European Union

Hungary’s chief medical officer appeared to be disingenuously citing the public health situation in order to prolong replying to a freedom of information request regarding an EU funded project on Monday.  Relying on the pandemic-induced special legal order, Hungary’s chief...

“It is time to back off. The government ignores us so there is no point in continuing,” František Vrabel, the head of the leading analyst company focusing on the fight against disinformation known as Semantic Visions, told EURACTIV.cz’s media partner...

A five-year collaboration agreement, which will be automatically renewed, was signed Monday between Greece’s Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis and Israeli Tourism Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen. The agreement focuses on tourism investments, promotion, innovation, education, training, and coordinated actions and decisions in...

While two of three companies in Portugal’s catering sector have said they were not able to pay wages, almost 60% have said they were insolvent, according to a survey carried out by Restaurant Association PRO.VAR, which is calling for the...

While Sweden and Norway’s economies are expected to respectively grow by 20% in the next 10 years, growth in Finland over the same period is only expected to see a 10% increase, according to a report issued by the Finnish...

Irish representatives will touch base with Commission officials on Tuesday to probe the ins and outs of the EU executive’s shortlived decision to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Irish government is ‘anxious’ to avoid a repeat...

College Jules Ferry in Eaubonne, north of Paris, had to shut down after two positive cases of the South African variant were detected on Monday. A free and massive three-day screening campaign will start Tuesday for the town of 25,000...

Germany expelled and classified a Russian diplomat as “persona non grata” on Monday in response to Moscow’s expulsion of EU diplomats on Friday, which the German foreign office said was “in no way justified”. Poland, and Sweden also expelled Russian...

The British and EU ambassadors to Washington said they were encouraged by signs the Biden administration will re-engage in talks on reforming global tax rules for digital companies after discussions stalled under former President Donald Trump.

Tuesday, 9 February

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Tuesday, 9 February

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The European Commission chief said on Monday (8 February) she had called on EU member states to donate some of their coronavirus jabs to Ukraine, as it prepares to launch its vaccination campaign.

The Fair Play for Planet label, which was recently created by former French rugby player Julien Pierre, aims to support and recognise environmental commitment in sports. EURACTIV France reports.

The arguments Poland raised prior to High Representative Josep Borrell’s visit to Moscow were disregarded, and now conclusions should be drawn from this. First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the best practice of consulting and formulating our Eastern...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a video call Monday (8 February) he hopes for a summit with European Union leaders in the first half of 2021 to ease tensions.

Russia's TurkStream pipeline with Turkey to south-east Europe, which began work in January, has seen Bulgaria and Greece get almost all their gas via the new route this year, instead of via Ukraine, as before, according to UK energy consultancy Platts. Bulgaria received some 6.4 billion cubic metres via Ukraine last year, and "almost zero" this year. Russia is also building a pipeline to Germany to bypass the pro-Western Ukraine.

Britain called on Monday for a reset in relations with the European Union and the "refinement" of a Brexit deal covering trade with Northern Ireland, Reuters writes. Relations between Brussels and London strained by years of bruising Brexit talks took a turn for the worse last month when the EU threatened to use emergency measures to stop coronavirus vaccines going into Northern Ireland.

As the EU works on its Arctic policy update, to be published by the end of this year, youth representatives from the European Arctic have called on policymakers to ensure that Arctic youth and Indigenous peoples are included in the actions that will directly affect their futures.

The EU and UK, backed by the US, have called for an emergency session of the UN human rights council in Geneva Friday to discuss the coup and anti-coup protests in Myanmar, amid fear the new military junta could turn to violence. "We must respond urgently to the plight of the people in Myanmar and the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation there," Julian Braithwaite, the UK's ambassador in Geneva, said.

The grants and loans provided to EU countries under the bloc’s €750 billion recovery plan will not automatically exclude funding for gas infrastructure or highways, as long as these are part of a coherent national decarbonisation strategy with clear milestones, EU officials have said.