Euractiv.com

Nicolas Schmit will have a busy 2020. The EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights outlined on Tuesday (14 January) a comprehensive agenda to beef up the EU’s social policies. He discussed the details in an interview with EURACTIV.

The Swiss will in May vote on a proposal that could dramatically limit immigration from the EU, six years after a similar referendum nearly destroyed relations with the bloc.

MEPs agreed their first stance on the new Commission’s environmental flagship policy, the European Green Deal, aiming at halving food waste by 2030 and setting binding reduction targets for hazardous pesticides.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about the nomination of Greece's first female president, how day one of the Irish election campaign started, Croatian MP calling for PM Plenkovic to resign, MEPs wanting to hold PM Babis accountable at EU level, and so much more.

A group of MEPs on Wednesday (15 January) spoke out against a fake news campaign by Italian politicians and stakeholders about the nutrition label known as Nutri-score, calling for it to be compulsory for all food manufacturers in the EU.

Germany has reached an agreement with the regions most affected by a plan to phase out the use of brown coal, or lignite, for its power plants by providing about 40 billion euros ($45 billion) in aid, a document reviewed by Reuters showed.

Greece's conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated on Wednesday (15 January) judge Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou to become the first-ever female president of the Hellenic Republic, saying it was a “progressive proposal” that should be approved by all Greek lawmakers.

Socialist Energy and Industry Minister Damian Gjinkuri, deputy chairman of the opposition Socialist Movement for Integration Petrit Vasili, and a representative of the opposition Democratic Party, Oerd Bylykbashi, all signed a statement promising to reach an agreement on electoral reform...

The first session in the Croatian parliament after a one month break was another showroom of accusation between the Social-democratic party (SDP) and Croatian democratic party (HDZ). While PM Andrej Plenković was praised during the plenary session in Strasbourg, at home,...

Germany’s decision not to invite Greece to a conference on the Libya crisis next Sunday (19 January) while Turkey will attend the meeting, has left the Greek government smarting from a  perceived diplomatic snub.

Bulgarian MEP Radan Kanev (EPP, Democratic Bulgaria) has criticised the Bulgarian government for not being more involved in discussions regarding the European Green Deal. Kanev recalled that the country does not participate in the European Platform for coal regions in...

The EU must set out concrete demands and deadlines for Poland and Hungary over their rule of law and judicial independence situation, lawmakers in the European Parliament demanded in a Strasbourg debate on Article 7 on Wednesday (15 January). In...

According to Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission report that concerns the country’s judicial reforms by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party should be unveiled on Thursday (16 January). Read also: Poland’s 2017 judicial reform...

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an investment plan aiming to connect Europe with Asia, is sidelining European companies and Brussels should review its competition law to level the playing field, a business lobby said on Thursday (16 January).

Prime minister Pedro Sánchez wants to ease the fiscal adjustment agreed with the EU before submitting a new budgetary plan. The coalition of Socialists and left-wing party coalition wants more breathing space to increase social spending in contrast with the adjustment...

Housing, homelessness and Brexit dominated the main issues on day one of the Irish general election campaign yesterday (14 January), as rival parties jockeyed for votes across the country.  Speaking at his party’s campaign launch in County Monaghan, Fine Gael...

With the Parliament still enjoying its Christmas break MP’s have a chance to meet their voters. Or infiltrate the Gaza Strip. The latter was the choice of Anna Kontula, a Finnish MP representing the Left Alliance. On Monday, she was...

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s conservative ÖVP win in the 2017 election will now cost the party a €800,000 fine.And it turns out the ÖVP has other fines to pay too. Austria’s campaign financing laws forbid parties to spend more than €7 million...

The German economy grew by 0.6% in 2019, the slowest rate in six years, the country’s Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday (15 January). These numbers are partly fuelled by a decline of German exports which have fallen victim to...

The European Commission has proposed removing mining activities and fertiliser manufacturing from a list of heavy industries eligible for state aid, arguing EU climate policies no longer puts them at risk of relocating production outside Europe.