European Union

Molotov cocktails in the streets and a mass resignation in parliament -- Albania's volatile political scene is exploding just as its European future is on the table, threatening Tirana's dreams of joining the bloc.

The term of Sebastian Kurz as Austria's Chancellor has come to an end. On Monday (27 May), the Austrian Parliament voted a no-confidence motion against the 32-year-old and his entire government. However, Kurz's political career is not over. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The V4 group of countries ignores climate threats, attempts to extend fossil fuel burning, violates air pollution limits and undermines the development of renewable energies. The Visegrad+ Renewable Energy platform has been established to turn this trend around, writes Ada Ámon.

The Council today adopted conclusions on "A new level of ambition for a competitive single market".

President Donald Tusk congratulates Gitanas Nausėda on his election as President of Lithuania.

The Council today adopted conclusions on an "EU industrial policy strategy : A vision for 2030".

On 27 May, the Council adopted a negotiating mandate for the Commission as regards plurilateral negotiations on electronic commerce.

The presidents of the political groups are meeting on Tuesday morning, ahead of a dinner in Brussels where heads of state and government will begin talks on new EU institutional leadership jobs.

Austrian centre-right chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been ousted from office after a no-confidence vote in which his former allies, the far-right FPO, as well as the opposition centre-left SPO and Green Jetzt Paris attacked his handing of the recent FPO corruption scandal. The vote camde despite Kurz's OVP party coming top in the European Parliament election. Austria will be run by a caretaker government until elections in September.

Margrethe Vestager is the Commissioner for competition and the lead candidate for the Liberals in the race for the European Commission presidency. As the European People’s Party and the Socialists will not able to form a majority, she might be the ‘Queenmaker’ in this game of thrones.

These European elections were never supposed to happen in the UK but once it became clear that they would take place, it was inevitable that they would be seen as a proxy for another referendum.

The anti-migration icon of the right-wing populist movement won a clear majority at home - but his party is still stuck between the centre-right and nationalists in Europe.

Let’s be blunt about it. The winners in the new European Parliament are the Greens, with almost 20 more members, and especially the ALDE group, with some 40 extra MEPs, mostly thanks to the arrival of Macron’s Renaissance party. This is why this force is now called ALDE&R.

The two main political groups in the European Parliament are losing ground but will remain the powerhouses in the new assembly. However, the traditional political forces on both the right and the left collapsed in France during the European elections. EURACTIV France reports.

French carmaker Renault revealed on Monday (27 May) that it will “study with interest” a merger proposal tabled by Fiat-Chrysler that, if approved, would create one of the largest automobile companies in the world.

Now that voters have spoken, comes the question of a coalition in the European Parliament, where no group has a majority by itself. Ecologists and liberals are in a position of strength. EURACTIV’s partner Ouest-France reports.

The anti-EU Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders failed to win any MEP seats. It received only 3.5 percent of votes, a sharp drop in popularity compared to two years ago when it was the second-largest Dutch party. It seems to have lost seats to another anti-EU party, Forum for Democracy. After Brexit however, the Netherlands will receive three additional seats, and one will go to PVV.

The new pro-EU Volt Europe party participated in eight EU countries but only won a seat in Germany - where former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis failed to get elected. His DieM25 did win an MEP seat- back in Greece.

Romania's supreme court on Monday upheld a conviction of abuse of office and a 3.5-year jail sentence against ruling Social Democrat Party's leader, Liviu Dragnea, Reuters reported. Dragnea's PSD party had clashed with the EU over judicial independence. Dragnea, who is also speaker of the lower house of parliament, appealed the initial verdict last year, but the conviction is now final. Dragnea was earlier also convicted of election fraud.

The ‘Green Wave’ and the rise of the Liberals have transformed the European Parliament, which for the first time in 40 years will not be governed by the two main parties. Political forces are now expected to work out a compromise on the next Commission president... if the member states allow.