European Union

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and German Chancellor Angela Merkel advocate the prompt resumption of the dialogue for reaching a comprehensive agreement on the full normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, it was announced on Wednesday (18 March) following a...

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is being misused by employers across Europe as trade unions are denied access to information required to recruit and organise workers, a new study has found.

Croatian parliament has given greater powers to the national civil guard as the country faces the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of 108 MPs approved the amendments, meaning that starting tomorrow, the guard will legally be able to make decisions and...

The UK government is moving towards imposing further restrictions on movement in London, which has become the epicentre of the country’s recent spike in coronavirus cases. On Wednesday (18 March), the Cabinet Office wrote to other government departments requesting their...

The Irish Department of Health has announced that a further 74 cases of COVID-19 have been identified, bringing the total in the Republic to 366. Dublin currently has the highest number of cases at 14. The National Public Health Emergency...

The government will increase its corona-crisis-fund from €4 billion to €38 billion to help businesses hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis.  Channelling former ECB-president Mario Draghi, vice-chancellor Werner Kogler of the Greens said the state will do “whatever it takes...

The French government on Wednesday (18 March) proposed ‘catch-all’ emergency legislation to try to respond to the coronavirus. Among the provisions of the text are one on electoral provisions, another on the state of health emergency and the third on...

Although Flanders is being harder hit than Wallonia by the coronavirus, most of the European support for Belgium flows to the south of the country, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon (N-VA) complained as the Flemish and Walloon governments installed further measures...

The EU's internet infrastructure is 'under strain' and a series of measures should be implemented by online streaming platforms as a means to mitigate the higher demand for bandwidth amid the current coronavirus quarantine period, the European Commission said on Wednesday evening (18 March).

The EU's additive manufacturing sector is rallying the potential benefits of 3D printing technologies for aiding in the shortage of vital health equipment needed for treating coronavirus patients across Europe.

Pope Francis has put a further spotlight on the Italian health services' struggle to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, by backing a prominent journalist's complaint that tax dodgers were partly to blame.

The European Commission published its proposed five priorities for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) policy post-2020 on Wednesday (18 March). The new objectives centre on economy and trade, boosting judicial reforms, the environment and digitalisation, as well as tackling corruption and strengthening civil society and media.

EU farmers' organisation COPA-COGECA has called on the  European Commission to ensure the smooth functioning of agricultural production – including cash flow – in view of further restrictions expected to be adopted in the coming weeks to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian government threatened on Wednesday (18 March) to ban all outdoor exercise as the coronavirus death toll soared to 2,978 and frustration grew over the number of people defying a nationwide lockdown order.

Germany and The Netherlands, two of the most staunch opponents to the idea of issuing common debt in the eurozone, would be “open” to discuss eurobonds to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus COVID-19.

Italy on Wednesday (18 March) reported nearly 500 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest one-day official toll of any nation, as Donald Trump ordered sweeping new action against the pandemic and declared himself a war president.

The European Commission is having to re-order its priorities in the face of the coronavirus crisis, with “non-essential” initiatives like the biodiversity strategy and the farm-to-fork strategy likely to be delayed by several weeks, EURACTIV understands.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel used all her political weight in a  televised address on Wednesday to call on Germans to respect the containment rules imposed because of the coronavirus, urging them to show solidarity and help counter "the biggest challenge since World War Two".

The Turkish government has decided to close its rail and land border with Greece and Bulgaria amid fears over the coronavirus spread, AFP quoted Turkish media as saying.

The Wuhan province in China, the initial epicentre of the outbreak of the coronavirus, reported for the first time that no new people were infected by the virus on Thursday. China's national health commission said there were 34 new cases, but all were recent overseas arrivals.