European Union

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about the fake Covid certificates in France, the Slovenian prime minister being subject to an anti-graft probe, and so much more.

Deliberative democracy processes are more democratic than general elections or surveys, according to Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) participants and experts of the second panel on democracy gathered in Florence last weekend.

Several European supermarket chains are dropping Brazilian beef products linked to destruction of the Amazon rainforest and tropical wetland, the US activist group Mighty Earth said Thursday (16 December).

Businesses in the eurozone dipped in December as renewed restrictions imposed to curb the Omicron coronavirus variant curtailed the recovery in the bloc's dominant services industry. In the German private sector, growth evaporated as restrictions hit the services sector in Europe's largest economy. In France - the only other country in the bloc to report flash data - shutdowns also hammered hospitality and travel companies.

Only 0.1% of Albanian men have chosen not to work in favour of staying at home to take over domestic responsibilities when compared to 11% of women, according to data from a collaborative study between INSTAT, UN Women, the Swiss...

The European Parliament has called on the European Council “to approve visa liberalisation for Kosovo without further delay.” On Wednesday, the Parliament endorsed a report on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans, urging regional leaders to focus their efforts...

The construction of the biggest wind park in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which Chinese state companies plan to invest €130 million, began on Ivovik hill near Livno, in Herzegovina, close to Croatia. The investment by China National Technical Import &...

The European Commission is due to set out on Friday (17 December) legal changes to ease the transport of medicines from Britain to Northern Ireland, a move that could relieve EU-UK tensions over the British province's future after Brexit.

MEPs adopted a resolution on Thursday with an overwhelming majority on forced labour in the Chinese factory Linglong in Zrenjanin and on ecological protests in Serbia. The parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, Vladimir Bilčik, said he hoped that the opening of...

The Assembly of the city of Loznica in western Serbia on Thursday repealed its decision to adopt the Spatial Plan for the city which would allow the Rio Tinto company to open a lithium mine. Development and investment advisor Mahmud...

MEPs have criticised the Slovenian government over its "attacks, smear campaigns, and slander" against journalists, saying it had created a "climate of hostility, distrust and deep polarisation". Thursday's non-binding resolution did not mention prime minister Janez Janša, who has personally insulted reporters on social media. But it was an embarrassment for his country in the last days of its EU presidency.

EU leaders failed to agree on how to respond to high energy prices on Thursday's European Council summit.

President Zoran Milanović sent a letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stating dissatisfaction and opposition to the adopted Council conclusions on enlargement and stabilisation and association process because they do not guarantee the rights of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a...

Romania could become almost energy independent when Romgaz and OMV Petrom extract the first barrels of natural gas from the Black Sea, according to energy minister Virgil Popescu.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has expressed his support for the government’s activity so far and said that talks about new taxes or increasing existing ones are part of normal debate. There is a difference between decisions adopted and enforced and...

The prosecutor’s office has refused to launch an investigation against Bulgaria’s new Prime Minister Kiril Petkov for making allegedly false statements about his citizenship in a declaration to the president in May before being appointed caretaker economy minister by the head of...

The European Central Bank took another step in rolling back its crisis-era asset buying programme on Thursday (17 December). It will hold down borrowing cost next year however, and even said it may restart emergency stimulus if necessary. With the euro zone economy near its pre-pandemic size, pressure is mounting on the bank to follow its global peers in turning off the money taps, and hiking rents.

Germany's infrastructure regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, will not make a decision on allowing natural gas flows to Europe from Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline before July next year. "A decision won't be made in the first half of 2022," Jochen Homann, the agency's president, told reporters on Thursday. Russia's Gazprom owns the pipeline.

EU leaders failed to guarantee a coordinated approach to travel measures for the Christmas holiday season during their summit meeting. Instead they stressed that boosters shots are "crucial" and "urgent" to curb the new wave of Covid-19 infections.

Almost 12,000 prospective asylum seekers in Europe were illegally forced back across a border this year, says the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). Some 6,000 alone took place between July to November, it says.