Euractiv.com

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has threatened to vote against a trade deal between the EU and South American trade bloc Mercosur unless Brazil, where wildfires continue to devastate the Amazon rainforest, takes its environmental obligations more seriously.

The latest Czech government crisis is over: President Miloš Zeman will appoint Lubomír Zaorálek as the new minister of culture on Tuesday (27 August), ending a dispute over the post that almost caused a collapse of the government. However, the crisis has exposed the deteriorating state of democracy in the country.

Amid growing international criticism over the wildfires raging through the Amazon, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday (22 August) admitted farmers could be illegally setting the rainforest ablaze but told foreign powers not to interfere.

Syrian army advances in northwest Syria are putting Turkish troops in the firing line and threaten Ankara's hopes of preventing a new wave of refugees on its southern border.

The incoming President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is preparing a ‘Green Deal’ team that may be led by Vice-President Frans Timmermans. Whether the climate and energy briefs will be split or kept together remains to be seen, however. 

Ukraine's president backed leading European powers on Thursday (22 August) in opposing the readmission of Russia to the Group of Seven advanced economies, saying Moscow still occupied Crimea and was frustrating peace in eastern Ukraine.

Some 20 French mayors have banned glyphosate from their municipalities, defying the government, which is now taking legal action to impose national legislation which allows the controversial weedkiller's continued use for now.

President Sergio Mattarella gave political parties until Tuesday to come up with proposals for a new government coalition, saying he will call fresh elections if they fail to find a solution to the current government crisis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday (22 August) hit out at EU measures to punish Ankara for drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean and vowed to press ahead with gas search in the region.

The planet is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Some of the world's largest actors in international trade continue to open up their markets, while others are protecting their economies to the detriment of others, and even themselves, writes Christan Ewert.

French President Emmanuel Macron put the ball squarely in Boris Johnson’s court on Thursday (22 August), urging the UK Prime Minister to present detailed proposals to re-write the Irish backstop and avoid the UK crashing out of the bloc without a deal after 31 October.

Surfrider Europe, a French organisation fighting for clean oceans,  is organising an event ahead of the G7 summit in France. The aim is to call for incorporating ocean protection into international negotiations, particularly those concerning climate change. EURACTIV's partner la Tribune reports.

After the dispute between Paris and Warsaw, following Poland's cancellation of an Airbus contract, French President Emmanuel Macron will be visiting the Polish capital in the first months of 2020. The Polish prime minister revealed the topics that will be discussed to EURACTIV's partner Ouest-France.

Slovakia should adopt steps to prevent corruption in the government, said a report published on Thursday (22 August) by the Council of Europe, citing 'systemic weaknesses'  in the country's legal framework.

From Saturday (24 July) onwards, G7 leaders will discuss the global economic situation in Biarritz, France. The discussion will likely focus on extremely low-interest rates, which represent both an opportunity and a risky temptation for over-indebted European countries. EURACTIV France reports.

EU antitrust regulators want to know whether Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency and its use of consumer data pose possible anti-competitive constraints, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday (21 August).

One hundred and forty seven migrants who disembarked on Italy's Lampedusa island were again in limbo Wednesday (21 August) as a European deal to redistribute them failed to materialise and Madrid said it could hit the Spanish charity with a huge fine for rescuing them.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (21 August) that the United States was in a position to deploy a new land-based cruise missile in Romania and Poland and that Russia considered that a threat which it would have to respond to.

In an op-ed based on her book “Score of the Second World War: Who started the war and when?” the famous Russian historian Natalia Narochnitskaya tells about the situation in Europe in the 1930s and the events that led to the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Policymakers currently discussing a 'taxonomy' for sustainable finance products at EU level often argue that the proposal already includes social and human rights safeguards. This is not true in the least, warn Eleni Choidas, Lis Cunha and Rachel Owens.