European Union

Greece is bracing for the second day of heavy rain and floods as the stormy weather front dubbed ‘Ballos’, which has been pounding the country since the early hours of Thursday, is expected to worsen. All schools in the Attica...

The state budget is always a coin with two sides, one of which balances revenue and expenditure. It is vital to safeguard the international credibility of the country’s economy, Prime Minister António Costa said on Thursday. Costa conveyed this message...

A spike in seismic activity was recorded on Thursday on the Spanish island of La Palma where the Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to rumble 26 days after it first started erupting. Some 60 earthquakes have been registered on the island...

Port workers in Trieste – the seventh-largest port in Europe for handling goods and the leading oil terminal in the Mediterranean – have announced a total block of operations starting Friday in protest against the national health pass mandate for...

The country’s incoming centre-left government has said it will seek to grow the country’s lucrative oil and gas industry while striving to cut carbon emissions. The comments came only a day after the EU pledged to pursue a ban on...

The EU’s executive summoned envoys from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia on Thursday to discuss the fate of migrants stranded on their border with Belarus. But the meeting did not take place. “I’m very concerned about reports of people including children...

Despite the outcry among liberal elites following last week's Polish court ruling, the EU treaties clearly set out the boundaries between national constitutions and EU law. It's time for some perspective, writes Judit Varga.

The Irish government has voiced its support for the EU’s Northern Ireland protocol proposals, published this week. Foreign Minister Simon Coveney thanked Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, saying that “the European Commission has listened to the concerns of the people of...

The UK government has announced plans to allow foreign butchers to enter the UK on six-month temporary visas in its latest attempt to address supply shortages. Butchers in abattoirs and meat processing plants dealing with pigs will be able to...

In his maiden foreign visit, newly inaugurated Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg travelled to Brussels to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel, outlining the main priorities of his administration. Schallenberg, who worked in Brussels...

The practices of businessman Vincent Bolloré represents “a real danger for press freedom, but also for democracy,” according to a documentary called “System B” released Thursday by NGO Reporters Without Borders and shared on social media. The documentary denounces the...

Britain will offer six-month emergency visas to 800 foreign butchers to avoid a mass pig cull, after farmers complained that an exodus of workers from abattoirs and meat processors had left the pork sector fighting for survival.

As the Social Democrats, business-friendly liberal FDP and the Greens are due to enter complex coalition negotiations, their youth wings may have one thing in common: a desire to legalise marijuana. “The prohibition, criminalisation and stigmatisation of cannabis has failed,”...

Polish MPs voted Thursday to let officials immediately expel asylum seekers who entered Poland irregularly, in what would be illegal pushbacks under international law, and to build a €350m wall on the Belarusian border, where police found the body of a sixth dead refugee. Up to 150 people a night were now also arriving from Belarus to Eisenhuettenstadt, a German migrant camp near the Polish border, local authorities told Reuters.

Estonia is having second thoughts about the pro-nuclear statement made by nine EU countries backing France. Initially considering the joint statement as “premature”, Estonia now says it is not ruling out the use of more nuclear power in its energy...

Chinese prime minister Xi Jinping will not personally attend the 'COP26' climate summit in Scotland, UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been informed, British newspaper The Times reported Thursday. The no-show might mean China would not submit a 'nationally defined contribution' (NDC) on CO2-cuts either, British officials feared. Just half of the world's 'G20' wealthiest countries have filed NDCs so far, amid a supply crunch in oil and gas markets.

Wednesday's murders "appeared ... to be an act of terrorism" Norway's 'PST' intelligence service said Thursday, noting that the killer, Danish national Espen Andersen, had been a "known" threat. Andersen was a Muslim convert and extremist, but might also have had psychiatric problems, Norwegian police said. Norway's terrorism-threat level was "moderate", the PST added, while monitoring the risk of "follow-up actions, revenge actions" by either "extreme Islamists" or "right-wing extremists".

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to tear down wind turbines in France if voted president. "If I am elected, I will put a stop to all construction of new wind parks and I will launch a big project to dismantle them," she said on RTL radio Thursday. "Mme. Le Pen would cause blackouts," French environment minister Barbara Pompili said, as wind-power creates 8 percent of France's electricity.

MEPs in the legal-affairs committee have urged the EU Parliament president to sue the EU Commission for failing to use its new rule-of-law powers.

MEPs at committee level are seeking greater protection against lawsuits aimed at silencing and intimidating journalists and civil society in Europe.