Category: Democratic Governance and Rule of Law
-
Single Resolution Fund Stays Free Of Bank Levies For Third Year
Frankfurt: Banks in the euro area will pay nothing into the Single Resolution Fund in 2026 for the third year in a row, the Single Resolution Board announced on 13…
-
Defence Industry Programme Sets 65 Percent EU Content Test For Arms
Tallinn: The Defence Industry Programme gives the European Union its first dedicated budget for strengthening the arms industry, with €1.5 billion in grants for the period 2025 to 2027. The…
-
Democracy Shield Committee Backs EU Centre To Fight Foreign Meddling
Helsinki: The Democracy Shield committee of the European Parliament has recommended a new EU centre to defend elections and public debate from foreign interference, and its report is the main…
-
Twenty New European Universities Alliances Win Bridge Funding
Bologna: The European Universities alliances selected under the 2026 Erasmus+ call are starting their funded activities this autumn and winter, after the Commission published the results on 9 July 2026.…
-
ESG Ratings Regime Faces Its 2 November Deadline Before T+1 Switch
Paris: The ESG ratings regime reached a hard deadline on 2 November 2026, the date by which providers had to submit full applications to the European Securities and Markets Authority.…
-
Cyber Resilience Act Reporting Gives Device Makers 24 Hours To Warn
Heraklion: The Cyber Resilience Act now requires every manufacturer of connected products to report actively exploited vulnerabilities within 24 hours, and the duty has applied since 11 September 2026. The…
-
Circular Economy Act Draft Points To Recycled Content Thresholds
Rotterdam: The Circular Economy Act is still a draft idea rather than law, and the Commission was expected to propose it later in 2026, according to an industry report published…
-
European Research Area Act Tests Whether Capitals Back 3 Percent
Leuven: The European Research Area Act is due from the Commission in 2026, and the reports reviewed for this article do not confirm whether the proposal has been tabled yet.…
-
RESourceEU Action Plan Bets On Stockpiles And Scrap Export Curbs
Kiruna: The RESourceEU action plan gives the Union a toolkit to cut its dependence on imported critical raw materials, and its first deadlines are now arriving in 2026. The Commission…
-
EU Civil Protection Mechanism Turns 25 With Over 900 Activations
Athens: The EU Civil Protection Mechanism turned 25 in 2026, and the Commission marked the anniversary on 23 October with a tally of more than 900 activations since 2001. Commission…
-
Parliament Seeks €194 Billion For The 2027 EU Budget Before Talks
Riga: The 2027 EU budget now has two competing price tags, after the European Parliament voted on 21 October 2026 to ask for €194 billion in commitments and €203.3 billion…
-
Enlargement Roadmaps Name Four Candidates And Set A Six-Month Test
Podgorica: Enlargement roadmaps are the centrepiece of the Commission’s 2026 enlargement package, adopted on 4 November 2026 for the four candidates furthest along in accession talks. Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and…
-
Hungary Child Protection Law Ruling Puts Commission Under Pressure
Budapest: The Hungary child protection law has been found incompatible with European Union law by the Court of Justice, and campaigners now want the Commission to force its withdrawal. Brussels…
-
Pact on Migration and Asylum Applies As Return Rules Take Shape
Nicosia: The Pact on Migration and Asylum has applied in every member state since 12 June 2026, and attention has turned to the separate rules on returning people who have…
-
Right To Repair Directive Deadline Passed In July With Status Unclear
Porto: The right to repair directive reached its transposition deadline on 31 July 2026, and consumers now ask what has changed in shops and workshops. Directive (EU) 2024/1799 obliges member…
-
Platform Work Directive Deadline Of 2 December Finds Capitals Unready
Milan: The Platform Work Directive must become national law by 2 December 2026, and published tracking suggests that most member states are running late. Directive (EU) 2024/2831 was adopted in…
-
National and Regional Partnership Plans Would Replace 14 EU Funds
Lublin: National and Regional Partnership Plans are the centrepiece of the Commission’s proposal for cohesion money after 2027, and Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto used the opening of the 24th European…
-
Tobacco Taxation Directive Faces Its Make-Or-Break Ministers Meeting
Stockholm: The Tobacco Taxation Directive faces a decisive test on Monday 9 November 2026, when EU finance ministers meet in Brussels for their next ECOFIN session. Ireland, which holds the…
-
Peat Cutting Dispute Sends Ireland And Slovenia Before EU Court
Galway: Peat cutting in Ireland has landed the country before the Court of Justice of the European Union, after the Commission referred it for failing to comply with the Environmental…
-
Tourism Overnight Stays Hit 471.1 Million In First Quarter Of 2026
Valletta: Tourism overnight stays in the European Union reached 471.1 million in the first quarter of 2026, up 3.4% from the same period of 2025, according to monthly accommodation data…
-
Carbon Contracts For Difference Fund Germany’s Industry Shift
Duisburg: Germany can now pay heavy industry to cut emissions through carbon contracts for difference, after the European Commission approved a €5 billion state aid scheme on 7 May 2026.…
-
Slovak State Aid Scheme Gives Cleantech Makers €1 Billion In Support
Bratislava: The Slovak state aid scheme worth €1 billion won European Commission approval on 17 June 2026, giving the country a large fund to attract factories that make clean technologies.…
-
OLAF Recommendations Led To Zero Bulgarian Charges From 2021 To 2025
Sofia: No charges have been brought in Bulgaria on OLAF recommendations between 2021 and 2025, according to the annual report of the European Anti-Fraud Office presented on 20 April 2026.…
-
Space Act Talks Stall Over Dual-Use Satellites And National Security
Redu: The Space Act is still far from finished, according to the Cypriot Presidency of the Council, after space ministers reviewed progress on the proposal on 29 May 2026. The…