Euractiv.com

For French president Emmanuel Macron, there is no way around Coronabonds, a position he made perfectly clear last Friday to the northern Naysayers, particularly Berlin. Because his own political future is at stake.

The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating diplomatic "fractures", heightening US-China rivalry and weakening multilateralism, France's foreign minister said in an interview published on Monday (20 April).

The European Commission has been calling for preparedness against the pandemic since day one in January, the EU Commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarčič, told EURACTIV in an interview.

The EU must swiftly propose and adopt sanctions against the latest 'democratic backsliding' by the Hungarian government, say leading European politicians, media and civil society leaders in an open letter whose signatories include former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, and EURACTIV founder Christophe Leclercq.

Joining the Energy Charter Treaty could cost developing countries money that is urgently needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, argue Pia Eberhardt, Cecilia Olivet and Faith Lumonya.

Authoritarian attitudes, like the desire for a strong leader, or aggression against dissenters, often increase when people are under threat. With the ongoing coronavirus crisis, experts fear this is also true now.

A year ago, EU copyright law was reformed under strong protest and with a narrow majority in the EU Parliament. Germany is still working on implementation, but civil society is already preparing to fight the directive in court.

In a joint statement agreed last Friday (17 April), all EU-27 farm ministers called for activating the private storage aid (PSA) to support those agri-food sectors where significant market disturbances and price impacts have been assessed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The European Commission estimates the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak could be greater than the financial crisis in 2008. In order to keep the economy running, the EU executive introduced flexibility for funds and national expenditure, member states approved...

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Ireland's plan to count all COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, when Germany could make the carrying of protective masks mandatory, and so much more.

Austria officially closed its last coal-fired power plant on Friday (17 April), becoming the second EU country to exit coal after Belgium in 2016.

The national civil protection authority has extended COVID-19 restrictions for another two weeks but with modifications, such as the possibility to move within counties without e-passes. ”Social gathering, the work of shops and services restricting measures will apply until 4...

Irish health authorities are to conduct a count of all death rates across residential care facilities, in a bid to survey the impact of the coronavirus in the country’s nursing homes. All staff and residents of such facilities will also...

The government was forced to admit on Sunday (19 April) that there had been further delays to their plans to obtain protective kits for NHS staff and care workers. Ministers have been repeatedly criticised over the shortage of personal protection...

Two recent surveys released in the third week of April show that the Social Democratic Party has substantially increased its popularity. The SDP now enjoys the backing of 20.4%, 3.3% more than a month before, meaning it has pushed the...

Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon (N-VA) and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are scheduled to discuss COVID-19 lockdown measures later on Monday for the first time since they talked at the start of the crisis a few weeks ago. Jambon and...

Contrary to her cautious approach a week ago, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen now says she is positive about having a vacation this summer – in a “smart” way. “I think we will find smart solutions to have...

Europe’s armed forces are rightfully being applauded for their efforts in limiting the disastrous effects of COVID-19, but the test of whether European militaries are truly valued will be measured over the next few years as pressure on defence budgets mount, write Daniel Fiott, Torben Schütz and Marcin Terlikowski.

The coronavirus situation in France is improving "slowly but surely" and shortages of protective gear such as face masks are easing, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Sunday (19 April), although he warned that the crisis was far from over.

Spain on Sunday (19 April) recorded 410 fatalities from the novel coronavirus, its lowest daily death toll since 22 March. EURACTIV's partner EFE reports.