EURACTIV.com with Reuters Archives

The European Commission told France and Italy on Monday (2 June) to stick to their pledges to curb spending while reforming their economies, showing little sign of wavering on EU budget rules.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday (2 June) she was pressing fellow EU leaders to back Jean-Claude Juncker for the post of European Commission president, but also noted it could be pushed through without the backing of all.

Spain's King Juan Carlos said on Monday he would abdicate in favor of his more popular son Prince Felipe, in an apparent bid to revive the scandal-hit monarchy at a time of economic hardship and growing discontent with the wider political elite.

Record-high unemployment across southern Europe has led relatively prosperous retirees to provide an informal safety net, via their pensions, for their children, in order to fight widespread poverty.

Plans being considered for a new European bank restructuring fund would see German banks pay in about €1.9 billion a year, banking and government officials said on Monday (28 April).

Car deaths on Europe's roads have halved over the last decade, but campaigners say tougher EU laws could prevent many more people from dying needlessly.

A British exit from the European Union could wreck London's position as the only financial centre to rival New York and isolate the country's economy, research ordered by a lobby group for banks and money managers showed.

Moldovan citizens will no longer require visas to travel to most of the European Union from Monday (28 April), as the bloc presses ahead with deeper ties with east European nations in defiance of Russia.

Big Internet companies were the clear winners at a global conference hosted by Brazil on the future management of the Web where most participants agreed it should remain a self-regulated space free of government intervention.

Britain may lose its challenge to stop plans by 11 euro zone countries to tax financial transactions when the European Union's top court rules next week, lawyers said on Thursday (24 April).

China could set a new pace for slow-moving international climate talks, by bringing its domestic commitment to fight global warming on to the world stage, the EU's top climate change official said on Wednesday.

Investors looking for companies with good environmental, social and governance track records will find the job easier, after European politicians ruled that thousands of firms must reveal their performance as corporate citizens.

Portugal's near-term economic prospects are improving as its international bailout nears an end, but it must keep up reforms, in order to prevent debt growth, the IMF said.

European lawmakers on Thursday (17 April) eased the way for cartel victims to claim compensation from companies under new rules that also shield price-fixing whistleblowers from being the main target of million-euro lawsuits.

In his new book, Philippe Legrain, a former adviser to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, says European leaders are responsible for the record-high unemployment and rock-bottom growth afflicting the EU.

Romania plans to exempt large industrial energy users from paying up to 85% of their renewable energy costs for 10 years, the economy ministry said on Thursday (17 April), hoping to avoid the threat of job cuts in an election year.

The European Parliament backed laws on Wednesday (16 January) to help prevent alien species of plants and wildlife from entering Europe and limit their spread in the event they do.

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday (15 April) to oblige manufacturers to label all non-food goods with their country of origin, a step designed to help consumers know what they are buying, but one that has divided industry.

Britain's economy could grow by 1.3 billion pounds if it left the European Union due to less regulation and more trade with emerging economies, acccording to a British diplomat who dreamt up a blueprint for the country's EU exit.

NATO ambassadors chose former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as the next leader of the Western military alliance, NATO said today (28 March).

As Xi Jinping prepares to make the first trip to Germany by a Chinese president in eight years, lofty goals to boost trade between the world's top exporters look hopelessly out of reach, and German firms are beginning to rethink their aggressive push into China.

West African nations held last-minute talks yesterday (27 March) to address lingering doubts over an agreement with the European Union that would open up the region's economy of 300 million consumers to tariff-free trade, officials said.

Sunday’s local elections in Turkey are an important test for the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who eyes the first directly-elected presidential election in August. The results in Istanbul and Ankara for his AK party are of particular significance, commentators say.

President Vladimir Putin said today (27 March) that Russia would develop its own credit card system, in order to reduce reliance on Western payment card companies Visa and MasterCard and soften the potential blow from EU, US sanctions.