Euractiv.com

As Europe celebrated the European Parliament's landslide vote in favour of the European Media Freedom Act, which extends protections to journalists and the editorial independence of public broadcasters, in Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico's government made a move which directly contradicts some of its provisions.

A first boat loaded with 200 tonnes of food aid was making slow progress towards the Gaza Strip on Thursday (14 March) as efforts grew to bring more humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel.

A senior official in ex-Soviet Moldova said on Wednesday (13 March) Moscow was breaking laws by printing ballot papers in the separatist region of Transnistria ahead of this weekend's Russian presidential election.

Whatever hope remained that the French left may find common ground ahead of June’s EU elections has collapsed over the radically different approaches to handling and resolving the war in Ukraine.

On this episode of our daily podcast Today in the EU, we’re diving into the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Law, which is getting its final push on Friday 15th of March.

The European Parliament adopted changes to the regulation for prolonging trade liberalisation measures with Kyiv, backing EU farmers' demands and overthrowing the prior vote in the trade committee that rejected the amendments.

The eurozone economy has likely already suffered the worst effects of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) restrictive monetary policy over the past two years, a senior ECB official said on Wednesday (13 March).

Germany's Finance Minister Christian Lindner took aim at his coalition partners' stance on the country's debt break rules on Wednesday (13 March), underscoring the widening divide between the country's three ruling parties.

Attempts to delegitimise the upcoming EU elections in June and discourage the public from voting are expected “to be very much prevalent”, the European Parliament and experts have warned.

EU ambassadors gave their green light on the creation of the long-awaited fund for Ukraine's military support on Wednesday (13 March), after removing French and German concerns, in a bid to ensure more sustainable aid flow to the war-torn country.

The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 March) backed targets for the prevention and reduction of food and textile waste across the bloc. However, environmental NGOs have criticised the proposal's lack of ambition. 

During the European Parliament’s plenary session on Wednesday (13 March), MEPs adopted their position on a law which could enable companies to produce medicines without the consent of the patent holder in crisis situations. 

MEPs resoundingly backed the idea of a ban on agri-food imports, namely cereals, coming from Russia to the EU in a debate held on Tuesday (12 March), highlighting the potential role of such trade in financing the war against Ukraine.

With the result of Russia's presidential polls this weekend a foregone conclusion, European leaders must be prepared for the long haul.

EU institutions are set to simplify administrative rules for work and residence visas making it easier for third-country nationals who wish to work and live in the EU.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday (13 March) yet again cited the need for the involvement of German soldiers as an obstacle to the delivery of long-range missiles to Ukraine, amid growing question marks about the motivation behind his objection.

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), a landmark legislation to protect journalists and media freedom, though concerns remain over the use of spyware to monitor media.

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday (12 March) to extend a rule that leaves the door open to keep sidelining Irish Gaelic and Maltese from the institution’s translation and interpretation services until the end of the next mandate

Copenhagen intends to pass a bill to extend and equalise conscription to have more women conscripted in the military, as part of a plan to strengthen the Danish defence, the country’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Wednesday (13 March).

As the Commission prepares to unveil a package to cut red tape for farmers on Friday (15 March), EU leaders meeting at the European Council next week will urge the EU executive and agriculture ministers to act "without delay" on multiple fronts, such as trade and food chain, according to draft conclusions seen by Euractiv.