European Union

The UK government was accused on Tuesday (22 September) of failing to ensure the cross-Channel rail link can continue to operate after the Brexit transition is over, while EU officials are yet to confirm their plans for the tunnel.

Democratic backsliding in Europe is evident and the EU must stop treating the rule of law and democracy in its member countries as a taboo subject. It should be discussed openly and impartially, writes Michal Šimečka.

Parliament is calling for new EU revenue sources to invest in Europe’s future and support the Covid-19 recovery without burdening taxpayers. Find out more.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Parliament is calling for new EU revenue sources to invest in Europe’s future and support the Covid-19 recovery without burdening taxpayers. Find out more.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The European Commission on Thursday (24 September) set out plans to create what its officials described as the world’s most comprehensive set of rules for crypto-assets and their underlying blockchain technology.

Written by Magdalena Pasikowska-Schnass,

© Andrey Kuzmin / Adobe Stock

Since 2001, Europe has marked European Day of Languages each year on 26 September, in order to focus attention on its rich linguistic diversity. The European Union boasts 24 official languages, and around 60 regional and minority languages are spoken across the Member States. Europe’s linguistic mosaic also includes a variety of sign languages spoken by half a million people, heritage languages such as ancient Greek and Latin, as well as Esperanto – a planned international language created in Europe.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), many world languages, including European ones, are endangered and could disappear due to the dominant role of languages such as English with a huge population of native speakers and other learners. Regional and minority languages (RMLs) together with smaller state languages – the ‘lesser-used languages’ – are under serious threat of extinction.

This threat is exacerbated by digital technology. The future of RMLs depends to some extent on their presence in new digital media. Young people communicate and seek information mainly via the internet. If online content is only available in dominant languages, lesser-used languages could become ‘digitally extinct’. However, digital technology is not necessarily a death sentence; it can also offer a rescue kit. Online education, online language learning and language technologies can help revitalise endangered languages. To achieve this objective, huge efforts are needed by speakers’ communities and language technology specialists to gather data, analyse and process it, in order to create language tools. With such tools, young people can create content in lesser-used languages and expand their use.

Read the complete briefing on ‘European Day of Languages: Digital survival of lesser-used languages‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Four Eastern European countries rejected the EU's latest plans for handling migrants on Thursday (24 September), after talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, and insisted that the plans for tougher new asylum rules do not go far enough.

Just over two weeks after the fire that destroyed the Moria refugee camp, the EU Commission presented a new asylum package on Wednesday. Europe's press is mainly focused on the planned reform of the extended Dublin system under which member states would no longer be bound to take in a certain number of refugees but could instead opt to take on tasks such as repatriation of those whose applications are rejected. Few consider this to be a viable solution.

After the death of liberal Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shortly before the presidential election in November, US President Donald Trump can nominate her successor. If confirmed by the Senate, his decision could cement a clear conservative majority in the court. Observers examine what this would mean for the country.

Securing as many town halls as possible will be the top priority for the national liberal PNL government and PSD, the largest opposition party, in Romania's local elections on Sunday. Romanian commentators explain why heading to the polling station is far more important for voters than the term "local elections" might suggest.