European Union

Parliament tackled the Covid-19 pandemic, launched the Conference on the Future of Europe and approved the EU Climate Law.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

MEPs have shown consistent support for action against authoritarian regimes other than Russia or China, but unanimity requirements in the votes of the European Council are considered a clear impediment for a more effective EU foreign policy.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Thursday called on developed countries to share vaccines, pointing out that 11 billion doses are needed to reach its target to vaccinate at least 10 percent of the population of every country by September. "Dose-sharing is a short-term solution," he said, adding that 75 percent of the 3.5 billion vaccines already distributed globally have gone to just 10 countries.

In today's edition of The Capitals, find out more about the Czech Republic amending its gun laws, Ireland preparing its ICU's for a new surge in COVID-19 cases, and so much more.

The interior ministers of Serbia and Spain, Aleksandar Vulin and Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomes, met in Madrid on Thursday to discuss the development of cooperation, especially in training, the exchange of information and suppression of cyber-crime, while Vulin also spoke about...

Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić has said that: “Regarding the budget, I think we can be relatively satisfied at the moment. Naturally, with great caution. We should do everything to prevent the situation from becoming complex in some way.” Marić...

The European Commission announced it is on track to share some 200 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 before the end of the year. It says the vaccines will go to low and middle-income countries. "We will be sharing more than 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines with low and middle-income countries by the end of this year," said European commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Technology is not the main barrier to the deployment of wind energy needed for the Green Deal. Presently, there are no market mechanisms for offshore grid development projects to be bankable.

Future American investments in Poland could be jeopardised if Warsaw does not renew the licence of 24-hour news channel TVN24, US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said on Thursday, referring to potential new Polish laws against its ownership by American media...

The open letter is from the embassies of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, US.

Bulgaria’s caretaker government plans to increase all pensions from 1 October this year, announced Finance Minister Asen Vassilev, adding that if parliament supports his proposals, no pensioners in Bulgaria will be living below the poverty line by autumn. Currently, nearly...

French president Emmanuel Macron has obtained a new phone following reports of Pegasus spyware hacks. The president's office said Macron had also ordered an overhaul of security protocols. His phone had been among those reportedly targeted by Moroccan authorities, according to Le Monde newspaper.

Another Western army is leaving a fragile, landlocked region. But whereas the United States has pulled its troops out of one country, Afghanistan, France is walking away from five, argues Faisal Al Yafai

Several hundred undocumented migrants have ended their hunger-strike protest in Brussels, giving up their demands for a collective legal status in Belgium. The migrants will instead have their individual cases assessed by the state. Around 476 people had been on hunger strike, some for two months.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has rejected calls by the UK to re-negotiate the Northern Irish protocol, which created a customs border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. "The EU will continue to be creative and flexible within the protocol framework. But we will not renegotiate," she told UK prime minister Boris Johnson, in a telephone call on Thursday.

Thousands of EU nationals over the age of 65 in the UK have missed a deadline to apply for the EU settlement scheme, according to a UK parliamentary report. It found that only two-percent of all applications for the settlement scheme were submitted by people aged over 65, suggesting that many failed to meet the deadline. Some are likely to have had no mobile phone or digital access to apply.

Russia and China failed on Thursday in a bid to get the U.N. Security Council to strip some powers from an international envoy overseeing implementation of a 1995 Bosnia peace accord and shut down the envoy’s office in one year....

Slovakia’s car dealership market is worried that sellers from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, countries which import tens of thousands of cars to Slovakia each year, could be selling cars damaged by the floods, the TASR news agency reported. After the floods,...

The Italian government will require people to be fully-vaccinated before being allowed entry into closed-door events and spaces - such as cinemas, exhibitions, museums, theatres and swimming pools. Only those with a 'green pass' to prove vaccination against Covid-19 will be allowed access. The restrictions apply as of 5 August.

The Czech Senate this week approved the right to own weapons to defend oneself and others under legal conditions to be embedded in the constitution. This comes as a reaction to the EU’s tendency to regulate firearms acquisition and possession....