European Union

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

In less than nine months, the UK will formally leave the EU. That much is clear. Nothing else is.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a development strategy proposed by the Chinese government which focuses on connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries. BRI largely replicates the Silk Road, a common historical heritage of China, Kazakhstan and all countries along...

The European Union said on Wednesday (5 July) it had frozen a €100 million aid package to Moldova after a disputed mayoral election race in the capital Chisinau which critics say undermined the country’s democratic credentials.

All new member states have seen their per capita income rise since they joined the EU. But this convergence cannot be taken for granted and the countries with a large share of low-skilled workers are at a risk "of not converging effectively", a World Bank official warned.

Britain's divided government will try to agree on a single Brexit wishlist at Friday's special meeting, but none of the options augur well for EU talks.

The European Ombudsman says that "maladministration" in the European Central Bank continues to exist as long as its president remains member of the secretive 'Group of Thirty'.

Friends of prime minister Viktor Orban have "grasped power and occupied all state institutions," says the country's first EU commissioner - but he hopes new 'conditionality' clauses in the next EU budget could help reduce misuse of public money.

One third (34 percent) of households in the EU were single-person households without children in 2017, up from 31 percent in 2010, according to Eurostat figures published on Friday. Sweden tops the chart with over half (51 percent) single households, followed by Denmark (44 percent) and Lithuania (43 percent). At the other end Malta had just 20 percent single households, 22 percent in Portugal and Slovakia.

The German CSU party appears to have gained support from voters after stirring a major political crisis over migration policies. It is now backed by 42.5 percent compared to 41.1 percent one month ago, a Civey survey for Spiegel and Augsburger Allgemeine showed. The far-right AfD dropped slightly to now 13.1 percent support and lost the rank as the second strongest party in Bavaria to the SPD (13.7 percent).

Following weeks of power struggle the three parties forming Germany's government, CDU, CSU and SPD, agreed on Thursday to a two-page document on tightening of migration policies, while skipping plans for transit centres at the borders, which was too much for the Social Democrats. The deal averted a collapse of Merkel's fragile government. It was branded political "summer theatre" by SPD finance minister Olaf Scholz.

An outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes in five EU countries - Finland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Austria - has cost ten people their lives, with the latest victim, a Danish patient, on Thursday confirmed to have died from the bacteria, according to the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. Frozen corn and vegetables from Hungary are the likely source of the outbreak, according to the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).

After a meeting in Vienna on Thursday (5 July), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz welcomed Germany’s decision to send back rejected asylum seekers to the EU countries where they first came in – namely Italy, Greece and Spain.

So-called “capacity mechanisms” are being set up across EU member states to remunerate power stations that remain on standby in case of demand peak. While a European framework is needed to regulate those schemes, Fabien Roques believes they should be adapted to local circumstances. EURACTIV.fr reports.

According to an article by French daily Le Monde, Austria, which currently holds the  six-month rotating presidency of the EU, sent troubling proposals to EU member states to reform the right of asylum. EURACTIV.fr reports.

The EU and China are speeding up preparatory work for their bilateral summit in Beijing in mid-July. The two sides are trying to agree on a joint position despite differences on trade issues including subsidies and market access.