European Union

The leader of the far-right French National Rally, Marine Le Pen, will be in Copenhagen this week for talks with Soren Espersen, vice-chairman of the right-wing Danish People's Party. The Danish party recently broke ranks with the UK conservative-dominated ECR group in the European Parliament and supported Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini in forming a new nationalist-conservative EP group. Le Pen has pledged to join Salvini's initiative.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the centre-right EPP political group, has vowed to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The pledge comes amid a new threat from the CEO of Nord Stream 2 to sue the European Union.

Paradoxically it was the EU’s closest partner, the United States, that has done most to damage Federica Mogherini's legacy as High Representative with a full-scale assault on the EU’s commitment to multilateralism, writes Fraser Cameron.

Four in ten Spanish voters remain undecided ahead of Sunday 28 April's general election, which polls predicts could end in political deadlock. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez's socialists (PSOE) is polled to win 30 percent support but may need more than leftist Unidas Podemos plus Catalan separatists' support to rule. The opposition coalition of conservatives, liberals and a new national-conservative party is also short of the majority, supported by 45 percent.

Bosnian border police on Tuesday (23 April) denied mistreating migrants after a video emerged of detainees at a border holding facility in what appeared to be cages.

US president Donald Trump will make his first state visit to the UK on 3-5 June, the White House announced on Tuesday. The visit includes an audience with the Queen and a meeting with prime minister Theresa May. While in Europe, Trump will also travel to Normandy for D-Day commemorations and a bilateral meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron on 6 June.

The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here. /// SOFIA ALDE silent over rogue Bulgarian candidate: Delyan Peevski, perhaps the most controversial figure in Bulgarian politics,...

Kazakhstan’s ruling Nur Otan party unanimously nominated on Tuesday (23 April) Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its candidate for the 9 June presidential election. The first President of the country Nursultan Nazarbayev said he had planned this move for years.

Change UK, a new British pro-EU political party, launched on Tuesday its campaign for May's European Parliament elections, with 70 candidates including journalist Rachel Johnson, sister of former foreign minister and leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson. Gavin Esler, a BBC former chief North America correspondent and Newsnight presenter, is also a candidate for the party formed by MPs who have quit Labour and the Tories over Brexit policies.

US President Donald Trump threatened retribution on Europe Tuesday (23 April) over tariffs that have bruised profitability at iconic US motorcycle company Harley-Davidson.

Spain is gearing up for its third general elections in just over three years within a political atmosphere of instability and uncertainty such as has not been seen in 40 years and which looks set to continue even after ballot day, analysts say. EURACTIV's partner efe-epa reports.

China is expected to promote a recalibrated version of its Belt and Road initiative at a summit of heads of state this week in Beijing, seeking to allay criticism that its flagship infrastructure policy fuels indebtedness and lacks transparency.

The climate activists at Fridays for Future Germany say they have no leadership. But the same faces keep appearing in German newspapers and the media is already reporting on first internal tensions. How is the student movement coping with this media attention? EURACTIV Germany reports.

Food industry representatives welcomed the recently revised EU legislation on mutual recognition of goods as a major step forward in the completion of the EU single market. But they said more efforts were needed to improve standardisation, even the well-harmonised food sector.

The time for genuine lobby regulation and a stop to the risk of corporate capture of EU policy-making is now. It is a question of survival and must be a priority for the next head of the European Commission.

The inaugural "She Runs: Active Girls' Lead", the first international school event to promote girls' health, gender equality and leadership through school sport, took place in Paris, France from March 12-15, welcoming 500 young women from 33 countries and four continents.

EU leaders must prioritise climate action to combat dangerous climate change when they gather in Sibiu for the 'Future of Europe' summit on 9 May, write the plaintiffs of the People's Climate Case, who are taking the EU institutions to court to protect their fundamental rights and to prevent dangerous climate change.

Led by various French players, the latest European project on artificial intelligence, AI4EU, aims to create a collaborative platform for European researchers and companies. An article from our partner La Tribune.

Spain is heading for general elections on Sunday (28 April). In the first electoral debate ahead of the vote, barely a month before the crucial EU-wide elections, none of the main candidates made a single mention of the EU.

EU institutions want Facebook to relax its rules, to allow pan-European political groups to carry out EU-wide campaigns. Facebook has yet to implement the demands - posing questions on the extent to which Europe relies on the US tech firm.