Italy, seven others under EU budget hammer
The European Commission will on Wednesday tell eight national governments from the eurozone, including Italy, that their national budgets are “at risk of non compliance” with the EU’s budget rules,...
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Female ministers top shortlist to be Bulgaria’s commissioner
Bulgarian cabinet ministers Ekaterina Zaharieva and Lilyana Pavlova are among the first names to emerge as contenders to be the country’s next European commissioner, according to three people familiar...
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Uber’s case against France stuck in Berlaymont traffic
Uber’s complaint to the European Commission over French laws aimed at regulating the ride-sharing company has stalled. The paperwork was completed this summer, yet the two-year-old case was again not...
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Ukrainians to gain visa-free access to EU
EU ambassadors on Thursday backed a European Commission proposal that allows visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens in the EU, and vice-versa, for 90 days in any 180-day period. The decision will not...
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Commission denies Oettinger broke ethics rules
European commissioner Günther Oettinger did nothing wrong when he traveled to Budapest at the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the private plane of a pro-Russia German...
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POLITICO Brussels Playbook Plus: LET’S PLAY FANTASY POLITICS — FIVE-STAR...
LET’S PLAY FANTASY POLITICS: Now that the parallel universe known as Trumpworld is taking shape, it’s time to figure out who runs the rest of the free world. Playbook suggests that Angela Merkel and...
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Verhofstadt to Davis: ‘Welcome to hell’
“Welcome to hell.” That was the message to David Davis, the U.K.’s Brexit secretary, Tuesday morning as he entered the office of Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator. The...
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Robert Fico calls reporters ‘dirty, anti-Slovak prostitutes’
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday called a group of local reporters “dirty, anti-Slovak prostitutes” when asked about allegations of misspent funds, Slovakian broadsheet Dennik reported. A...
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Uber case on hold over Le Pen fears
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s team is holding back a legal case against France over its treatment of Uber at least until after the country’s elections next year, according to two people...
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POLITICO Brussels Playbook Plus: All aboard EU express — Captain Europe...
ALL ABOARD THE EU EXPRESS! The European Commission has thrown some cash behind a watered-down version of the Free InterRail initiative, offering €2.5 million from an expanded Erasmus+ student exchange...
View ArticleLiberal mayors launch fightback against populism
WARSAW â Liberal mayors from across Europe joined forces to fight back against the populist political tide sweeping Europe. A group of more than 20 city leaders â led by Bart Somers of Mechelen...
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Liberal cheer
Vindication for Liberal Democrats. The party sees their by-election victory in Richmond Park as proof that there is a limit to the publicâs appetite for the kind of hard Brexit that Theresa May...
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POLITICO Brussels Playbook Plus: Oettinger’s ever changing travel story —...
OETTINGER’S EVER CHANGING TRAVEL STORY: Commissioner Günther Oettinger canât seem to get his story straight. At first he had Commission spokespeople defending his undeclared flight on the plane of...
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‘We don’t want to become a second Hungary!’
WARSAW â European centrists anointed a new poster child this weekend in their fight against the illiberal groundswell across the Continent being spread by the likes of Viktor Orbán. Ryszard Petru,...
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DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA
The best way to think of Daphne Caruana Galizia is as a one-woman WikiLeaks, crusading against untransparency and corruption in Malta, an island nation famous for both. To John Dalli, a former...
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Timmermans takes Poland complaints to the people
Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s first vice president, on Thursday opened up a new front in his campaign against âserious constitutional crisisâ in Poland â a direct appeal to the...
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POLITICO Brussels Playbook Plus: Syria’s Got Talent — Liberal Sinatra — Good...
‘HERO TO MANY’ OR ‘HOMOPHOBIC TYRANT’? LGBTI rights supporters in the European Parliament have refused to co-sign a letter by conservative MEP Ian Duncan demanding an apology from Jean-Claude Juncker...
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The race for EU membership
The United Kingdom might be trying to check out of the European Union, but there are at least 10 countries keen to be in. Thereâs a problem though: The EUâs golden age of expansion is over. While...
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POLITICO Brussels Playbook Plus: Berlusconi’s back — The invisible MEP —...
ITALIAN 4.5-WAY FIGHT FOR PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT: Silvio Berlusconi never goes away, he merely finds new ways to make his presence felt. Thatâs the real lesson of the past week in European politics....
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Theresa May’s Brexit-for-all challenge
In her New Year message, Theresa May promised a good deal for all Britons when she leaves the Brexit negotiating table. Given the fundamental divisions laid bare in the referendum, it will take more...
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