Environmental lawyers are threatening to take legal action against the European Commission if gas is included in the new EU guidelines for sustainable energy investment. The draft proposal, controversially released late on 31 December, would see certain ...

EU leaders are free to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin despite his threats to start a new war with Ukraine, the EU foreign service has said. "There is no embargo on contacts and visits between member states and Russia. Each member state decides ... ...

Austrians who refuse to be vaccinated can be fined €3,600 from 1 February until January 2024 under a new law passed by Austrian MPs Thursday. The bill must still pass the senate and be signed by the president. The move was a "big, and, for the first time, ...

Airlines flying from one European destination to another should start paying for all their carbon emission from 2026, a year earlier than planned, according to a draft report by Croatian centre-right MEP Sunčana Glavak seen by Reuters. The Commission ...

An appeals court in Paris, on Thursday, ordered US social media giant Twitter to fully disclose details ofn its approach to tackle hate speech online, Reuters reported. The ruling comes after six anti-discrimination groups argued that only a fraction of ...

The European Data Protection Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, on Thursday called on EU legislators to consider stricter rules for online targeted advertising for political purposes. He suggested a full ban on microtargeting, which tends to use ...

MEPs, on Thursday, approved the Digital Service Act, a new EU law on tech rules to tackle illegal content and hold online platforms accountable. The text was adopted in a 530-78 vote, with 80 abstentions. Obligations depend on the size and influence of ...

US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned Thursday that there would be a "swift, severe, united" response from the US and its allies if Russia sends any military forces into Ukraine, AP reported. Blinken's comments in Berlin appeared to be another effort ...

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán plans to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin on 1 February to discuss the Russian-backed project to expand a Hungarian nuclear power plant, Hungary's foreign minister said Thursday. The meeting comes as Nato, the US, ...

MEPs have pushed to include the right to legal and safe abortion into the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a day after French president Emmanuel Macron pledged to open such a debate in the EU Council. "Women should not be forced to have children," the ...

The EU Commission has called on Poland to pay around €70m in fines for failing to suspend the disciplinary regime for its judges that the European Court of Justice said was against EU law. The EU executive sent its first call for payment on Wednesday (19 ...

Strict lockdown measures in the Netherlands have pushed a group of 30 mayors to press the national government for a loosening of restrictions. In an open letter published in De Volkskrant newspaper on Thursday (20 January), they write that a long-term ...

Obligatory detentions, more security screening, and faster deportations - these are the French EU presidency's migration priorities, in a right-wing home affairs agenda. Immigration did not take centre stage in French president Emmanuel Macron's speech in ...

A cross-party group of 62 MEPs from five parties has called for a full-scale election observation mission in Hungary for the 3 April general election, in a letter released on Wednesday. Critics of prime minister Viktor Orbán have raised concerns as his ...

It is "very unlikely" that Finland would apply for Nato membership during her term of office, but her country was ready to stand with its European allies and United States by imposing tough sanctions on Russia if it attacked Ukraine, Finland's prime ...

German prosecutors have opened a probe over alledged special pandemic payments into Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock, the two co-leaders of the Greens, one of the governing parties in the country, the party said on Wednesday. Spiegel Online reported the ...

Brussels remains committed to follow US-led on negotiations with Russia, EU officials said according to the Financial Times. French president Emmanuel Macron fell out of line when he called for a separate EU dialogue with Moscow on Wednesday. "We were ...

The EU Commission is starting the process to deduct millions of euros from payments to Poland in order to cover fines imposed on Warsaw for ignoring a court injunction to close down a coal mine, a commission spokesperson said Wednesday. The European Court ...

The "Patriotic Millionaires"- a group of more than 100 billionaires and millionaires - on Wednesday issued an appeal to political leaders to make them pay more taxes. "As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair. We have actually seen ...

Borders in Europe must not be moved by force, German chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Wednesday, amid rising tension around Ukraine's border with Russia, after Moscow amassed some 100,000 troops along the border. "After years of rising tensions, staying ...

The chairs of the European Parliament committees for economy and environment, MEPs Irene Tinagli and Pascal Canfin, have called for a public consultation on the proposed inclusion of nuclear and gas to the EU's taxonomy for sustainable investment. "In ...

MEPs will vote on Thursday (20 January) their positions on the Digital Services Act (DSA), paving the way for negotiations with EU governments under the French EU Council presidency. The landmark EU law on tech rules, once agreed, will become the world ...

French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday (19 January) got a chance to define his Europe. With EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel both absent in quarantine after a Covid-scare, Macron had a five- ...

President Emmanuel Macron has laid out the agenda for his country's six months at the helm of the Council of the European Union. In his address to the European Parliament, he championed a bold and ambitious pro-European agenda. Europe needs boldness and, ...

In November, when MEPs had just finished their lunch, the EU's climate chief Frans Timmermans roused them out of their midday slump with a speech on hydrogen. "My task is to help you through your after-lunch depression today," he joked. "I'm looking ...

EU Council president Charles Michel will miss this week's European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, after being in close contact with a positive Covid case, he tweeted on Wednesday. French president Emmanuel Macron is due to address the session on ...

The EU should start paying out its €72bn fund for helping poor households shift to green energy in 2024, instead of 2025 as previously planned, according to a European Parliament proposal seen by Reuters. "The green transition should be feasible for ...

German centre-left chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday in Berlin it was "clear that there will be a high price to pay and that everything will have to be discussed should there be a [Russian] military intervention in Ukraine", referring to sanctions on ...

Marian Banaś, the head of Poland's Supreme Audit Office (NIK), has said Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of the ruling Law and Justice party, should answer questions on alleged government use of Pegasus spyware against political opponents. "Kaczyńsi, as deputy ...

Every year more than three million live animals are exported from the EU to third countries for fattening and slaughter. The transport conditions on the trucks and ships are often unbearable, causing the animals immense suffering on journeys that can last ...