
Coronavirus
'Difficult weeks' ahead, as variants spread across EU
EU leaders have discussed how to accelerate the rollout of vaccines, amid fears over more transmissible mutations triggering a new surge in cases.
Friday
26th Feb 2021
EU leaders have discussed how to accelerate the rollout of vaccines, amid fears over more transmissible mutations triggering a new surge in cases.
The Hungarian legislation, dubbed 'Stop Soros', was a 2018 amendment to Hungary's criminal code and threatened aid workers and human rights advocates working with asylum-seekers with up to a year in prison.
A snap early election in Greenland throws into focus mining of rare earths - needed for Europe's green transition, and coveted by both China and the US, but opposed by environmentalists.
There was no violence in Thursday's attempted "military coup" in Armenia, but it made EU influence in the South Caucasus look smaller than ever.
Some 14 MEPs have created a group to probe allegations of rights abuse by the EU's border agency Frontex. Its head, Fabrice Leggeri, welcomed its creation and said it "is about time".
Ideas that are attacked are actually being promulgated. That has been the case for centuries, at least as far back as Thomas Aquinas. And that is certainly the case today with Facebook and Twitter.
Amnesty found that companies including Microsoft, Renault and Volkswagen were failing to ask basic questions about where the cobalt in their batteries came from.
Four Russians are about to join an EU list of the world's worst human rights abusers, but who are they and what message does it send to Moscow?
Three families who made it to an asylum camp on the Greek island of Lesbos were hours later set adrift in a life raft by masked men. The case could be a first, if confirmed.
At their summit, EU leaders will also discuss through a videoconference Covid-19 certificates, travel restrictions, and how to speed up the vaccine roll-out.
Extreme climate-related events cost the EU's economy €12bn annually. Brussels aims to reduce the so-called climate protection gap - the difference between insurance protection and total losses - which is widening due to more frequent extreme weather events.
Suspension or cancellation of Nord Stream 2 does not call for a drawn-out search for unanimity by the EU's foreign ministers, nor complex ratification procedures in the European Parliament or member states' parliaments, write three former EU prime ministers.
EU countries whose economies are dependent on tourism push for the introduction of passports that would allow holiday and business travellers to move between countries.
Ethiopia's civil war could fuel a new EU refugee drama, amid "out of control" violence, Finland's foreign minister has warned.
The European Commission has written to Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Finland, Denmark and Sweden, urging them to obey travel restrictions recommendations of the European Council.
MEP Leïla Chaibi unpacks Uber's efforts to undermine the rights of gig economy workers in Europe.
While producers in Europe need to live up to demanding labour standards, the European Commission does not make the slightest move to protect them against competition from countries that use forced labour on a massive scale.
Recycling packaging-waste is largely in the hands of the industry itself, via 'Green Dot' organisations. This creates a conflict of interest - because the industry benefits from the sale of as many individual bottles, wrappers, cans and trays as possible.
Politically-motivated justice, the capture of state institutions by the private interests of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, rapid socio-economic decline, and increased corruption, all are making Georgians hopeless about their future, writes former Georgian ambassador to the EU.
The EU has agreed to blacklist Russian officials guilty of wrongly jailing opposition figure Alexei Navalny, amid a new "low" in relations.
The European Commission said that bloc's strict regulatory process for the evaluation and approval of vaccines is crucial to persuade citizens to get the jab, calling on member states to fight vaccine hesitancy with information.
Romania's ministry of internal affairs wrote to Frontex claiming it did not engage in any illegal pushbacks of people on rubber boats into Turkish territorial waters. The country says it followed EU engagement rules and Greek orders.
Nobody says war will break out in Europe in 2021. But, just as in 1914, the imminent collapse of the multinational Habsburg Empire was the subject of much speculation, some now allude to the disintegration of the European Union.
The treaty enables companies to claim billions in compensation from states in front of international arbitration tribunals, if they feel unfairly treated by the states' energy or climate policies.
Unionist politicians in Northern Ireland and England have threatened legal action against the Brexit deal due to trade disruptions.
Just 10 countries have administered 75 percent of all Covid vaccines so far - while some 130 poor countries have not yet received a single dose
A letter sent to the European Economic and Social Committee by a group of cross-party MEPs fighting for LGBTi rights expresses fears that a recently-appointed Polish member may try to undermine those rights.
EU foreign affairs ministers will meet in Brussels and are expected to agree to visa-bans and asset-freezes on Russian officials involved in the jailing of opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny.
The stubborn fact is that, election after election - and it's already three consecutive absolute majorities - anti-independence forces cannot convince the majority of Catalans that our democratic rights and a better future can be attained within the Spanish kingdom.
The military coup seems to have inflamed and united a diverse and ostensibly depoliticised society. There seems to be an across the board rejection by the people of Myanmar of a return to military dictatorship.
Pro-Kremlin oligarchs, including "direct beneficiaries" of Navalny's jailing, will not face EU sanctions for now, diplomatic sources have said.
Hungary has two months to respond, after which the commission can again turn to the EU's top court and ask for Budapest to be fined.
The bloc's new trade strategy proposes making respect for the 2015 Paris Agreement an "essential element" of future trade agreements. Reform of the World Trade Organization is also a priority for the coming decade.