Friday

29th Mar 2024

Ticker

Former Dutch PM Lubbers has died

Ruud Lubbers, prime minister of the Netherlands (1982-1994), died on Wednesday at age 78 from a long-standing illness. The centre-right politician was one of the main architects of the 1992 Maastricht treaty and one of the most respected leaders in the Netherlands, but less successful internationally. In 1994 he failed in his bid to become European Commission chief, after irking German chancellor Helmut Kohl with lukewarm comments on German reunification.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us