Category: EuroActiv

A new name has emerged as the leading candidate to take on the highly powerful role of secretary-general of the Council of the European Union: Thérèse Blanchet. According to five officials, Blanchet, who leads the Council’s legal service, has become a late contender to take over as secretary-general — one of the faceless powerbrokers that help […]

Ukraine is claiming its troops have made major breakthroughs in both Luhansk to the northeast and Kherson to the south, delivering a defiant military response to Russia’s illegal claims to have annexed those regions. Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, announced on Wednesday that the “de-occupation of Luhansk region has begun.”  “Several settlements […]

The Europe Parliament’s main conservative group is facing demands to give Silvio Berlusconi and his party the boot if he supports the far-right Giorgia Meloni leading Italy. The Forza Italia party, led by the former Italian prime minister turned MEP, is backing Meloni to lead a new coalition government in Rome, following elections held last […]

COPENHAGEN — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday called a general election in the wake of a scandal over the slaughter of the country’s entire 17-million mink population in 2020. The Danes will go to the ballots on November 1, with a total of 14 parties contesting the parliament’s 179 seats. Frederiksen’s announcement has been expected […]

BERLIN — The German government is punching back against criticism from France and its EU commissioner over Berlin’s €200 billion gas price relief scheme, arguing that Paris is rolling out energy support measures of a similar scale. The giant German scheme, which comes on top of an additional €95 billion of energy price support measures […]

BIRMINGHAM, England — Liz Truss named her priorities as “growth, growth, growth” in a Conservative Party conference speech interrupted by environmental protesters. In her first address to Tory conference as prime minister — which came after a bruising week marked by a high-profile tax U-turn and party infighting — a combative Truss hit out at […]

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday the EU executive has “started work” on a “temporary” measure to cap gas prices across the bloc. “We are ready to discuss a cap on the price of gas that is used to generate electricity,” she told MEPs in Strasbourg. “But we also have to look […]

Broadcasters and sporting and entertainment associations are demanding that Brussels crack down on widespread piracy of live events.  In a letter obtained exclusively by POLITICO, 108 organizations urged the European Commission to propose a law to enable the immediate blocking and removal of illegal livestreams. Among the signatories are UEFA (European football’s governing body), rugby’s […]

The Biden administration and its international allies are hunting for votes at the United Nations this week in their quest to get as many countries as possible to support a historic resolution slamming Russia’s territorial claims in Ukraine. U.S., European and other allied officials are using spreadsheets, phone calls, WhatsApp messages, face-to-face chats and the […]

Towns have the greatest potential to unlock economic growth. Towns where hard-working local enterprises are delivering consistently for communities and incubating new ideas. In a first-of-its-kind report, together with the Social Market Foundation and the British Retail Consortium, we have leveraged Visa data insights to better understand the economic vitality of our towns and how […]