European Union

According to an ECB report published last week Bulgaria is not yet ready for accession to the Eurozone. Although the country fulfils the formal criteria it is lagging behind regarding so-called soft factors such as the independence of its central bank and success in the fight against corruption, the report concluded. Commentators explain why Bulgaria can forget its dream of Eurozone membership for the time being.

Transparency, collaboration & finally taking responsibility. EU & US experts at the 2018 Brussels DisinfoLab share their views on the role of social media platforms in countering fake news and disinformation.

The European Parliament is trying to reach out to young people, particularly those who don’t see the benefits of being part of the EU, writes  Ramón Luis Valcárcel and Sylvie Guillaume.

Although newly crunched numbers make a strong case for setting a higher energy efficiency target, EU member states were unable to sign up to a compromise on Wednesday (30 May) that would have sealed an agreement before the end of Bulgaria’s presidency.

Can Viktor Orban be beaten? András Fekete-Győr, founder of the Momentum movement in Hungary,  explains why he thinks it is possible.

Korwin-Mikke v Parliament
Law governing the institutions
The General Court annuls the decisions of the Bureau of the European Parliament to impose penalties on the European MEP Korwin-Mikke due to comments made on the floor of the Parliament

Hassan
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
When a person travels to a Member State after making a request for international protection in another Member State, the first Member State cannot decide to transfer that person to the second Member State before that second State has agreed to the request to take that person back

Wind Tre
Freedom of establishment
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona proposes that the Court of Justice declare that the mere omission to provide the user with information on the pre-installation of voicemail and internet-access services on a SIM card intended to be inserted into a smartphone does not constitute an unfair commercial practice if that user has previously been informed about the terms of access and the cost of those services

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On 2 December 2015 the EU signed a short-stay visa waiver agreement with Colombia, at a ceremony that took place in Brussels. The EU’s relations with Colombia are built on political dialogue, trade, and development cooperation, and cover a wide range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues, whilst also helping to address the legacies of its internal armed conflict.

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Energy ministers from the world's biggest economies, including the G20, were shown how co-operation works in the Nordic electricity market. This co-operation is unique by international standards and is held up as a model globally.

Valcheva
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The notion of ‘rights of access’ includes the rights of access of grandparents to their grandchildren

Wegener
Environment and consumers
The right to compensation for long delays of flights applies to connecting flights to third States with stopovers outside the EU

Commission v Italy
Environment and consumers
For having failed to implement EU law on the collection and treatment of urban waste water within the time-limit, Italy is ordered to pay a lump sum of €25 million and a fine of more than €30 million for every six months of delay

IR
SOPO
According to Advocate General Wathelet, the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion precludes a Catholic doctor who is Head of Department at a Catholic hospital from being dismissed because of his divorce and remarriage

The idea that the USA benefits less from market access to the EU than vice-versa is a fairy tale. That is why Trump is mistaken if he believes that he can blackmail the EU.

Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev has said a "breakthrough" on the name dispute is imminent, as he prepares to speak to his Greek counterpart on Friday.

The European Central Bank (ECB) on Wednesday said the head of Latvia's central bank, Ilmars Rimsevics, who was removed over suspicion of corruption, should be allowed to exercise some of his powers. At a hearing at the EU Court of Justice, the ECB argued that Rimsevics's removal was illegal and threatened the EU central bank's independence. The case was brought to the court by Rimsevics.

Romania's constitutional court ruled Wednesday that president Klaus Iohannis must fire Laura Codruta Kovesi, the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA). Judges said that under the constitution, Iohannis cannot reject a government decree dismissing Codruta Kovesi. The social-democratic governement is also engaged in a wide-ranging reform of the judiciary, which has been critised by the EU and the Council of Europe for limiting independence of judges and prosecutors.