Investigation
EU milk aid to Syria: a 'Kafkaesque' story
The EU commission, in a novel approach back in 2015, linked EU agriculture policy to humanitarian aid. Did it work?
News in Brief
- ECB's Draghi set to clarify role in secretive G30 group
- Half of EU states at risk of missing recycling target
- Commission refers Poland to EU top court over rule of law
- Open Society Foundation takes Hungary to court
- EU court asked to rule on halting Brexit
- EU threatens Switzerland on stock trading
- Italy's new basic wage restricted to Italians
- UK tycoon offers to create pro-Brexit party
Investigation
EU paid Italy at least €200,000 for migrant stunt
Italy's far-right interior minister was happy to use EU funds to escort the Aquarius rescue boat to Spain, while boasting he was "closing down the ports" to migrants.
Investigation
EU Commission paying too much for iPhones and IT
EUobserver has obtained internal documents and emails from within the European Commission that outline questionable contracts with outside suppliers who appear to be overcharging for goods and services.
Investigation
Mafia money pollutes the EU economy
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.
Investigation
Free movement of organised crime in Europe
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.
Investigation
Inside the Code of Conduct, the EU's most secretive group
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.
Investigation
How a US firm pushed for EU €2.1trn pension fund
A huge cross-border personal pension fund is being prepared by the EU - in the wake of suggestions from the world's largest asset fund manager BlackRock.
Investigation
How to get around the EU posted workers directive
Some EU careworkers in Belgium receive around €400 a month - despite their carers paying €2,500 a month and paying for flights and accommodation. The answer lies in how firms can skirt the safeguards in the EU's posted workers directive.
Investigation
EU passes new rules to prevent far-right funding abuses
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.
Investigation
Tory and National Front websites hid Facebook tracking pixel
At least 11 European political parties, two EU agencies, and the Nordic Council have a controversial tracking pixel on their website.
Investigation
After 12 years, EU gives up on CO2 storage aid to China
An EU-China project on CO2 storage, dating back to 2005, has delivered few results, raising questions for cooperation in 2018.
Investigation
The ECB: EU's 'bad bank' (for its employees)
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.
Investigation
How Romania became an EU workers' rights 'guinea pig'
"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.
Investigation
The mysterious German behind Orban's Russian deals
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.
Investigation
EU states copy Israel's 'predictive policing'
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.
Investigation
After spending €587 million, EU has zero CO2 storage plants
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.
Investigation
Commission still silent on Hungarian nuclear contract
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.
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Latest News
- Missing signature gaffe for Azerbaijan gas pipeline
- Every major city in Europe is getting warmer
- No chance of meeting EU renewable goals if infrastructure neglected
- Brexit and MEPs expenses in the spotlight This WEEK
- Wake-up call on European Day Against Islamophobia
- Sound of discord at 'Sound of Music' Salzburg summit
- Salzburg summit presses for bigger Frontex mandate
- UK's post-Brexit plan 'will not work', EU says
Investigation
EU bank accused of muzzling watchdog
An ongoing review of the the European Investment Bank's "complaints mechanism" could make the oversight branch less independent and less effective.
Investigation
Diesel cars contribute to about 10,000 deaths a year
Half the premature deaths from car pollution are caused by nitrogen oxide emissions exceeding the EU limits, a new study shows.
Commission: clean up diesel cars, or EU agency inevitable
"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.
Investigation
Fines on open internet vary greatly in EU
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.
Investigation
Citizens pay for MEPs' ghost offices
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.
Investigation
Fight club: Russian spies seek EU recruits
Russian intelligence services are using martial arts clubs to recruit potential troublemakers in Germany and other EU countries, security experts have warned.
Investigation
Russian spies or US neo-Nazis: Who hacked Macron?
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.
Investigation
Skyrocketing costs for returning EU migrants
Data released from Frontex shows the truly astronomical costs of deporting migrants from EU to their countries of origin.
Investigation
How Le Pen's party brokered Russian loans
Le Pen's party used Latvian fixer with links to an EU-banned Russian senator to try to get more Kremlin money.
Investigation
EU weed-killer evidence 'written by Monsanto'
The EU's favourable opinion of the weed-killer chemical glyphosate was partially based on scientific evidence heavily influenced by weed-killer manufacturer Monsanto.
Investigation
Meet Le Pen's friends at Trump Tower
French far-right leader met wealthy people at cocktail party in US president's building in January, spotlighting her longstanding US connections.
New anti-trust complaint looms over Microsoft
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.
Investigation
How the Italian mafia found a Dutch home
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.
Investigation
French election faces high cyber threat
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.
Visual Data
EU farming policy: The damage done by 20 years of inertia
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.
How the EU cosied up to the defence lobby
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.
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- Old White Men are Destroying Macedonia by Romanticizing Greece
- Controversial EIB-Backed Project Under Fire at European Parliament
- Income Inequality Increasing in Nordic Countries
- EU Leaders to Cease Contact with Mahmoud Abbas Until He Apologizes for Antisemitic Comments
- Annual Report celebrates organization’s tenth anniversary
- Nordic Cooperation Needed on Green Exports and Funding
- Premier Li Confirms China Will Continue to Open Up
