European Union

Ludovic Orban's liberal PNL government in Romania, which was overthrown in early February, was re-elected on Friday. Faced with the spread of Covid-19, all the opposition parties gave it their backing. Many PNL MPs are in quarantine and had to stay away from the vote. Romania's media are delighted to see the politicians displaying such a sense of responsibility.

The circular economy lies at the very heart of the Commission’s new regenerative growth strategy for Europe and UNESDA is fully committed to supporting the transition, writes Tudy Bernier.

EU Council president Charles Michel has called for another EU summit on coronavirus response coordination by viodeconference for Tuesday, after EU leaders last coordinated online last Tuesday. "Containing the spread of the virus, providing sufficient medical equipment, boosting research and limiting the economic fallout is key" Michel tweeted. EU countries have been taking unilateral measures to mitigate the spread of the virus while the EU urges coordination and common action.

The Italian government is close to taking full control of Alitalia, as the coronavirus outbreak in Europe forces Rome to abandon plans to find a buyer for the ailing national carrier, Il Messaggero said on Sunday (15 March).

BUDG Chair and coordinators welcome Commission announcements, but deplore mere “re-use” of existing funds and insist on fresh and additional financial means to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

BUDG Chair and coordinators welcome Commission announcements, but deplore mere “re-use” of existing funds and insist on fresh and additional financial means to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

EU financial affairs commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has dampened UK hopes to settle, by 30 June, the terms of access for City of London firms to Europe after the Brexit transition period expires. "As agreed in the political declaration [added to the UK withdrawal deal], this means proceeding with the assessments, not taking political decisions by that date," Dombrovskis said in a letter to London seen by British newspaper Financial Times.

Photonics have been defined as a vital technology in Europe's future digital transformation as well as helping the bloc achieve broader sustainability goals and strategic autonomy. However, there remains a deficit in public awareness on the technology. EURACTIV caught up with DG Connect's Lucilla Sioli to find out what photonics can do for Europe's digital sector and beyond.

According to a report, US President Donald Trump is offering German scientists a lot of money if they come to the US. He also wants a coronavirus vaccine "only for the USA." EURACTIV's media partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.

Islamic fundamentalist group Isis has warned its people to avoid Europe due to coronavirus. "The healthy should not enter the land of the epidemic and the afflicted should not exit from it," al-Naba, the group's news weekly newsletter, said in its last edition, according to US publication Homeland Security Today. Isis is based in the Middle East and Africa. "Cover the mouth when yawning and sneezing," al-Naba also said.

Former Nato secretary general and EU foreign affairs chief, Javier Solana, 77, was hospitalised with coronavirus in his native Spain last Wednesday, Spanish newspaper ABC reported Friday. Solana was doing well and was in hospital for observation only, sources told the Reuters news agency. Solana himself, who now works with several think-tanks, also continued to tweet about macroeconomics and climate change over the weekend in a sign of health.

Spain's King Felipe IV was a beneficiary of an offshore fund called the Lucum Foundation which held €65m in donations by Saudi Arabia to his father, Juan Carlos, British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph reports. The news prompted Felipe IV to renounce his father's inheritance and abolish Juan Carlos' state stipend of some €194,000 a year. Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 due to corruption scandals, with Felipe IV promising a clean-up.

The coronavirus pandemic will plunge the European Union into recession this year, the EU’s internal market Commissioner Thierry Breton said, estimating the bloc’s economy risked a 2-2.5% hit.

President Aleksandar Vucic met Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Belgrade on Sunday (15 March) to discuss relations between the two countries, as well as coordination in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Read more. The two officials also discussed...

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about US President Trump's interest in a German company producing vaccines for COVID-19 and why he wants just his country to benefit, and so much more.

Croatian PM and ruling party president Andrej Plenković has officially won the inter-party elections that were held, despite the COVID-19 outbreak which is paralysing the rest of Europe. According to the first results, Plenković and his moderate team „Courageous for...