The EU is tightening its sanctions against Belarus. Another 38 individuals and three organizations have been sanctioned. The reason is human rights violations in the country, which supports Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs representative, said the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenko was responsible for “widespread and massive […]
It is not news that Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton has a lot of confidence in himself. He has succeeded in stepping out of the perma-shadow in which the vice presidents have remained behind Ursula von der Leyen for the past four years and into the light of public perception. While our colleague Jakob Hanke Vela […]
The Spanish government is making speed in its Council Presidency on the extension of majority voting. Spain has announced a “concrete proposal” for decisions in the body of member states with qualified majority in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) for the fall. This was announced by the Permanent Representation in […]
August marks the beginning of the only three-week period in the summer when there is nothing going on in Brussels. The diplomats at the Permanent Representation already had some idle time in the last days of July. Time to put together the preliminary report on the third quarter of EU operations. The 20-page letter has […]
Who is competing again? Who is quitting? Will male deputies have to make room for women? The lists of the German parties for the 2024 European elections must be drawn up by February at the latest. 96 seats are up for grabs in Germany. Since there will be no blocking clause in the 2024 election […]
Rarely has the interest in an election in Spain been as great outside the country as it is this time. It is not yet possible to predict what consequences it will have in the country. However, the consequences for European policy can be outlined in three points:My colleague Isabel Cuesta Camacho analyzes whether and how […]
Polls had predicted a clear election victory for the right-wing camp in Spain, but things turned out differently. The Partido Popular (PP), which belongs to the Christian Democratic party family, was ahead when the votes were counted in the parliamentary elections. However, party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo did not achieve an absolute majority – not […]
The right-wing groups EKR and ID are likely to emerge stronger from the European elections in June. The Greens must expect drastic losses, and the liberal Renew, the Socialists (S&D) and the Christian Democratic EPP are also likely to lose seats. This is indicated by the seat projections of political scientist Manuel Müller, which he […]
Member States are only sporadically fulfilling their obligation to make the recipients of funds from the Reconstruction Fund (RRF) public. Only 14 out of 27 member states have published the largest recipients. Among the countries that have not published are: Monika Hohlmeier (CSU), head of the Budgetary Control Committee, criticized this in a letter to […]
Diplomats of the German EU embassy appeal in a diplomatic correspondence to the German government to settle its dispute on the Euro 7 emission standard. Otherwise, they say, it will not be in a position to help determine the Council’s position on this important dossier for the auto industry. Following a meeting of Permanent Representatives […]