European Union

The European Commission presented its long-awaited marine-litter-busting proposal on single-use plastics on Monday (28 May). The first legislative proposal from the Plastics Strategy aims to help the EU clean up the continent's beaches and waterways.

The European Commission proposed on Monday to ban the use of plastic in the production of cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers and sticks for balloons. "These products won't disappear, they will just be made with different materials," said commission first vice-president Frans Timmermans. The proposed ban aims to tackle single-use plastics, often found on beaches. "We are at risk of choking our oceans in plastic," said Timmermans.

Connected and automated cars will collect enormous amounts of data. While sharing this data has the potential to optimise the driving experience for all, questions of data privacy naturally arise – not least as GDPR rolls out.

Due to a lack of consensus on the issue of migration, member states cannot come to an agreement  on a mandate to begin negotiations on the future partnership agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. EURACTIV.fr reports

Berlin, the borough of Mitte: A dozen people of mixed ages sit in a room full of computers and play Minecraft. The aim is to learn what the open source game can be used for. The participants are guided by an employee of the WeTeK training centre, who will show them how to use computer games for working with young people. EURACTIV.de reports.

The Kremlin expressed concern on Monday (28 May) over media reports that Poland has requested a permanent US military presence on its soil, saying NATO’s expansion towards Russia’s borders undermined stability in Europe.

The EU is funding "NGOs with ties to terror", Israel has claimed as foreign ministers meet, in a stunt resembling Russia's tactics.

Italy is in a political crisis because president Sergio Mattarella has rejected Paolo Savona as a cabinet member, for his views on the EU.

"I survived!" European council president Donald Tusk tweeted after finishing a 20-km run in central Brussels on Sunday. "And at the end, it felt much easier than running some of the #EUCO [EU] summits", he noted, after passing the finishing line and carrying a medal in a Belgian yellow-black-red coloured band. Environmental organisations criticised that 300,000 plastic bottles were used at pit-stops to refresh the 38,000 participants.

An estimated 5,000 supporters of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party demonstrated in Berlin on Sunday "for the future of Germany" in the party's largest gathering since it became Germany's top opposition party. AfD supporters shouting "Merkel must go" were largely outnumbered by rival demonstrations, gathering about 20,000 people, according to police estimates, however.

Several US news sites including The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune have temporary been taken offline in Europe in response to European Union GDPR data rules, which came into effect on Friday. "Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries," reads a message greeting visitors to the sites. Other US media like the New York Times have not restricted access for Europeans amid GDPR.

Abortion could be legal in Ireland by October following a landslide referendum on Friday (25 May) ,where a two-thirds majority (66.4%) voted yes to allow abortion on a high turn-out of 64 percent. The Irish government will move quickly to implement the decision, health minister Simon Harris has promised, but the full text of the legislation will not be tabled until the autumn. Meanwhile, abortion remains illegal.

The EU commission will reveal on Monday plans to limit the use of plastics and raise tax-revenues for the Union's budget. Germany has already signalled approval of the plans, with environment minister Svenja Schulze telling German TV ARD that single-use plastics "should be regulated at a European level". Without action there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has warned.

Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Belgium, Fuad Isgandarov, talks about the current geopolitical tensions with Iran, recent political changes in Armenia, attacks against his country in  the international media, the human rights situation and future EU relations.

Thousands of Albanian opposition supporters rallied in the capital Tirana on Saturday calling for the resignation of interior minister Fatmir Xhafaj, whose brother has been convicted of drug trafficking.

Ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws in a landmark referendum that Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said had finally lifted decades of stigma and shame.

At the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), the annual European Week Against Cancer (25 – 31 May) is a crucial milestone in our calendar. It is an opportunity to make heard the voice of the 400 members that we represent as the largest umbrella cancer patients’ association, covering all 28 EU Member States as well as other European countries.

Some 5,000 supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) marched through the streets of Berlin on Sunday (27 May), but they were heavily outnumbered by anti-AfD demonstrations.

While the EU seems to have agreed on a united stance in the Iran nuclear dispute with the US, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has highlighted the cracks and put his country forward as an informal mediator. EURACTIV Poland reports.

France and Germany are pushing for an EU-wide initiative to fund innovation and research in tech start-up projects across the bloc so that Europe can compete more effectively against the likes of China and the United States.