Monday
28th Sep 2020
The loudest applause from MEPs during Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech came for her call to move to Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in foreign policy - at least on human rights and sanctions implementation.
Angela Merkel is only the seventh woman to chair the Council of the European Union's meetings. And in 2020 there is no woman leading any of the current 11 European civilian missions (let alone the six military operations).
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen recorded a video in support of Croatia's ruling party, which the EU executive said was in her "personal capacity" - and admits it was a "mistake" that this was not made clear.
France's Europe minister Clément Beaune tells the Financial Times that rule of law and fundamental rights cannot be compromised under the new €750bn EU budget recovery fund.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to hire more people from racial minorities after meeting anti-racist MEPs on Tuesday
The chief administrators of the Council, representing member states, have issued draft guidelines on corporate sponsorships of EU presidencies. The guidelines do not ban sponsorships - despite the risks they pose to the EU's reputation as a whole.
The EPP, S&D, and Renew Europe have all dropped their support for a Belarus dissident with homophobic views, hours after EUobserver published an expose.
The centre-right EPP, centre-left S&D, and liberal Renew Europe have all nominated a homophobe for the Sakharov prize - the prestigious annual prize handed out by the European Parliament to people who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The 61-year old former German defence minister, who only narrowly won the backing of MEPs last year, outlined not a vision, but an ambitious list of policies to tackle - including more health care competencies to the EU.
A damning report on the deterioration of rule of law and democracy in Poland is to be adopted by MEPs on Thursday, while Warsaw's supporters cry 'double standards'.
Let us be clear: without this new financial windfall, cities, towns and regions will not be able to overcome a crisis of colossal proportions like the current one.
EU regions say the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe is a "timely opportunity" to debate how to make local and regional authorities full- involved in the EU response to Covid-19 - even including possible EU treaty changes.
Additional 'top-ups' requested by the parliament could amoung to €110bn, an EU source estimated, while member states are giving very limited room for manoeuvre in budget talks with the parliament.
French far-right MEP Thierry Mariani said he is resigning as a board member of the European Endowment for Democracy. His replacement may be Jerome Riviere - another far-right French MEP from the Identity and Democracy group.
Mairead McGuinness's nomination will have to be signed off by the European Parliament, where the Irish MEP is a well-respected first vice-president of the assembly.
Parliament president David Sassoli is to make the final decision on travelling to Strasbourg ahead of the leadership and parliamentary group chairs meeting on Thursday.
It's time for the EU Commission to get its house in order and close the doors to tobacco lobby influence once and for all.
Currently, only 20 percent of MEPs show tendencies to support authoritarian powers - but that could change after the pandemic, a new study warns. It also calls for an improved vetting of MEPs, tougher lobbying rules, and better cybersecurity.
The European Parliament passed new rules last December aimed at greater accountability of the unregulated bodies known as friendship groups. Not one group has since made public any declarations of support, which is a requirement.
Other institutions should follow the lead of an EU bank agency in preventing improper staff moves to industry, the EU Ombudsman has said.
The budget committee chair said the European Parliament expects tangible improvements to the package in its talks with member states - while the German minister argued that the EU leaders' deal was difficult enough.
EU trade commissioner resigned after Irish government accused him of undermining "the whole approach to public health in Ireland" by flouting anti-coronavirus rules.
EU trade chief Phil Hogan has ignored his own government's appeal to resign for flouting anti-coronavirus rules.
I hate to break it to you, but excuses have run out. You have to look at the images of sobbing journalists in Index's newsroom, and shoulder part of the blame. Your silence, your continued procrastination led to this.
MEPs criticised the EU deal on the budget and recovery package clinched by leaders after five days of gruelling talks, saying it is not enough "future-oriented", and cuts too deeply into EU policies, including health, innovation, defence and humanitarian aid
European parliament president David Sassoli said certain corrections will have to be made in the budget, citing research and the Erasmus program for students, calling the cuts "unjustified".
EU health policy has three faces: explicit health policy, internal market policy, and fiscal governance. Covid-19 looks like it is transforming all three for the better.
Raising the stakes, Hungarian premier Viktor Orban uses the parliament in a show of unity to push for tough conditions going into the complex and tough budget negotiations.
Although slightly elaborate, the Citizens' Initiative is an important instrument to boost popular participation in the EU legislative process, as well as to engage citizens in the policy making process of the Union.
As the EU struggles to stop breaches of rule-of-law, and democratic backsliding, in some member states, the European Parliament plans to propose one single overarching tool to effectively monitor rogue capitals.
We call for applying positive discrimination to the 'Blue Book'. This would imply quotas to ensure the recruitment of people of colour including those from non-privileged backgrounds.
My group in the European Parliament, Renew Europe, has just adopted a position paper that highlights our views on SMEs.
Ahead of expected tense discussions next weekend among EU leaders, European Council president Charles Michel tries to find common ground: the recovery package's size, and grants, would stay - but controls would be tougher.
