The end of Spitzenkandidat: EU leaders concluded unexpectedly on EU top jobs

The EU leaders finally came to a conclusion after three long days of tough negotiations where German Chancellor’s suggestion to appoint Frans Timmermans as next European Commission president has been turned down by Italy and eastern countries. The solution was given with the nomination of a woman and particularly German Defence Minister Ursula von der […]

France and Germany can’t reach consensus regarding EU’s top jobs

The EU leaders are expected to meet again on Sunday to discuss about who will be taking over the EU top jobs, while France and Germany seem unable to agree who will be the successor of Jean-Claude Juncker. Last week’s EU summit didn’t conclude on the matter, something that exerts extra pressure onto the bloc’s […]

Single-use plastics: New EU rules to reduce marine litter

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. With the amount of harmful plastic litter in oceans and seas growing ever greater, the European Commission is proposing new EU-wide rules to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe’s beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing […]

Commission’s action plan: financial world mandatory links to environmental targets

It was last Thursday when the European Commission revealed its action plan on sustainable finance to deal with climate change. This action plan aims at mobilizing the financial world in order to achieve sustainable growth; something that the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative has been doing for 26 years already. The huge financial gap towards […]

Refugee crisis update: EU still lacks solidarity as Hungary and Slovakia refuse to accept EU Court’s decision

It was last Wednesday when the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected a challenge by Hungary and Slovakia regarding their denial on relocating refugees from Greece and Italy. Both countries though do not intend to change their position on the issue. Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos mentioned that there has […]

Europe provides financial support to African countries while Turkey denies to change terrorism laws jeopardising the EU deal

The European Commission  convened yesterday in Strasbourg and announced its plans to create a Partnership Framework with third countries and particularly Africa in order to manage migration more effectively. This attempt comes after the EU-Turkey deal which aims at reducing the influx of immigrants coming to Europe via the Aegean Sea. It seems that the […]

Europe bows to Turkey’s rulers, sends Syrian refugees back to chaos

Last Saturday we learned from his own lips that the President of the European Council Donald Tusk has “thick skin”. Of course, people who follow the political day-to-day of the Council already knew it. Tusk made this statement last Saturday from Turkey, a country where thick skin politicians are in abundance. The President of the […]

The 28 EU leaders unable to start a relevant debate on migration and Brexit

The poor results of last week’s meeting of the 28 EU leaders are reflected in the triviality of the remarks by the Council President Donald Tusk, in summarizing the outcome of the 17 – 18 December gathering in Brussels. His most vivid comment was about the “hard work done and the extreme efficiency of the […]

EU to manage external borders against the will of member states; Greece to be the first target

Last Tuesday 15 December the European Commission adopted a groundbreaking proposal for the establishment of a powerful European Border and Coast Guard to ensure strong management of the Schengen area external borders and better administration of immigration flows. According to the Commission, this Guard should be able to intervene with or without the consent of […]

EU should promote immigration as a humanitarian issue in order to provide a more permanent solution

Only a few days after the Calais migration incident, a new shipwreck just 10 miles off the coast of Libya caused the death of 25 people while there are still 200 people missing out of the 600 who were on board. The European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos in a common […]