Euractiv.com

As the international system for settling trade disputes is set to become crippled on Tuesday (10 December), Europe will in the coming days propose ways to bolster its sanction toolbox against countries that adopt ilegal trade measures and block the renewal of WTO’s appellate body.

In 2005, unemployment in Germany reached 11.7%. At the end of 2019, the figure more than halved to 5%. This means it is increasingly difficult for companies operating in Germany to find skilled workers and fill vacancies.  And it has an impact on sales revenues, as well as Germany’s and Europe’s ability to achieve carbon neutrality goals.

The Metal Recycles Forever logo helps consumers and brands understand the role they play in keeping metal in the material loop, by recycling empty packaging and communicating benefits.

Launched in February 2007 to fund investigator-driven frontier research, the ERC is a key component of the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Ukraine's political scene is probably among the world's most interesting at the moment, not only because of the ongoing attempt to impeach Donald Trump over a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Becoming the world's first climate-neutral continent is Europe's biggest challenge of the next decade. That success depends of the success of our global partners. Partnerships based on mutual ownership and shared responsibility, a new generation of trade agreements consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals, a Carbon Border Tax and a carbon price are key elements of a stronger European climate diplomacy, writes Margarida Marques.

As the EU embarks on discussions on possible regulatory measures to reduce its embedded deforestation, FEDIOL (the European Vegetable Oil and Proteinmeal association) shares its views about what will be needed to effectively curb deforestation at source and not only decrease the EU consumption-driven environmental footprint.

Representatives from member states in the EU Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) voted to ban the controversial pesticides chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl from the EU market on Friday (6 December).

Batteries that do not meet rigorous green standards could be banned from the European market, Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič warned on Monday (9 December), as the EU executive approved €3.2 billion of state aid for some home-grown projects.

Azerbaijan will hold early elections on 9 February, eight months ahead of schedule, after President Ilham Aliyev agreed to the ruling party's request to dissolve parliament. The move is in line with a recent major government shakeup and the country's drive to modernise and rebuild EU ties.

Austria's Green party is expected to join the government for the first time, with negotiations already underway. After Sebastian Kurz's ÖVP party governed alongside the Eurosceptic far-right group FPÖ from 2017-2019, this could now prompt a change in Austria's foreign and EU policy. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The Greek government is determined to take all necessary initiatives to ensure that the Western Balkan region’s EU ambition will become a reality soon, the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias has said.

Russia was banned from the Olympics and other major world championships on Monday (9 December) after sporting officials decided to punish it for tampering with doping-related laboratory data in another blow to Russia’s already tarnished sporting reputation.

Urgent UN talks on tackling the climate emergency are still not addressing the true scale of the crisis, one of the world’s leading climate scientists has warned, as high-ranking ministers from governments around the world began to arrive in Madrid for the final days of negotiations. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.

Lega leader Matteo Salvini's recent scolding of the iconic hazelnut spread 'Nutella' has exposed flaws in the 'Italian first' formula that has led the Italian to past electoral successes.

The European Central Bank's new president Christine Lagarde has announced that the Frankfurt-based institute will soon undertake a strategic review, its first since 2003.

For the time being, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) will continue being part of Germany's grand coalition with conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU).

Roughly 1,000 Belarusians joined an unauthorised demonstration on Saturday (7 December) against the prospect of a closer union with Russia.

Britain votes on Thursday (12 December) in a crucial general election that will determine whether the country leaves the European Union next month or sets out a path to potentially reverse Brexit.

France is ready to go to the World Trade Organization to challenge US President Donald Trump's threat to put tariffs on champagne and other French goods in a row over a French tax on internet companies, its finance minister said on Sunday (8 December).