More than half of Berlin police cadets ‘need remedial German classes’
More than half of junior staff joining the police in the German capital of Berlin have insufficient knowledge of the German language.
Bureaucracy
Latest reporting and analysis on bureaucracy.
German district chief: ‘Mandatory community service for welfare recipients’
A politician from eastern Germany is demanding the introduction of mandatory community service for recipients of social welfare payments in Germany.
It is not the heat: Iberia burns because of weak and corrupt politicians
The Iberian peninsula is burning—again. Again, we’re told - piously, mechanically, by politicians and journalists alike—that climate change is the culprit.
States now a leviathan gobbling up resources, blind to the crises staring us down
Readers of my column know that I have a soft spot for nostalgia, but I think there is a strong case to be made that at least in certain areas the past is not just…
UK drops push for Apple encryption ‘back door’ after US challenge
The UK Government has dropped its attempt to require Apple to create a "back door" in its encryption systems, following months of legal and diplomatic challenges.
Germany’s Die Linke youth wing caught in anti-Semitism row
Linksjugend Frankfurt, the local chapter of the youth division of Germany's hard left Die Linke, has been vilified after tweeting on X that Jewish teenagers expelled…
British Foreign Secretary turns himself in after fishing without licence with JD Vance
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy has got into hot water for fishing without a licence.
Export-oriented Belgium badly needs free‑market reform, reports warn
Even while Belgium's economy remains focussed on exports, its internal market suffers from excessive regulation, fragmented governance, and blurred public‑private…
European Taxpayers’ Association files complaint against two ex-commissioners over NGO funding
Former climate change commissioner Frans Timmermans and former environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius are the subject of an official complaint by the European…
Berlin renames major road after 300 years for political correctness
The city government of Berlin has been given the go-ahead to put in place a long-held plan to rename the major central Mohrenstraße road.
German State of Rhineland bans AfD members from entering civil service
The German State of Rhineland Palatinate said it would cease to allow members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) into the civil service.
German court slaps down library ‘warning labels’ on ‘controversial books’
Germany’s Higher Administrative Court in Münster has ruled that the city library must remove politically charged warning labels from two controversial books.
Defence now: Europe learns intentions require capabilities
The spectacular raid on Fordow nuclear complex showed Europe the limits of multilateral diplomacy when confronted with irreconcilable demands.
German auditors’ damning report on Habeck’s support for Northvolt
Former German Greens economics minister Robert Habeck is facing heavy criticism from the German auditors over having granted a €600 million loan to Northvolt while…
Croatia’s former EU funds minister jailed for corruption
Gabrijela Žalac, Croatia's former regional development and European Union funds minister, has been sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of office and trafficking…
Brussels government asks EU to pay for site revamp near bloc’s institutional HQs
The region of Brussels has asked the European Union for cash to cover unexpected costs of redevelopment works around the Schuman roundabout, home to most EU institutions.
What is the state for, welfare or defence? It is no longer possible to have both
While the entire world has been enthralled by the public feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, the world has also continued to move on.
Will QR codes on wine bottles give consumers more info or less?
A shift to digital labelling in the wine sector, with paper labels being partially replaced by QR codes, has raised questions about whether consumers would actually…
More taxes on tobacco? The EC needs to leave our personal pleasures alone
The European Commission, under Commissioner for Climate Wopke Hoekstra, is preparing to overhaul the 2011 Tobacco Excise Tax Directive.
Polish state TV bans photos of its buildings
Poland’s government-controlled broadcaster TVP (Telewizja Polska) has placed new notices warning photographers they may not photograph the corporation’s headquarters…
European Commission says TikTok violates Digital Services Act, risking mega fine
The European Commission has determined Chinese-owned social-media app TikTok violated European online content rules about transparency in who pays for advertisements.
Farmers welcome EU agriculture reforms
A year on from the sight of tractors clogging the streets of European capitals and demands to "cut the red tape" the European Commission's proposed reforms to EU…
Lavish EU staff allowances soar, leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab
Massive increases of up to 38 per cent in European Union bureaucrat expense entitlements has been likened to staff bank accounts "being stuffed full of Euros from…
PfizerGate: EU Court says von der Leyen wrong to keep vaccine negotiation details secret
The European General Court has criticised that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for refusing to disclose text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO…
Mainstream media ‘closes ranks around Cardinal Parolin’, despite concerns
Conservative Catholics have warned that the mainstream media was presenting Cardinal Parolin, former Vatican Secretary of State, as the favourite to take over the…
Collapsed German inner-city bridge may take 10 years to rebuild
An important inner-city bridge in Dresden, Germany, that unexpectedly collapsed late last autumn will probably not be rebuilt before 2035 – despite earlier claims…
German city of Bonn abandons plan for ‘living-space tax’
The German city of Bonn has abandoned plans for the introduction of a new tax to incentivise people to abandon flats and houses considered “too large” for them.
Bpost fined for sacking CEO who flagged fraud
Belgium’s leading postal service, Bpost, which is majority-owned by the Belgian Government, unlawfully dismissed its CEO in 2022 after he reported the misuse of…
German judiciary ‘ignored prosecutor’s alleged drug-mafia co-operation’
The public prosecutor’s office in Hanover stands accused of ignoring indications that one of its employees, a State prosecutor named as "Yashar G" by German media,…
European Commission pushes for encryption ‘backdoors’
The European Commission has announced new plans for extending the powers of European Union security agencies and expanding Europol into “a truly operational police…