Europeans are still feeling the pinch from successive crises, which shapes their democratic engagement and risks more shifts towards authoritarian governance if the importance of social rights is not amplified, the president of the Council of Europe’s Social Rights Committee told Euractiv in an interview.

Ursula von der Leyen is campaigning to secure a second term as Commission president, negotiating with key groups, including the Socialists, the liberals, and the Greens, to secure the 361 votes needed for her confirmation in Parliament.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her Brothers of Italy party on Tuesday (2 July) that it should expunge from its ranks anyone who idolises Italy's fascist past.

The European Union's growing emphasis on economic security will not unduly impact the bloc's business community or undermine the fundamental openness of Europe's economy, the EU's top trade official said on Tuesday (2 July).

Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders saw ministers from his party sworn in for the first time ever on Tuesday (2 July), as the Netherlands' new right-wing government was installed almost a year after the previous administration resigned.

A critical shortage of general practitioners threatens the Bulgarian health system, according to a new report by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), serious bottlenecks look certain to occur.

The Swedish government will explore a national stakeholder partnership to increase the number of clinical trials in Sweden. The move comes after a decade of slow decline in trial applications, which reached a record low in 2023.

Access to novel medicines continues to vary widely across EU member states. Though health remains mostly a national competence, a new Euractiv cross-country report shows patients in each country face unequal challenges when accessing new therapies.

The EU is falling short of meeting its 2030 digital targets, particularly in connectivity and digital skills, states the European Commission's latest report on the State of the Digital Decade, released Tuesday (2 July).

The European Green Deal, which came under heavy political attacks in the past year, must be looked at through a new prism of opportunity and pragmatism, Sergei Stanishev, former Bulgarian prime minister and former leader of the Party of European Socialists, told Euractiv in an interview.

The European Parliament’s environment and health committee (ENVI), burdened with a heavy workload in the last five-year term, is on track to be split up so that it no longer handles health and food safety, according to heavyweight centre-right EU lawmaker Peter Liese.

The cordon sanitaire was once a non-negotiable electoral strategy that parties across the French political aisles implemented to block the far right from getting to power, but it is now shattered almost to the point of irrelevance.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán urged Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday (2 July) to consider a ceasefire to accelerate an end to the war with Russia and also said he wanted a big cooperation agreement with Kyiv.

Germany should take more responsibility for the security of the EU’s eastern border, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk told his German counterpart Olaf Scholz on Tuesday (2 July) as the two leaders met for the first intergovernmental consultations in six years.

The next European Commission should have a "strong" commissioner for agriculture, to reflect the rising importance of food and farming on the political agenda, the president of COPA, the largest European farmers' association, told Euractiv in an interview.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) officially became the European Drugs Agency (EUDA) on Tuesday (2 July), expanding its advisory support for policymakers.

Providers of general purpose AI, like ChatGPT, will be in the driver's seat when drafting codes of practice that they can later use to demonstrate compliance with the AI Act.

The EU and NATO’s programmes partner to support funding in the defence sector, to attract more private investors, in a bid to answer the industry’s demands to get access to more funds for innovation and production, they announced on Tuesday (2 July).

Ursula von der Leyen started talks with the Greens on Monday (1 July), following negotiations with Socialists and Liberals, as she enters the third stage of her campaigning to get the Commission presidency for a second term: winning over Parliament.

The European Union needs to double targeted investment to meet its 2030 climate goal, a consortium of research organisations said on Tuesday (2 July), warning that the pace of Europe's related action must accelerate.