MEPs call to speed up curbs on toxic 'forever chemicals'
MEPs have raised concerns over the level of contamination of some hazardous chemicals in Europe, prompting calls to speed up the restrictions on the so-called "forever chemicals".
Opinion
The EU Parliament Covid inquiry: the questions MEPs must ask
A basic lack of transparency around the EU's vaccines procurement negotiations has prevented effective public and parliamentary scrutiny. It has also made it impossible to answer some of the key questions we put forward here.
Opinion
Working at EU institutions not easy for ethnic minority staff
EU institutions have failed to create an inclusive culture for Europeans of colour and people with disabilities, according to the European Commission's first-ever survey on diversity, inclusion and respect at the workplace.
News in Brief
- McDonald's to sell up and exit Russia
- Nordic nations to help Sweden and Finland if attacked
- Germany to reject EU green label for nuclear
- Afghans and Syrians using Western Balkans to enter EU
- Putin: Russia will respond if Nato bolsters Sweden and Finland
- British PM urges Northern Irish parties to work together
- EU-US pledge to counter Russian propaganda in Ukraine
- EU greenhouse-gas emissions rebound to pre-pandemic levels
Opinion
Is EU 'Horizon' science funding going towards Pegasus spyware?
MEPs have raised questions about the involvement of the EU — through its funding — in the development of the Israeli NSO Pegasus software, directly or indirectly, which has been used to target activists and journalists in Europe.
Opinion
May Day: Mega-rich blocking economic justice for workers
The proliferation of billionaires and that phenomenon's dark side, the working poor, calls for a historic mobilisation on a global scale.
MEPs sue EU commission for Covid contract transparency
Five European lawmakers from the Greens lodged a lawsuit against the European Commission for not fully disclosing its Covid vaccine contracts with the pharmaceutical industry. The commission says it is in "the business of respecting contracts."
Commission child sex abuse law enrages privacy advocates
Online child sex abuse continues to increase with EU-based servers hosting some 60 percent of the global content. But a proposal by the EU commission to stop it has riled privacy advocates.
Ukraine women 'biggest victims of Putin's war,' MEPs warn
MEPs called on all EU member states, especially Poland, to guarantee Ukrainian women access to emergency contraception and abortion — after growing reports of rape and sexual violence in Ukraine.
Opinion
How Europe undervalues the economics of its craft heritage
In 2017, Poterie Renault fired its kilns for the final time, having struggled to make ends meet. Its closure is a drop in the ocean — but also illustrates how Europe fails to realise the economic potential of its heritage.
EU takes nuclear protection measures, amid safety worries
Europe set up a rapid decontamination team to protect Ukraine and EU member countries against chemical, biological or nuclear attacks, and sent three million potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine, amid worries over the safety of the country's nuclear facilities.
Opinion
The pandemic EU billions? Follow the money (or don't)
This is the first time the EU has raised money collectively – some called it Europe's New Marshall Plan – and if the process is seen to fail, it could shatter the frail trust in the European project.
Ramaphosa slams EU for protecting vaccine profits
African leaders, after their two-day summit in Brussels, called an offer by the EU to help Africa build vaccine-manufacturing plants was incomplete without backing a vaccine patent-waiver proposal.
Opinion
Never waste a crisis - so start building Covid research in Africa
Botswana was the first country able to detect the emergence of the Omicron variant, thanks to its sequencing capacities. Eleven infectious disease experts from Africa and Europe call for developing research networks across the African continent to respond future pandemics.
Opinion
Von der Leyen's Pfizer texts - why transparency isn't all good
Ursula von der Leyen is under fire for having lost her text messages with the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla. The charges are not entirely fair – and acting on them risks doing more harm than good.
Von der Leyen slammed for not revealing Pfizer CEO texts
The European ombudsman has criticised the European Commission for its handling of a request for public access of text messages that were exchanged between president Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
Omicron wreaks havoc across eastern Europe
Romania's underfunded public health system was on the verge of collapse during the last surge of cases. Hospital morgues were full, and some patients were transferred abroad for treatment because Covid-19 intensive care units were at full capacity.
Record-breaking Omicron wave sweeps across Europe
The record numbers reflect those registered by health authorities, and does not include self-tests or infected people who develop no symptoms, and are not aware of their contagiousness.
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Latest News
- EU countries rush to expand gas import capacity
- MEPs call to speed up curbs on toxic 'forever chemicals'
- Russia's war stifles EU pandemic recovery
- Sweden and Finland Nato decision is right for Baltic
- Sweden to join Finland in applying for Nato
- Russia sanctions and energy dominate Next WEEK
- Will 'Putin's Nato' follow Warsaw Pact into obscurity?
- EU reaches deal on flagship cybersecurity law
WHO: Omicron to infect over half of Europeans in two months
The World Health Organization said Omicron is likely to infect more than half of the population in Europe within the next two months, threatening healthcare systems. It warned that it is too early to consider Covid as an endemic virus.
EU readies for 'big Omicron wave' amid record Covid cases
New daily infections, fulled by the spread of the Omicron variant, are breaking records in Europe, prompting several member states to consider further unpopular restrictions.
WHO 'good news': more proof of milder Omicron symptoms
A World Health Organisation official said hospitalisations and death rates linked to the spread of Omicron tend to be lower than with previous strains. The more transmissible variant appears to affect mostly the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms.
Bulgaria and Romania have Europe's lowest life-expectancy
The report shows that due to Covid-19, Romanians and Bulgarian now die even younger than before. Life expectancy in both Bulgaria and Romania fell by 1.5 and 1.4 years respectively in 2020.
Christmas travel disrupted by Omicron variant
The spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus has triggered a flurry of flight cancellations, hampering Christmas plans for millions of people.
EU unveils plan to repay Covid recovery-fund borrowing
The European Commission has presented three new sources of revenues for the EU´s coffers aimed at repaying the emergency coronavirus recovery fund and supporting vulnerable households in the transition towards climate neutrality.
Covid-pass protestors try to storm Romanian parliament
The protest was organised by the far-right populist party the Alliance for Romanian Unity (AUR), which is strongly against Covid restrictions and against the law that would make a certificate mandatory for the workplace.
Opinion
Where is the transparency in the EU €2 trillion recovery?
A lack of transparency and unwillingness to engage stakeholders, with first the EU pandemic recovery plans and now with the cohesion funds, threatens to imperil a bounceback instead of steering the Green Deal.
Will Christmas be cancelled again?
The surge of infections and emergence of the more-transmissible variant Omicron has raised concerns about possible lockdown restrictions in the EU, but for the thousands of Europeans who recently tested positive Christmas is already cancelled.
Opinion
Covid has exposed decades of poor EU decisions
In these times of unprecedented social and economic challenges, the EU must self-critically rethink decades of poor decisions.
EU leaders divided over Omicron travel rules
EU leaders failed to guarantee a coordinated approach to travel measures for the Christmas holiday season during their summit meeting. Instead they stressed that boosters shots are "crucial" and "urgent" to curb the new wave of Covid-19 infections.
WHO warns mandatory vaccination 'absolute last resort'
Mandatory vaccination has become a hot topic in the EU, but the European branch of the World Health Organization has warned that it should be "an absolute last resort". Children, meanwhile, account for the highest infection-rates across the continent.
Interview
Why was central Europe open to China's Covid disinformation?
Central and eastern European countries are diverse - but an increasing mistrust in government and a quick spread of conspiracy theories seem to be a common thread between them.
EU Parliament demands justice after 'anti-vax' attack on MEP
European Parliament president David Sassoli is demanding justice, following an attack against a Belgian MEP seemingly by anti-vaxers. "Those responsible must be brought to justice," Sassoli said in a tweet.
Belgium tightens Covid rules as health system 'is cracking'
Belgium has introduced new measures to curb the surge of Covid-19 infections in the country, following the third emergency meeting of its federal and regional governments in three weeks.
EU mulls mandatory vaccination, while urging booster for all
The Omicron variant poses a "race against time," the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, adding that the EU should also discuss whether mandatory vaccination is necessary
