European Union

Clusters of the Indian variants of Covid-19 have been found across England, including in care homes, the Guardian has learned, amid growing fears about the speed with which they are spreading in communities. The latest update of case numbers of these variants was due to be published on Thursday. But leaked emails seen by the Guardian show the announcement was delayed until at least Friday because of local elections.

Current technology enables the world to cut methane emissions by 40 percent by 2030, shaving 0.3 degrees Celsius off rising temperatures, the UN said in a report out Thursday, amid EU deliberations on its first-ever methane-cut targets for energy firms, due this year. "If we want to reduce the rate of warming in the near term, methane is the way," Johan Kuylenstierna, one of the UN report co-authors, told Reuters.

The EU's top court has thrown out an appeal by German chemicals firm Bayer against a partial ban on three pesticides said to harm bees. "The verdict seems to allow the [European] Commission almost carte blanche to review existing approvals upon the slightest evidence," a Bayer spokesman told Reuters. "Protecting nature and people's health takes precedence over the narrow economic interests of powerful multinationals," a Greenpeace spokeswoman also said.

The EU has recommended to member states that Israeli nationals should be allowed to visit the bloc as tourists once again, due to the success of Israel's coronavirus vaccination campaign. The move "paves the way for a gradual return to routine and economic growth after the coronavirus crisis," Israel's foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi said. People from Australia and New Zealand are also exempt from Europe's blanket ban on foreign tourism.

Israel's foreign ministry has urged EU states to "immediately cease funding for Palestinian organisations that work on behalf of the PFLP terrorist group", amid its indictment of a Spanish national living in the West Bank, accused of duping EU donors to divert "eight-figure" sums to PFLP, which is on an EU terrorism blacklist. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, the same day urged Israel to stop building 540 new settlements.

The EU is preparing to help train Mozambique's armed forces, amid wider ambitions for a stronger European military capacity.

The Spanish government wants to implement a series of extraordinary measures in the coming months so as to be eligible for EU funding, including changes to tax laws and reforms of the labour market and pension system. EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.

The European Commission on Thursday presented a strategy for the development and availability of Covid-19 treatments, including a proposal to invest €90m in population studies and clinical trials. The EU executive will draw up a portfolio of 10 potential Covid-19 treatments by June 2021, identify the most promising ones. Brussels will launch new contracts for the purchase of authorised treatments or drugs by the end of the year.

The European Union is now ready to discuss the proposal to waive temporarily intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines - following the historic decision by Washington in favour of easing patent rules.

The Libyans are demanding more assets, such as patrol boats and planes, for their coast guard. The EU has now floated the idea of tapping into its new European Peace Facility to supply them.

The legal opinion came as the Polish disciplinary chamber discussed removing the immunity of a supreme court judge critical of the government's judicial overhaul.

A group of 11 member states, led by Denmark, wants EU rules for cross-border energy projects to exclude funding for fossil fuels infrastructure. However, member states remain divided on the role of gas in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Will this weekend's EU-India summit help translate the recently approved Council conclusions on the Indo-Pacific strategy into more pragmatic set of actions able to elevate Europe in the Asia-Pacific region?

The Porto summit this weekend could be a "watershed moment" for EU-India relations to push for stronger health cooperation in the context of the pandemic, enhanced cooperation on trade and investment, and a partnership on connectivity, the country's envoy to Brussels, Santosh Jha, told EURACTIV in an interview ahead of the EU-India leaders meeting on Saturday (8 May).

Using hydrogen-based fuels for cars and home heating risks locking in a dependency on fossil fuels and failing to tackle the climate crisis, according to a new analysis. EURACTIV’s media partner, The Guardian, reports. Fuels produced from hydrogen can be...

Spain is moving aggressively to land new battery and electric vehicle plants, using billions of European Union pandemic relief funds to avoid being left behind as the global auto sector undertakes the biggest technology transformation in a century.

Aigul Kuspan, former head of the Kazakh mission to the European Union and current chair of Kazakhstan's parliamentary committee on international affairs, says the bloc often comes across as self-assured and borderline ignorant in terms of global affairs.

On 7 May, the Social Summit organised by the Portuguese Presidency should be a milestone to reinvigorate the project of a fairer Europe. SGI Europe, EU social partner representing employers of services of general interest (SGI) and of public services, will present its vision and contribution to making Social Europe a reality.

A bold US bid to waive patents on much-needed coronavirus vaccines was strongly opposed by Germany on Thursday (6 May), threatening to derail the proposal that requires the consensus of World Trade Organisation members to pass.

The world must urgently cut its emissions of methane to rein in climate change, a UN report said Thursday (6 May) raising pressure on European Union policymakers who are drafting the bloc's first methane regulations targeting fossil fuels.