European Union

The people of Europe will elect the European Parliament for the ninth time in May 2019, just two months after the Britain is due to leave the Union. Observers are predicting that right-wing populist and anti-EU forces will achieve strong results. Europe's media worry about the future of the EU.

In the row over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh US President Donald Trump has instructed the FBI to open an investigation into the affair. The agency is to examine the allegations against the judge before the US Senate votes on his appointment. Commentators discuss the impact the MeToo movement has had in the Kavanaugh affair.

The controversial film Kler premiered in Polish cinemas on the weekend. It portrays child abuse in the Catholic Church and the entanglement between the Church and politics. According to reports in the media some towns want to ban the film from being shown in their cinemas and the ruling PiS has harshly criticised it. What has provoked the outcry, and is it justified?

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed a post-Brexit clampdown on EU migrants, saying London will treat EU citizens the same as those from non-EU countries, while also seeking to reduce the influx of low-skilled migrants.

The European Commission has given up plans to ramp up Europe's 40% emissions reduction goal for 2030 to 45%, according to German media. But the EU executive insists that a formal increase was never on the table.

After last week's European election campaign kickoff in France, Macron's "En Marche" aims to drum its electorate against populism in Germany, too. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, and Hashim Thaci are blackmailing the EU for political and personal gain. With the US going against Germany, prospects of a happy outcome look dim.

Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, and Hashim Thaci are blackmailing the EU for political and personal gain. With the US going against Germany, prospects of a happy outcome are dim.

Economy and finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to allow EU member states to reduce the rates of value added tax (VAT) on digital books, newspapers, and periodicals, to bring VAT rates in line with their physical equivalent. The measure was proposed almost two years ago by the European Commission. The bill required unanimity but was blocked by the Czech Republic as bargaining chip over another issue.

Since 2014, the Romania-Bulgaria Interreg programme has helped to boost the economy on both sides of the border by promoting cross-border trade and boosting cooperation in tourism, agriculture and industry. EURACTIV spoke to a business representative of companies operating in the area.

The European Parliament is not obliged to adopt the EU's annual budget in Strasbourg, but can also do that in Brussels, the EU's Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday. France, supported by Luxembourg, had called for annulment of the adoption of the 2017 budget, which happened in Brussels in 2016, and not in the French city Strasbourg. MEPs are required by treaty to meet in Strasbourg twelve times a year.