EU Elections 2019
EU elections watch: News and views
With less than five months until the EU elections in May, stay tuned to our ticker for all the latest developments and rumours surrounding the candidates and parties, as well as all the top jobs up for grabs.
Italy’s Senate shields Salvini from trial over Diciotti case
Italy's Senate voted Wednesday (20 March) to block the trial of far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for allegedly illegally confining migrants rescued at sea by an Italian coastguard ship last year.
New Dutch populists surge in ‘Rutte referendum’
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will lose his senate majority after upstart anti-EU populists surged in provincial elections just two days after a suspected terror attack in Utrecht.
EPP votes to suspend Hungary’s Fidesz party membership
The European People's Party (EPP) suspended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ruling Fidesz party over alleged violations of EU rule-of-law principles on Wednesday (20 March), in a compromise solution that allowed the EPP to keep its 'bad boy' in and bolster party unity ahead of the European elections.
Commission urges platforms to take action on fake accounts before EU elections
Online platforms need to step up their attempts to quell the spread of fake accounts but also provide greater independent access to their content for fact checkers, as part of their wider efforts in compliance with the code of practice against disinformation, the European Commission said on Wednesday (20 March).
Salvini’s lawmaker threatens to purge an EU official, MEPs ask him to apologise
Several Italian MEPs have voiced concern and criticism after a lawmaker from Matteo Salvini’s ruling Lega party hinted at the possibility of removing an EU civil servant from his duties, after having had an argument with him on Twitter.
Europe’s democratic challenge: in search of government
Europe is about democracy. We cherish democracy in our national institutions by ensuring a healthy separation of powers, by fighting for free and fair elections, and by combining the rule of the majority with the protection of the minority, write Louis Drounau and Andrew Duff.
EU country briefing: France
France spearheaded the European Project with its proposal for a European Coal and Steel Community in 1950, and its centrality to the project remains undiminished, with the French playing a key role in the creation of the eurozone in 1999.
Vestager joins EU Commission presidency race
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager will compete to be the next president of the European Commission, as Europe’s liberals are set to name the Dane among a team of lead candidates that also includes Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's former Prime Minister.
Dutch go to provincial polls after Utrecht shooting horror
Dutch voters on Wednesday (20 March) head to provincial polls billed as a referendum on Prime Minister Mark Rutte's policies, after a campaign overshadowed by a possible terror attack on a tram.
NGO ship defies Salvini, takes migrants to Lampedusa
An Italian charity ship was escorted into the port of Lampedusa by police on Tuesday (19 March) after rescuing 49 Africans in the Mediterranean, with Interior Minister Matteo Salvini calling for the crew to be arrested.
Europe depends on its cities
Cities are the place where the fight against climate change becomes real, most of the decisions are taken and where equal and inclusive societies can be made, Anna Lisa Boni claims.
Pascal Durand: ‘Sometimes you have to fight behind enemy lines’
The European election campaign will see French Green Party representative Pascal Durand joining forces with President Macron’s La République En Marche (LREM), a party not exactly known for its ecological sensitivity. EURACTIV France reports.
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