The clock is ticking. The socialist PES party family is accepting applications for its lead candidate until Jan. 17. Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Social Affairs, is so far the only comrade who has come out of hiding and expressed an interest. However, the Luxembourger’s candidacy has so far hit a snag: at home in his […]
The winners of the Bundestag elections get into position: the FDP and the Greens are meeting today for the first exploratory talks, and the SPD is also inviting people for talks. The CDU/CSU has averted a test of strength that would have resulted in a vote for the chairmanship of the parliamentary group. Instead, Ralph […]
Today, climate researcher Ottmar Edenhofer is facing the perhaps most important lunch of his career. At the Environment Council in Brussels, the Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research is to advise the ministers on the EU climate target for 2040. Edenhofer, who also chairs the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, […]
It is a historic breakthrough. The European Council cleared the way for accession negotiations with Ukraine and its neighbor, the Republic of Moldova. Georgia is also to be granted candidate status and accession talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina are to begin as soon as the country has fulfilled the conditions.No one had expected it: Viktor Orbán, who […]
After the Bundestag elections, the parties are sorting themselves, more or less noisy depending on their results. The FDP was quick to name its team, and party leader Christian Lindner and Secretary General Volker Wissing want to begin preliminary consultations with the Greens by the end of the week. There, co-chairman Robert Habeck assured that […]
It is official: Commission has given the green light for the disbursement of €10.2 billion to Hungary. This is around a third of the EU funds for the country, which the EU had blocked due to violations of the rule of law and other EU values. The Hungarian government has now fulfilled the approval requirements […]
The summit before the summit should be more than just a photo appointment: The meeting today, Wednesday, offers the opportunity to “reconfirm the key importance of the strategic partnership between the EU and the Western Balkans,” writes EU Council President Charles Michel in his invitation letter. Despite budget problems, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to […]
According to reports, Věra Jourová and Didier Reynders will speak about Hungary at the College today. They will explain that the Budapest government has created the conditions for the disbursement of some of the funds that the EU has so far withheld due to Hungary’s violations of the rule of law and other EU values. […]
The EU Commission should not have 26 Commissioners, but only 18. The European Parliament is to have only one seat, in Brussels. There is also no longer talk of commissioners but of ministers. It is not yet clear which member state may appoint a minister for Brussels. MEPs are to have the right to nominate […]