European Union

African countries began officially trading under a new continent-wide free trade area on Friday (1 January), after months of delays caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

Croatia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk began operations on Friday (1 January) amid the first delivery of gas, said the company which runs the unit.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Friday (1 January) opened a portion of a Russian gas project running through his country and hailed it as key for the security of its energy supply.

Britain on Friday (1 January) began a new year and life outside Europe, after leaving the bloc's single market trading rules to go it alone for the first time in nearly half a century.

A thousand migrants from a burned-out camp were in limbo in Bosnia on Thursday (31 December), struggling with freezing temperatures and snow as efforts by local authorities to re-house them sparked protests from locals.

Gibraltar will become part of the Schengen zone to ensure fluidity on its border with Spain in a landmark deal inked just hours before the Brexit deadline, Spain's top diplomat said Thursday (31 December).

A collective sigh of relief greeted the Christmas Eve agreement on a post-Brexit free trade deal. After months of criticism over his government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson won the media plaudits for ‘getting Brexit done’. For the EU, it put an end to years of frustrating and time-consuming talks with its awkward former member.

Norwegian rescuers deployed drones and dogs to negotiate unstable clay soil in a search for 10 people still missing on Thursday (31 December) after a landslide in southern Norway swept away more than a dozen buildings the previous day.

When 2020 dawned, the global economy had just notched its 10th straight year of uninterrupted growth, a streak most economists and government finance officials expected to persist for years ahead in a 21st Century version of the “Roaring ‘20s.”

After a year scarred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese presidency will seek to deliver on a Europe-wide vaccination plan and the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, writes António Costa.

The United Kingdom exits the European Union's orbit, turning its back on a tempestuous 48-year liaison with the European project for an uncertain Brexit future that will shape the fortunes of its people for generations to come.

The United States announced Wednesday (30 December)  that it will impose additional tariffs on French and German products as part of a long-running dispute over subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.

Angela Merkel said in her last New Year's address to the nation as German chancellor that 2020 was by far the most difficult of her 15-year leadership, yet the start of vaccinations against COVID-19 made 2021 a year of hope.

President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump will campaign next week in Georgia, holding dueling events on the eve of runoff elections that will determine who controls the US Senate and the fate of Biden’s legislative agenda.

UN chief Antónioo Guterres has proposed international monitors to support Libya's fragile ceasefire amid hopes that foreign fighters will soon leave and the country can turn the page on a decade of war.

Belgium has tightened its measures to restrict the spread of the coronavirus by requiring all people who have travelled abroad to undergo a COVID-19 test.

At least 22 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on Aden airport on Wednesday (30 December), moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen.

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission Ursula von der Leyen held a leaders’ meeting with China, represented by President Xi Jinping, via videoconference on 30 December 2020. The meeting focused in particular on progress achieved on negotiations on investment.

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement in Brussels on behalf of the European Union.

UK lawmakers endorsed Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU on Wednesday (30 December) with a thumping 521 to 73 majority, setting the country on course to retain its free trade with the EU when it leaves the Single Market at midnight on New Year's Eve.