European Union

The health of Georgia's jailed opposition leader and ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili has been seriously damaged as a result of torture and ill-treatment in custody, an independent council of medics said Saturday (18 December).

Chilean leftist Gabriel Boric won the country's presidential runoff election on Sunday (19 December), capping a major revival for the country's progressive left that has been on the rise since widespread protests roiled the Andean country two years ago.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to take steps to facilitate the Sofia-Skopje dialogue, and to move things forward, French Ambassador Cyrille Baumgartner said in an interview on TV Alsat’s “360 Degree” show. “I think the next question will be...

Despite Czech voters ditching the government of Andrej Babiš, the new administration’s stance on climate and energy policy will change little. Under the new five-party coalition, the Czech Republic will remain on the pro-nuclear front. “I do not see any...

The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland has granted the country’s fifth nuclear reactor permission for initiating and conducting low power tests. Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) is set to start regular electricity production in June 2022 and will be the...

Harsher sanctions should be imposed on Russian President Vladimir Putin for deploying troops at the Ukrainian border, Germany’s new Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht told the weekly Bild am Sonntag on Sunday. Putin should “personally feel the consequences” of his actions and not...

The number of finance jobs shifting from Britain to the European Union due to Brexit is less than initially expected despite London losing most of its access to EU capital markets, EY consultants said on Monday (20 December).

In this week’s edition: Russia security offers to the West, EUCO's Ukraine diplomacy and EU's African military missions review over Wagner links.

Even though women are on average better educated than men in the EU, they earn 14.1% less on average, with big variations across sectors, positions, and member states, according to the 'European Jobs Monitor' by the EU Commission and Eurofound.

Zhang Ming is the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the EU. Dear Friends, I took the position as the 14th Chinese Ambassador to the European Union in October 2017. Looking back over the past four years, my...

Joint EU-U.S. statement following the EU-U.S. Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting, Washington D.C., 16 December 2021

President Michel received the letters of credentials from three new ambassadors to the European Union

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

At the press conference following the European Council and the Euro Summit meetings on 16 December 2021, President Charles Michel highlighted the main results of the discussions.

The Euro Summit, meeting in an inclusive format, adopted a statement on 16 December 2021.

On 16 December 2021, the European Council adopted conclusions on COVID-19, crisis management and resilience, security and defence, external aspects of migration and external relations.

The pan-European broadcaster Euronews will be acquired by a Portuguese venture capital firm that has the ambition to make the news network a global actor, its management said.

Written by Beatrix Immenkamp.

Enormous natural gas resources have turned Qatar into one of the world’s richest countries. The 11 610 km2 nation currently has the fourth highest GDP per capita in the world. The absolute monarchy’s estimated 340 000-350 000 citizens benefit from free education, free healthcare, virtually guaranteed – and well paid – employment, and pay almost no taxes. However, the great majority of the emirate’s nearly 3 million inhabitants live in very different conditions. Qatar has the highest ratio of migrants in the world: 85 % of its population are migrants and 94 % of its workforce comes from abroad, mostly from south Asia and Africa. In contrast to the small percentage of expatriates from the West and other Gulf States, Asian and African migrants live and work in harsh conditions. Around 1 million are employed in construction, and 100 000 are domestic workers.

In December 2010, FIFA, world football’s governing body, granted Qatar the right to host the 2022 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from 21 November to 18 December. Expanding on an existing development programme enshrined in the Qatar National Vision 2030, the country embarked on an extensive building programme to prepare for the World Cup, involving an estimated 1 million migrant workers. However, these preparations placed the spotlight on Qatar’s poor treatment of migrant workers. In response to international pressure, Qatar has introduced important legal changes to improve the situation of these workers, which the EU has welcomed. However, according to human rights organisations, the country needs to take further steps to stop abuses. Of particular concern is the kafala sponsorship system, which is widely used throughout the six Gulf Cooperation Council States and gives disproportionate power to employers, leading to widespread abuse of migrant workers’ rights. Even though Qatar has started to dismantle the kafala system, important elements remain in place. Moreover, ensuring compliance with more favourable labour laws remains a challenge. Since 2008, the European Parliament has adopted four resolutions addressing the situation of migrant workers in Qatar; it has called on Qatar to end the ‘deplorable situation’ of migrant workers and prevent preparations for the 2022 World Cup from being ‘overshadowed by allegations of forced labour’.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar: Turning the spotlight on workers’ rights‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

In this third edition of the CAPitals, EURACTIV's network takes a look at the state of play of the implementation of the Unfair Trade Practices (UTP) directive across the bloc.

The European Union has moved to ensure that medicines will continue to be available in Northern Ireland at the same time as in the rest of the UK, under new proposals published on Friday (17 December).