European Union

At a time when the EU strives to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, coal still represents more than half of electricity across much of the Western Balkans and other EU neighbouring countries, writes Janez Kopač. Making things worse, coal plants are intensively supported by Chinese and US capital, without active opposition of the EU, he says.

The MedTech Forum is one of the largest health and medical technology industry conference in Europe and a key event since 2007.

In a backlash against rising populism across Europe, Slovak voters put their trust in a pro-European liberal candidate in the first round of elections to the country's largely-ceremonial presidential post.

The age at which women in the European Union give birth to their first child has gradually increased from 28.7 years in 2013 to 29.1 in 2017, figures released by Eurostat on Monday showed. The member state with the highest average age for women to have their first baby in 2017 was Italy (31.1 years old) and the youngest mothers were Latvian (26.9).

UK prime minister Theresa May will only put the Brexit deal to third vote in parliament this week if her Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) alliance partner and conservative Brexiteers agree to support it, reports the BBC. Chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond said there would be no point in bringing the deal back for a third vote unless the government was confident of winning.

Hundreds of European local and regional leaders demanded a bottom-up approach to rebuild the EU, during the 8th Cities and Regions summit in Bucharest, ahead of the informal European Council on the future of Europe in Sibiu in May. 

Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, confirmed on Sunday that it is in merger talks with the country's second-largest lender, Commerzbank. If successful they could become a national champion at a level to compete with top banks on Wall Street. Both banks are challenged by the ongoing economic slowdown in Germany. The German government owns 15.5 percent of Commerzbank after the bank was bailed during the financial crisis.

Serbian protesters rallied over the weekend for 15th time since November in Belgrade and around the country demanding president Aleksandar Vucic's resignation, and calling for democratic reforms and media freedom. Tensions escalated on Saturday when crowds stormed the state TV station - prompting Vucic to give a televised address from inside his residence in which he branded the protesters "fascists, hooligans and thieves".

Sergei Stanishev may be the leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES), but his authority in his home country Bulgaria is under pressure.

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, condemned by the West but celebrated by most Russians, the United States, Canada and the EU slapped new sanctions on more than a dozen Russian officials and businesses in response to Moscow's "continued aggression in Ukraine."

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire will face tough questions on Monday when meeting business representatives and insurers to discuss the economic impact of violent 'Yellow Vest' protests over the weekend, which left some 80 Champs-Elysees boulevard shops vandalised. French police appeared overwhelmed during Saturday's unexpectedly rough protests, which came after weeks of lower participation in the Yellow Vest rallies.

An EU Court decision that confirmed that new plant breeding techniques fall under Genetically Modified legislation has generated more reaction and more discussion than “we would have ever anticipated”.

Thousands of anti-government protesters staged a rally outside President Aleksandar Vučić’s residence on Sunday (17 March) to press their demands for greater media freedom and free and fair elections, a day after they briefly broke into the state television building.

Anti-corruption candidate Zuzana Čaputová won the first round of Slovakia’s presidential election on 16 March, getting more than 40% of the votes. 

The four most powerful EU institutions - Commission, Parliament, Council and Central Bank will all have new leaders in the coming ten months. Here is an overview.

"We have made our choice: we choose democracy and rule of law," write the leaders of the National Coalition Party in Finland and the Moderate Party in Sweden.

The EU issued a declaration on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Weekly schedule of President Donald Tusk 18 - 24 March 2019