EU postpones vote on landmark nature restoration law
EU delays Nature Restoration Law vote after a Sweden, the Netherlands and Hungary retracted their support.
Will the EU finally move to integrate financial markets?
Cash-strapped EU governments reiterate their call for a Capital Market Union, with new discussions planned for April, but a compromise remains uncertain.
Forced-labour profits booming, as EU mulls laws
Illegal profits from forced labour around the world have increased by 37 percent in the last decade to a total of $236bn a year — 73 percent of it comes from the commercial sexual exploitation of victims, new report shows.
Latest News
- EU sidelines parliament to rapidly send €1bn to Egypt
- EU postpones vote on landmark nature restoration law
- An UK-EU defence deal is back on agenda: what could it look like?
- Will the EU finally move to integrate financial markets?
- Paris 'pressured' Ukraine to stop shaming French firms in Russia
- Why Mette Frederiksen should be next EU Council president
- Obama, transatlantic relations, Israel
- EU leaders to consider 'all options' to boost defence finance
EU aims to use €3bn Russian windfall to aid Ukraine
EU leaders in Brussels this week are poised to finalise plans on using approximately €3bn in annual profits from frozen Russian assets to buy ammunition and weapons for Ukraine.
Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
Fourteen EU member states are pushing for the European Investment Bank to boost defence investment, potentially including ammunition — but bank officials have shown reluctance.
Africa awaits French bid to ban $1bn second-hand clothes trade
France's attempts to impose an EU-wide ban on the export of used clothes will be watched closely by dozens of African countries, who receive millions of tonnes of used clothes each year.
EU's grid problems worse than thought, report finds
Europe's power-grid problem is worse than previously thought, a new report by clean energy think-tank Ember has found.
EU ministers call for social investment, amid budget cuts
EU ministers meeting in Brussels stressed that social investments are not just expenses but also generate revenue.
Column
Is EU trade policy becoming protectionist?
Some EU trade decisions are starting to be challenged — even by member states. A case in point is Ukraine, benefitting from the suspension of import duties, quotas and trade protection measures, against the objections of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
Investigation
EU food giants turn blind eye to deforestation in Argentina
To feed the farm animals that produce Europe's finest meat and cheese, Italian and Spanish multinationals are importing massive quantities of soy from Argentina's Chaco region, helping to destroy this biodiversity hotspot.
Analysis
Adaptation and green minerals lead Africa's 2024 climate agenda
African climate negotiators are drawing up a range of strategies to ensure that elections in the EU and United States do not slow down the flow of climate finance ahead of the Baku COP summit in November.
Opinion
The 'cheap grain imports' row — Ukraine puts its side
It is high time to step back to take a look at a wider picture —that takes into account a broad array of factors affecting the European agricultural market so that the impact of the Ukrainian imports is not overblown.
Opinion
The six-hour U-turn that saw the EU vote for austerity
The EU's own analysis has made it clear this is economic self-sabotage, and it's politically foolish three months from European elections where the far-right are predicted to increase support, writes the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.
Opinion
The farming lobby vs Europe's wolves
Over the past few years, farming and hunting organisations have waged an unrelenting vendetta against the wolf, culminating in the European Commission's 180-degree policy U-turn, writes the director of the Humane Society International for Europe.
Opinion
Why are the banking lobby afraid of a digital euro?
Europeans deserve a digital euro that transcends the narrow interests of the banking lobby and embodies the promise of a fairer and more competitive monetary and financial landscape.
EU supply chain law fails, with 14 states failing to back it
Member states failed on Wednesday to agree to the EU's long-awaited Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive, after 13 EU ambassadors declared abstention and one, Sweden, expressed opposition (there was no formal vote), EUobserver has learned.
EU nature restoration law approved after massive backlash
Hailed with loud applause by the 329 MEPs that approved the text, the final compromise approved on Tuesday is actually much weaker than the original EU Commission proposal first tabled in 2022.
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Opinion
For Ukraine's sake, pass the EU due diligence directive
The EU Commission's 2022 CSDDD proposal did not include provisions incorporating "conflict due diligence", they were added, after the Russian invasion, by the European Parliament and Council into the final directive text — for Ukraine's sake, vote for it.
India makes first objection to EU carbon levy at WTO summit
India raised its first formal complaints about the EU's suite of new environmental laws on Monday, warning against protectionism in the name of environmental protection.
Angry farmers block Brussels again, urge fix to 'unfair' prices
Following weeks of demonstrations across Europe, farmers returned to Brussels to protest over unfair competition in prices, as EU agriculture ministers met just a few metres away to discuss a response. The police used water cannon and tear gas.
Record rate-profits see EU banks give shareholders €120bn
EU banks pledge to return €120bn to shareholders as commercial banks earn record profits on central bank deposits. A main reason cited in bank earning calls is interest rates.
Opinion
After two years of war, time to hit Putin's LNG exports
Two years of tragedies, with well over 100,000 Russian war crimes now registered, underscore the urgent need to stop international LNG investments in Russia that continue to fund Vladimir Putin's war chest.
Opinion
Blackmailing the Global South on EU carbon border tax won't work
According to the European Commission, CBAM is supposed to prevent "carbon leakage". In other words, it seeks to prevent European industries relocating to jurisdictions with less stringent environmental policies, while also incentivising carbon pricing and industrial decarbonisation abroad.
EU auditors: rule-of-law budget protections only partial success
New instruments to shield the EU's financial interests from rule of law breaches have provided a better protection in recent years, but not immune to "political bargaining", auditors warn.
EU's €723bn Covid recovery fund saw growth, but doubts remain
The €723bn Covid-19 recovery fund, launched three years ago, has been a success, according to a mid-term internal review — but less effective than initially predicted. And according to one NGO, the commission painted an "overly positive picture".
Opinion
'Crying wolf' win for chemicals lobby at Antwerp EU meeting
EU politicians will cosy up with Big Toxics at a secretive event on Tuesday to discuss a new 'European Industrial Deal' — a blatant showcase of corporate capture and an attempt to shift the political agenda in a profit-minded direction.
France's Le Maire 'goes German' with austerity budget
The French government announced €10bn in further spending cuts. However, defence spending is set to increase significantly, up to €413bn from €295bn, while €400m was cut from a fund meant for renovating schools, carpooling infrastructure, and other environmental projects.
Opinion
The elephant in the room at this weekend's African Union summit
Italy's offer to mobilise €5.5bn over the next years, overwhelmingly in already-allocated loans and guarantees, pales in comparison to the financing challenges faced by Africa. Only an EU-wide coordinated financial offer can credibly respond to African needs.
ECB keeps rates high, despite flagging economy
The ECB keeps rates high despite flagging economy, citing expected wage growth as a potential inflation driver.
Analysis
Is geothermal energy the climate fix everyone forgot?
When EU climate commissioner Hoekstra defends the 2040 climate-targets in Brussels on Thursday, will he remember the geothermal energy option?
Online platforms must be liable for payment scams, say MEPs
MEPs have agreed on new rules to level the playing field between banks and non-banks, and to make payments more user-friendly, cheaper and safer — including measures to make online platforms liable for payment fraud that occurs through their services.
Tax avoidance and VAT gap on menu for future EU revenue
The European Parliament discussed the future of the single market and taxation — what are the different ideas to raise revenue and finance the transition to a sustainable economy?
Key Atlantic circulation system nearing breakdown, study finds
The circulation of the Atlantic Ocean is heading towards a breakdown that will dramatically alter the climate system.
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- UNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
- Georgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
