Euractiv.com

Members of the European Parliament voted in favour of increasing the EU’s 2030 emission cuts target to 55% and a net-zero mid-century target on Thursday (14 March), bringing an end to weeks of infighting.

It’s Brexit forever, a billboard endeavour, and Tajani’s less than clever. This week we’re supported by All Policies for a Healthy Europe.

Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker was the one who picked a fight with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and he should stop meddling in party politics, former PM and leader of the centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) told EURACTIV Croatia.

The European Union executive said on Thursday (14 March) Britain will have to justify any request to postpone Brexit beyond the end of this month and that EU leaders would put a priority on avoiding disrupting EU institutions in considering it.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has apologised to European conservative parties for calling them "useful idiots" over an anti-EU billboard campaign that could see his party ejected from the European Parliament's dominant centre-right EPP bloc.

The UK will formally request a delay to its exit from the EU after the House of Commons overwhelmingly endorsed an extension on Thursday (14 March) in a vote whose result means Theresa May’s government has formally abandoned plans for the UK to leave the bloc on 29 March.

Key speakers at a Brussels-held conference dedicated to Syria made first timid references on Thursday (14 March) to the need to prepare for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, as the eight-year-long war appeared to be coming to an end.

In February we wrote ‘Tajani’s blunder’, when the president of the European Parliament got involved in a controversy with Slovenia and Croatia, seen by many as an attempt at World War II revisionism. But Tajani did it again, with unexpected praise for Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, this time in a radio interview.

The European Parliament failed to pass a resolution on Thursday (14 March) supporting the start of negotiations with the US on removing tariffs for industrial goods, worsening the prospects of de-escalating trade tensions between Brussels and Washington.

The president of Germany's ruling CDU party considers the European Parliament's presence in Strasbourg to be an “anachronism”. France has other ideas. EURACTIV France reports.

NATO is aware of the potential "security implications" of Chinese 5G infrastructure and is currently conducting an assessment of associated risks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday (14 March).

Croatia is the EU´s youngest member, having only joined in 2013 following a referendum in the country in which 66% voted in favour. Its membership was considered an important step for stabilising the Balkan region that experienced war and conflict between 1991-2001.

Despite a strong negative reaction from EU farmers and industry, the European Parliament does not seem likely to oppose the Commission's delegated act on sustainability criteria for biofuels.

The US recently adopted the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, promoting access to Tibetan areas for American diplomats, journalists and ordinary citizens, just as their Chinese counterparts enjoy in America. It is now up to Europe to consider ways of rebalancing its relationship with China, write a cross-party group of parliamentarians.

Spotify has filed a complaint with EU antitrust regulators against Apple, saying the iPhone maker unfairly limits rivals to its own Apple Music streaming service.

The European Parliament passed a resolution on Wednesday (13 March) warning against propaganda and disinformation campaigns ahead of the May 2019 EU elections, citing Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as the main sources.

The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

World champions and Olympic athletes are helping empower school girls through sports to become leaders in their communities, thanks to an EU funded project.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said on Wednesday (13 March) he will lobby EU countries to make sure one of them vetoes a possible extension of Article 50 past the 29 March deadline.

The state of Europe’s water ecosystems puts a big question mark over the future availability of freshwater, for people and for all manner of industry, not least for food production and agriculture, writes Jabier Ruiz.