Euractiv.com

Frustration with mainstream politics is fuelling the rise of Europe’s joke parties, which are likely to gain a few seats in the European Parliament in June.

A tight race for the EU Parliament’s third place continues, as the liberal Renew Europe group has now recovered the lead over far-right ID and nationalist-conservative ECR group, both lurking right behind, according to Europe Elect’s latest projection for Euractiv. 

France should continue refusing to include renewable targets in its energy-climate plan, which is due to be submitted to the European Commission in June, the country's former Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said on Tuesday (26 March).

Despite deteriorating political relations between Armenia and Russia, bilateral trade has flourished, leaving Western partners wondering over Yerevan's approach to sanctions.

President Emmanuel Macron and counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday (27 March) celebrated the launch of Brazil's third French-designed submarine, which will help secure the country's immense coastline, dubbed the "Blue Amazon."

More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2024, a record total for the first three months of the year and giving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a fresh political headache.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Didier Reynder's bid for the presidency of the Council of Europe complicating matters for Spain, Bavaria's premier breaking with his party over the tarriffs on China, and so much more.

Ireland said on Wednesday (27 March) it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin's concern about Israeli operations in Gaza since 7 October.

Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic but if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday (27 March).

Romania's justification for not implementing measures to reduce energy consumption in recent years, as other EU countries have done, is not convincing, argues Energia Inteligentă, a Romanian professional energy association.

French multi-energy company TotalEnergies is withdrawing from oil and gas exploration in the potential Khan Asparuh field in northern Bulgarian waters of the Black Sea, an annual report by the project's other partner, Romania's OMV Petrom, quoted by Bulgarian Capital Weekly, reads.

Social Democrat MP José Pedro Aguiar-Branco (PSD, EPP) was elected parliament speaker on Wednesday, with 160 out of 230 MPs in favour at the fourth attempt.

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders' candidacy for the presidency of the Council of Europe has further complicated the negotiations over the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's ruling PSOE party and right-wing Partido Popular (PP/EPP), which have so far been mediated by Reynders.

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (Italia Viva) and the leader of +Europa party, Emma Bonino plan to run at the European election with a joint “United States of Europe” list.

Lawmakers in the French National Assembly on Wednesday backed a bill proposed by President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party to combat foreign interference by a large majority of 171 votes to 25.

The Czech government on Wednesday (27 March) sanctioned two people including pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk and the news website voiceofeurope.com for leading a pro-Russian influence operation in Europe, the Czech Foreign Ministry said.

Some 2.5 million Greek women could face long waits in accessing testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), a leading cause of cervical cancer, as a government initiative, financed by the EU, unexpectedly changed the technical requirements for healthcare companies to participate and is set to be scrutinised by the European Commission.

Bavaria’s Minister-President Markus Söder broke with his centre-right party line and spoke out against EU tariffs on Chinese goods during a visit to China on Wednesday, where he also criticised the French.

Poland’s public debt is set to rise to almost 80% of the country’s GDP by 2034, according to the European Commission’s latest report – an assessment economist Jakub Sawulki finds pessimistic, although he warns that current trends do point to skyrocketing public debt.

The corporate exodus from Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine has cost foreign companies more than $107 billion in writedowns and lost revenue, a Reuters analysis of company filings and statements showed.