Euractiv.com

To stay within the boundaries of the Paris Agreement, Europe needs to accelerate efforts to achieve a carbon neutral future and put climate change at the top of the EU agenda. Frank van der Vloed highlights five key steps that are critical for businesses to make the transition.

The UK will definitely hold European elections this month, after Theresa May’s deputy conceded that it would not be possible to get the legislation needed to formalize Brexit through Parliament in time.

On May 8, 1949, Germany’s Basic Law (Grundgesetz) was adopted, thus laying the fundament for its constitution - and democracy. In times of rising populism in Europe, a 70th birthday worth celebrating beyond the German frontiers.

Winning the European elections later this month would only be the “first step” towards delivering the Brexit demanded by UK citizens, Nigel Farage, whose newly established Brexit party is dominating polls in the UK, said on Tuesday (7 May).

The governments of France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg have launched an appeal to boost EU climate action ahead of a major summit on the future of Europe taking place in Romania next Thursday (9 May).

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday (7 May) it was “totally unacceptable” to link fellow top EU official, Donald Tusk, with tyrants Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, as has been done by Polish state TV.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cancelled a planned visit to Berlin on Tuesday (7 May) due to scheduling reasons and unspecified "pressing issues", an US embassy spokesman in Berlin said.

The students striking are heroes, but their moral arguments need to be further developed if they want to reach new audiences, writes Darrick Evensen.

The EU must counter poisonous populism with a rEUnaissance delivering a new economic and social contract and hope to European citizens, writes Luca Jahier.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday (6 May) that Russia is behaving aggressively in the Arctic and China’s actions there had to be watched closely as well, amid growing divisions in the polar region over global warming and access to minerals.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defended a larger budget for the EU, saying the bloc's funding is already “stretched” despite new challenges  like digitalisation.

The UK's unexpected participation in this month's European elections means that British MEPs could become important once more, even if their mandate only lasts a few months, writes Dr Simon Usherwood.

Turkey’s High Election Board (YSK) has ordered a rerun of Istanbul's mayoral elections, accepting the ruling AK Party's objection 36 days after a stunning opposition victory in the country's biggest city.

Although they elected an ardent defender of Europe as their president, French people are poorly mobilised on the European elections, where 33 French election lists are set to challenge each other on 26 May. EURACTIV France reports.

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans on Monday (6 May) called for each EU member to have a minimum wage equivalent to 60% of its median salary to reduce the bloc's growing wealth gap.

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A Polish NGO has filed a lawsuit against US-based social media giant Facebook, following concerns that the organisation's freedom of speech was stymied on the platform. The case is considered the first in Europe to address the issue of "private censorship".

The leader of Germany's conservatives said she expected Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party would quit Europe's main centre-right group after he withdrew support for the bloc's candidate to head the European Commission.

“The 'Belt and Road' cooperation is entering into a new stage,” the Chinese ambassador to the EU Zhang Ming promised on Monday (6 May), questioning the EU's reluctance to join China's massive infrastructure programme.

A landmark UN report published yesterday (6 May) reveals 1 million species are at risk of extinction, with agriculture and fishing the primary causes of the deterioration, which also threatens humankind. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.