European Union

A decision by France's top court to annul the obligation to label the origin of milk has provoked outrage in France. Dairy farmers and politicians are particularly sour about the move, calling it an "unacceptable step backwards." EURACTIV France reports.

EU lawmakers are picking up the pace in their race against the clock to have vaccine certificates ready for the summer, although technical problems need to be adressed.

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.    “The Irish data protection authority generally closes most cases with a settlement instead of a sanction.” – European Parliament...

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Global Europe Brief, your weekly update on the EU from a global perspective. You can subscribe here. /// EDITOR’s TAKE The debate about how to define strategic autonomy, a catchphrase coined by French President Emmanuel Macron, has been...

The COVID-19 health crisis has exposed the racism people of Asian descent face today. EURACTIV France spoke to post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), Ya-han Chuang to discuss how such "awareness" has been formed in France.

Ship traffic has come to a standstill on the Suez Canal, where the 400-meter-long container ship Ever Given has been stuck since Tuesday, with its bow dug into the canal bank. More than 200 ships are now waiting to the north and south of the site, but according to recovery teams it could be weeks before the waterway - which is a vital route for the international shipping industry - is navigable again. Once again, the world is being confronted with its own vulnerability, commentators note.

The Covid crisis has increased poverty, unemployment and social inequality across Europe and in the rest of the world. Young people, the culture and hospitality sectors and tourism are the worst affected, as well as groups that were already structurally disadvantaged before the pandemic. Commentators paint a bleak picture and call for urgent and effective action.

The German government has proposed the launch of preliminary negotiations for the EU to purchase the Russian coronavirus vaccine. Although Sputnik V has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (Ema), with the other vaccines talks were held before the approval came through. Commentators support the initiative and call on politicians to set ideological differences aside.

The Swedish company Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) and other major Western brands like Nike and Adidas are facing an extensive boycott campaign in China. The boycott was triggered by statements by these companies - in some cases made months ago - to the effect that they no longer want to purchase cotton from Xinjiang Province due to human rights violations perpetrated there against the Uighurs.