NGOs gained influence under von der Leyen, while companies lost theirs
NGOs had much more contact with the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen, compared with her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker.
French drug usage higher than ever: over 1m people used cocaine in 2023
France's 'high society' has apparently grown, as experimenting with drugs has soared. Cocaine consumption in the country exploded, with 1.
Incidents across Italy’s rail network lead to suspicions of sabotage
Magistrates of the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office are investigating a series of incidents on the Italian railways suspecting potential sabotage.
Swedish debt collectors begins seizures at doomed green-tech Northvolt
'Green' darling Northvolt faced seizures by the Swedish Enforcement Authority, Kronofogden, the country's debt collector, over unpaid bills.
Only Europeans have downbeat view of second Trump presidency, poll finds
Story reposted with corrected graphic
Swedish government tightens naturalisation requirements with focus on ‘honest living’
Sweden's government has called for toughening the country's citizenship requirements by increasing the necessary time in the country to eight years and introducing a citizenship…
Birth rate continues dropping in France, lowest since end of WWI
France's fertility rate has dropped to the lowest level since 1918, with only 663,000 babies born in France in 2024. This was 21.
Germany’s CDU leader, ahead in polls: industry more important than climate protection
Friederich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrats in Germany's coming elections, said industry was more important than climate protection.
Pension protests pressure Belgian government talks
Belgian political parties currently negotiating over forming a government faced a new challenge with protests and strike action in Brussels on January 13 over pension reforms.
Violence erupts in Italy over police death of Italian-Egyptian teenager
Italy has seen violent unrest break out, largely attributed to immigrant communities over the death of 19-year-old Italian-Egyptian Rami El Gamal during a police pursuit in…
German hard-right AfD party dissolves ‘radical’ youth branch
At its party conference, the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has decided to drop its youth organisation and create a new one.
EC backs ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu ahead of possible Poland visit
The European Commission has said it supported the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his possible visit…
Holocaust and ritual slaughter increasingly sensitive topics in Belgium
This story was edited following a reaction from one of the mentioned schools
Belgian film crew ‘threatened by thugs demanding protection money’
Belgian film producer Bert Hamelinck has revealed on national TV that his crew was told they had to pay protection money to local thugs in order not to be harassed.
Croatia’s Milanovic to win presidential vote, preliminary result shows
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic won a second term in the largely ceremonial post, a preliminary result based on vote count in 98.65% of the polling stations showed.
Algeria sends deported Algerian straight back to France
Algeria has immediately returned an Algerian influencer who was deported by France back to where he came from, aggravating diplomatic tensions between both countries.
French express deep concern over EC’s ‘dependency on Microsoft’
French authorities are reported to be concerned about "the potential risks associated with the use of US-based solutions" for handling European Union digital data.
France’s borrowing rates soar as financial problems spook investors
Investors seem to growing increasingly anxious over France's financial situation.
Former UK PM Truss warns Starmer over ‘defamatory’ claims of ‘crashing economy’
Former British prime minister Liz Truss has sent a "cease and desist" letter to current PM Keir Starmer, demanding he stop saying she "crashed the economy".
Scores of migrants arrested on Greek island
The Greek Coast Guard has arrested 124 migrants on the island of Karpathos after spotting speedboats without identification markers.
EU court orders EC to compensate citizen for violating its own protection laws
The General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union has directed the European Commission to compensate an individual who alleged his personal data was wrongfully…
Left-wing German anti-discrimination commissioner calls for government to quit X
German Federal Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Ferda Ataman has called on her government to leave social media platform X.
EC forces ‘gender balance’ on companies, despite missing its own goals
The European Commission has announced that private companies will now have to respect so-called gender balance norms.
Biden administration puts top Hungarian official on sanctions list
The outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration has put Hungarian Government official Antal Rogán on its sanctions list due to his alleged involvement in corruption.
Russian ship suspected of targeting further vital transatlantic cables
Eagle S, the Russian ship suspected of deliberately cutting through communication cables in the Baltic Sea, has also been connected to attempted sabotage in the North Sea…
Meta’s Zuckerberg vows to ‘restore free speech’ as ‘EU is institutionalising censorship’
Meta, the parent company of social media giants including Instagram and Facebook, has said it planned to "restore free speech".
Swiss Attorney General warns of spiralling crime ‘like in Belgium or Sweden’
Swiss Federal Prosecutor Stefan Blättler has called for decisive action against gang crime in his country, citing what he called conditions in Belgium and Sweden, where "dozens…
Record job losses for Belgium in 2024
A record 27,187 people lost their job in Belgium in 2024: the highest number of redundancies in a year ever.
German Christian Democrats pledge tougher line on migration as elections loom
Germany's Christian Democrats (the CDU party) have been toughening their stance on migration in the run-up to national elections in February, including calls for the deportation…
National Rally’s Le Pen and Bardella high among French 2024 favourites
French National Rally (RN) heavyweight Marine Le Pen and her party leader Jordan Bardella have shot up the Top 50 list of France's most favourite personalities for 2024.