European Union

The UK unveiled on Tuesday its national strategy to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, ahead of COP26 climate talks in Scotland. As part of the strategy, the government announced extra funds to support the electrification of vehicles and charging points, carbon-capture technologies, hydrogen projects, and nuclear plans. It also said it will secure 440,000 well-paid jobs and unlock over €106bn in investment by 2030.

The EU Ombudsman on Tuesday asked the European Commission for a meeting to discuss in detail an ongoing inquiry into how the executive handles cases in which officials move on to take private-sector jobs. The inquiry, based on 1,000 files, was launched earlier this year. "This next step will take a deeper look at commission practices both generally and in relation to specific cases," said ombudsman Emily O'Reilly.

Nato remained "open to dialogue, including through the Nato-Russia Council [NRC]", its spokeswoman said Tuesday, after Russia closed its Nato embassy in Brussels and expelled three Nato military staff and their civilian assistants from Moscow. Nato justified its earlier "proportionate" expulsion of eight Russian diplomats, who were "undeclared Russian intelligence officers", it said. The NRC brings together 30 Nato states' ambassadors and Russian envoys. It last met in July 2019.

The surge of Covid-19 infections in eastern EU member countries, particularly the Baltic states, is putting health systems under increasing pressure, prompting governments to reimpose restrictive measures.

Ursula von der Leyen said the commission might use either an infringement procedure, an EU probe into the ruling, the new tool of conditionality which could lead to the suspension of EU funds, or the Article 7 sanctions procedure.

Poland doubled the number of troops to 6,000 on its Belarus border, amid an ongoing standoff with stranded migrants - at least seven of whom have died as temperatures start to plummet.

Why the European Parliament's vote against the discharge of Frontex is the only plausible position for anyone who values human life.

With Poland throwing the legal order of Europe in disarray, Russia rationing Europe's gas supply and the UK reneging on its Brexit commitments, perhaps the moment has come again to read a few essays by French philosopher Michel de Montaigne.

What we call for is another approach to the financing of the European Grean Deal. While a lot of attention is being paid to decarbonisation, the other two aspects - de-financialisation and democratisation - are largely ignored.

President Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of all health authorities involved in the management of the coronavirus pandemic as the death toll hit a new record high of 574 COVID-related deaths on Tuesday (19 October). “The lack of concrete...

The Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán will send over €4 million to Slovakia for the reconstruction of churches despite the Slovak government not being involved in the programme. The culture and foreign ministries found out about Hungary’s intentions from the...

Within its Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the European Commission will design criteria to phase out the most harmful chemicals for non-essential societal use. In this article MCEC builds a case on why microbial control technologies are essential.

Portugal is one of six EU countries that have put forward support measures to address the energy crisis after guidance from the European Commission to curb rising costs, an EU source told Lusa. Days after Brussels presented a “toolbox” of...

The Italian Council of Ministers has unanimously approved the Draft Budgetary Plan worth 24-€25 billion. The plan, approved on Tuesday (19 October) afternoon, sets out the main points of the upcoming budget law for 2022. The new budget law should...

The coronavirus situation in Finland has deteriorated at an alarming pace with an incidence rate of 138 per 100,000 residents. As a result, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDchangeding the country’s listing from yellow to red, meaning...

Due to rising infection rates, the Irish government has announced that some COVID-19 measures will be extended beyond their planned end later this week. Following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced that several measures would remain, including wearing...

The UK plans to invest £90bn and create over 440,000 jobs over the next ten years to meet its ‘net zero’ climate targets, the government announced on Tuesday (19 October). The plan includes investing in expanding electric car infrastructure, grants...

Ahead of the European Council meeting on Thursday, Austrian MEPs have signalled that they have different expectations of new chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, who was inaugurated on Monday last week. The Social Democrats are expecting Schallenberg to take a more conciliatory and...

As prices for fuel and electricity are soaring across Europe, La France Insoumise candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon said he wants to go back to pre-price-hike-levels by blocking prices and redistributing profits. “Nobody thinks to say why prices are rising and who...

The Bulgarian government has drastically tightened restrictive measures in an attempt to stem the fourth wave of coronavirus infection. From Thursday, the Green pass becomes mandatory for most indoor activities. The Covid certificate will be mandatory for universities, restaurants, shops...