Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist
Three far-right French MEPs are to stay on a European Parliament blacklist after losing a legal challenge.
Opinion
Why can't we stop marches glorifying Nazism on EU streets?
Every year, neo-Nazis come together to pay tribute to Nazi war criminals and their collaborators, from Benito Mussolini to Rudolf Hess, Ante Pavelić, Hristo Lukov, and of course Adolf Hitler, in events that have become rituals on the extreme-right calendar.
MEPs probing spyware 'stonewalled' by EU states
Frustration over the lack of cooperation from member states and the European Commission has left MEPs probing spyware in the EU upset and demanding answers.
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Feature
Muslims missing in Swedish presidency's EU equality talks
Sweden has launched new EU talks on combatting racism and antisemitism — but not Islamophobia, prompting accusations of a rightwing approach.
Exclusive
Germany and Poland clash on ad targeting for EU elections
Next summer's EU elections could see voters targeted by very personal ads and EU parties more free to take foreign money, as talks on new laws build momentum.
Top EU prosecutor wants elite corps of specialised investigators
Europe's top prosecutor Laura Kovesi wants to create an elite corps of highly-specialised financial fraud investigators. The demand came in Kovesi's introduction to the annual report published by the Luxembourg-based European Public Prosector's Office.
Op-ed debate: Should NGOs be subject to stricter transparency regulation?
We're trying out a new format, in which we publish an op-ed and a counter-op-ed. This week, we have the S&D group president responding to EPP chairman Manfred Weber's call for stricter financial screening of NGOs to combat corruption.
Jailed Greek neo-Nazi MEP has immunity lifted for second time
Jailed Greek neo-Nazi MEP Ioannis Lagos, who continues to draw a European Parliament salary, had his immunity lifted for a second time.
Exclusive
Sweden waters down EU press-freedom law
Press-freedom groups from Paris to New York have voiced dismay at Sweden's proposal to weaken a landmark EU law against corporate and political bullies.
Strasbourg rights watchdog seeks Russian accountability
The Strasbourg-based human rights watchdog Council of Europe wants Russia to pay for its crimes in Ukraine. Its secretary general Marija Pejčinović Burić says this includes setting up a new claims register to gather evidence for eventual prosecution and reparations.
Most EU countries fail to resolve rule-of-law issues, report finds
The EU's legitimacy and credibility has also suffered recently due to the Qatargate scandal engulfing the European Parliament, which undermines the EU's ability to protect the rule of law in member states.
MEPs push for EU accession to convention against gender-based violence
EU ambassadors signed off — with qualified majority — on two decisions that would give the green light on EU ratification of the convention in areas where the EU has exclusive legal competence.
'Constitutional populism' threatens EU democracy, Latvia president warns
Levits also criticised western European countries for having a provincial understanding of Europe and for naively developing a dependency on Russian energy.
Israel is still 'functioning democracy', EU says
Israel is still a functional democracy and no sanctions are foreseen, the EU has said, amid mounting concern on its new rightwing government's abuse of rule of law.
EU Parliament weakening anti-corruption proposals, say Left
Proposals in December to stamp out corruption at the European Parliament in the wake of Qatargate have been progressively watered down, says the Left. Manon Aubry, Left co-president, said decisions being made behind closed doors are burying pro-transparency efforts.
Interview
The man who won't stop filing info requests until every EU doc is public
EU Council should expect a flood of new requests for internal documents in the wake of a pro-transparency court win by EU Parliament official turned activist Emilio De Capitani.
Interview
MEPs launch anonymous drop-box for shady lobbying secrets
MEPs' assistants, EU Commission officials, and industry insiders should help drain the lobbyist swamp in Brussels by tipping off a new "early-alert" system, Dutch socialist MEP Paul Tang has said.
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French official to take on Islamophobia in EU
The EU has appointed a new anti-Islamophobia coordinator after an 18-month long gap which attracted criticism by Muslim rights groups.
Hungary blames conspiracy for EU corruption rating
Hungary has blamed a conspiracy for coming bottom in an EU corruption rating as it seeks to unfreeze European funding.
Polish backpedal on windfarms put EU funds at risk
Draft legislation in Poland aimed at relaxing some of Europe's strictest laws surrounding onshore wind-turbines has been derailed by a surprise last minute amendment, which could put Poland back on a collision course with the EU.
Investigation
No record of Latvian MEP's 'official' Azerbaijan trip
Last June, a Latvian socialist MEP went to Azerbaijan and sang its praises — but the EU Parliament committee he claimed to represent had no idea he was there.
Opinion
Why the new ECHR Ukraine-Russia ruling matters
The ECHR ruled that Russia was in "effective control" of separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine from 11 May 2014. In doing so, the court has formally acknowledged the inter-state character of the conflict and Russia's culpability for human rights abuses.
Opinion
Greece's spy scandal must shake us out of complacency
The director of Amnesty International Greece on the political spying scandal that now threatens to bring down prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Activists and NGO staff work with the constant fear that they are being spied on.
Greek government in no-confidence vote over spying scandal
A no-confidence vote on the Greek government is set for Friday, following revelations of state-led surveillance on senior military officials and a minister.
EU auditors probe commission's role in defending EU money
The auditors are set to focus on actions taken by the commission for 6 member states., Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Italy and Greece.
MEPs urge EU countries to back a special tribunal on Russia
Legal scholars, however, have argued that without the backing of the UN general assembly, it would be legally challenging to set up a tribunal to prosecute Russian aggression against Ukraine.
MEPs keen to scalp Orbán's EU commissioner
The EU Parliament has cast doubt on whether Hungary's commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, is fit to do his job following his antics in the Western Balkans.
Poland's legal fixes to collect EU funds come under fire
Unlocking the €35.4bn in grants and loans allocated for Poland as part of the EU's Covid-19 fund is key for the Law & Justice (PiS) government to boost its chances ahead of the upcoming elections in the autumn.
EU Parliament to present 14 point anti-corruption reform
The European Parliament is set to unveil proposals to crack down on corruption following the on-going scandal over alleged Qatari and Morocco influence peddling.
Sweden expects Hungary to soon ratify its Nato membership
Sweden is demanding Hungary ratify its Nato accession, following fears Budapest may leverage rule of law and frozen EU funds in exchange.
Opinion
How one pioneering Italian woman transformed EU law
The story of how Wilma Viscardini, a young female lawyer in a town in northern Italy in the 1950s, pioneered using new, liberal European legislation on issues like the free movement of workers or consumer rights, to help citizens.
Exclusive
MEP pension fund invested in cluster munition arms industry
The European Parliament's voluntary pension scheme held 14,900 shares in Raytheon in 2008 with a market value of $547,000, despite being blacklisted by Norway's sovereign wealth in 2005 for producing and selling cluster munitions.
Analysis
When the EU found the political will to act on rule of law
In 2012, it was against Orbán's Hungary that the EU first proposed to suspend cohesion funds under strengthened budgetary rules, after Budapest failed to step up efforts to end the country's excessive government deficit. Then Orbán toed the line.
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