Author: Press Room
Montenegro is expected to set a precedent for how the expansion of the EU will be financed in the near future, introducing yet another complication to the complex discussion of the bloc’s next long-term budget. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Last month, the European Commission presented the financial package for Montenegro’s accession, the most advanced process of all the current candidate countries for EU membership. The economic cost of the Western Balkan country, which has a population of around 626,000, was estimated at €3.2 billion – less than €1 per EU taxpayer, or, as Commission officials put it, less than the price of…
Published on 21/07/2026 – 20:12 GMT+2 Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Yolanda Díaz, has been sued before the Supreme Court by singer Julio Iglesias, who accuses her of “unlawful interference with his right to honour and privacy” after two former employees came forward in January with allegations of sexual abuse. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Iglesias has asked the judge to order the Sumar leader to pay him €50,000 in compensation over remarks she made on her Bluesky account and on RTVE’s programme ‘La Hora de la 1’ at the start of the year, which he argues amounted to “unlawful interference with his right…
By Greta Ruffino with AP Published on 21/07/2026 – 20:23 GMT+2 A federal appeals court has rejected former US President Joe Biden’s bid to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of interviews he gave to a memoir ghostwriter before he was elected president. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a 2-1 ruling issued late Monday, the panel found there is a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the material Biden wants to keep under wraps, adding that redactions to the recordings would help protect his privacy. “We conclude that any remaining incursion on personal privacy from disclosure of the now-redacted materials likely does not outweigh…
By Euronews Published on 21/07/2026 – 19:53 GMT+2 French MPs and senators are voting a final compromise text on the bill on banning social media for under-15s on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT French MP and rapporteur for the bill Laure Miller says French policy-makers would want to impose much stricter constraints on digital platforms, but she claims EU law restricts their room for manoeuvre. “Really, under European Union law as it stands today, all we’re allowed to do—there’s just this tiny door that opened last summer with the guidelines—is to set a minimum age in national law”, Miller says. The compromise text…
Greece is holding up the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia over a ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) that is scheduled to come into full force in 2027. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The ban, as agreed last year, will prohibit the “purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly,” of LNG that “originates in Russia or is exported from Russia”. But Greece, which hosts the world’s largest merchant fleet, wants the legal text revised to allow the transport of Russian LNG to continue past the cut-off date. The main beneficiary would be Dynagas, a company specialised in shipping in sub-zero…
Nearly twenty years after the project was launched, Normandy is on the verge of seeing its bid for UNESCO World Heritage status come to fruition. The United Nations body is due to announce its decision between 24 and 27 July, at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee, being held in Busan, South Korea. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT If the application is approved, the D-Day landing beaches will join the list of 54 French sites already inscribed, alongside Mont-Saint-Michel, the Palace of Versailles and Chartres Cathedral. The designation is reserved for places deemed to possess an ‘outstanding universal value’ and commits…
Published on 21/07/2026 – 16:04 GMT+2•Updated 16:08 The European Commission is expected to announce the first fine for search engine company Google as part of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), German financial newspaper Handelsblatt reports. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Citing two anonymous, high-ranking EU officials, the paper said the potential one billion euro fine will be announced on Thursday, and relates to two main proceedings concerning the abuse of market power. The first case reportedly concerns whether Google favours its own services in online searches, while the second case reportedly centres on Google allegedly preventing app developers from advertising downloading options outside…
Co-legislators struck a deal on 15 June to update air passenger rights. The Parliament approved it on 7 July (646 to 12), and the Council on 13 July. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Commission first proposed updating the rules in 2013, but negotiations failed due to differing views among co-legislators over the level of protection. In June, the Parliament effectively won the battle by rejecting the Council’s attempt to water down protections. It kept most rights for flight disruptions while securing clearer reimbursement procedures, greater price transparency and a ban of no-show flights. While airlines’ representatives consider it a missed opportunity, MEP…
Good morning. Angela Skujins here on newsletter duties, helping you digest all the major news from Brussels and beyond for the final week before the summer holidays. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Tricks of the trade. A delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, led by Member of the European Parliament and chair David McAllister, is in China this week for meetings with Chinese authorities. We tried to contact members of the delegation during the visit, only to be reminded that their phones had been taken away by the local authorities and they were incommunicado. But the timing is notable. With…
Published on 21/07/2026 – 12:47 GMT+2 A strike on a ship in the Black Sea carrying propane to the Ukrainian port of Reni wounded three crew members and forced everyone onboard to evacuate, according to a statement by Romania’s President Nicușor Dan on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Last night, the LPG tanker Gas Lisbon, flying the Liberian flag, was struck outside Romanian territorial waters, approximately 20 nautical miles off the Romanian coast,” said the Romanian leader in a post on X. “Shortly after the incident, two vessels from the Romanian Agency for the Salvage of Human Life at Sea proceeded to…