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Poland will introduce a 1.5% levy on the revenue of streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon, its finance minister said on Wednesday (29 April). The proposal comes as calls mount for a broader taxation on the operation of digital giants in Europe as a means to mitigate the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

Coronavirus could change society on a permanent basis, for good or bad. But the deadly pathogen’s disrupting effect might help rid us of a number of other chronic ailments that have plagued us for too long.

A top official has been poached by Facebook from the UK's media watchdog, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). The move comes at a time in which the UK is readying broad legislation to crack down on offensive content online.

The German cabinet adopted today (29 April) an amendment to clean energy rules aimed at enabling immediate measures to be taken during the coronavirus pandemic. But environmentalists are not pleased as solar power caps and distance rules for wind turbines were left out. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The French government's plan to ease coronavirus lockdown measures relies on a strategy of testing and isolating patients to ensure the second wave of contamination is kept under control. EURACTIV France reports.

The EU's delayed naval mission to enforce an arms embargo on Libya will be ready to begin work in the coming days, EU officials confirmed on Wednesday (29 April), two days after Libyan militia commander Khalifa Haftar terminated a 2015 UN agreement, reducing the chances of a political solution to the conflict.

Twelve countries have asked the European Commission to suspend the law requiring airlines to offer passengers a full refund for cancelled flights, championing the idea of time-limited vouchers as an alternative.

The European Commission launched a new formal procedure against reforms in Poland on Wednesday (29 April), giving Warsaw two months to alleviate concerns about a December law that the EU executive says threaten judicial independence.

The European Parliament is gearing up for tough talks on the EU’s climate target for 2030, with a 65% emissions cut now firmly on the table.

The European Parliament's agriculture committee has approved a negotiating mandate for upcoming talks with national ministers on a transitional period for EU farming subsidies. It pushes back Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform until 2023.

Using the coronavirus crisis to justify the introduction of mandatory filters in the Terrorist Content Regulation is therefore grossly inappropriate, write Chloé Berthélémy, Policy Advisor and Diego Naranjo, Head of Policy at European Digital Rights (EDRi).

Rating agency Fitch cut Italy's credit rating to "BBB-minus" on Tuesday (28 April), just one notch above junk, saying the downgrade reflects the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the euro zone's third largest economy.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about EU member states beginning to announce COVID-19 lockdown measures, Slovakia's problem with abortion, particularly in coronavirus times, and so much more.

The European Commission has adopted a proposal to remove restrictions on exports of medical equipment from the EU to the Western Balkans, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said in a release on April 28.  “The Commission has just proposed changes to...

President Klaus Iohannis talked with journalists about the ease of restrictions, noting that, while the state of emergency might be lifted on 15 May, life will not return to pre-COVID norms. “We may still meet three people at most, we...

Speaking to the Estonian broadcasting company ERR interview on his 60th birthday Mart Laar, who is currently Bank of Estonia Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the country’s former Prime Minister, said the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that Finland does...

The limitations on public life will be lifted on 1 May, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) told a press conference on Tuesday (28 April). While people will once again be allowed to leave their homes without having to state a...

British Airways is going to cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-strong workforce on the back of heavy losses from the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier, which has already put almost 23,000 staff on furlough, saw its revenues for the...

The Belgian government has instructed the Department of Defence to launch a government contract through its purchasing department and search for 12 million cloth mouth masks, defence minister Philippe Goffin announced. Find out more about the situation in Belgium here....

Many hospitals in Slovakia have stopped performing abortions following a government decision to postpone all planned surgeries except life-saving ones due to the risk of infections during the coronavirus pandemic. This has resulted in Slovakia effectively limiting access to safe...