Tuesday
5th May 2020
The commissioner for the digital portfolio, Margrethe Vestager, warned that "without the technology, it will be very difficult to open [society] to the degree that we all want" - since new outbreaks might surge back until there is a vaccine.
Budapest and Bucharest are engaged in a war of words over the heavily-Hungarian region of Szeklerland, part of Romania's Transylvania. But is a row over autonomy just cover to overshadow the corona virus crisis?
Two concerns loom large: a large part of the stimulus the Orbán government is offering is directed towards particular industries where oligarchs are particularly influential; and the response does not address the needs of large swathes of the population.
The EU's disease prevention agency says more funds will be needed to shore up surveillance of infectious diseases, which it wants to make less reliant on humans.
Why a contract for consultancy work has angered green groups, and why it must be cancelled.
The reports we have received at the European Roma Rights Centre of extreme hardship, police violence, ethnic profiling and hate speech against Roma since the pandemic hit Europe, highlight the need for extra vigilance when governments adopt emergency powers.
Worldwide efforts will be made to find €7.5bn for a possible cure for Covid-19. The commission will also flesh out its estimates of the coming recession.
The European Commission launches on Monday an initiative to raise €7.5bn to speed up the development of vaccines, treatment and testing capacity, ensuring that is equally "available to everyone and at affordable prices" and avoiding nationalisms.
One of most catastrophic fallouts of this crisis is that it is paving the way for a crackdown on press freedoms across the world.
China did try to pressure the EU into diluting a report on disinformation, the EU's top diplomat has admitted. But this was just normal diplomacy, he said.
EU crisis management becomes difficult when all member states are hit at the same time, commissioner Janez Lenarcic admitted. To avoid that, the commission wants powers to itself buy strategic reserves for member states.
Malta's prime minister's office is under scrutiny after allegations it gave instructions for a private vessel to push back a boat of migrants from waters within its zone of responsibility, and back to Libya. At least 12 people died.
Twelve EU countries have asked the commission to temporarily suspend rules that require travel operators to provide cash refunds for cancelled trips. The commission argues consumers have to be protected - and that vouchers should be made more attractive.
Coronavirus lockdowns have triggered a spike in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence across Europe. However, experts stressed that the end of lockdowns will bring additional challenges, such as economic uncertainty or job losses, which can lead to more abuse.
The European Commission has opened a fourth legal case in its bid to stop Poland from crashing out of the EU's legal order.
Denmark, France and Poland are refusing to provide bailouts to companies that are registered in tax havens like Panama. But campaigners point out that the EU's Luxembourg and Netherlands are also home to firms avoiding paying billions into national coffers.
No surprise thus that the global pandemic serves as inspiration and influences the modus operandi of terrorists, both in terms of tactics and target selection.
Theatres are dusting off a 19th century play: Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. It is about truth, freedom and tyranny. It deals with the loner versus the group, the role of the elite and the power of the majority.
The commission will out forward guidelines for safe travel, as some member states and companies are already drawing up plans to restart tourism under the threat of the pandemic.
Political extremists are using the pandemic to incite violence and foreign spies are trying to hack sensitive video-talks, Belgium's security service has warned.
Legal, human-rights and anti-poverty organisations are now demanding the EU's financial watchdog launch an audit into how the EU supports war-torn Libya.
Germany is set to lead the EU's recovery plan - linking climate protection with economic perspectives - in conjunction with its upcoming EU's presidency.
East Africa is facing a "Level 3" food emergency as serious as the coronavirus crisis, as climate change creates ideal conditions for 'Biblical' swarms of locusts.
The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and the environment has said "this is the most important climate change court decision in the world so far, confirming that human rights are jeopardised by the climate emergency."
As debate around the issue of contact-tracing grows, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveals that the new science of predicting and monitoring population movements is already here – and EU agencies have been testing it on refugees and migrants.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics, carers, cleaners, porters and ambulance drivers are at the sharp end of this pandemic. 8,000 Dutch healthcare workers have tested positive, with several in intensive care. Spain has 24,000 infected care-workers and Italy 16,950, with 150 dead.
There is a pan-European systemic issue: from Spain and Italy to France, Belgium, or Poland, harvests are under threat and Europeans are entirely dependent on the hard labour and sweat of foreign-born workers. The elephant in the room? Regularisation.
EU ministers will discuss how and when to reopen borders after the pandemic abates, as lockdown-Europe waits with baited breath for summer.
At this time of mutual solidarity, but also anxiety and concern, we must consider the European security and relevant geopolitical connotations. If we fail to do this, we could rapidly slide from a potential 'Rook' to that of a 'Pawn'.
The Berlin-based public relations agency Story Machine has been working with European Commission president Von der Leyen since her days as a candidate for the top EU post. Despite offering the same in-house service, the Commission defended the president's choice.
A decentralised approach to coronavirus contact-tracing apps is starting to gain ground in the privacy debate within the EU and beyond - especially after centralised solutions are reported to pose a risk for fundamental rights.
With his opinion article Kenneth Roth joins what are now dozens of critics to criticise the Orbán government and insult the Hungarian people with the charge that Hungary's extraordinary measures to fight Covid-19 amount to "dictatorship."
The EU commission is double-checking emergency measures in every member state, as fundamental rights have been temporarily abrogated. But Hungary and Poland are problematic, yet no actions are planned.
