European Union

Slovenian parliament Speaker Igor Zorčič has rejected calls to postpone the vote on the no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Janez Janša due to possible coronavirus infections. A vote of no-confidence should certainly be executed within the timeframe...

The government decided on Monday to financially support independent artists, the self-employed and independent culture professionals, tasking the finance and culture ministries with setting aside an additional €3 million this year as direct support to the culture sector. Speaking at...

The anti-COVID vaccination campaign entered the second phase in Romania, but its rollout has been plagued by problems with appointment bookings. As of Friday (15 January), elders, chronic patients, but also essential workers may receive an inoculation, but users reported...

Slovakia suddenly became one of the EU’s leading countries when it comes to green energy consumption, according to new figures published by Eurostat based on 2019 data regarding household biomass consumption provided by Slovakia. The new figures show that Slovakia...

The European Commission is investigating the rejection of a human rights civil society organisation’s grant application on the grounds that it did not comply with the transparency requirements of Hungarian legislation the EU’s top court found last summer to run...

Sunday’s frosty night has caused extremely high air pollution across Poland, placing Wroclaw and Warsaw in the world’s top ten most polluted cities according to IQAir’s air quality index which calculates the dose of pollution on the basis of dust...

EU lawmakers of the Greek communist party (KKE) have sent a letter to EU Parliament chief David Sassoli complaining about the “unjustified” delay to lift the immunity of a Greek MEP who has been convicted for having joined a criminal...

Portugal’s entire health system, including the National Health Service (SNS), private and third sectors and all back-office structures, is close to its limit as it struggles to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases, Health Minister Marta Temido has warned. “We...

Spain will receive €69.5 billion in non-refundable transfers from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, a “statistical increase” of €10.36 billion or 17% more than initially planned, making Spain the first beneficiary of EU recovery money, followed by Italy. Spain...

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte won the no-confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday evening, meaning the PM only has to convince the second branch of the Italian parliament, known as the Senate, which is expected to have...

In order to attract experts and highly skilled employees from abroad, the Confederation of Finnish Industries has proposed to revise the country’s residency procedures by having highly skilled foreign workers work immediately upon arrival while waiting for their residency permit...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged on on Monday £23 million to help fishing businesses affected by Brexit delays after fishing firms brought their protests to central London. Around 20 lorries blocked access to government departments on Whitehall in a bid...

Monica Semedo (Renew Europe) has been suspended for a period of 15 days over allegations of “psychological harassment” by her assistants. European Parliament President David Sassoli pronounced the suspension at the start of a plenary session, saying that she had...

The French parliament’s debate on the draft bill “reinforcing respect for the principles of the Republic” – which began on Monday – is already promising to be heated. Several amendments aimed at restricting the wearing of religious signs in public...

Tuesday, 19 January

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Tuesday, 19 January

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Belgium has not yet taken a decision on stricter travel rules, despite the appearance of the UK COVID-mutation in the country, as it is hoping for a joint European approach. Possible measures could be implemented through the next scheduled meeting...

Although the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) elected North Rhine-Westphalian premier Armin Laschet to be the party’s chair over the weekend, recent opinion polls show that he is not particularly popular, meaning he could face challengers in the chancellorship race. According...

European institutions must find a “rapid and pragmatic solution” to overcome the “deadlock” which is preventing the Conference on the Future of Europe from being held, Portuguese State Secretary for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, told a press conference on...

The owners of Bulgarian restaurants and nightclubs  – which were forced to close months ago because of the pandemic – have threatened with civil disobedience and unauthorised openings of their businesses after police and health inspectors surprised a series of...