European Union

Statistics reveal that alcohol sales in Finland increased by 23% in April compared to the year before. Finnish national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly, Alko, saw its sales of Rosé wine increase by 40% that month, while red and white wins...

Eritrean activists sued the European Union (EU) on Wednesday (13 May) and asked it to halt €80 million in aid to the east African nation, saying the money funded a scheme built on forced labour.

The European Parliament will demand a €2 trillion recovery package to counter the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis in a resolution to be voted on Thursday (14 May) by the  assembly's five biggest political groups. 

Poland's government said Wednesday (13 May) it had called on the EU to include bigger farm subsidies in the bloc's future seven-year budget, suggesting an increase of 10% on what had already been agreed.

Alphabet Inc-owned Google’s planned $2.1 billion buy of fitness trackers company Fitbit may harm consumers and hinder innovation, European consumer group BEUC said on Wednesday (13 May), calling it a game-changer deal in the health and digital markets.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced frustration Wednesday that Russia was targeting her in hacking action, saying she had concrete proof of the "outrageous" spying attempts.

Social networks and other online content providers will have to remove paedophile and terrorism-related content from their platforms within the hour or face a fine of up to 4% of their global revenue under a French law voted in on Wednesday.

Chinese hackers are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research, US authorities said Wednesday (13 May), ratcheting up tensions between the superpowers as markets slumped on warnings from the US Federal Reserve that prolonged shutdowns could cause "lasting damage."

Austrians' personal data has been publicly accessible on the Ministry of Economy's website since 2009. The liberal party NEOS and NGO epicenter.works call it the "biggest data protection scandal of the Second Republic." NEOS is considering legal action and a GDPR expert told EURACTIV Germany it could be successful.

The Belgian National Security Council announced that on 18 May it will again be possible to get a haircut, visit museums and shop at markets. Beauty salons and sport clubs will reopen too. Reservations are mandatory for hair and beauty salons, while ticketing for museums can only be done online. Primary and secondary schools are also restarting, but only for some classes.

Terrorists, such as Islamic militant group Isis, could target medical staff and facilities in Europe during the pandemic, the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator, Gilles de Kerkhove, has warned. Such attacks "would generate a massive shock in society," he said in an internal briefing note dated 7 May and seen by the AP news agency. Isis had "incited its supporters in the West to take advantage of the current crisis," he added.

"The clear objective is that we want free travel in Europe again as of mid-June," German interior minister Horst Seehofer said on Wednesday, as Europe's largest country pledged to ease open border crossings with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland on Saturday, albeit still with "random checks". Travel by mid-June was feasible if the infection rates stayed "favourable" and if "public discipline [on hygiene] continues to be maintained", Seehofer added.

Italy is to spend €55bn on helping people get over the pandemic, prime minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday. Most of the money will be spent on unemployment benefits and on €40,000 booster payments for small firms. Larger companies will also get corporate tax holidays. The package comes despite Italy's sky-high public debt levels. But EU officials have signalled Italy can break EU fiscal discipline rules in the special circumstances.

The EU commission has proposed measures aimed at resuming travel in the EU "in a responsible and coordinated way" - with different advice on transport, hotels, and cross-border trips.

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen shed some light on her upcoming COVID-19 recovery plan in the European Parliament on Wednesday (13 May) but did not unveil the size of the updated EU budget that will underpin the plan. 

I found a loophole to meet the woman I love after three months apart, but is love an "essential" reason for travel?

The EU Commission asked member states to make vouchers for cancelled trips more attractive, rather than scrapping the legally-binding cash refund option.

The Conference on the Future of Europe will help to find out why a large part of the Europeans does not endorse the Union.

German chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed on Wednesday that she was targeted by hackers thought to be Russian military intelligence (GRU). Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported that GRU had obtained emails from her constituency office in a hacking attack in 2015. "Honestly, it hurts me," Merkel said, and described the attack as "outrageous". Merkel added that she would continue to "strive for good relations with Russia".

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency's annual report says the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people has not improved overall in the past seven years. The agency surveyed some 140,000 people, the largest of its kind when it comes to the LGBTI community. "Too many LGBTI people continue to live in the shadows, afraid of being ridiculed, discriminated or even attacked," said FRA director Michael O'Flahert.