European Union

Poland recorded a record surplus in foreign trade in goods in 2020, according to data presented by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) on Monday. Sales abroad amounted to €237.5 billion, while purchases on the international market amounted to €225.5 billion....

Many EU countries are interested in exploring the Greek proposal of a digital certificate that would allow people who have received the vaccine to travel “without the need to show a negative COVID-test or undergo quarantine restrictions,” Prime Minister Kyriakos...

Among Italy’s total COVID-19 cases, 20% are infected with the UK variant of the coronavirus, the Italian Higher Institute of Health (ISS) affirmed in a technical report released on Monday. The document states that the new variant is widespread in...

As Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov on Monday, current relations between Russia and the bloc appear to have reached their nadir. Current EU-Russia relations are difficult because of the Crimean annexation, the war...

People should be “optimistic but patient” about the easing of restrictions, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday as infection and death rates from COVID-19 continue to fall. Speaking at Monday’s Downing Street briefing, Johnson hailed the “unprecedented national...

CDU chair and North Rhine-Westphalian leader Armin Laschet criticised the current caution shown in the German government’s coronavirus strategy at a digital event on Monday, putting him at odds with other major Conservative figures like Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bavarian...

As registration with the nationwide census will start on Tuesday in Slovakia, the number of people confirming their affiliation to a given religious society in the census will, according to a new law, determine how much funding the church receives...

Russian energy giant Gazprom on Monday (15 February) announced a drop in its exports to Europe in 2020, when prices and demand in the energy industry collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Council of the European Union on Monday (16 February) adopted temporary measures to help the transport sector, which has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the relaxation of rules regarding airport slots and the extension of the validity of driving licences.

President Joe Biden's administration will use a NATO defense gathering this week to begin what is expected to be a years-long effort to rebuild trust with European allies shaken by Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy.

Eight months have passed since Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented Europe’s recovery efforts before the European Parliament. During this time, our Union has made history, write Luis Garicano, Martin Hojsík and Gergely Karácsony.

The European Commission is expected to propose reforms to an international energy treaty as early as Monday (22 February), EU officials said, after some governments have said the bloc should consider quitting the agreement because it could threaten climate goals.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) gave a green light for the global deployment of coronavirus vaccines to poorer countries after it issued emergency approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Low- and middle-income countries can expect to receive their first deliveries of the vaccine at the end of February as part of the 'Covax' shared-procurement programme. The WHO hopes to deliver 336 million doses in the first half of the year.

Existing gas networks should be repurposed to transport hydrogen and help boost demand, said Michał Kurtyka, Polish Minister of Climate and Environment at an online event about hydrogen in Central and Eastern Europe on Friday (12 February).

EU industry needs to produce more electronic components to reduce dependence on Asian manufacturers, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday. "It is essential to reinforce the European industrial strategy with the objectives of retaining Europe's industrial capacities, developing them in the near future and assuring Europe's strategic independence," Le Maire said, speaking alongside the French EU single market commissioner Thierry Breton at a press briefing in Paris.

With a UN biodiversity summit approaching in spring, 2021 has been hailed as a super year for biodiversity. As part of its contribution, the European Commission is preparing legislation to introduce legal protection for 30% of land and sea in Europe.

After the narrow win of socialist party candidate Salvador Illa in Catalonia's regional elections on Sunday (14 February), the first round of negotiations began on Monday to build a new – likely pro-independence – government in Spain's most prosperous region, EURACTIV’s partner EuroEFE reports. 

The EU has urged Kosovo's incoming government to continue EU-mediated talks with Serbia on normalising relations. "The EU expects the new authorities in Pristina to engage constructively with a view to a continuation of the meetings of the EU-facilitated dialogue," the EU foreign service said Monday after elections in Kosovo last weekend. The likely new prime minister, Albin Kurti, is fiercely critical of Serbia, auguring badly for the peace process.

Russia has said it wants closer ties with friendly EU states, but that relations with EU institutions were a dead "carcass".

The UK's official medicines watchdog is examining manufacturing processes at the world's largest vaccine-producer site in India, which could pave the way to ship the AstraZeneca vaccine from there to the UK, Reuters reported on Monday. The Serum Institute of India is already producing vaccines for low and medium-income countries like Brazil, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. Britain has ordered 100 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine.