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The European Commission will extend looser rules introduced at the onset of the pandemic for EU structural funds spending in an effort to help reduce disparities across the bloc, regional policy Commissioner Elisa Ferreira announced on Thursday (10 February).

Romania could soon forgo green passes and the mandatory masks if the COVID infection rate drops quickly, the health minister said. In just a few weeks, the infection rate could drop to 1 (per 1,000 inhabitants, over the past 14...

Democracy was born in towns and cities, and local leaders are closer to the people than national governments, Matúš Vallo, the mayor of Bratislava, told EURACTIV Slovakia. Liberal democracy is going through a challenging time. Populism, declining media freedom, minority...

Bulgaria will start a series of public hearings on the recovery plan on Friday. Healthcare, transport and energy will be the first topics up for discussion, while Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Asen Vassilev will organise the event. The...

The “excessive profits” of nuclear power plants should be taxed as this would open up millions to compensate for the soaring energy prices, the economy ministry has said. But Slovenské elektrárne a.s, the owner of both Slovak nuclear power plants, claims...

Despite earlier promises to not threaten an opposition victory by running in electoral districts where the race is expected to be tight, the Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party (MKKP) put forward a candidate in such a constituency, EURACTIV’s partner Telex reported. MKKP is not part...

The first of 350 British marines have flown to Poland to bolster NATO’s eastern flank amid tensions over a Russian military build-up around Ukraine. The same day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Poland to discuss the situation in Ukraine and...

As France continues to push for a new border levy for carbon-intensive products entering the EU, German stakeholders fear that the removal of their free permits to pollute could destroy their competitiveness abroad.

The US envoy to the UN said she hopes China will urge Russia to "do the right thing" on Ukraine, prompting her Chinese counterpart to quickly respond with a call for diplomacy and an end to "hyping up the tension."

The main opposition party in Spain has accused the government of Pedro Sánchez of misusing the EU recovery fund and have taken their claims to Brussels. On Wednesday, a delegation of municipal and regional officials, headed by the mayor of...

Portugal has surpassed the three million recorded COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Among the cases recorded, more than 2.2 million were reported in the north, Lisbon and Tagus Valley. With 27,651 infections recorded in the last 24 hours by the...

Jussi Halla-aho has been appointed as the new Chair of the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, but concerns over controversial and politically incorrect comments have drawn concerns. In an article published on 8 February in the Finns Party newspaper, Suomen Uutiset,...

Lawmakers could soon start voting remotely in a select number of situations, including potential future pandemics, according to a proposed bill debated on Thursday that would amend the Irish constitution. The bill, put forward by Fine Gael lawmaker Jennifer Carroll...

Vienna police have banneda motorcade protesting mandatory vaccines planned for Friday in the city amid fears that participants would cascade out and block traffic. “The assemblies in the form of motorcades in the area of Prater Hauptallee/Praterstern/Ringstraße announced for tomorrow,...

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his desire to develop nuclear energy and renewable energies to produce “more decarbonised electricity” and announced the construction of six new nuclear reactors. In front of workers at General Electric Steam Power in Belfort, the...

Russia's foreign minister accused his British counterpart on Thursday (10 February) of grandstanding and refusing to listen, at a rancorous encounter that highlighted the gulf between them over the Ukraine crisis.

EU lawmakers have accused the Serbian version of the Alliance 90/The Greens party – titled Savez 90/Zeleni Srbije – of misappropriating the German green party’s name, ideas, and visual identity with a similar name: Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen. In a joint...

The government – which has eased COVISD-19 restrictions to the minimum – has come under fire for its proposed amendment to the Pandemic Law. Various groups, the opposition, and senators from the government coalition parties have criticised the amendment. Parliament’s upper...

Spain’s growth is expected to be one of the highest in the EU in 2022 at 5.6%, according to a recent forecast by the European Commission, eldiario.es reported. The forecast remains lower than that of the government, which predicted a...

After Germany’s trade volume with Russia rose by more than a third in 2021, businesses have called on the government to maintain good economic relations with President Vladimir Putin. Easing tensions with Russia would be key to continuing the upward...