European Union

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about German Economy Minister Altmaier proposing to bail out companies but with conditions, Croatia's attempts to help the heavily impacted tourism sector weather the storm of the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States said on Monday (27 April) it will impose new restrictions on exports to China to keep semiconductor production equipment and other technology away from Beijing’s military.

Of all the Western Balkan countries Serbia had the highest military expenditure in 2019, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The data shows that Serbia invested $1.14 billion in its military in 2019, which is $326 million (43%)...

Speaker Maja Gojkovic scheduled for 28 April the first session of the Serbian parliament since a state of emergency was introduced on 15 March.  See what else has been happening in Serbia since the state of emergency, here. Serbia’s MPs...

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković spoke about Croatia’s economic strategy for the crisis and told Euronews in an interview over the weekend that “our measures were swift and very forthcoming and efficient and have made excellent economic results so far. What...

The budget deficit widened by a whopping 10 billion lei (around €2 billion), which is about 1% of GDP, in just a month. The general government deficit reached 1.67% of GDP at the end of March, up from 0.73% of...

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has repeatedly made it clear that he does not support the European Green Deal as he proposes to focus on fighting the coronavirus and supporting “traditional industry”. With no other country voicing criticism against a...

In November 2019, the European Court of Human Rights found that Finland was in breach of the Human Rights Convention, for the first time in the country’s history. However, in light of new evidence, it appears the Court may have...

According to the National Security Council’s new measures for relaxing the current lockdown, passengers on public transport would be required to wear a mask  from 4 May, while it will become mandatory in companies that cannot guarantee sufficient social distance between...

Coronavirus aid funding for corporations should come with additional conditions, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) told German radio on Monday. He wants companies that accept public money to cease paying out shareholder dividends and for management to take a pay...

Nine southern member states have called on the EU to come up with an “homogenous” plan to help tourism mitigate the catastrophic financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis. At a videoconference yesterday (27 April), nine member states (Italy, Greece, Spain,...

Europe cannot win the fight against the coronavirus without digital technologies, the European Commission said in a video call with EU-27 health ministers on Monday (27 April). But this must not come at the expense of EU data protection rules, which must remain a "global gold standard". 

The Czech government on Monday (27 April) approved agreements with majority state-owned electricity producer ČEZ setting out the framework for building a new nuclear power block to come online in 2036, state and company officials said.

The EU should stop channeling funds to Libya to manage migration and train its coastguard as it is not a “safe country” for disembarkation of people rescued at sea, MEPs in the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee heard on Monday (27 April).

23 June will mark the fourth anniversary of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. But while the UK has officially been out of the bloc since 31 January, the talks on future relations underscore how little has changed in those years.

The EU should reconsider its 'all or nothing' approach on sanctions imposed on Russia for its role in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as its annexation of Crimea, a new report from the International Crisis Group suggests.

The United States said Monday (27 April)  it was ready to recognize Israel's annexation of much of the West Bank but asked the new unity government also to negotiate with the Palestinians.

In Germany, the coronavirus health crisis is keeping politics on tenterhooks as many legislative proposals are being postponed. Will the country's coal phase-out carry on as planned? EURACTIV Germany reports.

During the first half of March, as Slovakia went through an early stage of the COVID-19 crisis, it managed to take fast and critical measures. The country's largest cities were the first places in the EU that enforced compulsory facemasks in public, writes Andrej Šteňo.

As the “unprecedented” coronavirus crisis requires new tools, the European Commission is thinking of creating a new instrument to support solvent companies, especially in vulnerable member states, two top officials said on Monday (27 April).