European Union

Mr Koen Lenaerts is re-elected President of the Court of Justice of the European Union

France and Germany will be among the hardest hit by a global trade slowdown created by US protectionism, the IMF has warned.

Greek Supreme Court prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou on Monday ordered an investigation of how €570m of EU funds for migrant aid was spent after the sacked head of hotspot reception centres, Andreas Iliopoulos, indicated in a newspaper interview that EU funds for migration were being mismanaged. Iliopoulos was responsible for reception centres on Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos and in Evros, northern Greece. He was dismissed last week.

The European parliament elections in May will see "the emergence of a Europe of nations," French far-right leader Marine Le Pen declared, after meeting her Italian counterpart, Matteo Salvini, in Rome on Monday. She also downplayed the role of Donald Trump's former advisor Steve Bannon in the campaign, saying "Bannon is not European. He is American". His movement would offer studies, surveys and analysis for the campaign, she added.

The murder of 27-year-old reporter Jan Kuciak in February tarnished Slovakia's image, prime minister Peter Pellegrini has said. "We have to produce deeds, not words, to restore trust," he told Reuters. The killing highlighted corruption allegations, including in the office of then prime minister, Robert Fico. It also put attention on Italian businessmen in Slovakia with suspected mafia links. Police have made arrests, but not brought any charges to court.

Written by Beatrix Immenkamp (1st edition),

© wetzkaz / Fotolia

In the context of the Commission’s proposal for a multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the 2021-2027 period, the Commission published a proposal for a regulation establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) on 14 June 2018. It is part of Heading 6 ‘Neighbourhood and the World’ of the proposed MFF, which sets out the main priorities and overall budgetary framework for the EU’s external action. The Commission proposes to allocate €89.2 billion (in current prices) to the NDICI for the 2021-2027 period. This represents an increase of 11 % compared to the resources allocated to the instruments and funds under the current MFF that the NDICI would replace. These include the European Development Fund (EDF), which is currently outside the MFF. Parliament has expressed concern about the proposed governance structure of the new instrument.

Versions

• October 2018: ‘A new neighbourhood, development and international cooperation instrument: Proposal for a new regulation‘ (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument Committees responsible: Foreign Affairs (AFET)
Development (DEVE)
(joint committee procedure, Rule 55) COM(2018) 460
14.6.2018 Rapporteurs: Frank Engel (EPP, Luxembourg)
Cristian Dan Preda (EPP, Romania)
Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, Italy)
Charles Goerens (ALDE, Luxembourg) 2018/0243(COD) Next steps expected Joint committee hearing Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was given a warm welcome in Hungary Monday (8 October) just weeks after Ankara's strained relations with other EU nations were thrown into sharp relief in a tense visit to Germany.

Italy and France's far-right leaders launched their European Parliament election campaign on Monday (8 October) with an attack on the "Brussels bunker" they hope to enter en masse after the May vote.

On Saturday, as top climate scientists were putting the final touches to the latest shattering UN report on climate science, thousands of people were protesting against the expansion of one of Europe’s biggest, dirtiest coalmines, writes Jagoda Munic.

Experience garnered during previous enlargements has taught the EU a lesson: that the bloc should not import existing disputes when granting membership, an EU spokesperson told EURACTIV, after FYROM President Gjorge Ivanov accused Brussels of “double standards”.

European Union environment ministers will seek a compromise on Tuesday (9 October) over how tough to be on curbing carbon dioxide emissions from cars and vans, with Germany warning too tough targets could harm industry and cost jobs.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe urged far-right Italian leader Matteo Salvini on Monday (8 October) to drop his "posturing" on immigration and help find a European response to the issue.

In recent years, many thousands have died and millions more had to flee their homes due to conflicts in which religion has been used to justify discrimination and violence. Countering these dangerous distortions is one of the challenges that religious leaders will address in Astana on 10 and 11 October, writes Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The agreements on the various parts of the EU clean energy package were hard fought, but their signing marks the beginning of the battle to implement them, as much as it does the end of the struggle to agree them, argues Adrian Joyce.

The vision for decarbonising the European building stock is clear enough: now comes the time for the member states to enforce these commitments.

Every year, the ‘Euro bubble’ is alive and buzzing in anticipation of one of the biggest events in the European political calendar; the President of the European Commission’s annual State of the European Union address, writes Zuzana Vaneckova.

The European Commission’s proposed recommendation on strengthened cooperation of all stakeholders against vaccine-preventable diseases should not remain a “piece of paper” as it needs to bring tangible results for all age groups, Commission officials told EURACTIV.com.

What happens when a difficult deadline hits? This is precisely what is being played out in EU fisheries as we approach the landmark legal commitment under the Common Fisheries Policy to end overfishing by 2020.

Doing business across EU borders should be frictionless. But in reality, European companies still face excessive bureaucracy when posting workers to another EU country, writes Thilo Brodtmann.

The European Commission will take the unprecedented step of rejecting a national budget later this month if the Italian government does not improve its announced deficit figures, EU officials told EURACTIV.