European Union

A far-right party has for the first time since the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 won seats in a Spanish parliament, with the Vox party taking 12 seats in the 109-member parliament of the southern Spanish region of Andalusia in Sunday's elections. The region has been dominated by the Socialist Party (PSOE) for the past 36 years. The turnout was low, at only 58.6 percent.

The leaders of three opposition parties represented in the Hungarian parliament published on Sunday (2 December) an open letter in which they call a “disgrace” the granting by Viktor Orbán of asylum to former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

The man tasked with making the EP more transparent has said there are more important issues than making MEP monthly expenses public.

Germany and France will outline on Monday a joint proposal for a financial transaction tax for the European Union that is based on a model already tested in France, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported late on Sunday (2 December).

One year ago, the European Union published its first ever blacklist of tax havens. It is crucial that EU governments help end the era of tax havens to ensure the billions currently hidden from public coffers.

A trade ceasefire agreed between the US and Chinese presidents, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, helped to sustain the defence of multilateralism included in the final G20 declaration in Buenos Aires. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that he will oppose a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur if Brazil’s incoming far-right president pulls his country out of the Paris Agreement.

The UN climate change summit begins on Monday (3 December) with a warning that today's generation is the last that can prevent catastrophic global warming, as well as the first to be suffering its impacts. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.

Slovakia's defence ministry signed a deal on Friday (30 November) to buy 14 US-made F-16 fighter jets to replace its ageing Russian-made MiG-29s, its defence ministry said.

A group of European Union countries rejected on Friday (30 November) a new compromise plan for the introduction of an EU-wide tax on digital revenues of large companies, diplomats said, making it increasingly difficult to meet a year-end deadline for a deal.

When European finance ministers meet on Tuesday (4 December), they should swiftly adopt the digital service tax, say Udo Bullmann and Paul Tang.

Macedonia's lawmakers moved closer on Sunday (2 December) to rename the country and remove a key hurdle on the road to breaking a decades-long stalemate with Greece.

In the fight against climate change, the EU must tackle two gigantic tasks: slash its own emissions, and help China do the same, writes Bernard Durand.

Key European stakeholders of the listed real estate sector met in London at the end of November to discuss the issue of sustainability and how the built environment can meet challenges and advance sustainability on all fronts.

The European Union unveiled a strategy last week to become the world's first climate neutral economy by 2050, generating a positive momentum ahead of the COP24 in Katowice, writes Luca Jahier.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday (2 December) surveyed the damage from a day of riots across Paris and led a crisis meeting that ended with a call for further talks with anti-government activists who have staged two weeks of protests.

The European Committee of the Regions defends the role of local and regional governments in fighting climate change and demands for their voices to be heard along the UN climate process, write Karl-Heinz Lambertz and Markku Markkula.

Around 25,000 Georgians protested Sunday (2 December) against the election of a ruling party-backed candidate to the presidency and demanded snap parliamentary polls in a move that threatens to complicate the transition of power in the Western-backed nation.

With momentum growing for a European Cancer Plan, there is a real opportunity to make a difference for cancer patients in Europe in the next term of the European institutions, writes Deepak Khanna.

The Labour Party said on Sunday (2 December)  it would press for contempt proceedings against the government if Prime Minister Theresa May fails to produce the full legal advice she has received on her Brexit deal.