
Focus
Malta aims to 'restore faith' in EU
The Mediterranean island will take the six-month EU presidency on 1 January, with migration and security as main priorities.
Monday
21st Nov 2016

The Mediterranean island will take the six-month EU presidency on 1 January, with migration and security as main priorities.

Two years after their term ended, more than half of the Barroso II team still receives at least €99,996 per year in taxpayer-funded allowances.

EU commission’s ethics committee said Barroso should not be sanctioned for taking "image of financial greed" bank job. Ombudsman not so sure.
Oettinger's China gaffe caught the headlines, but his and his colleagues' broader disregard for European values pose a bigger threat to EU legitimacy.
The EU executive says it has nothing to add about German commissioner Guether Oettinger's derogatory words about the Chinese.
Poland has accused the European Commission of lacking objectivity and understanding of the intricacies of the Polish legal system.

After a "demanding marathon" of talks, member states and MEPs agreed a budget for next year they hope will provide a "buffer" against any shocks to the system.

The German commissioner says it was normal to travel by a private jet owned by a German businessman. MEPs, with the exception of Oettinger's own EPP group, are gearing up to grill him.

Oettinger said he used pro-Russia lobbyist's jet because it was the only way to make dinner in Budapest, but who paid for the trip?

Gaffe-prone Guenther Oettinger faces questions on whether the commission paid for the flight and why the lobbyist meeting was not declared.
Member states are ignoring requests from the EU to explain how they punish manufacturers for installing cheating software into tractors.
The future commission vice-president admitted in a statement that his words "have created bad feelings and may even have hurt people".
Guenther Oettinger reportedly used a German derogatory term for members of a Chinese delegation visiting Brussels. He said the remarks were taken out of context.
German finance chief Wolfgang Schaeuble said the European Commission was becoming too “political” to enforce fiscal discipline.
One year ago, EU members agreed to an on-road test for car emissions, but with options to carmakers to exceed the limits. How did it all happen?
[Updated] Centre-left chairwoman of European Parliament's committee investigating the emissions scandal denied the claim, saying there was a misunderstanding.
Juncker's commission has set out a modest agenda for 2017, with few new proposals, as it hones its new, post-Brexit role.
The European Parliament is expected to approve budget proposals that will see the EU funding military research on a large scale for the first time.
British leader has repeated that the UK wants free trade, but not free EU immigration, while speaking warmly of European “friends, allies”.

On her first EU summit, the British prime minister is expected to outline Brexit to fellow EU leaders, but without much details.

The Belgian region's rejection of the EU-Canada trade deal risks the prosperity of the entire continent.
The European Parliament's Dieselgate inquiry committee will not pursue Erkki Liikanen and Margot Wallstrom to testify, accepting that their mandates were too long ago.
The Danish People’s Party may incorrectly have spent EU money on meetings that were not clearly divided from national party gatherings.

EU employees have gathered 152,000 signatures in a petition calling for managers to stop taking jobs in big business. The executive's response left them even more angry.

19 out of 28 member states ban GM crops within their borders, but the Commission's latest approval of GM maize gives more ammunition to EU critics.
The European Parliament's ethics committee will try to establish what happened between Mike Hookem and Steven Woolfe, who will remain in the hospital until Sunday.
Two years ago Kurdish activists stormed the EU parliament, triggering new security measures. But they've led to visitors to have a bad first impression of the house of their democratic representation.

Old agreements are being thrown out of the window, as the centre-right and centre-left groups prepare to battle for the EU parliament top job.

Donald Tusk may not get the support of his countrymen for a second term as European Council president.
Former EU commissioner Connie Hedegaard told EUobserver she did nothing wrong in taking up posts at VW and Danfoss, amid a swirling debate on EU officials' links to big business.
The EU Council, its most powerful institution, is a “black hole” unto the general public, hampering efforts to regain trust, a leading NGO has said.