European Union

Letter from Presidents Tusk and Juncker to congratulate Scott Morrison on his election as Prime Minister of Australia.

Letter of congratulations from Presidents Tusk and Juncker to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Ireland's Green party scored high in EU elections on Friday, in the second pro-European exit poll in the 2019 vote.

After EU citizens go to the polls over the weekend, the political haggling over key EU positions starts immediately next week. And the parliament and member states seem set to clash.

The victory of the Dutch EU commissioner is news across the EU, yet the Netherlands is not allowed to publish the official result until Sunday evening.

EU leaders praised Theresa May's commitment to deliver an orderly Brexit - while they now brace themselves for an even more eurosceptic British prime minister.

By the end, it was painful to watch Theresa May in action. Her decision to throw in the towel, finally, came with a sense of relief. It is a miracle that she even survived so long. At her final EU...

Familiar faces and new names will be competing for the EU’s top jobs, as capitals are starting to manoeuvre and prepare the ground for their preferred candidates, EURACTIV has found out after talking to EU officials and diplomats.

EDA has launched this week another Defence Energy Managers Course (DEMC), already the third since its creation in January 2017. The courses aim at increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption in the military domain through the application of defence-specific Energy Management Systems (EnMSs) based on the ISO 50001 standard.  

The course which started this week (and will last until May 2020) will provide participants from 8 Member States (Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Sweden) with both theoretical knowledge and practical guidance for using defence-specific and tailor-made Energy Management Systems.

It is split into three modules (10 days in total) alternating with two periods of mentoring and on-the-job training (11 months in total). The course builds on the success of the pilot course and the two first (still ongoing) DEMC editions. 

 

French politicians’ fear of losing votes in the elections jeopardizes the dream of uniting Europe, writes Srdjan Cviijic.

This is a political crisis unprecedented in Austria since the war: the resignation of the vice-chancellor, firing of the interior minister, the mass resignation of FPO ministers, a snap election, and a no-confidence vote in the Austrian parliament on Monday.

A planned high-speed railway connection through the Alps between Italy and France has been highly controversial for decades and is pitting governing Italian coalition parties against each other. But the European Commission insists it must go ahead.

A solution has emerged to the conflict over the construction of a cathedral in a park in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. In the wake of ongoing protests another location has been found for the church. According to a survey by the state polling institute VZIOM, roughly three-quarters of the city's residents feel that the park in the centre of town is not the right place for the house of prayer. The Kremlin had also weighed in on the issue.

British prime minister Theresa May announced on Friday she would be resigning on June 7, following her failure three times to get the Brexit withdrawal bill through parliament. "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal ... sadly I have not been able to do so." Her departure fires the starting gun on a Conservative party leadership contest, with Boris Johnson a heavy favourite.

The European elections continue today Friday with votes in the Czech Republic and Ireland. For weeks the media have been taking an avid interest in the elections, which are considered decisive for the EU's future. The election marathon began on Thursday and continues until Sunday. Journalists look at which issues are mobilising the 418 million people entitled to vote, and what they should take into account when they vote.