EurActiv
Spain nearly at pre-pandemic tourism levels
Spain received a total of 71.6 million tourists in 2022, which is 14.3% less than the number of tourists welcomed in 2019, the year before the pandemic broke out, official figures released on Thursday revealed. The recovery of foreign tourism...
Categories: EurActiv
Spanish unemployment rose in January after end-of-Christmas sale.
Spanish unemployment rose by 70,744 people in January, while Spanish Social Security shed some 215,047 contributors at the end of the Christmas sale season when thousands of temporary jobs came to an end, according to data from the Social Security...
Categories: EurActiv
Nine EU countries want low-carbon hydrogen included in bloc’s renewables goals
EXCLUSIVE. Nine EU member states, including France, have called on the European Commission to include low-carbon hydrogen – produced from nuclear electricity – in the EU's renewable hydrogen targets.
Categories: EurActiv
Norway to take leading role in Ukraine support, reconstruction
Norway will take on a more substantial role in the international support Ukraine receives, Norway’s Prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre declared on Thursday before the Norwegian Storting, advocating for a larger and more long-term Ukraine program financed by oil revenues....
Categories: EurActiv
Sweden, Finland go ‘hand in hand’ as Nordics close ranks against Turkey
Sweden and Finland will continue their journey towards NATO together despite the “frustrating” stall that Turkey is creating for Sweden, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin said on Thursday. Erdoğan said he would now only...
Categories: EurActiv
Dutch reinforce migration cooperation with Niger
An agreement to enhance their cooperation to combat irregular migration was announced by Migration Minister Eric van den Burg and Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Liesje Schreinemajer in a joint press release on Wednesday. The agreement concerns human trafficking,...
Categories: EurActiv
Tarabella, Cozzolino’s parliamentary immunities officially lifted
The European Parliament voted to lift the immunities of Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella and Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino on Thursday, meaning both men can expect to stand before Belgian justice. On Tuesday, the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) unanimously approved...
Categories: EurActiv
Zemmour-supporting French MEP stripped of parliamentary immunity
Radical right French MEP Nicolas Bay saw his parliamentary immunity waived in a plenary vote at the European Parliament on Thursday, following accusations by French courts of hate speech. Bay, formerly a National Rally (Rassemblement National) MEP, joined journalist-turned-pundit Eric...
Categories: EurActiv
Germany waves pandemic era goodbye, drops mask mandate
Germany is leaving behind the last generally applicable pandemic protection measure as face masks are no longer mandatory on trains as of Thursday. After a number of federal regions dropped the mask mandate on local and regional trains over the...
Categories: EurActiv
Green homes directive would have ‘devastating effects in Italy’
The European Commission’s proposal on the energy efficiency of buildings in exchange for more funds to support renovations would have devastating effects in Italy, said the President of Confedelizia Giorgio Spaziani Testa who called on politicians to defend the savings...
Categories: EurActiv
Most Finns would join NATO without waiting for Sweden
Over half the people surveyed by a Finnish media portal would be ready to proceed with Finland’s NATO application without waiting for Sweden, which is struggling to proceed due to Turkey’s reluctance to ratify it. In a survey commissioned by...
Categories: EurActiv
Neutrality and support for Ukraine: Austria’s tightrope walk
Neutrality has long been at the core of Austria’s post-World War II identity. While the country pledged millions to support Ukraine and has supported the EU sanctions against Russia, it also wants to keep the communication channels with the Kremlin...
Categories: EurActiv
Bulgaria wants EU money for new border fence with Turkey
Bulgaria will not refuse the drones and radars offered by the European Commission to guard the border with Turkey, but it wants the EU to fund a new fence, President Rumen Radev said on Thursday after he meets with Hungarian...
Categories: EurActiv
In defence of the European single market
The EU's greatest strength in competition with the US and China is its single market, and if state aid regulations are permanently loosened, it will be undermined, write Piotr Arak and Konrad Szymański.
Categories: EurActiv
EU Parliament wants to strengthen European Works Councils
On Thursday (2 February), the European Parliament voted in favour of a report that wants to strengthen the rights of European Works Councils (EWC) in order to reinforce the voice of employees in large European companies.
Categories: EurActiv
‘Putting the war on ‘pause’ would be a major mistake
Any negotiations with Putin's Russia and compromises will put the war on “pause", allowing Russia to re-launch it later on a bigger scale as a major attack against democracy, writes Roman Rukomeda.
Categories: EurActiv
Ukraine renews case for membership to visiting EU top officials
Ukraine's leadership on Thursday (2 February) made an unequivocal plea for European Union membership as top EU officials met their government counterparts in Kyiv in a first-of-its-kind gathering. But for the EU side, the answer remains a delicate balancing act.
Categories: EurActiv
What do we expect from the Swedish Presidency?
Sweden is taking the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the next 6 months. The Swedish Presidency has a few key priorities that they’re focusing on, including security, competitiveness, green and energy transitions, democratic values, and the...
Categories: EurActiv
EU lawmaker: Electoral law system is frustrating for many of us
When the EU electoral system was established, ahead of the first European Parliament elections in 1979, the bloc had nine member states instead of the current 27 and 410 MEPs, in comparison to the current 705. “[It] is frustrating for...
Categories: EurActiv
EU’s green industrial plan vague on clean tech, finance, critics say
The Commission’s ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’, unveiled on Wednesday (1 February), promises simplified EU regulation for clean technologies, but critics say it lacks clarity and opens the door to unrestricted subsidies in France and Germany until the end of 2025.
Categories: EurActiv