Euractiv.com

The Bulgarian government has averted large-scale pharmacy protests, agreeing to pay higher fees to pharmacies supplying patients with free medicines. Protests were threatened over government plans to cut already low fees.

A recent study published in April 2024 by Artelys and Frontier Economics reveals that achieving the 2030 ambitions set by REPowerEU in a cost-effective way would require 45 TWh of Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS).

With Paris set to welcome the world for the Summer Olympics, its mayor, Anne Hidalgo (Parti Socialiste, PS), expressed her "immense relief" at the defeat of the far right in snap elections and said she was reassured that the current government would remain in office for the Olympic period.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has transformed the EU’s defence role. Euractiv spoke to Jeff Shockey, senior vice president, Global Government Relations, RTX about the role of the defence industry and his outlook for the future.

In Europe, millions of citizens care about the protection of animals. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union explicitly recognises that animals are sentient beings and that the EU and Member States must pay full regard to their welfare requirements in policymaking.

The European Commission designated the pornography platform XNXX as a very large online platform under the Digital Services Act (DSA) on Wednesday (10 July), making it comply with the DSA's strictest regulations.

The EU’s food safety authority (EFSA) said that the Commission's criteria to relax rules on certain gene-edited foods are 'scientifically justified', while the Hungarian Council Presidency is pulling the brakes on the file.  

Maintaining net neutrality is crucial for Europe's startup ecosystem to foster innovation, economic growth, and strategic autonomy. Introducing network fees would harm startups, stifling their ability to compete and innovate, ultimately weakening the EU’s competitiveness and technological autonomy.

EU leaders are sounding the alarm on Europe’s industry and innovation falling behind the US and others. Europe’s economic muscles have atrophied while the United States and China are pushing the world into the next generation of innovation and industry. Deep changes are required.

Ahead of a high-level ministerial conference on organ donation in Budapest, the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU presents its view on the need for a new action plan on organ donation.

Ukraine's allies cannot and should not wait until the US election in November to take action to repel Russia's President Vladimir Putin, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged on Tuesday (9 July).

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Bulgaria arresting a pro-Russian politician for leaking state secrets, German senior ministers torpedoing compulsory military service plans, and so much more.

Supreme Court judge Susana Polo agreed on Tuesday to close the case against several defendants in the so-called "Democratic Tsunami" case, in which Spanish courts investigated whether violent demonstrations by Catalan separatist groups following the conviction of several people responsible for orchestrating the 2017 secession attempt were acts of terrorism.

NATO's new defence plans, requiring record-high military spending, will face scrutiny when leaders meet on Wednesday (10 July) to discuss ways to ramp up the alliance's defence capabilities.

Strategic Czech institutions saw four hostile intrusions or attempted intrusions into their cyber systems last year, an annual report by the National Agency for Cyber and Information Security (NÚKIB) has revealed.

Zlatomir Dyovlensky, a local leader of the National Russophile Movement in Plovdiv, was arrested on suspicion of leaking state secrets in yet another case involving movement, whose national leader has been on trial for espionage for Russia since 2022.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD/S&D) could be forced to water down a new conscription model to be introduced in 2025 after senior ministers from the junior coalition partner FDP said they would not support compulsory elements.

Moldova is expected to receive its second airspace surveillance radar in 2025 to complement its existing airspace surveillance system and improve the detection of potential threats, funded by the EU, Moldovan Defence Minister Anatolie Nosatîi announced on Tuesday.

The defeat of Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National in the second round of the French parliamentary elections has put Italy’s hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in front of a dilemma: follow the “pragmatic” approach or be driven by her “identitarian relapses” as one analyst described.

Within the Sino-Eu PerMed Project three delegation visits were organised to foster and increase cooperation between China and Europe. As a result of these visits a policy brief on ethical legal and societal aspects in personalised medicine has been published.