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Italy defied Brussels again on Tuesday (13 November) as Finance Minister Giovanni Tria presented only a slightly modified draft budget, despite the European Commission rejecting the previous spending plan in an unprecedented decision.

Farming is the world’s biggest driver of deforestation, and beef and soya production are the prime culprits, writes Nicole Polster.

The European Union has published on Wednesday (14 November) the 585-page draft Brexit deal aimed at ensuring a smooth divorce next March and outlining a transition period for both sides to adjust to the break.

Romania’s government is not willing to follow the EU recommendations on the rule of law and plans to challenge the Commission's latest report in court. EURACTIV Romania reports.

Following the European Parliament’s call for a ‘net zero emissions’ goal for 2050, one might have expected MEPs to support a bigger budget for research on low-carbon technologies in the new Horizon Europe programme. Instead, they are considering cuts by 1.35%, writes Theo Mitchell.

A special European Union initiative to protect trade with Iran against newly reimposed US sanctions faces possible collapse with no EU country willing to host the operation for fear of provoking US punishment, EU diplomats said.

Wednesday (14 November) night saw an unexpected breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations as British PM Theresa May narrowly won the support of her cabinet for a draft divorce deal with the EU.

The Brussels bubble assumes many things, and one of them is that Donald Trump is some sort of a clumsy idiot. This edition of The Brief begs to differ...

An app allowing Internet users to monitor their internet service provider’s proper conduct was presented at the Internet Governance Forum in Paris on Monday (12 November). The initial statistics have shown that France has fared well. EURACTIV France reports.  

Members of the European Parliament voted on Wednesday (14 November) to beef up a first attempt to regulate CO2 emissions from heavy vehicles, going beyond what the European Commission originally proposed.

France has promised to phase out glyphosate at a quicker rate than the EU. However, successive “Ecophyto plans” have not produced any results and meanwhile, the use of phytosanitary products continues to grow. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Parliament laid down funding priorities for the next long-term EU budget on Tuesday (13 November) and urged the Council to agree on a common position so that talks be completed before next May. But differences still remain about the level of member states' contributions.

The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has warned of a risk to post-World War II order and proposed that his country host a conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2020 with the purpose of “updating” the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the then CSCE.

Swedish lawmakers rejected on Wednesday (14 November) the centre-right Moderate Party leader's attempt to form a minority government with the Christian Democrats, prolonging the political deadlock in place since the election in September. EURACTIV’s partner efe-epa reports.

For the future of Greece and the EU, it’s the right ideas that matter rather than party labels, S&D chief Udo Bullmann told EURACTIV.com, dismissing complaints from Greek socialists about the collaboration between EU socialists and leftist Greek premier Alexis Tsipras.

The European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) issued a statement on Tuesday (13 November) saying the directive on genetically modified organisms should be revised in order to adjust to the current knowledge, especially when it comes to gene editing.

The US has repeatedly taken position against Nord Stream 2, a Russia-sponsored pipeline planned to bring gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. But this time Washington took position against another such pipeline, bringing Russian gas under the Black Sea.

The region of former Yugoslavia and Albania has long ago been swallowed up by the EU. Yet, it is doomed to permanent marginalisation unless the EU does not open its structural and cohesion funds, or provide other source of zero-priced capital, writes Dušan Reljić.  

Czech MEP Jan Zahradil will be the lead candidate of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) to run for the presidency of the next European Commission, party chief Syed Kamall announced on Tuesday (13 October).

EU negotiators reached agreement Monday evening (12 November) on a legal framework for “citizen energy communities” in a deal solar PV manufacturers hailed as a victory for small-scale renewable energy production.