European Union

Croatia ranks lowest in terms of perceived judicial independence among it citizens, with just over 20 percent seeing independence of courts and judges as being good or fairly good, according to the 2018 EU Justice Scoreboard published Monday. Among southeast European EU countries, Romanians showed the highest confidence in the independence of their judiciary, while Denmark topped the ranking with close to 90 percent trusting their courts and judges.

The far-right political group, Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), was Monday evening asked by the European Parliament's bureau, headed by president, Antonio Tajani, to file comments on allegations made by the budgetary control committee that they misspent more than € 427,000. The group on charge includes French National Front, Italy's League, co-governing Austrian conservative FPO and the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders.

Following Ireland's abortion referendum last Friday, pressure is growing for Northern Irish women to gain the same right. Northern Ireland has blocked all efforts from London to liberalise its abortion law. More than 160 UK MPs, including some Conservatives, have written to prime minister Theresa May demanding a referendum on relaxing the abortion laws in Northern Ireland, but her Northern Irish DUP party allies are opposed.

Austria's conservative led government announced on Monday plans to cap minimum welfare payments for non-German speaking immigrants, including refugees, at €563 a month, but with the perspective of reaching the Austrian normal level of €863, provided they passed a German test. The test itself costs €1,000. The move brings Austria into conflict with European Union rules requiring EU citizens to be treated equally.

The EU commission wants to ban plastic straws and cutlery. Most of these are not made in the EU, making the proposal more likely to succeed.

NATO said Monday (28 May) it will focus on five key areas from deterrence to modernisation and EU relations at its July summit, with measures to "manage" ties with an increasingly assertive Russia high on the agenda.

Prolonged internal border checks are "unlawful", MEPs are preparing to say on Tuesday, in the EU parliament's first bid to protect free movement in Europe.

Two thirds of Raytheon supplier base are European companies. They are innovative, they have high end technology, we look to bring them in in our global supply chain, they are our global partners, says Alex Saklambanakis, Europe Executive Missile system,...

In interviews with two major European newspapers, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz lifted the veil on the plans of his country's EU presidency, which starts on 1 July. Unsurprisingly, the main highlight is to fortify the EU’s external borders.

Promoting renewable energies in the heating and cooling sector is “a productive investment” that will strengthen Europe’s resilience to the renewed volatility seen on oil markets since the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, a senior EU official told a EURACTIV event.

The Dutch government has launched a bid to overturn a landmark climate ruling, arguing that judges in The Hague “sidelined democracy” when they ordered a 25% cut in carbon emissions by 2020. EURACTIV's partner The Guardian reports.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament approved on Monday (28 May) a far-reaching proposal calling for greater scrutiny of foreign investments, part of a bid to respond to a flurry of Chinese acquisitions in the European Union.

As cars become more and more connected, the amount and the type of data they can capture – and share – increases exponentially. While sharing car data has the potential to optimize the driving experience for all, questions of data privacy naturally arise: especially when personal data is involved.

A former governor of the Bank of Spain told EURACTIV that Luis de Guindos has the right CV to become vice-president of the ECB, a post he will take up later this week. But the ex-minister’s “brutally wrong” decisions led the country to the “disaster” of the bailout, he added.

In contrast with many EU countries, Greece’s decarbonisation process is lagging behind. A growing number of voices are now calling for an up-to-date energy transition roadmap focusing on renewable energy and green gas.

The next reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should bring agricultural and food policies out of their respective silos and align actions across different areas in support of building sustainable food systems, write Sirpa Pietikainen and Bart Staes.

Since 2015, Poland has strongly opposed receiving refugees from Italy and Greece. Until now, not a single person has been accepted under the quota system set by the European Commission. And the majority of Poles actually side with their government on the issue, EURACTIV Poland reports.

Addressing the reforms needed to prepare the six Balkan countries for EU accession can be cathartic in effect, and reinvigorate the European Union, writes Andrey Kovatchev.

L’Abattoir, one of the biggest urban markets in Europe, built in an old slaughterhouse, could well be seen as a symbol of circular economy as it has become a source of income for the poor while promoting sustainable farming on its rooftop.

With a year to go until the European Parliament elections and the appointment of a new European Commission, the EU is yet again at a crossroads. But unlike Robert Johnson, the EU is unlikely to sell its soul to play a mean guitar, writes Tom Parker.