Europe

How to make trade the fairest of them all? That was the big theme of the French EU presidency, under which agricultural minister Julien Denormandie made his debut as chair of the agriculture and fisheries (AGRIFISH) Council this week. The chimaera of trade reciprocity is not a new theme in Continue Reading

Citizens’ recommendations are “at the heart of the process” of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), Dubravka Šuica said in an interview with EURACTIV. If the recommendations include changes to treaties, the Commission will support them, in line with its legislative role. Dubravka Šuica is the Vice-President of Continue Reading

The European Parliament has adopted recommendations for tougher and more effective animal protection rules during live transports. Some MEPs, however, bemoan a lack of ambition and call for a hard limit on the duration of journeys. The recommendations, which the parliament’s plenary adopted during its session on Thursday (20 January), Continue Reading

Several EU interior ministers gathered on Friday (21 January) to discuss how to step up the protection of EU external borders but failed to agree on a common approach, with options ranging from building fences at the borders to strengthening Schengen and migration legislation.  On Friday, an international conference in Continue Reading

While the German Greens in the coalition government succeeded in blocking Nord Stream 2 at the certification stage, there are fears the SPD could prevail, and the pipeline becomes operational, according to Urszula Zielińska, a Polish MP in an interview. Like other EU countries, Poland is suffering from an energy Continue Reading

European lawmakers gave their final go-ahead to the much-awaited reform of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that will broaden its mandate. During the Strasbourg plenary session on Wednesday (19 January), MEPs adopted by 655 votes to 31 with 8 abstentions the interinstitutional agreement reached last year with the EU ministers Continue Reading

Western countries sought to project unity over Ukraine in a flurry of diplomatic efforts on Thursday (20 January), after US President Joe Biden suggested allies were split over how to react to any ‘minor incursion’ from Russia. “We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions Continue Reading

The White House told the US chip industry to be prepared for new restrictions on exports to Russia if Moscow attacks Ukraine, sources said, including potentially blocking the country’s access to global electronic supplies. The warning followed inquiries by the industry after media reports on potential curbs. In a phone Continue Reading

The Germany of today is inherently a pacifist country. This truth is often lost amid the big news, but political observers of the party landscape in Berlin and beyond will agree. Many outside and sometimes inside Germany tend to forget that it is a country forged in division. Having been Continue Reading

After the German government initially refused to supply Ukraine with defensive weaponry, German politicians are pushing to reconsider the position. The biggest EU country has also hinted it might now support exports of certain weaponry to Ukraine via NATO, which it has previously blocked. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Continue Reading