European Union

It was supposed to be the most important and intriguing German election in 16 years. After all, Angela Merkel, easily Europe’s most influential political figure in the 21st century, is leaving the political stage for good.

Tunisia’s democrats need more support from the EU and European nations as the north African country faces up to months of government by presidential decree, said Ahmed Gaaloul, an Ennahdha party official and a former youth and sports minister.

As children across the European Union are going back to school, ECDC is encouraging countries to “appropriately” balance children's physical and mental health needs while ensuring COVID-19 prevention. 

Certain fluorescent and halogen light bulbs are being banned as of Wednesday (1 September) as new ecodesign and labelling rules come into force across the European Union.

Google said on Wednesday it was appealing against a 500 million euro fine imposed by France's antitrust watchdog in July over a dispute with local media about paying for news content.

The UK food sector has called for a new COVID-19 recovery visa to address workforce shortages, but the government has been non-committal, stressing instead it aims not to rely on labour from abroad.

Google will invest in the expansion of its cloud data centres and renewable energy facilities, though critics continue to accuse it of showing a lack of ambition on innovative green technologies. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Following the Georgian government's decision not to take the €75 million worth second instalment of loan assistance from the EU, Brussels said on Tuesday (31 August) Tbilisi had failed to fulfil the reform conditions attached to the assistance, the latest sign of a cooling relationship with the post-Soviet country's leadership.

In many European countries the new school year begins today, September 1. After a year and a half of school closures, homeschooling, compulsory Covid tests and face masks, many were hoping for a return to normality. But the Delta variant is driving up infection rates, especially among children, many of whom have not been vaccinated. Today's commentaries present a mixture of fatalism, disgruntlement and perplexity.

After lots of complaints about the slow pace of vaccination in the EU, the European Commission's target of vaccinating 70 percent of adults by the end of the summer has been achieved. Vaccination rates vary widely among individual member states, however: in Bulgaria, for example, only 20 percent have had the jab, and in Romania only 32 percent. And not all commentators are convinced that this milestone is all that important.

Nato began its mission in Afghanistan 20 years ago. Today, most experts consider the strategy of building a democratic state on the basis of military support to have failed. More than 3,500 troops belonging to Nato and its allies lost their lives in Afghanistan. The press discusses how Europe should reposition itself.