European Union

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out on Tuesday (26 March) whether the High Court in London will allow him to appeal against his extradition from Britain to the United States or if his British legal challenges have finally come to an end.

The ruling Socialist party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is “already talking” to separatist forces about a future independence referendum in Catalonia, the Secretary General of the pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Marta Rovira said, while Sánchez’s party denies Catalan separation being “on the table”.

The European Commission warned against Lufthansa’s intention to buy a minority stake in Italy’s ITA Airways, telling both the German flag carrier and the Italian Economy Ministry that the deal risks being rejected if no action is taken to resolve competition issues.

War in Ukraine, attractiveness of investment and exchange of tips to decarbonise societies will feature on the agenda of Macron’s talks with Lula during his Brazil trip from Tuesday to Thursday (26-28 March), in an attempt to rekindle the relationship.

Germany secured the construction of a gigafactory for electric car batteries in record time with the help of the EU’s new subsidy “matching” scheme.

Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stayed for two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia last month, just days after federal police confiscated his passport and arrested two former aides on suspicion of plotting a coup, Bolsonaro's lawyer said on Monday (25 March).

In this episode of our daily podcast Today in the EU, we’re diving into the EU’s lending arm's intention to“stretch” its investment remit beyond financing dual-use goods that can be exploited for civilian and military purposes. 

President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday (25 March) that the gunmen who killed 137 people in a concert hall outside Moscow were part of an Islamic State branch that was behind foiled attempts to attack France over the past few months.

Israel reacted angrily on Monday (25 March) to the first UN Security Council vote to demand an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza war, after its closest ally the United States abstained, while fighting raged in the Palestinian territory.

Naloxone nasal spray, which can save opioid users from overdoses, will soon be available without prescription in Sweden. The move seeks to increase early interventions outside healthcare settings, marking a major shift in Swedish drug policy.

In recent years Poland has witnessed a disturbing surge in the rejection of mandatory immunisations, with the vaccine refusal rate doubling in five years, and thirteen-fold in a decade.

Europe must work to protect its biotech leadership capability, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Euractiv, aligning Belgium's biotech vision with the European Commission's global ambition.

The EU’s debate on a 90% climate target for 2040 made some progress on Monday (25 March), with 10 countries in favour, three against, and 13 asking for additional concessions at a meeting of environment ministers in Brussels.

14 countries including Germany, France and Spain called for a quick adoption of the EU’s flagship nature protection policy during today’s (Monday 25 March) Environmental Council meeting in Brussels. But opponents of the law - including Hungary who joined their ranks last week - remained defiant.

EU environment ministers expressed anger at the last-minute backtracking by some EU countries on the EU nature restoration law and questioned the Belgian commitment to get the important file across the finish line

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

The EU will have to step up its efforts to tackle looming demographic challenges over the next five years. If not, the bloc faces "sleepwalking into dark scenarios", warns EU commission vice-president Dubravka Šuica.

Austria and six other EU member states are seeking to delay the implementation of a pioneering anti-deforestation law in the bloc, and exempt small-scale farmers from the rules, according to a note circulated among member states head of a meeting with farming ministers on Tuesday (26 March), seen by Euractiv.

"It's a double whammy: China's de-risking plus their lack of consumption is contributing to our deindustrialisation," Alicia García-Herrero, a senior fellow at Bruegel think-tank, told Euractiv.

After the rigged Russian elections, Vladimir Putin is now presenting a fake narrative about the terrible terrorist attack that struck Moscow last Friday, pointing the finger at Ukraine and ignoring the obvious Islamic State signature.