The EU’s funding plans for Kyiv hit a Belgian wall — now what?
31 Oct Foreign & Security Policy

The EU’s funding plans for Kyiv hit a Belgian wall — now what?

With Belgium blocking the use of frozen Russian assets, the European Commission is floating joint EU debt. But the idea may be more leverage than lifeline.
by Peder Schaefer
The Netherlands turns the page on far-right rule
30 Oct Member States
The Netherlands turns the page on far-right rule
Lídia Pereira: Europe’s climate ambition needs a reset
29 Oct EU Institutions
Lídia Pereira: Europe’s climate ambition needs a reset
Europe’s climate credibility hangs in the balance at COP30
28 Oct Energy & Environment
Europe’s climate credibility hangs in the balance at COP30
Partner Content
24 Feb 21
Rare Diseases: Why medical innovation needs to be one step ahead
Accelerating innovation key to ensuring that no one is left behind in fight against rare diseases, says Nathalie Moll EFPIA Director General.
24 Feb 21
Rare Diseases: Why the EU must ensure that rare diseases aren’t side-lined during the fight to overcome COVID-19
Maria da Graça Carvalho, Frédérique Ries, David Lega & Tomislav Sokol warn that the Coronavirus crisis has enhanced the vulnerability of people living with a rare disease.
Partner Content
23 Feb 21
The next step for fully circular plastic packaging
Traceability and transparent recycled content certification could help Europe achieve a fully circular economy, writes RecyClass Chairman Paolo Glerean.
23 Feb 21
Rare Diseases: Challenges are global in nature and therefore need an international response
European and international collaboration is indispensable in the battle to improve diagnoses and develop new treatments, writes the Director of the European Commission​’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation Irene Norstedt.
23 Feb 21
MEPs welcome Parliament’s post-Brexit engagement with younger generations of UK citizens
The European Parliament says it will maintain its presence in the UK, notably through its London office.
23 Feb 21
Rare Diseases: Securing a better future for rare disease patients across Europe is a shared responsibility
Meeting unmet needs together is essential, explains Takeda Pharmaceuticals Chief Giles Platford.
22 Feb 21
Plight of Europe’s Roma further exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic
The claim has been made by the Open Society Foundations’ Public Health Programme.
Partner Content
22 Feb 21
European Rare Diseases Supplement 2021
A special supplement looking at European and global efforts tackling rare diseases.
22 Feb 21
European Commission receives mixed reaction to new trade strategy
The executive launched a major review process of the EU’s trade policy last year and this concluded with the presentation of a “renewed” policy by its vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis.
19 Feb 21
EU could follow Australia in addressing Big Tech’s “acute bargaining power imbalances”
European policymakers, such as Digital Services Act rapporteur MEP Alex Agius Saliba, are monitoring the situation in Australia which has seen Facebook suspend access to domestic news publishers.
19 Feb 21
World’s richest countries accused of hoarding COVID-19 vaccines
New analysis by global anti-poverty organisation The ONE Campaign claims to show that the world’s richest countries are on course to accumulate more than 1 billion more doses than they would need to fully vaccinate all their own citizens.
19 Feb 21
Guy Verhofstadt: EU Coronavirus vaccine contracts “very unbalanced”
The senior MEP has strongly criticised the EU’s vaccination strategy which has come under increasing fire in recent weeks.
18 Feb 21
EU national governments need to present a unified front to Russia
The naivety shown to Russia in many European capitals and in Brussels at EU level must cease, at least for the time being, argues Foreign Affairs Committee Vice Chair Urmas Paet.
18 Feb 21
Portugal: An innovative and daring presidency
While the Portuguese presidency is primarily focused on crisis management, the next six months will also offer an opportunity for the country to innovate and dare to dream, writes Paulo Rangel.
18 Feb 21
The Maghreb: A strategically important region
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are geographically strategic countries for Europe, and continuing to work closely with them is key, writes Adriana Maldonado López.
17 Feb 21
Ursula von der Leyen rules out Scottish and Welsh inclusion in EU’s Erasmus programme
European Commission president tells MEPs that only possibility for constituent UK nations to participate in flagship student exchange scheme is ‘as a whole, or not at all’.
17 Feb 21
Georgia’s democratic transition offers hope for the Black Sea country’s future
Newly-re-elected government in Tbilisi has NATO and EU membership in its sights, explains Former Czech Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra.
17 Feb 21
Prioritising children’s rights in a pandemic
Protecting and strengthening the rights of children must become an integral part of EU policies, especially in the midst of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, explains Ioan-Rareș Bogdan.
17 Feb 21
Putting children's rights at the top of the EU agenda
There is an urgent need to strengthen children’s rights worldwide; the EU must take the lead in this by focusing on the rights of children in all policies, writes Bettina Vollath.
16 Feb 21
European Parliament to become Coronavirus vaccination centre
Each of its locations will be used to support vaccination efforts across Europe, as of 22 February.
15 Feb 21
MEPs voice concern over ‘discrimination’ faced by some EU citizens when visiting UK
In a letter they have called on the European Commission to take measures to ensure that citizens from Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia no longer face such discrimination.
15 Feb 21
Group leaders and cross-party MEPs join forces to demand faster EU vaccine rollout
The plea comes with the rollout in all EU countries woefully behind others such as Israel and the United States.
15 Feb 21
Hormones and COVID-19: An alarming link
The connection between endocrine conditions and viruses such as COVID-19 has not been widely addressed through policy or research; let’s take urgent action to change this, writes Sirpa Pietikäinen.
15 Feb 21
Time to put EU's Coronavirus recovery plan in motion says Portuguese presidency chief
Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa tells MEPs that EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility is a ‘vitamin’ to aid Europe's economic revival.