Euractiv.com

The European Commission has begun investigations into whether EU funds have been misused in Spain's Koldo corruption scandal, involving millions of euros in commissions for the purchase of face masks during the pandemic, and has sent relevant information to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

Elections in the Italian region of Abruzzo could be a turning point for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing three-party coalition, as the now united left, which made gains in recent regional elections in Sardinia, looks set to pose a threat at the national level and in the upcoming EU elections.

On Wednesday, French senators widely voted in favour (267 for, 50 against) of enshrining in the constitution "the guaranteed freedom" of women "to have recourse to a voluntary interruption of pregnancy". 

While the Turkish opposition is poised to repeat their 2019 election success in the capital Ankara in an upcoming local election, in Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP and the opposition CHP are running neck and neck.

Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region asked Russia on Wednesday (28 February) to help its economy withstand Moldovan "pressure", at a meeting of hundreds of officials dismissed by the pro-European Chisinau government as a propaganda stunt to gain headlines.

Sweden is ready to respond to the threat of countermeasures announced by the Russian embassy in Stockholm following the announcement of Sweden’s imminent entry into the alliance, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.

Rifts are deepening between the two major far-right players of the European Parliament, Germany’s AfD and Marine Pen’s Rassemblement National, threatening their European unity and the future of their common parliamentary group, the ID.

Eight organisations from the network of the European Consumer Organisation filed complaints to their national data protection authorities against Facebook and Instagram 'pay-or-consent' model.

The battle to lead the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), one of the most influential organisations in setting the technical standards for key global technologies, has entered a decisive phase amid continued tension with the EU executive.

Western powers butted heads over how to handle frozen Russian assets on Wednesday (28 February) as G20 finance ministers kicked off a discussion of challenges for the global economy, trying to set aside deep geopolitical divisions.

Belgian officials started to test the water for a speedy legislative solution to save the draft EU corporate due diligence law by mid-March, Euractiv understands, after numerous member-state defections forced them to abort a closely-watched vote between EU ambassadors.

Support for authoritarianism is growing in Europe as citizens feel increasingly unheard by their politicians and look to populism for simple solutions, according to a new report from the US-based think tank Pew Research Center published on Wednesday (28 February)....

The European Commission plans comprehensive measures to develop the bloc’s military-industrial complex and increase war readiness, with subsidies to boost production capacity, build reserves, and encourage investment, according to a draft text seen by Euractiv.

The final version of the revised regulation on Geographical Indications (GIs), approved on Wednesday (28 February), boosts protections for food products and producers, though the Greens criticised the lack of mandatory environmental commitments.

Forget Western ‘troops on the ground’ in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron had a much more important message to deliver this week.

The European Parliament adopted its stand on the revision of the driving licence directive on Tuesday (27 February), endorsing the idea of allowing drivers to perform self-assessments for licence renewals and allowing 17-year-olds to drive with supervision. 

With Germany's Bundestag voting to legalise the use of cannabis on Friday (23 February), health professionals in France and across Europe remain divided over the effectiveness of such a measure in protecting consumers.

.The EU border agency Frontex is unable to "fulfill its fundamental rights obligation" due to its reliance on EU member states when a migrant boat is in distress, EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly highlighted in a report following an investigation into Frontex's operations at sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Western Balkan countries on Wednesday (28 February) to start producing military equipment to help his country fight Russia, as the EU and US continue to grapple with providing military and financial aid.

Global suppliers of natural gas have shown significant interest in the EU’s aggregated demand for natural gas, with suppliers' offers outstripping the bloc's demand by three times - a heartening result for the bundling scheme proposed following the energy crisis.