14 million direct and indirect jobs, any threat against the sector should be taken seriously. This paper explores the future of European EVs and whether the EU car industry will manage to survive competition with China. 

China has become the world’s leading EV-producing country in recent years, making over half of the world’s electric vehicles. The European Commission has stressed that China’s rapidly rising exports of cheap EVs and growing overcapacity constitute a threat to Europe’s automotive industry. China achieved its leadership position through subsidies and various competitive advantages such as its access to natural resources, its large internal market, cheap labour and cheap technologies.

The European Commission announced the initiation of EU anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese electric vehicle supply chains on 4 October 2023. This anti-subsidy probe is the largest EU trade case against China in history. The Commission concluded in June 2024 that Chinese-made EVs have benefited from unfair subsidies and implemented various provisional tariffs in response, ranging from 17.4 % to 38.1 %. In October, the Commission received the necessary support from Member States to impose definitive duties on Chinese EVs.

Stakeholders and experts have warned that tariffs will not be enough to protect EU competitiveness in the EV industry, stressing the need for investment and other measures, and that the EU needs a stronger industrial policy to this end. However, they do suggest that tariffs will help EU producers buy time in their transition towards EV production, and that tariffs may also serve to attract Chinese EV investment into the EU.

Ten policy experts in the field were surveyed for the development of four scenarios for the European EV industry by 2030. These scenarios are the following:

• Cutting-edge Europe: The EU and its EV manufacturers develop cutting-edge technologies and take a leading role in the global EV market.
• Slow electrification: Chinese carmakers have captured large shares of the European EV market through exports and local production as Europe lags behind.
• Overdependence: Europe is reliant on Chinese technology as almost all domestic European EV industry and brands vanish.
• Sanctions spiral: Chinese counter-sanctions following aggression against Taiwan cause massive disruption to EV supply chains.

If Europe is to steer its future to a positive outcome, it will have to use its existing policy instruments and build new ones to promote and protect its EV industry and foster meaningful partnerships to that end. All of this could involve a new EU industrial plan designed to stimulate electric vehicle manufacturing in Europe.

Read the complete ‘in-depth analysis’ on ‘The future of European electric vehicles‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Chinese-made EV sales in Europe by producer (January 2021 – March 2022) European EV scenarios for 2030

If the Constitutional Court announces a rerun, the first round of voting in the presidential election could take place on 15 December and the run-off could be on 29 December.

In general terms, Richard Moore said the world was in its most dangerous state in his 37 years working in the intelligence world

Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that he would accept a two-phase solution under which Russia would return the occupied Ukrainian territories at a later stage "diplomatically".

In a sign of ethnic tensions between the two Balkan countries, Prime Minister Albin Kurti blamed Serbian criminal gangs without providing proof.

In his handover speech in front of the press and Council staff, President Charles Michel looked back at the main challenges of his term in office and expressed confidence in the future under the leadership of incoming President António Costa.

During the handover ceremony, incoming European Council President António Costa thanked outgoing President Charles Michel for his work during his mandate and outlined his vision and priorities for the future of the EU.  

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Georgescu best embodied the revolt against a political system associated with corruption, cronyism, and inefficiency,