Euobserver.com

The EU is faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, geopolitical considerations are prompting it to hasten Ukraine's integration. On the other hand, many in the EU and Ukraine believe in merit-based progression — conditional on Kyiv's reforms.

There is an urgent conversation to be had about implementing policies to safeguard job stability, working conditions, and privacy. The Forum on 16-17 November is an opportunity to discuss how to ensure that legislation works for the benefit of workers.

The pending trade deal between the EU and Mercosur countries was the 'nail in the coffin' of European plans to improve farm animal welfare legislation — a move deemed as "ridiculous" given that proposals take years to be implemented.

The European Commission is expected to present its annual progress report for all countries aspiring to achieve EU membership. Later this week, new European spending rules will also be discussed by EU economy ministers.

Some 140 EU ambassadors meet their boss in Brussels this week. Unfair though it may seem, Europe's global credibility depends on how strongly it pressures Israel on agreeing to a humanitarian ceasefire, protecting civilians and allowing more aid into Gaza.

Unemployment rises as interest rates start to bite as interest rates are beginning to drag down the economy.

EU unemployment remains low at six percent, but food and energy prices remain high and wages are not keeping pace, meaning workers are losing purchasing power, the latest data shows.

Belgium is used to seeing spikes in hatred of Jews and Muslims during Middle East conflicts — but the Gaza war is tearing apart society in deeper ways than before.

A recent study convincingly shows that for every one percent cut in regional public spending, the vote share of extreme parties increases by 1.5 percentage points in the first year and three percentage points two years after the cuts.

If the current trends remain unchanged, the campaign in Gaza will be on track to becoming one of the deadliest urban conflicts in recent history.

Half of countries saw a decline in at least one indicator of democracy from 2017-2022 —and Europe is no exception to a "worrying deterioration" in rule of law and press freedom, says rInternational Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

While Belgium is set to take over the EU presidency in January to usher in a possible Europe-wide asylum reform, its own government has ignored thousands of court decisions in favour of asylum seekers at home.

At present, the ECJ considers documents about ongoing proceedings to be confidential and only makes them available once the proceedings have concluded. Arguments submitted by parties are never published, blinding the public to the full picture.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, EUobserver talked to the Socialists & Democrats spokesperson for employment, Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius, about past 'successes' on the minimum wage and platform workers, and future challenges on quality traineeships and AI in the workplace.

Migration, sustainability, and energy transition: are local authorities able to combat Europe's pressing issues by surpassing national governments by taking matters into their own hands or will they get lost in a bureaucratic labyrinth built by favouritism?

Spain's socialist party wants to avoid new elections and is rushing to form a governing coalition for incumbent prime minister Pedro Sánchez before the Socialists' European congress on 10-11 November. But an 'amnesty' for Catalan political separatists is a sticking-point.

The war abruptly halted the 2021/22 season, but that didn't stop president Volodomyr Zelenskyy's vision from 2020 of revitalising football in overlooked Ukrainian cities.

Israel is breaking the rules of modern warfare in Gaza, Norway's prime minister said in Oslo on Tuesday.

The EU commission has condemned antisemitism as Jews in Europe grapple with a spike in attacks after Hamas gunmen slaughtered over 1,400 people on 7 October in Israel.

Preventing cardiovascular disease — a cost or an investment in EU health resilience?