European Union

Bulgaria is likely to veto the start of Skopje’s accession talks with the EU due to a lack of progress in the work of a bilateral committee made up of historians, who are in charge of determining the common history...

Written by Krisztina Binder, Maria Diaz Crego, Gianna Eckert, Silvia Kotanidis, Rafal Manko and Micaela Del Monte,

© Ivelin Radkov / Adobe Stock

With the first case of unknown pneumonia reported in the province of Wuhan (People’s Republic of China) on 31 December 2019, within few weeks the coronavirus (Covid-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. Since then it has spread to most corners of the globe. While the health threat it poses and the challenge it represents for human health is paramount, no less important is the strain it puts on the legal order. For most of the affected countries, in particular in the EU, this outbreak is posing unprecedented institutional challenges and has obliged institutions and governments to adopt strict measures affecting citizens’ rights in a way unparalleled since the Second World War.

While some Member States’ constitutions include mechanisms allowing for recourse to a ‘state of emergency’ or the entrustment of special powers to specific institutions, other Member States’ legal orders do not, either for historic reasons or owing to institutional tradition. Crucial aspects of the exercise of public powers under a pandemic threat include not only the extent of the measures adopted, but also their legitimacy, raising the question of their duration and of the degree of parliamentary oversight. This briefing is the first in a series intended to offer a comparative overview of the institutional responses adopted in different Member States, in the light of i) the constitutional framework for the state of emergency or legitimation of the emergency legislation ii) the specific measures adopted, iii) the extent of the parliamentary oversight exercised over the measures adopted. This first briefing, therefore, offers an overview of the responses to the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain.

Read the complete briefing on ‘States of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis: Situation in certain Member States‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

The EU issued a declaration on Nicaragua as the Council added six individuals responsible for serious human rights violations to the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures.

Media advisory - Press briefing ahead of the EU-Western Balkans Zagreb Summit

At the coronavirus pledging event, European Council President Charles Michel pledged for an acceleration of the development, manufacture and delivery of vaccines, tests and treatments to everyone, everywhere, at an affordable price.

Press conference following a video conference of telecommunications ministers, 5 May 2020.

Press briefing ahead of video conference of Eurogroup, 8 May 2020.

A press conference held following the video conference of employment and social affairs ministers, 5 May 2020.

The EU's relationship with the Western Balkans appears to have turned a positive corner in recent months, with the decision to start the much-delayed accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, and the provision of substantial COVID-19 related medical and financial support. Nonetheless, fundamental issues remain, warns Vladimir Krulj.

Most EU countries are seeing a “substantial decrease” in cases of COVID-19, and Bulgaria is the only EU country where coronavirus cases are increasing, the director of the EU’s disease control agency said on Monday (4 May).

The European Commission is mulling over plans to introduce 'new and innovative financial solutions' to support the sustainability of the EU's media sector amid the current health crisis.

Even if Russia has said that it is up to Finland to decide on its possible NATO membership, such a decision would still have negative implications for the bilateral relations, according to a study commissioned by the previous Finnish government and published on Monday (4 May).

Hopes rose in the fight against the coronavirus on Monday (4 May) as world leaders pledged billions of euros for a vaccine in a special telethon and European countries edged out of lockdown.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent a letter to the party leaders of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), accusing both political opponents and allies of spreading fake news about the Hungarian coronavirus law that enabled his government to rule by decree without set time limits.

The ongoing armed conflict in Libya is going to push thousands of people, now asylum-seekers in Libyan camps, to escape towards the Southern border regions of Tunisia, Medenine and Tataouine, writes Mourad Teyeb. Mourad Teyeb is a journalist and consultant...

A new study out of Germany has suggested that the coronavirus infection rate there could be much higher than initially thought and that some 1.8m people could be infected nationwide, a quarter of them without symptoms, Deutsche Welle reports. The number of coronavirus infections in Germany could be 10 times higher than currently thought, says a much-discussed Heinsberg Report, which took a closer look at one small community in Germany.

The European Commission is considering three options for future investments in gas infrastructure as Europe moves towards "climate neutrality" by 2050, according to a leaked memo seen by EURACTIV.

The EU's bid to regulate online platforms, the Digital Services Act, is likely to address a number of competition issues related to the digital economy, possibly through a new competition tool, the European Commission's Vice-President for Digital, Margrethe Vestager has said.

The EU's disease prevention agency says more funds will be needed to shore up surveillance of infectious diseases, which it wants to make less reliant on humans.

The commissioner for the digital portfolio, Margrethe Vestager, warned that "without the technology, it will be very difficult to open [society] to the degree that we all want" - since new outbreaks might surge back until there is a vaccine.