European Union

This is your weekly EURACTIV Transport Brief, the one port of call for all the news from the world of mobility and much more!

Labour and the Tories will be equally to blame for not having challenged Nigel Farage, who is likely to be the big winner of the European elections in the UK, writes Stavros Papagianneas.

The EU should give up powers to national parliaments in future, Poland has said, amid a battle on EU values and sexual mores in the run-up to European elections.

France's head of state never runs out of ideas for Europe. Emmanuel Macron now wants to mix ideas proposed by citizens and leaders to get Europe back on its feet. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Parliament and the Council gave their official green light to the Single-use Plastics Directive on Tuesday morning (21 May). Larissa Copello de Souza explains how the implementation period is a golden opportunity to raise the bar even further.

Commission v Hungary
Free movement of capital
In cancelling the rights of usufruct over agricultural land in its territory that are held, directly or indirectly, by nationals of other Member States, Hungary has failed to fulfil its obligations arising from the principle of the free movement of capital and the right to property guaranteed by the Charter

Some European companies are urging people to vote in this week's European elections to prevent anti-EU forces scooping too many seats and secure their interests in a stable Europe. Swedish music-streaming company Spotify on Tuesday had over 60,000 followers to an EU-themed playlist entitled 'Get Vocal Europe!', while Germany's Volkswagen appealed to its 490,000 European employees to cast their vote, saying that a united Europe is in everybody's interests.

Television comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy took the oath of office as Ukraine’s new president on Monday (20 May), promising that as hard as he had worked in the past to make Ukrainians laugh, he would now work to keep them from crying.

Ministers from Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO) resigned on Monday, throwing Austria's coalition government led by conservative Sebatian Kurz into chaos. The opposition now wants to overthrow Kurz as chancellor with a motion of no confidence in the special session in parliament. It could prevent Kurz from representing Austria at the EU summit following this week's European Parliament elections.

UK police on Monday arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of common assault after the Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage, had a milkshake thrown at him when campaigning in Newcastle ahead of the UK's European Parliament elections on Thursday. Farage blamed "radicalised" Remainers for the attack. The Brexit party is on course to win twice as many votes as any other party (33.4 percent), according to a recent YouGov-ECFR poll.

The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network.

Ukraine's parliament will be dissolved and early elections called, new president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Monday just minutes after he was sworn in. The former TV star won 73 percent support last month in a landslide victory and walked to the parliament in Kiev through a park for his inauguration. A faction in parliament last week pulled support from the ruling coalition, technically collapsing Petro Poroshenko's government.

Dutch historian and writer Luuk van Middelaar argues populists could be the new opposition in the next European Parliament and a better reflection of EU public opinion - thus actually reinforcing the body's status.

From Volkswagen to Spotify to Iberdrola, Europe’s biggest firms are urging people to vote in key European Parliament elections this weekend amid concerns that an anti-EU outcome could disrupt their business and hurt their bottom line. 

Although irregular arrivals in Europe are at their lowest level in five years, migration remains one of the top priorities for European citizens in the upcoming EU election. EURACTIV has looked into the European parties’ proposals on the matter.

In an interview with EURACTIV, European law expert Stefan Brocza explains why the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) could still achieve good results in Sunday's European elections, despite the unfolding scandal linking the party with a supposed Russian oligarch.

The lead candidate for the centre-right in this week’s European elections says “Europe must move towards net-zero emissions by 2050,” voicing his belief in innovation and new technologies to drive the decarbonisation agenda if he becomes the next president of the European Commission.

All remaining ministers from Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) are to resign, a party spokesman said Monday (20 May), after one of them, Interior Minister Herbert Kickl, was fired in the fallout from a corruption scandal that has brought down the government.

This week, the German Federal Administrative Court will decide whether to continue allowing the mass killing of millions of newborn male chickens. If judges ban this practice, eggs could become scarce, according to the Poultry industry. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The next re-authorisation process for the controversial glyphosate weedkiller should also include an assessment of a potential ban of the substance in terms of food availability, biodiversity and farmers’ income, Bernhard Url told EURACTIV.com in an interview.