European Union

Portugal will set up a ‘Task Force’ to respond to non-COVID-19 patients in public health services as a measure of the government’s autumn/winter pandemic response strategy. The aim is to ensure care of non-COVID-related patients, including the continuing surveillance of...

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on Monday (21 September) said he still believes ratification of an EU trade deal with South America is possible, despite European anger over deforestation in Brazil.

Thousands of residents from South Madrid’s neighbourhoods took to the streets over the weekend, protesting against the “discriminatory” nature of new coronavirus restrictions. Madrid’s regional government was  also criticised for “marginalizing” the “poor” south of Spain’s capital. Those living in...

A huge information leak of some 2,500 documents to the US authorities by several international banks on Sunday (20 September) revealed that Singapore-based commodities giant Trafigura is suspected of wide-spread money laundering and corruption. As Finland’s government decided in 2017...

Bavaria’s cabinet is expected to implement stricter coronavirus restrictions in the state today (22 September) for areas where there are more than 50 infections per 100,000 people over the course of seven days, State leader Markus Söder (CSU) announced Monday....

Politicians vote to reduce their numbers. A constitutional amendment to reduce the number of parliamentarians from 630 to 400 in the Chamber of Deputies and from 315 to 200 in the Senate was comfortably approved on Monday (21 September). Find...

Europe's chemical industry needs to embrace circular thinking and urgently address concerns about substances getting into the environment or risk being crushed by regulators, writes Tom Parker.

A Bulgarian court on Monday (21 September) sentenced two Lebanese men in their absence to life in prison over a deadly 2012 bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the country's Burgas airport.

The tragic fire that ravaged the Mória refugee camp in Greece on 9 September has again highlighted the weaknesses of the EU's asylum and immigration policies and a lack of European solidarity. EURACTIV France reports on France's experience of the migration regime.

Alliances in the Middle East are changing but the EU is been little engaged with the new diplomatic shifts and risks becoming irrelevant in the region, writes Jonathan Spyer.

Poland's ruling right-wing coalition looked to be hanging by a thread on Monday (21 September), as a government spokesman said he could imagine the largest party in the grouping, Law and Justice (PiS), governing without one of its current partners.

The European Union on Monday (21 September) imposed sanctions on three companies -- one Turkish, one Kazakh and one Jordanian -- for breaching the UN arms embargo on Libya, drawing an angry reaction from Turkey.

Norway will finance two-thirds of a large-scale project to capture and store carbon dioxide – its second attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions in a plan that was previously touted as the oil-producing country's moon landing.

Italians have voted by more than 67 percent to cut the number of seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament from 945 to 600, according to exit polls after a constitutional referendum on Monday. The change is to be made by 2023 and to save €1bn over 10 years. Italy also held local elections Monday, with the far-right gaining one region (Marche), but the centre-left retaining three regions.

The richest one-percent of the world's population are responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorest half, from 1990 to 2015, according to a research published by the NGO Oxfam on Monday. During that period, annual emissions grew by 60 percent. "The over-consumption of a wealthy minority is fuelling the climate crisis," said Tim Gore, Oxfam policy officer.

The chairman of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, Jarosław Kaczyński, is to hold a "last chance" tête-à-tête on Tuesday with Zbigniew Ziobro, the leader of a junior coalition partner, the United Poland party, to stave off a split. The two fell out over a bill on animal rights in which Kaczyński, who loves cats, accused Ziobro, who opposed the law, of being "a tail trying to wag the dog".

The UK could see 50,000 new coronavirus infections a day by mid-October, up from 4,400 a day now, if it does not impose new hygiene measures, Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific advisor, said Monday, as Downing Street continued to pave the way for a potential second lockdown. This figure would lead to some 200 deaths a day by mid-November, Vallance added.

The European Commission announced on Monday that fewer companies will be eligible for state-aid compensation for part of their carbon costs, under new rules aimed at forcing polluting companies to reduce their emissions footprint. The new state-aid rules of the EU Emission Trading System will enter into force next year, targeting the sectors at risk of carbon leakage. Only 10 sectors will be eligible for this compensation.

There was "minimal" chance of Russia agreeing to extend a nuclear arms treaty, called New Start, beyond 2020, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian state media Monday. "We cannot talk in this manner," he said after the US urged a quick deal before American elections November. New Start limits stockpiles of "strategic" warheads, designed for intercontinental warfare. Russia and the US also recently abandoned a short-range weapons treaty.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday filed a criminal complaint against Greek newspaper Dimokratia for using an offensive headline, reported Anadolu. The daily ran a headline telling "Mr Erdogan" to "f**k off", in Turkish. Turkey's justice minister told his Greek counterpart that he "strongly condemned" the headline. Such offences in Turkey can land people in jail - such as a 16-year old boy who once criticised Erdogan's party.