EUROPEAN POLITICS
The defence budget will be increased by more than 27 billion SEK (€2.2 billion) next year, bringing Sweden’s defence spending to 2% of GDP and meeting the NATO target, the government announced on Monday. Exactly one year after the last…
Two memorandums of understanding signed at the British-Irish Energy Day between Ireland and the UK on Monday aim to increase cooperation in developing offshore renewable energy, explore further electricity interconnection opportunities and enhance the security of gas supplies, according to…
“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal,” is a famous quote by Emma Goldman, a Russian-born US political activist, anarchist and writer (1869-1940). A similar quote – “If voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it” –…
Respect for human rights will be at the heart of the EU’s controversial new ‘cash for migrant’ control deal with Tunisia, the European Commission insisted on Tuesday (12 September). Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, EU Neighbourhood Commissioner Olivér…
The Commission once again lowered the growth prediction for Germany in its summer forecast, a decrease of 0.4%, the worst economic performance among the EU’s six largest economies, but Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni insists the country has all the necessary…
Austria wants to formally end accession talks with Turkey as a full membership to the bloc would be ‘not conceivable for us’, Chancellor Karl Nehammer told die Welt following a recent push by Turkey to revitalise stalled negotiations. While Nehammer…
EU member states should start making “better” investments to fight escalating climate change as Europe’s resources are reaching their limits, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management said on Tuesday (12 September), following the recent deadly floods in…
With 280 days before the Belgian elections, the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB/The Left), Reformist Movement (MR/Renew), social-liberal party DéFI and the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA/ECR) have launched their campaigns at three federal, regional and European levels. The PTB was…
While rejoining the UK to Horizon Europe was met with overwhelming support from the academic community, some say the years it took – and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s hesitance – has caused serious damage and is ‘hardly something worthy of…
Dear readers, Welcome to EU Politics Decoded where Benjamin Fox and Eleonora Vasques bring you a round-up of the latest political news in Europe and beyond every Thursday. In this edition, we look at the latest evidence of the accountability…
With low expectations but cautious optimism, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet on Wednesday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius amid a local race to get air defence equipment from Washington.…
While consultancy expenditure rose significantly in the last years, the French Audit Office (Cour des Comptes) warned against the still incomplete regulatory framework governing the use of consultancy firms, which are sometimes used under vague conditions. Consulting firms are sometimes…