To bring Germany's ailing armed forces back on track, the government is reorganising its operative command and making cyber and IT a full-fledged military branch on par with the navy, air force and ground forces, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced on Thursday.

A European Parliament vote in favour of revising the European Works Councils Directive before June is seen as imperative, and as a safety net in the event of a political shift in the European elections, says industriAll Europe head.

Growing mistrust among European political groups, who are supposed to form a pro-EU majority after the June European election, is prompting some in Brussels to consider a written national government-style coalition agreement. 

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and the Italian financial police have jointly uncovered an alleged fraud scheme involving €600 million related to the Next Generation EU recovery fund, and extensive raids are underway across Italy, the EPPO said on Thursday (4 April). 

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The EU’s emissions trading scheme sectors, industry and power, saw emissions drop by 15% in 2023, putting them on track for their 2030 targets, but experts question whether this was because of - or despite - Europe's carbon trading framework.

The world is preparing for a phase-out of fossil fuels following the historic COP28 agreement, but what does the energy mix of the future look like? According to Japanese engineering company IHI, interest in green ammonia in Europe is growing as heavy industries make the transition to greener technologies.

The European Commission played down fears that the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) could succumb to a Donald Trump presidency as pressure on high-level officials from both sides increased ahead of their meeting in Leuven, Belgium, on Thursday (4 April).

With two months until June’s EU election, the Parliament has gone into alert mode as pressure piles up to respond to a new cash-for-influence scandal rocking the institution, with new reforms back on the table. 

Portuguese Justice Minister Rita Júdice has been tasked with drawing up a package of anti-corruption measures requiring her to hold talks with all parties, including members of parliament, justice sector workers and civil society, the government decided on Wednesday. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party is set for a heavy defeat at a national election expected this year, according to a seat projection published on Wednesday (3 April) which showed the opposition Labour Party winning more than 400 seats.

Finland's president on Wednesday (3 April) signed a 10-year security deal with Ukraine in Kyiv where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believed Russia planned to mobilise 300,000 new troops for its war by June.

The G7 price cap on Russian oil shipments is cutting the revenue that Moscow has available to support its invasion of Ukraine, and the mechanism's effectiveness is helped by the recent actions of Indian refiners, US officials will say.

The European Union condemned on Wednesday (3 April) the attack on an Iranian diplomatic installation in Damascus on 1 April, as well as the reported casualties.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Polish farmers being dissatisfied after occupying the Agriculture Ministry, Romania possibly set to soon deploy troops to protect citizens abroad, and so much more.

Trade unions increasingly shared the necessity to improve conditions for businesses, Markus Beyrer, Director General of BusinessEurope, told Euractiv in an interview, as job losses in manufacturing spread across Europe.

To move ahead on the path to replace animal tests for ensuring safety of chemicals, we need progress in science, better knowledge and close collaboration between scientists, regulators, industry and other stakeholders.

Romania could soon deploy troops to safeguard Romanian citizens beyond its borders, according to draft provisions, which, if adopted, would amend the national defence law.

Protesting Polish farmers left the Agriculture Ministry building which they had occupied since Tuesday, frustrated that the government had not responded adequately to their demands, including the halting of Ukrainian grain and sugar transit through Poland.

More funding is needed to get the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine, which was launched in February and has so far been joined by both EU and non-EU countries off the ground, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (Pirates, Greens/EFA) said on Wednesday.