European Union

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the development of wheat and fertiliser cargo transport routes in Asia during a visit to Kazakhstan on Thursday (9 November), as Moscow seeks to forge new export routes due to Western sanctions.

Some types of fuel made from Russian oil can be exported to the EU under current rules, Lukoil Bulgaria said on Thursday, denying accusations of violating international oil sanctions against Russia.

Socio-economic challenges in Western Balkan countries have been hampering their European Union integration path, but this will change with a new €6 billion cash injection for the region, the EU Ambassador to Tirana, Luigi Soreca, said on Thursday. In a...

The Slovenian government has toughened its anti-smoking legislation with a ban on smoking rooms and most flavourings in all heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to prevent addiction among children and reduce related health costs. Flavourings in all heated tobacco...

Electricity producers' profits should be redistributed among consumers, while investments in low-carbon technologies need to be increased, the new Economy Minister Denisa Saková said in a joint statement on EU electricity market reform with French Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

Germany and Austria should be invited to the upcoming Visegrad Group summit at the end of November to discuss internal border controls and irregular migration, Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) and his newly appointed Slovak counterpart Matúš Šutaj Eštok...

The European Parliament’s decision to lift the immunity of four conservative Polish MEPs to allow their prosecution in Poland for inciting hatred against migrants online, is “political” and “aimed at revenge”, a high-ranking government official has said.

Evidence of human rights abuses on the territory of the indigenous Sámi people, and accusations of green colonialism, must prompt EU politicians to amend the law by adding clear provisions on indigenous rights, write Rasmus Kløcker Larsen and Kaisa Raitio.

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is the talk of town in Brussels these days giving rise to studies, deep debate, and controversy, especially in the bioplastics sector. In love and war, all is fair, but in sustainability, the cleanest one ought to win.

Portugal will hold snap elections on 10 March, announced President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Thursday evening as he said parties had agreed to the dissolution of parliament following the recent resignation of António Costa. Costa unexpectedly resigned amid a...

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas for the first time at the Gaza aid conference in Paris on Thursday, adding that France will increase its financial support to Gaza. On Thursday, France hosted an...

Outgoing Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren (D66/Renew) urged the next European Commission on Thursday to create a separate commissioner post for defence, stressing the need to boost arms procurement and military spending within the EU. Ollongren, who previously advocated for a larger EU...

Lawmakers in the European Parliament adopted their position on new pollution standards for road vehicles on Thursday (9 November), in a move seen as a win for conservative lawmakers who sought to limit costs for the car industry.

Italy’s left-wing Democratic Party has called for Albania’s Socialist Party, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, to be expelled from the European Socialist Party over the controversial deal he struck with conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to process asylum seekers picked up from Italian waters in northern Albania.

Gaza officials said Israel launched air strikes on or near at least three hospitals on Friday (10 November), further endangering a health system swamped with thousands of casualties and people displaced by Israel's war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

EU membership is strongly supported by an overwhelming 87% of Germans, with most far-right voters also in favour of remaining in the bloc, according to a new poll published on Thursday. With just seven months to go until the European...

Spain’s main opposition parties announced on Thursday that they were preparing massive “civil resistance” actions against the “key-to-rule” deal between the Spanish Socialist Party and Catalan separatists, which includes a controversial amnesty law for those involved in Catalonia’s 2017 separatist...

A global "peace summit" for Ukraine may take place in February 2024, a Kyiv official said amid concerns in the West that the war in Gaza is making it harder to win over diplomatic support for Kyiv's blueprint for peace.

Today, the Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on new rules to restore and preserve degraded habitats in the EU.

The Council has prolonged its restrictive measures in view of Türkiye's unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, until 30 November 2024.