Euractiv.com

In next year's European election, many politicians will preach about the need to "reform" the European Union but few will know what they are talking about. Two who do know are Viktor Orban and Emmanuel Macron, writes Andrew Duff.

An openly gay Polish mayor launched what he termed a "pro-democratic" political movement on Tuesday (4 September) aimed at challenging the EU country's governing right-wing party accused by critics and the EU of passing reforms that threaten the rule of law.

France does not want to finance a populist Europe, the country's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has indicated, just as the fight over the EU's new long-term budget begins in earnest. EURACTIV Poland's media partner Gazeta Wyborcza reports.

The European Union could offer new guarantees to Britain to win London's support for a solution aimed at avoiding an Irish border after Brexit, a leading EU lawmaker said.

European states warned the United Nations that more than 800,000 people are cut off from aid and may be starving in northeast Nigeria, contradicting government assertions that a crisis has abated and rebuking the world body for failing to secure access.

China is helping Africa develop, not pile up debt, a top Chinese official said on Tuesday (4 September), as the government pushes back against criticism it is loading the continent with an unsustainable burden during a major summit in Beijing.

Next May, EU citizens will directly elect the new European Parliament. Faced with a surge of anti-EU and anti-system sentiments, they need to be reassured that the good old EU is doing things right. But is it doing the right things?

When it comes to increasing investment in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries covered by the Cotonou Agreement, the EU talks a good game. But it is facing stiff competition from China, armed with more cash and fewer concerns about democracy and the rule of law when it comes to investment.

The dominance of the US in NATO is strategically wanted by Washington. Europeans can therefore stay calm in the face of Trump's threats to withdraw from the Alliance and devote themselves to their own priorities instead, Johannes Thimm explains.

No environmental tax has ever been approved at EU level, given the need for unanimity in the Council. But if a plastic tax were successfully passed, would such a measure really help to set the EU on the path to curbing plastic pollution?

A group of Europe's best-known film directors have come out in support of the upcoming EU copyright bill, to be voted on in the September plenary.

The next European Commission should enhance its collaboration with the EU’s Scientific Advisory Mechanism (SAM), which would provide bias-free consultancy and eventually adjust the Tobacco Product Directive to the reality, JTI’s Ramunas Macius said in an interview with EURACTIV.com.  

Brazilian farmers will continue to have access to the world’s most used weed killer after Brazil’s Federal judge reversed a previous ruling, which had suspended the existing and new registration of glyphosate-based products.

The European Ombudsman has found that the EU executive under President Jean-Claude Juncker failed to follow procedures in appointing his chief aide to run the EU civil service and so undermined public trust.

The investigation into the governor of the central bank of Latvia has put the last country to have entered the Eurozone under the spotlight. EURACTIV carries out a four-part investigation into the Switzerland of the Baltic states.

Having been put under investigation for corruption at the end of June, the governor of Latvia's central bank is the third member of the ECB governing council to have been implicated in murky deals over the past year. EURACTIV France reports.

Europe's biggest news agencies accused Google and Facebook of "plundering" news for free on Tuesday (4 September) in a joint statement that called on the internet giants to share more of their revenues with the media.

Facebook has been blocked in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and other cities, residents said on Monday (3 September) as fighting between rival groups raged.

China's massive and expanding "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project is running into speed bumps as some countries begin to grumble about being buried under Chinese debt, says an analysis by AFP.

A top-level business alliance has called on UK and EU leaders to ensure Brexit includes a comprehensive Climate and Energy Chapter, amid worries about the UK's commitment to international climate policies after the country leaves the European Union.