European Union

The media and the EU face similar dangers. Christophe Leclercq, who established Fondation EURACTIV and the EURACTIV media network,  creatively illustrates how characters could cooperate to avoid the worst.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Saturday (2 May) that face coverings will be mandatory in public transport after phase 0 of the government’s multi-staged de-escalation plan begins on Monday. EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. “We know that the absolute...

Europe is at a crossroads, thanks in part to the coronavirus outbreak's massive impact on the economy. Julia Poliscanova explains which fork in the road the car industry should take and the role electric vehicles should play.

People came out of their homes to drink wine and champagne in the street together, while keeping a safe distance, in some streets in Brussels at 8PM on Sunday to celebrate "the end of the lockdown". They had previously clapped or rang bells from their windows at 8PM each night in support of medical staff. Belgium is to start phasing out its lockdown in three waves from this Monday onward.

France said Sunday that it would not quarantine anyone arriving from the EU, the Schengen area, or Britain due to the coronavirus, as it prepares to start easing confinement measures after two months of lockdown, Reuters reports. Until at least 24 July, anyone entering France arriving from outside the European Union, the Schengen zone, or Britain would have to remain in isolation for two weeks.

Israel's Mossad intelligence agency convinced Germany, last week, to declare Lebanese political party Hezbollah a terrorist entity by showing the group was stockpiling explosives in southern Germany, Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster reported. "The move is a result of many months of work with all the parties in Germany," an Israeli official said, adding Mossad gave Germany "evidence of direct and proven legal involvement, which ties the organisation to terrorist activity".

There are currently 3,503,533 confirmed cases of the virus, and 247,306 people have lost their lives in the pandemic so far, according to John's Hopkins University data. Reuters reports that the rate of fatalities and new cases has slowed from peaks reached last month. Europe and North America count for most cases, but numbers are still on the rise in Russia, Africa and Latin America.

China is a "systemic rival" to Europe and the EU should not be "naive" about its intentions, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. "We Europeans support effective multilateralism with the United Nations at the centre. China, on the other hand, has a selective multilateralism that wants, and is based on, a different understanding of the international order," Borrell said in the interview.

A benevolent unifier or power-hungry dictator? On the 40th anniversary of his death, the legacy of the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito remains a subject of debate in the Balkan lands once united by his grip.

Worldwide efforts will be made to find €7.5bn for a possible cure for Covid-19. The commission will also flesh out its estimates of the coming recession.

The European Commission’s recently presented objectives for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) post-2020 were strong on content but "very clearly weak on political signalling," the head of Georgia's mission to the EU told EURACTIV in an interview.

Building on a long-standing tradition of social dialogue, the World Employment Confederation-Europe and UNI-Europa, the EU Sectoral Social Partners for temporary agency work, issued joint recommendations to tackle the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Commission launches on Monday an initiative to raise €7.5bn to speed up the development of vaccines, treatment and testing capacity, ensuring that is equally "available to everyone and at affordable prices" and avoiding nationalisms.

Budapest and Bucharest are engaged in a war of words over the heavily-Hungarian region of Szeklerland, part of Romania's Transylvania. But is a row over autonomy just cover to overshadow the corona virus crisis?

The reports we have received at the European Roma Rights Centre of extreme hardship, police violence, ethnic profiling and hate speech against Roma since the pandemic hit Europe, highlight the need for extra vigilance when governments adopt emergency powers.

One of most catastrophic fallouts of this crisis is that it is paving the way for a crackdown on press freedoms across the world.

France said Sunday (3 May) that it would not quarantine anyone arriving from the EU, the Schengen area or Britain due to the coronavirus, as it prepares to start easing confinement measures after two months of lockdown.

European leaders are backing an initiative from Brussels to raise €7.5 billion to find a vaccine to curb the global coronavirus pandemic.

Article written by President Michel , President von der Leyen, President Macron, Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Solberg.

The EU issued a declaration paying tribute on World Press Freedom Day to the essential role of journalism in upholding online and offline freedom of expression in democratic societies and fostering transparency and accountability.