Providing 20% of the EU heat demand with district heating by 2030 would save  24 billion cubic meters of gas, representing 32% of Europe’s Russian gas imports in 2022.  Decisive EU action is needed to leverage this potential. 

The European Center for Digital Rights, NOYB, launched a complaint on Thursday (16 November) against the EU Commission with the European Data Protection Supervisor for using microtargeting ads on X to promote its regulation on detecting child sexual abuse material online.

Portugal’s Socialists continue to lose ground ahead of national elections on 10 March, with the centre-right opposition leading the polls but needing the strengthened far-right to govern, according to Euractiv’s November projections following a high-level corruption probe. The corruption probe...

Cyprus vowed Tuesday (14 November) to investigate new allegations by a group of international journalists that it was a hub for Russian money-laundering enabling oligarchs to bypass sanctions.

Spain’s acting prime ministerPedro Sánchez, to be sworn in as the new head of government on Thursday, vowed that his government will be a “wall” of democracy, progress and coexistence against the “reactionary” and “retrograde” political strategies of the Partido...

The border controls introduced at the border with Slovenia at the end of October to deal with growing migratory pressure are ”temporary and proportionate”, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her Slovenian counterpart Robert Golob during his Rome visit on...

Austria’s far-right, emboldened by consistently high opinion polls, is insisting on a veto on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, an investigation into COVID-19 measures and making Austria a country that does not accept asylum seekers. The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ)...

The constant fear of war that currently pervades Bulgarian society, fuelled largely by disinformation spread by pro-Russian influence networks, is beginning to seriously affect the army’s ability to fight, Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said on Wednesday. Pro-Russian opposition parties,...

The Hungarian parliament is not yet prepared to ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO, as the issue will not be on the agenda of the upcoming parliamentary session, despite expectations and earlier assurances, MP Ágnes Vadai said on Wednesday. It...

France will again abstain from Thursday’s second vote on the European Commission’s proposal to renew the approval of the contentious herbicide glyphosate for the next decade, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau made said on Wednesday. On 13 October, member states...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday (15 November) Israel was a "terror state" committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, sharpening his repeated criticism of Israeli leaders and their backers in the West.

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) provides an essential gateway for citizen participation in the energy system, bringing cheaper bills to low-income households through old-fashioned energy efficiency, writes Louise Sunderland.

The European Commission put forward a series of voluntary measures to facilitate the employment of third-country nationals in the EU in a bid to boost legal migration pathways and help member states address widespread skills and labour shortages.

Meta is appealing the designation of its instant messaging platform Messenger and intermediation service Marketplace that would make them subject to Europe’s strict regime of ex-ante rules. Under the Digital Markets Act, tech companies that have acquired such a dominant...

The question of who should receive extremely sensitive cyber threat intelligence has been a sticking point in the negotiations on the Cyber Resilience Act. The Commission proposed a middle ground that would double the receivers.

The Spanish presidency has requested a revised mandate on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) ahead of the next interinstitutional negotiating session when most of the upcoming media legislation is expected to be closed.

In France, stroke is the second leading cause of death after cancer. Yet to date, there is no national plan to prevent stroke or address the life after stroke for patients and their families. 

With the EU increasingly bogged down in difficulties in its efforts to provide more support for Ukraine and only a month until a crucial last EU summit of the year, expect Hungary to up its ante.

As the European Union gains momentum on the path towards the European Green Deal, we must not forget the important role of the Western Balkans in reaching our shared goals, write Viola von Cramon-Taubadel and Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield.

Businesses remain sceptical that a new EU certification framework for carbon removals is sufficient to generate a self-sustaining market, arguing Brussels must do more to make removing carbon from the atmosphere financially attractive.