European Union

While the European Parliament has decided to ban palm oil imports by 2021, France recently gave the go-ahead for a biorefinery owned by Total, a move that prompted many critics. EURACTIV.fr reports.

As Europe’s domestic production of natural gas is steadily declining and demand is projected to remain stable, import requirements will rise in the coming decades. There are only two options to meet the increasing demand for gas imports – pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Pristina ‘understands’ the decision of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy not to attend the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, but “Kosovo is not Catalonia”, Kosovo's President Hashim Thaçi told EURACTIV.com.

As Italy gets closer to having a cabinet dominated by the 5-Star Movement, the rejection of this force by the liberal ALDE group in January 2017 increasingly looks like a strategic mistake.

On May 22, the Investment Facilitation Forum (IFF) holds an event that seeks to clarify the role of investment hubs and explore how their activities are linked to the EU tax agenda, financial regulation and the assistance to developing countries. Ahead of the event, the IFF president shares his view on the importance of distinguishing between investment hubs and tax havens.

The EU starts enforcing its general data protection regulation on 25 May - but Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia won't be ready. The delay will cause legal uncertainty.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a rally in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to drum up support among the Turkish diaspora. Three days after the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Balkans confirm their strategic position.

The European Commission is determined to protect the integrity of its Cohesion Policy but this is going to be a battle where no one can have it all, the EU's Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger told the Committee of the Regions plenary on Thursday (May 16).

Italy's would-be populist new rulers plan to pile on debt, posing questions for eurozone stability and monetary union.

The EU parliament's budget rapporteur complained the Commission is using numbers with a "desire to confuse". According to parliament estimates, the cohesion fund could suffer as much as a 45 percent cut.

A previously-unseen internal paper by the European Commission warned that a French ban of the bisphenol A chemical was "fully disproportionate". However, there was no consensus on starting an infringement procedure against France.

Only three EU countries, Estonia (2.4 percent), Greece (2.1 percent) and UK (2.0 percent), meet Nato's target of spending at least two percent of GDP on defence, 2016 figures released by Eurostat on Friday showed. On average EU member states spent 1.3% of GDP on defence. In absolute figures UK spent the most (€47bn), which was almost a quarter (24 percent) of the total EU public expenditure on defence.

The planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany raises US intelligence and military concerns since it would allow Moscow to place new listening and monitoring technology in the Baltic Sea, a senior US official said on Thursday (17 May).

US president Donald Trump on Thursday criticised European defence budgets, telling Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in Washington that members not meeting commitments would be "dealt with". Nato members have agreed to spend at least two percent of GDP on defence by 2024; only three EU countries meeting that target today. "And two percent is a very low number. The number really should be four percent," Trump said.

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday (17 May) Britain would leave the EU customs union after Brexit but a source said London was considering a backstop plan that would apply the bloc's external tariffs beyond December 2020.

Widely accepted as a “transition fuel” until 2030 to help wean Europe from coal, gas is also positioning itself as a clean fuel in its own right beyond that date. But meeting the EU’s 2050 climate goals will require a deep transformation of the sector, amid growing competition from solar and wind power.

Hundreds of truck drivers blocked roads across Bulgaria on Thursday (17 May) as European Union leaders met in Sofia, protesting against proposed EU rules they say would cost them their jobs and put their firms out of business.

Italy inched closer towards ending more than two months of political deadlock on Thursday (17 May) as anti-establishment leader Luigi Di Maio said he was confident an agreement would be reached on forming a coalition government with the far-right.

The role of the cancer care team in supportive care is crucial for people with cancer. In this context, empowering cancer nurses plays a central role.

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The EU-Western Balkans summit takes place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 17 May 2018. It is hosted by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council. The President of the European Council, Donald TUSK, chairs the meeting.

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