European Union

The European Environment Agency estimates that 374,000 Europeans die prematurely every year due to air pollution.

A new report of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights calls for "a clear legal framework" to regulate facial recognition technologies, saying that collecting facial images of individuals without their consent can harm people's dignity.

Temperatures can be expected to rise by 3.2C this century under current national pledges, threatening to bringing "wide-ranging and destructive climate impacts,” international climate experts warned on Tuesday (26 November).

Joseph Muscat is hanging on to power by his fingernails amid intense domestic and international pressure over his handling of a journalist's killing.

The European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament, is not willing to support Guy Verhofstadt as chairman of the new Conference on the Future of Europe, De Standaard writes. This conference was demanded by the parliament and supported by commission president Ursula von der Leyen. It is also the idea of a common French-German non-paper which indicates the chair should go to an "important European personality".

In a report the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction says "drug market-related violence and intimidation is a growing concern in the EU," and that illicit drugs are "the most valuable market" for criminal organisations in the EU, AP writes. The agency's chief warned that fighting drugs should be "an urgent priority." Europe's cannabis market was worth at least €11.6bn in 2017, followed by cocaine with a €9.1bn.

Moldova's new prime minister, Ion Chicu, said his country might make a possible "pause" in its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, the Moscow Times reports. Earlier he announced he is negotiating a $500m [€454m] loan with Russia. Chicu's minority socialist government took power after the former pro-Western government lost a no-confidence vote on 12 November. Moldova received $157m out of $182m under a three-year IMF program expiring in 2020.

Following the large earthquake in Albania, leaving several people dead and many injured, the country requested emergency support to the European Union, through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management Christos Stylianides said "search and rescue teams from Italy, Greece and Romania are already on their way," and thanked "Hungary, Germany, Croatia, France, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Turkey for their offers of assistance."

German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week reported that the incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wants to invest some €3 trillion in climate protection by 2030. The newspaper said some €1 trillion would come from the EU budget, with the remainder shored up by European Investment Bank.

A survey by Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation on Wednesday found that environmental protection is the most pressing issue among people polled across 27 EU member states. Environmental protection was followed by job protection at 34 percent and social security with 23 percent. Some 12,123 people were surveyed in every EU state except the UK.

I want to make use of my right of reply and take the opportunity to rectify the numerous slanders and unfounded accusations against King Leopold II and the Belgians who created and developed the Congo.

On Wednesday (27 November), European ambassadors will discuss plans to set up a European Peace Facility (EPF) to provide up to €10.5bn for EU military operations and security assistance.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out how Chinese and Russian Intelligence activities are influencing Czech politics, and so much more. The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network.

The Mercosur trade deal and the US trade policy will be debated in the European Parliament's trade committee, where chairman Bernd Lange wants to make genuine progress on enforcing sustainable development measures through the EU's trade agreements.

In a fairly direct message to Germany, the EU Commission's outgoing President, Jean-Claude Juncker, noted that the French army is alone when defending Europe's honour and security in Mali. EURACTIV France reports.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's political future hangs in the balance as her floundering coalition partners, the SPD, elect new leaders on Saturday.

Brussels' next top official Ursula von der Leyen presents her top team to the European Parliament on Wednesday (27 November), hoping to finally put a difficult transition behind her.

The EU urgently needs to adopt an “aggressive” industrial strategy to protect its aluminium sector, which has been under unfair pressure from both the US and China, Greek MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou told EURACTIV.com.

Serious challenges in the energy and transport sectors could be solved, or at least mitigated, by a step-change in storage capabilities, supported by EU funding.

Two high-ranking politicians in Malta's government resigned on Tuesday (26 November), with a third "suspending himself" in the biggest political fallout to date from a widening probe into the brutal murder of investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia.