Tuesday
22nd May 2018
Political funding of European parties is being overhauled ahead of the European parliament elections next year. The latest rules will cut funding for smaller parties, with an aim to squeeze out duplication and over-representation of the far right.
"We are paid as if we were a country of unqualified workers". Union leaders and labour rights experts reveal, in figures, the catastrophic consequences of the laws that have turned Romania into the country of the working poor.
Klaus Mangold, a German businessman with good connections in Russia, and who provided a jet for Commission vice-president Guenther Oettinger, played a crucial role in Hungary's controversial Paks nuclear deal with Russia, Direkt36's investigation has found.
Huge amounts of money from criminal activities are funnelled into the legitimate European economy. But little is being done about it at EU or national level.
The mafia is often seen as being a traditionally Italian concern, but evidence shows that it might be much closer to home than many Europeans think.
The informal group of national officials that is in charge of checking EU countries' tax laws is now working on the first EU blacklist of tax havens, amid critiques over its lack of transparency and accountability.
At least 11 European political parties, two EU agencies, and the Nordic Council have a controversial tracking pixel on their website.
An EU-China project on CO2 storage, dating back to 2005, has delivered few results, raising questions for cooperation in 2018.
An internal report finds 'lack of staff' and high 'burnout' levels at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt - the bank trusted with keeping the eurozone stable and secure.
Israelis are using social profiling and predictive policing, also known as 'Facebook arrests', to crack down on suspects in Palestinian territories. National authorities in the EU, including the EU's police agency, Europol, are now applying the tactics closer to home.
The EU has spent at least €587 million so far on carbon capture and storage, and was willing to spend millions more. However, after a decade not a single power plant in the EU is currently using the technology.
The EU executive has still not explained why it accepted that a contract with Russia to extend the Paks plant could be awarded without a public tender, and why commissioner Oettinger travelled with a lobbyist working for the Hungarian government.
An ongoing review of the the European Investment Bank's "complaints mechanism" could make the oversight branch less independent and less effective.
Half the premature deaths from car pollution are caused by nitrogen oxide emissions exceeding the EU limits, a new study shows.
"It seems we have not yet reached the bottom of the emission scandal", said the European commissioner for industry, Elzbieta Bienkowska, in a confidential letter.
The fine for violating the EU principle of net neutrality is €9,600 in Estonia, while it can be up to €1 million in Bulgaria, Luxembourg, and Belgium.
Each member of the European Parliament gets €4,342 every month, mainly to fund an office in their own country. But many of these offices seem nowhere to be found.
Russian intelligence services are using martial arts clubs to recruit potential troublemakers in Germany and other EU countries, security experts have warned.
A US cyber security firm has published new claims that a Kremlin-linked group was behind the recent cyber-attack on France’s incoming leader.
Data released from Frontex shows the truly astronomical costs of deporting migrants from EU to their countries of origin.
Le Pen's party used Latvian fixer with links to an EU-banned Russian senator to try to get more Kremlin money.
The EU's favourable opinion of the weed-killer chemical glyphosate was partially based on scientific evidence heavily influenced by weed-killer manufacturer Monsanto.
French far-right leader met wealthy people at cocktail party in US president's building in January, spotlighting her longstanding US connections.
At least three security software companies “met several times” with the European Commission to complain about Microsoft’s alleged abuse of its market position. A formal case could follow.
One of the biggest mafia trials in Europe in recent years is about to end. Members of the Crupi clan are accused of smuggling vast amounts of cocaine from South America to Italy, using the Netherlands as their main hub.
French president Francois Hollande has called for "all necessary means" to be used to fend off cyber attacks ahead of the presidential election in April and May. But political parties are still vulnerable.
The EU Commission will ask the public later this week how the common agricultural policy should be overhauled. Data from the past two decades reveals a catalogue of missed chances and failed reforms.
The EU has allowed its defence and security policies to be shaped by powerful lobbyists, many of whom are linked to firms that win lucrative contracts, an investigation shows.
EU states are alarmed at the bulging waistlines of their citizens, but governments remain unwilling to commit to binding measures or an EU-wide approach to the problem.
Danish and Polish reporters just broke the same story - on misuse of EU funds by right-wing MEPs. It caused a scandal in Denmark, but nothing in Poland. One of the writers asks why.
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.
