European Union

MEPs criticised Turkey’s military operation in Syria and called for measures against the country during a debate on 23 October.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

MEPs criticised Turkey’s military operation in Syria and called for measures against the country during a debate on 23 October.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Smart taxation is the solution to drive growth, address current and future challenges of economic change and fulfill international goals, whilst at the same time taking into consideration national needs.

In its efforts to harmonise the digital legislation of its 28 countries, the European Union has accidentally become the world’s digital regulator – while ceding ground to other digital innovators.

What if the EU can't guarantee European security? In times when US physical presence does not make up for its mental absence, the question got urgent.

French president expected to name Thierry Breton, a tech CEO, to be EU single market commissioner, but other options remain.

France and Italy's draft budgets for 2020 might breach EU fiscal rules and they must send clarifications by Wednesday, the European Commission has said. The EU executive body also issued budgetary concerns over Finland, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. Countries sometimes present incomplete budgets due to elections. But the current budgetary measures of the caretaker governments could fall foul of EU fiscal rules.

EU member states and lawmakers will start negotiations on sustainable investment on Wednesday, reported Reuters. The talks may provoke disputes over whether oil, coal, and nuclear fuel can count as "green" investment. The European Parliament wants to make a clear distinction between what is sustainable and what is not. The list of "green" investments will be needed to push implement new EU climate laws.

Turkey and Russia agreed Tuesday that Russian military police and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's border guards will enter a "safe area" outside Turkey's Syrian field of operation and move Kurdish militants back to 30 km from the border within 150 hours. US vice president Mike Pence supported the creation of the safe zone. Now the attention is focused on how the Kurds in northern Syria will react to the deal.

The European Commission criticised Romania for backsliding on judicial reforms and fighting corruption in its yearly Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report, published on Tuesday. If Bucharest did not improve, punitive measures may have to be taken, it warned. The monitoring mechanism was launched when Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007. Bulgaria had made sufficient progress, another report said, and may now leave the monitoring program.

UK lawmakers finally backed a bill to leave the EU, but put off ratification, in what could prompt a Brexit delay or new UK election.

Bioenergies, including wood, biofuels and forest-based industries, should be recognised under the EU’s draft sustainable finance taxonomy, in line with the recently-updated renewable energy directive, an industry coalition has claimed.

The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. In this edition: Croatia gets the nod from the European Commission to join Schengen but Slovenia may veto; Germany's Syria proposal 'irritates' partners while Macron faces a new scandal and much more.....

No high-level EU Commission official was to be found at the opening of a two-day Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday (22 October), which was attended by 2,000 delegates from some 60 countries, including several EU member states. 

Russia and Turkey agreed on Tuesday (22 October) to ensure Kurdish forces withdraw from areas close to Syria's border with Turkey and to launch joint patrols, in a deal hailed as "historic" by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Will the EU27 grant Britain an extension to leave the bloc beyond its 31 October deadline and if they do, what will the delay look like?

EU leaders should delay Brexit after Prime Minister Boris Johnson paused legislation on his deal following a parliamentary defeat, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Tuesday (22 October), as Britain spins towards a possible election to break the impasse.