European Union

Bayer is nearing the completion of its mega-merger with Monsanto after the American Justice Department gave its green light but stakeholders in Germany and the United States, as well as shareholders, have expressed concerns about the risks linked to the transaction.

Solemn undertaking before the Court of Justice of the European Union of four new Members of the European Court of Auditors

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The European Union works to bring an end to the conflict in Syria.

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The Commission rushed on Wednesday (30 May) to defend its proposal on linking Cohesion Policy programmes with structural reforms in the European Semester, after MEPs and networks of regions and cities voiced concerns about the possible impact on Cohesion’s initial objectives to help less developed regions.

The General Court of the EU ruled Thursday that the penalties imposed by the European Parliament on Polish former MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke should be annulled. Judges said that even if Korwin-Mikke's remarks last year - that women were less intelligent than men - were of "particularly shocking nature", they did not cause "disorder or disruption of Parliament whilst in session". They however rejected Korwin-Mikke's claim for reparation of non-pecuniary loss.

The European Court of Justice annulled on Thursday (31 May) a decision of the European Parliament which had imposed sanctions on former Polish right-wing MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke over the comments he made against migrants and women in 2016 and 2017.

In a spectacular operation the Ukrainian Security Service SBU has by its own account thwarted a murder attempt against Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko. Ukrainian authorities reported on Tuesday that Babchenko had been killed, then on Wednesday it emerged that the Ukraine-based Putin critic was alive. Europe's commentators ask whether anyone can be trusted anymore after this hoax.

The triumph of Eurosceptic parties, a controversial decision by the president, nervous financial markets, and all this against the backdrop of the Greek crisis. The political crisis in Rome prompts commentators to ask to what extent the problems are a result of EU and European strutures.

Romania's Constitutional Court has instructed President Klaus Iohannis to fire Laura Codruta Kövesi, head of the anti-corruption authority DNA. The Ministry of Justice had accused her of improper investigation methods and called for her dismissal, but Iohannis refused to comply. Now he must respect the ruling, Romania's press explains.

A solution is emerging in the 27-year-old dispute between Athens and Skopje over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). According to media reports in future the country will be called the Republic of North Macedonia if its population agrees to this in a referendum to be held in the autumn. Commentators are delighted and praise the participants in the negotiations.