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EU foreign ministers meeting in Kyiv on Monday (2 October) sought to debunk stories the West was tired of helping Ukraine. The first event of its kind in EU diplomacy saw the ministers attend an "informal foreign-affairs council" in their neighbouring ...

Incoming EU climate commissioner-designate Wopke Hoekstra is set to face tough questions from MEPs on Monday evening (2 October). Members of the environmental committee will have three hours to grill the Netherlands' Hoekstra, who was nominated to replace ...

The EU's border force Frontex shared the personal data of NGO staff with police in at least six cases, after collecting the information during debriefing interviews with asylum seekers as part of an anti-smuggling operation. The findings follow earlier ...

In a barely noticed move, the European Commission dropped RBB Economics as its consultant this summer due to conflicting interests. But the Ombudsman had to step in for it to do so. This should be a wake-up call to ensure that consultancy firms with a ...

The fresh wave of populism in Slovakia and its potential impact on EU-Nato relations has raised concerns among European countries — and the results of Saturday's parliamentary elections with the victory of the populist Smer-SD party led by former prime ...

A major meeting of leaders from all over Europe will take place in the southern Spanish city of Granada on Thursday (5 October). Enlargement and security will be high on the agenda of the third meeting of the European Political Community, French president ...

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently raised interest rates to their highest point in the currency's existence. With an increase of 4.5 percentage points in little over a year, the Frankfurt-based bank's governing council has — wittingly or unwittingly ...

The formal granting of any EU accession status is seen as a crucial milestone in Kyiv's path towards Europe. But in reality even the initiation of formal accession negotiations, on which a decision is to be taken soon in Brussels, is anything but ...

The EU is meant to become a safer place for women from Sunday (1 October), as the Istanbul Convention enters into force in Europe. The treaty is to combat violence against women by obliging the EU's 27 member states to impose "dissuasive" criminal ...

When I sat down with an Azerbaijani colleague at the German Bundestag a week ago, we had convened to discuss the role of Europe in stabilising the South Caucasus. Auspiciously, it was the International Day of Peace. But the events of the week betrayed our ...

This year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian commissioner for children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova for their involvement in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ICC said that ...

Morally speaking, the case is closed on Russian diamonds. And they will soon be banned from 70 percent of the world's markets, in a move to be unveiled by the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations. The EU expects its 27 member states to follow suit. A ...

Senior EU officials insist a majority of EU states support tougher asylum reforms after Germany decided to drop its veto despite a last minute reported backlash from Italy. The back and forth followed a meeting of interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday ...

Earlier this year, a Polish woman called Joanna ordered abortion pills online to terminate her pregnancy. She took the pills but was not feeling good afterwards, so she decided to check with a doctor. In the hospital, instead of an examination, she faced ...

With the 2024 European elections around the corner, an important debate on the future of EU investment policies supporting people and territories will take a new turn. Questions such as whether the EU has the right tools and instruments to support people ...

Germany on Wednesday (27 September) announced an increase in police checks on its border with Poland and the Czech Republic — in a bid to respond to irregular migration along smuggling routes. "We want to prevent evasive movements of smugglers through ...

The EU Commission risks failing to balance fundamental rights in its focus on geopolitics, warned the EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, speaking at Warsaw University on Wednesday (27 September), in a more general broadside against the Berlaymont's "new normal" ...

The question has bugged EU officials for years but under commission president Ursula von der Leyen's administration, it finally appears to have been answered and ... (spoiler alert!) ... the trick relies on sleight of hand. Last week, the EU Ombudsman ...

Political parties facing multiple corruption charges are hoping for a grand comeback at Saturday's (30 September) snap elections in Slovakia —which could also lead to a reversal of the central European country's position on Ukraine and Russia. The vote ...

The EU and US have urged Azerbaijan to give aid groups more access to ethnic Armenians, as tens of thousands flee the conflict zone. "The EU stressed the need for transparency and access for international humanitarian and human rights actors and for more ...

The EU is urging Big Tech platforms to act against the Kremlin's "war of ideas" ahead of the upcoming 2024 European Parliament elections, as Russia's disinformation is flowering on Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) platform. "Russian war against Ukraine, ...

A blocking minority of member states is posing tricky questions on whether the EU can reach a deal on an overhaul of the bloc's asylum and migration laws. The European Commission is still hoping for a political agreement before the end of the year — ...

Poland holds parliamentary elections on 15 October. The stakes are high. As is all too often the case these days, the election is essentially a referendum on democracy. Even if you prefered the policies of the ruling PiS party and considered yourself a ...

Staying below 1.5 Celsius warming requires massive clean energy investment but also saves $12 trillion [€11.3 trillion] in fuel expenditure and creates more jobs than are lost, the International Energy Agency concluded in their Net Zero Pathway report ...

Unveiled at COP26, the G7-led Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) promised to offer a new model of international cooperation towards decarbonisation — indeed, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, one among the International Partners ...

A new report has found that EU countries are facilitating circumventing oil sanctions against Russia on a grand scale. Greek-owned ships in particular stand out, and have transported nearly a third of all Russian oil shipments between December 2022 (when ...

"We welcome competition, but it must be fair," the EU Commission's executive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis warned in a speech at Beijing's Tsinghua University on Monday (25 September). "And we will be more assertive in tackling unfairness". The visit ...

Just a few decades ago the EU was heavily criticised for its 'pay, fish and go' approach when negotiating fisheries access agreements with third countries. The fleets were accused of over-fishing and competition with local fishermen, thereby contributing ...

For 9.5 million domestic workers in the EU, access to basic rights such as social security, collective bargaining, or social protection is not always guaranteed. Of these workers, some 3.1 million are undeclared and nine out of 10 are women. Despite ...

EU member states will most likely back a compromise text for new emission rules for cars and trucks on Monday (25 September), diplomats told EUobserver. The final draft, as put forward by Spain, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency represents ...