EU institutions
Sassoli ‘irritated’ about French Strasbourg pressure
The European Parliament President David Sassoli expressed “astonishment and irritation” at France on Wednesday for publicly demanding that the EU’s legislature return to its official seat in Strasbourg. It is the latest stage in a standoff between Brussels and Paris...
Call for better EU crisis management
In a non-paper seen by EURACTIV, the Netherlands, together with Sweden and Romania, is calling for “enhanced coordination and communication” between member states in times of crisis. The push comes as the EU has struggled to respond to the initial...
Brussels bureaucracy unlocks, opens Pandora’s Box
The European Parliament’s legal services gave the greenlight to the legal affairs committee to convene and assess some member states’ requests to lift the immunity of several MEPs. The legal affairs committee deals with sensitive issues and therefore physical presence...
A tacit gentlemen’s agreement to protect EU borders?
The European Ombudsman’s Office said on Tuesday it would open an inquiry into the possible failure of the European Commission to ensure that Croatian authorities respected fundamental rights while conducting EU-funded border operations against migrants and refugees. It seems there is...
EU diplomats running US election scenarios
No clear winner emerged in the US presidential election as of Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Europe) as incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic contender Joe Biden each secured several important states in early results. At the same time, and...
How can we elect such MEPs?
Croatian MEP Mislav Kolakušić has sent a letter to his colleagues in the European Parliament complaining about the closure of the EU House due to the new COVID-19 outbreak. For him, COVID-19 is just a cold while personally, he has...
Speak to the Commission, save Europe
EURACTIV has been reporting that EU member states do not share critical information with the EU regarding their needs to fight against COVID-19. This prevents the EU executive from having an overall picture of what the needs are, e.g. intensive...
Convicted to jail MEP to continue getting paid
A Greek court sentenced on Thursday the “directors” of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party to up to 13.5 years in prison for “running a criminal organisation”. Most of them have already surrendered but the case of MEP Ioannis Lagos seems...
Commission: Breton not involved in EU tender won by his former company
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton was not involved in the decision on the launch or the evaluation of the supercomputer tender won by Atos, of which Breton was CEO just before he became a Commissioner, an EU spokesperson told EURACTIV.COM. “Following...
265 confirmed cases in the Commission
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 265 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the Commission and 291 are suspected, EURACTIV has learnt. A source said the number are still relatively small however the rapid increase in the last two weeks...
European parliament tests positive
The European Parliament has so far recorded 56 registered COVID-19 cases, EURACTIV has learnt. However, the EU House does not have information on how many tests of officials were conducted elsewhere and were not declared. Sources suggest that more than...