Future EU Archives

Victory by Greece’s right-wing New Democracy party over Alexis Tsipras' Syriza in the next elections would show that the rise of populists in Europe is not irreversible, European People’s Party (EPP) Spitzenkandidat Manfred Weber has said.

Greece’s pursuit of "sustainable growth" cannot be achieved by one political leader, so all democratic political forces should set aside their ideological differences and form an alliance, Konstantinos Michalos, President of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

Thousands of far-right supporters marched in Brussels on Sunday (16 December) against a UN pact aimed at fostering cooperation on migration, and clashed with police outside the EU headquarters.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Friday (14 December) EU countries that show no solidarity in the management of migration open the debate about whether they have a place in the Schengen area.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Wednesday (12 December) he would stand firm against what he called "inflammatory" Catalan separatist rhetoric, hardening his stance towards the region and upping the stakes in a broader political game.

Rare scenes of chaos gripped the Hungarian parliament Wednesday (12 December) as it passed a controversial judicial reform, as well as labour legislation that critics call a "slave law".

EU leaders will discuss late on Thursday (13 December) how to address the UK's concerns about its withdrawal agreement from the EU, but discussions on contingency plans are gathering pace as the chances of an orderly divorce continue to wane.

The first reports of the Strasbourg shooting attack arrived on smartphones just as EU staff were heading to dinners and pre-Christmas parties. The European Parliament immediately triggered its emergency containment procedure and turned into a bunker, grids lowered, doors locked.

Another summit is upon us this week, and it's Brexit time again. Another summit wasted on squaring the circle of the UK's indecisiveness. Cynics might say that surely, EU leaders could put their time to better use.

Embattled French President Emmanuel Macron Monday (10 December) announced a series of financial measures seeking to defuse the "yellow vest" revolt that has triggered violent protests in cities across the country.

The European Council between 13-14 December will focus on the findings of the citizens’ consultations. French people dream of having a more ecological and more socially just Europe, where there is greater citizen participation. Can the EU meet their expectations? EURACTIV France reports.

Germany's ruling CDU chose Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new chairperson to replace Angela Merkel on Friday (7 December), in a move that raised some doubts about which path the country's biggest party aims to take to stave off challenges from the left and the right. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The CDU is holding a vote today on who will take over its chair and will possibly be its candidate to German Chancellor one day. EURACTIV Germany gives an overview of how the three candidates could shape the part and therefore also the EU.

Rarely has a national party convention been followed so eagerly in Brussels corridors. As Germany's CDU party is set to vote this afternoon on Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor at the party helm, thoughts are already on the future.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has exempted a mammoth pro-government media group from scrutiny by the national competition watchdog, according to a decree published late on Wednesday (5 December).

To avoid a major crisis in the coalition government, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel announced on Thursday (6 December) that he will go "in personal capacity" to the intergovernmental conference in Marrakesh, focused on the Global Compact on migration.

Kornelia Ninova, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), announced on Thursday (6 December) she would not attend the Party of European Socialists congress in Lisbon, citing her ideological differences with the PES president, compatriot Sergei Stanishev.

The upcoming Romanian EU presidency is an important one. On Romania's watch, the UK is supposed to leave the Union on 29 March and European elections will be held in the remaining 27 countries on 23-26 May. To top things …

In an almost surreal sequence of events, the Romanian government paid a visit to the European Commission on Wednesday (5 December) to discuss the country’s upcoming EU presidency, while the opposition in Bucharest mobilised to oust the ruling coalition.

Faced with the opposition of member states from the Visegrad group, the Juncker Commission made it plain on Tuesday (4 December) that it has given up on one of its declared goals: completing the reform of the Common European Asylum System.

The Czech attitude towards the eurozone is only a small part of a bigger problem called “searching for the right approach to the EU”, says Czech MEP Luděk Niedermayer (EPP).

EU finance ministers struggled to agree reforms to better fight against a financial crisis early Tuesday (4 December), with negotiators still at the table after more than 12 hours of talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday (2 December) surveyed the damage from a day of riots across Paris and led a crisis meeting that ended with a call for further talks with anti-government activists who have staged two weeks of protests.

The leaders of the Social Democrats (S&D), Greens and leftist group (GUE/NGL) sat for the first time at the same table to discuss the possibility of a common strategy ahead of the EU elections in May to face down the rise of far-right and neoliberal forces.