Friday

29th Sep 2023

Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'

Poland in 2020 imposed a near-total ban on abortion, triggering mass protests — and today the demands for access to safe abortion continue. On International Safe Abortion Day, dozens gathered in Brussels calling for solidarity among member states.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Column

Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

International media must make clear that these are not fair, democratic elections. The flawed race should be the story at least as much as the race itself.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Opinion

Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling

Vasco Alves Cordeiro, president of the European Committee of the Regions, is advocating a revamp of the EU's regional policy so that it better supports all regions in addressing major challenges such as the green and digital transitions.

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Agenda

China trade tension and migration deal This WEEK

An EU-China high-level economic is scheduled on Monday amid renewed tensions. Later this week, EU home affairs ministers will discuss the EU-Tunisia deal and the state of play of the EU pact on asylum and migration.

Agenda

Spain's EU-language bid and UN summit This WEEK

While the heads of EU institutions are in New York for the UN high level meeting, Spain's EU presidency will try to convince ministers to make Catalan, Basque, and Galician official EU languages.

Prostitution is not work, it is 'violence', MEPs agree

The European Parliament adopted a report calling on the European Commission to draw up common guidelines to guarantee minimum rights for people in prostitution. MEPs also urged member states, which have the power to regulate prostitution, to review existing laws.

Analysis

Von der Leyen overlooks cost-of-living crisis and job quality

Von der Leyen's speech focused on labour and skills shortages, inflation and improving the business environment. Some trade unions, political groups, and organisations felt that there were missed opportunities to outline a roadmap for a social Europe.

Agenda

Von der Leyen's State of the Union address This WEEK

The EU's political season is back in full swing after the summer break, with the EU Commission president's State of the Union address on Wednesday. Meanwhile, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will also address the European Parliament.

Tech industry now spends €113m a year lobbying Brussels

Tech companies have increased their lobbying power and are now spending some €113m a year to influence EU decision-making, up more than 16 percent since 2021, according to a report from NGOs Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyFacts.

Opinion

A decade of the European Endowment for Democracy

When European Endowment for Democracy was established in 2013, there was scepticism about its raison d'être, and concerns were voiced about the potential for duplicating existing EU efforts. Nearly a decade later, EED has defied these doubts.

Investigation

A new EU law, and the battle to protect Europe's journalists

The EU Media Freedom Act, to be voted on by MEPs, could provide crucial protections to journalists and trigger a wave of lawsuits against governments. If the law fails, the decline in media freedoms sweeping Europe could become ever worse.

Exiled Catalan leader sets conditions to make Sanchez PM

Catalan former separatist leader and current MEP Carles Puigdemont has set out preconditions for negotiations to support Pedro Sánchez as next prime minister of Spain — seeking a "historic agreement" for Catalonia.

Column

Do democrats really *want* to win?

Raymond Aron, the French philosopher, once said that at the end of the day, "I think democracies will win. On one condition, however: they must want it." In today's Europe, there is again reason to doubt this.

Opinion

Remembering Robert Schuman (1886-1963)

Robert Schuman who died on Monday (4 September) 60 years ago, was the rarest of creatures. A subtle subversive. An individual who changed the course of history without much personal power. A revolutionary without weapons.

EU farm chief backs extending Ukraine grain ban and subsidies

EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski has backed extending the temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports in five frontline countries until the end of 2023 — and proposed providing subsidies for Ukrainian grain exporters.

Opinion

The fightback against EU's subcontracting poverty spiral

The primary victims of abusive subcontracting practices and unregulated labour intermediaries are mobile and migrant workers who, while indispensable to European agriculture, food processing, hospitality, and domestic work sectors, still struggle to attain equal treatment in the workplace.

Opinion

Shelving Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen dream helps Russia

Bulgaria and Romania's accession to Schengen will again be put to a vote later this year. Another veto would not only represent a missed opportunity to strengthen the border-free zone, but one that could inflame inter-EU tensions.

Feature

Who will fill gap left by Soros' Open Society Foundations?

From providing legal support to victims of racial profiling, to funding an LGBT+ organisation playing a key role in the decriminalisation of consensual homosexuality in Romania, the Open Society Foundaion has played an outsized role in buttressing Europe's civil society.

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