Influential. Investigative. Independent. EUobserver is a online non-profit news outlet reporting on the European Union.
Updated: 1 day 23 hours ago
Thu, 10/04/2018 - 08:55
Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday welcomed Austria's support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Meeting Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz in St Petersburg - their fourth meeting this year - a deal to extend long-term contracts of gas supplies to Austria by 2040 was signed. Austrian oil giant OMV recently signed a deal to take part in development of the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field, Tass reported.
Thu, 10/04/2018 - 07:33
One year ago this month, the European Parliament promised to take measures to tackle sexual harassment. Some of its staff are unconvinced change is coming.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 15:40
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday on draft legislation that will determine the CO2 emission reductions required by 2030. Where the EU commission had proposed a 30 percent cut, MEPs opted for a 40 percent reduction.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 15:34
The next week will be decisive in Brexit talks in Brussels as the deadline for a deal rapidly approaches. At her party conference in Birmingham, the British PM promised not to hold a second Brexit referendum.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 13:39
From MEPs expenses, to denial of Freedom of Information requests, to the backroom deal to appoint Martin Selmayr - the EU's institutions are failing to live up to their own standards.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 13:11
The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted its position on the climate action required from the automotive sector up until 2030. A majority of MEPs supported a 40% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 using 2021 as a baseline. The European Commission had proposed a less ambitious 30% target. Next week, EU environment ministers will determine their position, following which negotiations on the bill's final text can begin.
Read more.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 09:28
After Poland and Hungary, Brussels is watching rule of law in Romania with growing concern. Meanwhile a same-sex marriage referendum fuels anti-EU rhetoric.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 09:19
A senior US diplomat has threatened to "take out" a Russian nuclear weapons system, raising tension as Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 09:03
Russia has threatened to use its UN veto to block Macedonia's name change in a deal with Greece, after a Macedonian referendum on the accord failed due to low turnout. "Macedonian voters opted for boycotting the decisions" and Russia "as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is closely following the developments", its foreign ministry said. The name deal was meant to see Macedonia join Nato next year.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 09:02
France has accused Iran of plotting a bomb attack against an anti-Iranian group in Paris, the NCRI. Danish police, last Friday, also sealed bridges and ferries on suspicion Iranian intelligence was planning a strike against another anti-Iranian group, the ASMLA, in Denmark, which Iran blames for a recent terrorist attack in Tehran. The news threatens EU-Iranian solidarity against a US plan to scrap the Iran nuclear arms treaty.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 09:00
German chancellor Angela Merkel's sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU) is polled to lose its absolute majority and receive only about 35 percent in elections on 14 October, according to Reuters. The Greens stand to win 16 percent and the right-wing AfD 12-13 percent. Losing the majority would weaken CSU leader Horst Seehofer, who serves as Merkel's interior minister.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 08:58
Danske Bank whistleblower, Howard Wilkinson, who helped
reveal money laundering at Danske Bank's Estonia branch, will consider an invitation from an EU parliament committee, his lawyer said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. There is a "good chance" he will attend a hearing next month, the lawyer said, while still waiting to receive a formal invitation for such a hearing.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 08:56
Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini has threatened to sue EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for damages, and accused him of pushing up the country's cost of borrowing by likening Italy to Greece. "He should drink two glasses of water before opening his mouth, and stop spreading non-existent threats," Salvini said on Juncker. "I talk to sober people," Italy's news agency Ansa reported him saying.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 08:53
Morocco's foreign minister Nasser Bourita has categorically rejected that his country will host EU asylum centres. "Morocco is generally against all kinds of centres. This is part of our migration policy and a national sovereign position," he told German newspaper Die Welt. He said asylum centres were counterproductive and that payments would not change Morocco's attitude. Bourita also criticised the EU for making the migration problem bigger than in reality.
Wed, 10/03/2018 - 07:53
Generations of students could lose out if the UK goes down the same path as Switzerland on the Erasmus+ student exchange scheme.
Tue, 10/02/2018 - 17:53
Finland's youthful-looking former prime minister Alexander Stubb wants to defend liberal values as the lead candidate of the centre-right EPP - as the campaign gears up for next May's election.
Tue, 10/02/2018 - 16:07
Denmark's centre-right government aims to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and of hybrid cars from 2035, prime minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen told the parliament, Folketinget, on Tuesday. "This will mean that in 2030 there will be more than one million hybrid, electric or equivalent green cars in Denmark," he said. A concrete legal proposal will be presented to parliament next week.
Tue, 10/02/2018 - 11:34
Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, and Hashim Thaci are blackmailing the EU for political and personal gain. With the US going against Germany, prospects of a happy outcome look dim.
Tue, 10/02/2018 - 11:34
Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, and Hashim Thaci are blackmailing the EU for political and personal gain. With the US going against Germany, prospects of a happy outcome are dim.
Tue, 10/02/2018 - 11:14
Economy and finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to allow EU member states to reduce the rates of value added tax (VAT) on digital books, newspapers, and periodicals, to bring VAT rates in line with their physical equivalent. The measure was proposed
almost two years ago by the European Commission. The bill required unanimity but was blocked by the Czech Republic as bargaining chip
over another issue.
Pages