A collection of 144 posts
The awarding of a turbine tender to China’s Envision Energy by EU applicant Serbia looks to have set the bloc on a new course. The deal has prompted EU plans to ban foreign wind turbines over cybersecurity issues, with protectionist measures to protect European manufacturers against Chinese rivals. The
A total of EUR 400mn will be available to Romanian short- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 1 April, as the Start-Up Nation financing line enters a new phase thanks to an agreement with the European Commission (EC), Romanian European Investments and Projects Minister Adrian Caciu announced, news.ro reports. “After
The EU announced further concessions for the bloc’s agricultural workers, especially for smaller farms, to quell agricultural workers’ protests, on Friday, 15 March. The changes to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidy programme were proposed on Friday evening. The European Commission (EC) said EC President Ursula von
The EU will recommend that member states open accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), a candidate for membership since 2022, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday, 12 March. Wary of Russian influence, von der Leyen said “We have realised that it is not enough to just wait
Blue Air’s restructuring plan has failed to restore its long-term viability and the Romanian state must return the EUR 33.84mn it gave to the Romanian airline during the pandemic, as it was incompatible with EU state aid rules, the European Commission (EC) announced. Romania bailed out struggling airline
Polish farmers from Solidarity announced Friday that the trade union is planning a blockade of the country’s border crossings with Ukraine from Friday, 9 February, joining similar protests in Germany, France, Greece, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal. Farmers say they oppose rising costs, EU climate change measures, and “unfair competition
Hungary will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2024, putting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in formal charge of the EU’s policy-making process for six months. While certain EU politicians are confident about the bloc’s future but view Hungary’
The European Parliament (EP) chief rule of law negotiator Petri Sarvamaa, MEP, published on Tuesday a petition letter calling to suspend Hungary’s voting rights on the European Council, to President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. Since regaining power in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz
As Belgium assumed the EU presidency on 1 January, with a rallying cry of “Protect, Strengthen, Prepare”, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo’s said he is charting the course for a united and resilient Europe. His cautious and diplomatic approach was evident at the launch event of his six-month
After 13 years of knocking on the door, Romania and Bulgaria will join Europe’s Schengen travel zone by March 2024, the European Commission (EC) announced on Monday, 1 January. The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries struck the agreement to join Schengen by air and sea only after Austria
EU leaders voted to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, at a historic summit in Brussels on Thursday 14 December. The EU meanwhile designated Georgia – also a former Soviet republic – as a candidate for membership, a significant shift in the EU’s level of engagement with post-Soviet states. President
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has reiterated his stance that Russia’s war with Ukraine is insoluble, stoking fears that he could form part of a pro-Kremlin lobby in the EU. After meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Fico called the war a “frozen conflict” that cannot be solved
Romania will not levy new taxes next year, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu pledged on Thursday 16 November, with parliamentary elections expected in around a year. “I said very clearly that there will be no new taxes next year,” Ciolacu said at the opening of a government meeting. “I want
Despite being a climate and sustainability champion, the EU has been struggling to cement these values recently, and witnessed a close call during the passage of its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting regulations. An attempt to obstruct the adoption of Europe’s ESG reporting rules was narrowly defeated, while
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Lithuania were among the 13 EU member states to request loans from the European Recovery Fund’s Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRF), the European Commission announced Friday. The deadline for submissions of loan requests from the NextGenerationEU fund’s resources