European Union

The rise of anti-vaccination campaigns has in recent years had a detrimental effect on EU public health as “forgotten” diseases such as measles re-appeared in Europe, raising eyebrows among policymakers.

If the EU truly wants to be the global progressive trading power, it needs to make sure its trade policy does not promote ill-health, and instead makes a real contribution to the SDGs, writes George Thurley.

The decarbonisation of electric power, and the electrification of energy, is unstoppable. Whether it will be rapid enough to prevent the coming climate crisis is uncertain and will demand vision from politicians, industry leaders and energy providers, writes Andrew Steer.

Profit is not the only reason to start a business. There are enterprises in Europe whose aim is to help other people, usually the less fortunate ones, with their career.

Giovanni Buttarelli, the European data protection supervisor, says the EU-US data sharing pact known as Privacy Shield will play an increasingly minor role given the general data protection regulation.

Italian populists have picked an unknown academic to lead them into conflict on EU finance and asylum rules.

The African Union’s leadership has reiterated its wish to negotiate a separate relationship with the EU as part of an overhaul of the bloc’s Cotonou Agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries later this year.

The Trump administration on Wednesday (23 May) launched a national security investigation into car and truck imports that could lead to new US tariffs similar to those imposed on imported steel and aluminium in March.

European Union legislators made progress Wednesday (23 May) on a draft EU law that sets a “trajectory” for the deployment of renewable energies in Europe and puts in place a “gap-filler” mechanism to ensure the bloc meets its 2030 energy and climate objectives.

“The best option for us is remaining in the European Union,” Scotland’s Culture and External Affairs minister Fiona Hyslop tells EURACTIV. Faced with the reality of Brexit, the Scottish government is “trying to identify the least-worst option,” she explains.

The new European Defence Industrial Development Programme, with a €500 million budget for 2019-2020, was informally agreed by MEPs and Council on Tuesday night (22 to 23 May).

Motor vehicles’ undesirable tailpipe emissions are pollutants which impact ambient air quality and are harmful to human health, as well as greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions, which impact climate change.

With relations between the West and Russia at historic lows, French President Emmanuel Macron travels to St Petersburg Thursday to seek common ground with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Italy's president on Wednesday (23 May) approved little-known lawyer Giuseppe Conte's nomination to be prime minister of a government formed by far-right and anti-establishment parties.

The EU is rolling out more and more initiatives to boost e-mobility and the use of alternative fuels. Poland’s secretary of state for energy explains how his country is tackling the transport sector with an ambitious new plan.

With negotiations on the next long-term financial framework around the corner, the European Commission presented on Wednesday (23 May) its draft proposal for the 2019 EU budget with a 3% increase compared to 2018, a proposal backed by Parliament.

Trump's decision to to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has left Europe partially paralysed. However, Europe can still exert significant leverage if it brings the rest of the Gulf into the discussion about a broad regional security process, writes Dr. Christian Koch.

Europe’s most important task for the rest of this year is to stay strong and united in the face of challenges coming from the United States, the European Commision First Vice-President Frans Timmermans told a business forum on Wednesday (23 May), in comments likely to irk Washington.

The European Commission on Wednesday (23 May) approved Italy’s efforts to balance its public accounts but asked the new government for a “credible response” in order to further reduce its immense public debt.

Negotiators from the European Parliament give up attempting to bar 'lethal autonomous weapons' from new €500m European Defence Industrial Development Programme.