Category: Democratic Governance and Rule of Law
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Energy Shock Looms Over Autumn Economic Forecast Due This Month
Maastricht: The Commission’s autumn economic forecast is due in November 2026, and it has to answer whether the energy shock of the spring has deepened or eased. Neither the press…
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Cities Could Share European Capitals of Culture Title From 2034
Oulu: The European Capitals of Culture programme would open to groups of cities and to non-EU countries from 2034 under a Commission proposal published in September 2026. The plan sets…
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Record 4,807 Bids Compete For 421 ERC Starting Grants This Year
Heidelberg: The ERC Starting Grants for 2026 will fund 421 early-career researchers with 705 million euros, the Commission announced on 3 September 2026. Only 8.8 percent of the 4,807 proposals…
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Fitto Ties 220 Billion Euros Of Cohesion Policy To Competitiveness
Seville: Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto has linked cohesion policy to the EU’s competitiveness agenda, saying around 220 billion euros, or more than 58 percent of investment, supports the Competitiveness Compass.…
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Lagarde Steers ECB Rate Hold As Inflation Reaches 3.8 Percent
Frankfurt: The ECB rate hold on 29 October 2026 kept all three key interest rates unchanged, with the deposit facility rate at 2.50 percent. The main refinancing rate stayed at…
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Consumers Await Digital Fairness Act Aimed At Dark Patterns Online
Malmö: The Digital Fairness Act is due to reach the College of Commissioners on 11 November 2026, according to an IAPP Europe analysis published on 22 October. Commissioner Michael McGrath…
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Irregular Border Crossings Fall A Third As Western Med Route Rises
Heraklion: Irregular border crossings into the European Union fell by almost one-third in the first nine months of 2026, Frontex reported on 19 October. The agency counted just over 90,865…
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Parliament Demands Tougher EU Anti-Corruption Strategy On Donations
Strasbourg: Parliament has told the Commission what it expects from the first EU anti-corruption strategy, and the list runs from political donations to the revolving door between public office and…
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ECA Budget Review Finds Only One Of 28 Earlier Fixes Fully Taken Up
Lisbon: The ECA budget review published on 4 November 2026 gives the Commission’s 2028 to 2034 spending plan a mixed grade, with only one of 28 earlier improvements fully taken…
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Foreign Investment Screening Notifications Jump 40 Percent In 2025
Hamburg: Foreign investment screening across the European Union grew sharply in 2025, as member states notified 667 investments to the Commission’s cooperation mechanism, up from 477 in 2024. The Commission…
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EBA Supervisory Reporting Simplification Pushes Bank Deadlines To 2027
Paris: The European Banking Authority has set out the next steps on supervisory reporting simplification, and the result is a lighter template set that banks will not have to file…
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Commission Proposes EU Preparedness Day And 72 Hour Household Plans
Thessaloniki: The Commission has proposed an annual EU Preparedness Day, to be held every 23 October from 2027, and paired it with new guidelines that ask households to plan for…
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Amazon Warehouse Visit Puts Algorithmic Management Before MEPs
Sosnowiec: Algorithmic management at Amazon warehouses came under direct scrutiny when a seven-member delegation of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee visited sites in Germany and Poland on…
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Biotech Act Negotiations Weigh Patient Voices Against Patent Extension
Uppsala: The EU Biotech Act has entered a critical stage in Council and Parliament, and a patient group warned on 6 November that it is being left out of the…
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Livestock Strategy Heads To Agriculture Envoys For Council Debate
Tours: The EU livestock strategy goes before member state envoys on Monday 9 November, when the Council’s Special Committee on Agriculture holds an exchange of views on the plan and…
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PFAS Contamination Study Finds European Fish Carry The Heaviest Load
Ghent: PFAS contamination in freshwater reservoirs is widespread but uneven, and European fish show the highest bioaccumulation of any region, according to a global study that the Commission’s environment department…
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Renewable Electricity Share Slips To 54.1 Percent As Solar Surges
Aarhus: Renewable electricity supplied 54.1 percent of net electricity generation in the European Union in the second quarter of 2026, Eurostat reported on 18 September. The share is slightly below…
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Gas Storage Levels Trail 2025 As Winter 2026 Tests EU Resolve
Zeebrugge: EU gas storage levels stood at 75 percent on 21 October, according to the EU energy regulators’ agency ACER, leaving the bloc with a thinner cushion than a year…
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Digital Networks Act Report Reopens The Network Fee Fight In ITRE
Vilnius: The Digital Networks Act has reached its political phase in the European Parliament, and the draft report by rapporteur Michał Kobosko is already dividing telecoms operators, content providers and…
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Circular Economy Act Slips To 18 November As Textile Sector Waits
Prato: The Circular Economy Act has slipped by a week, and Europe’s textile recyclers now wait for the Commission to present it on 18 November 2026. FashionUnited reported on 29…
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Quality Jobs Act Targets Algorithmic Management In 3 December Proposal
Dublin: The Quality Jobs Act is the Commission’s next big workplace proposal, and Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu wants to adopt it on 3 December 2026. Employment and social affairs ministers…
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OLAF Investigations Trace 118 Million Euro Customs Fraud In Poland
Warsaw: OLAF investigations in the first half of 2026 show how organised fraud networks use the Union’s eastern frontier, with one case alone involving about €118 million in evaded customs…
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Advocate General Upholds EU Energy Solidarity Contribution Levy
Rome: The EU energy solidarity contribution has survived its first serious legal test. On 22 October 2026, Advocate General Athanasios Rantos advised the Court of Justice that Regulation (EU) 2022/1854…
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Court Rules Hungary And Czechia Broke Access To A Lawyer Rules
Prague: Access to a lawyer during police questioning is a firm EU rule, and the Court of Justice said so on 22 October 2026 when it ruled that Hungary and…