European Union

A broad debate should be held on the possible regulation of political views expressed online, the leader of Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK), said on Monday. But she faced an immediate backlash, with some accusing her of advocating censorship.

Five members of the Juncker Commission have been elected as MEPs, the EU executive confirmed on Tuesday (28 May). What remains to be seen is whether they will take their seats in the European Parliament or stay on as Commissioners.

The Visegrad Group could propose current Slovak Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič (S&D) to be the new European Composition president, EURACTIV.cz’s partner Hospodářské Noviny (HN) learned on Monday (28 May), referring to sources close to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

Ten days after the Ibiza video was made public the Austrian parliament has toppled Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's government with a no-confidence vote. The Social Democrats had put forward the motion, which was supported by the FPÖ. President Van der Bellen will now appoint a caretaker government. Who benefits from Kurz's fall?

Despite very different results in the individual member states the overall picture that emerges after the European elections is clear: the Christian Democratic and Social Democratic groups suffered major losses, the Liberals and Greens made big gains, and the eurosceptic and right-wing nationalist spectrum also gained ground. For various reasons commentators are worried by the election results.

Previously in sixth place, the Greens are now the fourth strongest force in the European Parliament. Their group is expected to secure 69 seats - 17 more than at the start of the 2014 electoral period. Roughly a third of voters under 30 voted green. Commentators look at the reasons for this success and predict that Green parties will soon become even stronger.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called a snap election after the conservative opposition party Nea Dimokratia left his Syriza party trailing nine percentage points behind in the EU elections. The vote could take place as early as June 30. The country's media sees the decision as inevitable.