Euractiv.com

North Macedonia holds the first round of its presidential election on Sunday (21 April), the country's first vote under a new name as it struggles with enduring economic problems, cronyism and corruption.

On Tuesday (16 April), MEPs approved the creation of a European Labour Authority, as well as several positions that favour the rights of European workers and combat social dumping. But major changes still need to be made. EURACTIV France reports.

UKIP launched its campaign for the European elections on Thursday (18 April), describing itself as “the authentic party of Brexit” as it seeks to fend off Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party.

MEPs closed the Strasbourg shop this week before the EU elections and EURACTIV was there to see all the comings and goings. What happens in Alsace, definitely does not stay in Alsace...

A new poll in France has revealed that income inequalities are among the least acceptable social factors. More than 90% of French respondents call for the minimum wage to be raised. EURACTIV's partner Ouest-France reports.

MEPs signed-off a deal establishing the multi-billion European Defence Fund (EDF) on Thursday (18 April), giving up parliamentary oversight of the EU's military subsidies programme.

The European People’s Party (EPP) has scored very poorly in an analysis of how MEPs voted on climate policies, ranking even lower than the European Parliament's far-right contingent. In Germany, it is a similar story. EURACTIV Germany reports.

When a Bosnian politician announces the creation of 100,000 new jobs, we joke in Bosnia that half of these will be abroad. With Germany’s new regulation on the immigration of skilled workers, an increased number of people could reach Germany- this will have consequences for Bosnia. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, together with Romania. The country’s accession made Cyrillic the EU’s third official alphabet aside from the Greek and Latin alphabets.

Incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s supporters are trying to portray opponent Volodymyr Zelenskiy as pro-Russian. But there is no evidence of his “pro-Russianness”, and he has explicitly backed plans to join NATO and the EU, writes Oleg Sukhov.

Robert Kocharyan, one of Armenia's former presidents, sent this op-ed from prison, accusing the current prime minister of abuse of power, at a time when in his words Nikol Pashinyan is on “a photo-op tour of European capitals pledging his commitment to strengthening the rule of law”.

On Wednesday (17 April) a large majority of MEPs gave a thumbs up to an overhaul of  the General Food Law (GFL). The increased transparency of the EU risk assessment, already acknowledged as one of the most stringent in the world, has now been hailed.

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday (16 April) new technical rules on fishing activities and catching methods allowed within EU waters, confirming that the use of electric currents or 'pulse fishing' will be illegal from mid-2021.

Turkey's main opposition candidate took office as Istanbul mayor on Wednesday (17 April) after a stunning victory over President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party, but the new head of the country's largest city still faces an appeal for the vote to be re-run.

National banking supervisors who control the EU banking watchdog effectively forced it to clear financial regulators in Estonia and Denmark, who were investigated in relation to suspected money laundering activities by Danske Bank, a member of the European parliament said on Wednesday (17 April).

The European Parliament is voting on Thursday (18 April) on the European Defence Fund, a multi-billion military research programme. Not only is this Fund a step in the militarisation of the EU, but it is also undermining European democracy, writes Bram Vranken.

Romania's ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) sacked justice minister Tudorel Toader on Wednesday (17 April)  for spurning controversial changes to the national penal code that critics say benefit PSD chief Liviu Dragnea.

Britain should use the next few months to "cool down and rethink" its decision to leave the European Union, the socialist candidate to head the next European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said on Wednesday (17 April).

The European Parliament has backed plans to force online hosting services to remove terrorist content within one hour of reporting, in a move aimed at quelling the spread of extremist propaganda online. However, there was no shortage of those in the industry criticising the timeframe.

The leader of Poland’s ruling conservatives on Wednesday (17 April) urged opposition leaders to back its view that the country should not join the euro until its economy is on a par with that of western neighbours. When Poland joined...