Author: Press Room
Published on 17/09/2026 – 13:32 GMT+2•Updated 13:45 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s invitation to become the EU’s first “associate member”, with some caveats. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In her State of the Union address on Wednesday, von der Leyen floated the idea of the unprecedented arrangement, which has yet to be fully defined. In his own speech before the European Parliament, Carney welcomed the move, pointing to opinion polls showing an overwhelming majority of Canadians favour much closer ties with Brussels. At the same time, he spelled out some limits in how far Ottawa…
Published on 17/09/2026 – 11:38 GMT+2 A number of social media posts claim that Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in France’s 2027 presidential election, is promising a referendum on the country’s EU membership if she wins the keys to the Élysée Palace next year. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The posts, primarily in Spanish, provide no further detail, and that’s our first clue that the claims are false: Le Pen is not calling for a Frexit referendum if she becomes president. It is true that the National Rally politician is a harsh critic of the EU and once championed the idea of…
Published on 17/09/2026 – 10:44 GMT+2•Updated 11:04 European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius said Europe can respond to Russia in a “painful way” through the development of an anti-hybrid warfare playbook. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We can find ways for how Russia will pay quite a painful price for their provocations,” he said in exclusive comments to Euronews’ flagship current affairs news programme, Europe Today. “This is what the Commission president spoke about.” He was responding to comments made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at her agenda-setting State of the European Union speech on Wednesday, in which she proposed…
European People’s Party MEP David McAllister said the European Union’s relationship with Canada is “very unique”. He believes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to take it “to the next level” after offering Ottawa a tailor-made status of “associate membership”. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT McAllister says a strengthened partnership “is not against any third country” following US President Donald Trump’s threats of retaliation against the European Union over the announcement.
Published on 17/09/2026 – 9:30 GMT+2•Updated 9:30 European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has told Euronews that countries including Australia and New Zealand could follow Canada in becoming “associate members” of the European Union as like-minded nations seek closer ties. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking exclusively to Europe Today ahead of a speech by Canadian Prime MInister Mark Carny on Thursday_,_ Metsola described the proposed status as a third way between full EU membership and candidate status. “There are countries with which we want to deepen our relationship,” Metsola said. “I don’t doubt that it will include other countries, and others will come…
Heat, parched soils and significantly smaller hop cones: for many hop farmers in Austria this year’s harvest is proving sobering. The Mühlviertel, one of the country’s most important hop-growing regions, is particularly hard hit. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “The heat and the drought have taken a heavy toll on us. Some of my plants are completely ruined,” says Stefan Hofer, chair of the Mühlviertel hop growers’ co-operative, speaking to ORF. Even the plants that survived the dry spell have not developed as well, he says. “The others simply haven’t been able to form cones in the same way. Everything is about half…
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Paris on Thursday, ahead of an international summit, aimed at mobilising support for the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to an Elysée source, the talks — which are part of the Aqaba Process launched by Jordan in 2015 — will bring together senior officials and military experts from France, Britain, Jordan, Lebanon and the US to discuss plans for deploying the LAF, as well as wider efforts to stabilise the region. At present, Lebanon is seeking international support for its…
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has seized Europe’s political spotlight this week with his clearest overtures yet towards the European Union (EU), days before he is set to join senior EU officials at a European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Carney said overnight that he’s seeking a “unique alliance” between Canada and the European Union but not full membership of the bloc, after the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Ottawa was seeking formal talks with Brussels on “associate” EU membership. The reports come just ahead of Carney’s visit to Strasbourg, where European Commission President Ursula von der…
The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an EU Kids Act proposal restricting minors’ access to platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, alongside new safety requirements for online services including video games and AI chatbots. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualised images,” von der Leyen said. “No personal account under the age of 15. No social media under the age of 13. That means…
By Frances Lopez & Video by Léo Arnoux Published on 15/09/2026 – 10:15 GMT+2 Nearly every European agrees that speaking a second language is a valuable skill — but a recent survey suggests far fewer can actually do it, with fluency levels varying widely from one country to the next. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to a YouGov survey of adults in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, between 87% and 97% across all six countries say learning another language is useful. Yet when respondents were asked whether they could actually speak a second language fluently, the numbers told a different story. Denmark recorded…