Euractiv.com

Czechs and Slovaks on Tuesday (20 August) marked 50 years since Soviet tanks crushed the "Prague Spring" democratic reform drive, as protesters used the anniversary to rail against the current Czech government's ties to the Communist Party.

Discrepancies between Italy and the EU over its expenditure, the trade dispute with the US and political quagmires such as the Brexit talks and the migration challenge cloud EU prospects ahead of the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Louis (21, Belgium) works as an educator for people with mental and physical disabilities during the day and writes rap music the night. For a month, he has been one of the travellers for a Road Trip Project financed by the European Commission.

The murder of the Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova in February provoked a wave of anger, resulting in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s resignation. However, half a year later, the state of press freedom in the country is still in limbo.

The EU and UK’s chief Brexit negotiators vowed on Tuesday (21 August) to step up talks in the coming weeks in a bid to avoid the UK crashing out of the bloc without agreement next March.

The expulsion from the Schengen zone of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, a Ukrainian human rights activist, was due to serious doubts regarding funding of her organisation, Poland's Internal Security Agency said on Monday (20 August).

Czech filmmakers on Tuesday (21 August) said they were launching a rotating hunger strike in solidarity with Ukrainian colleague Oleg Sentsov.

EU carbon prices could average €35-40 per tonne over 2019-2023, accelerating the switch from coal to gas and questioning the rationale for keeping old coal and lignite power plants running beyond 2021, said a new report by Carbon Tracker released on Tuesday (21 August).

New British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday (21 August) will urge the United States and European countries to do more to call out Russia's "malign behavior" and keep Vladimir Putin in check, notably by implementing tough sanctions.

China, seeking to skirt US sanctions, will use oil tankers from Iran for its purchases of that country's crude, throwing Tehran a lifeline while European companies such as France's Total are walking away due to fear of reprisals from Washington.

The European Central Bank announced on Monday (20 August) that it had fined French lender Credit Agricole a total of €4.8 million over past irregularities in the way it declared its capital reserves, Reuters reports.

Italy will let its coast guard ship carrying 177 migrants rescued on the Mediterranean Sea five days ago dock in Sicily, Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said on Monday, ending a standoff with Malta over where the ship should disembark.

The UK has repeated its demands for a post-Brexit agreement on financial services to go way beyond the EU’s current standard with third countries in a new government paper, warning that a ‘hard Brexit’ will damage the EU. The paper...

If European values ​​are subjected to pressure in individual member states, this must be resolved in dialogue between member states and EU institutions, German head of diplomacy, Heiko Maas, said ahead of his second visit to Poland in an interview with EURACTIV Poland's media partner Gazeta Wyborcza.

Greece will now be “a normal country” but the reforms and the ambitious fiscal targets agreed with its lenders must be respected,  the Commissioner for economic affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said on Monday, the day the Hellenic nation exited its bailout programme.

"Poland sets the standards, ideas and proposals that are copied by the whole of Europe," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said during an election campaign event for the local elections which are scheduled for 21 October. EURACTIV Poland reports.

Austria's Federal Economic Chamber represents the interests of the country's economic operators but is also a cornerstone of the social partnership enshrined in the constitution.  Its president, Harald Mahrer, spoke to EURACTIV Germany about Austria's economic goals in a changing global economy.

Russia and Germany are set to proceed with the completion of a second natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea between the two countries. 

Greece will formally turn the page on its debt saga this week, but the eurozone remains vulnerable to further crises, with economists particularly worried about the situation in Italy.

The European Union (EU) has the opportunity to positively shape the lives of children trapped in conflicts, natural disasters and other humanitarian situations around the world. On World Humanitarian Day (19 August), Delphine Moralis explains why this is so important and what the bloc can do.