Author: Press Room

Published on 12/02/2026 – 14:53 GMT+1 The European Court of Justice should annul the European Commission’s 2023 decision to disburse €10.2 billion to Hungary, according to an opinion released this week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta concluded that Hungary did not fulfil all required milestones to qualify for the funds. While such opinions are not legally binding, court rulings typically align with them. Most EU funds for Hungary were initially frozen due to concerns over systemic corruption and rule of law violations. But a year later, the Commission proposed unfreezing the €10.2 billion after concluding that Hungary had delivered…

Cancer cases are on the rise across the EU amid an ageing population, lifestyle risk factors and improved testing practices. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In 2024, there were 2.7 million new cancer cases across the bloc’s 27 member states, according to a new OECD report. Since 2000, the number of new cancer cases has surged by about 30% for both men and women, with estimates predicting half a million new cases by 2040. Cancer incidence among young women is increasing particularly fast: it is estimated that 2.4 women and 2.8 men were diagnosed with cancer every minute in 2024. Half of the…

Published on 12/02/2026 – 12:33 GMT+1 Hungary’s opposition leader Péter Magyar has accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party of preparing a blackmail campaign against him involving a secretly recorded sex tape, escalating tensions ahead of April’s parliamentary elections. Magyar, whose Tisza party leads Fidesz in opinion polls, said he suspects the governing party plans to release intimate recordings made with surveillance equipment. “I suspect they are planning to release a recording, recorded with secret service equipment and possibly faked, in which my then-girlfriend and I are seen having intimate intercourse,” Magyar wrote on social media. He said journalists…

Good morning, I’m Mared Gwyn. It’s Thursday, and EU leaders are about to descend on a remote castle in the Belgian countryside for talks on how to restore European competitiveness and revive a stagnant economy. Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi – the Italian duo who diagnosed the EU’s outdated economic doctrine in two separate reports in 2024 – will also join the talks, two years after Draghi warned the continent could face “slow agony” if it didn’t act fast. The informal “retreat” is not expected to result in any concrete decisions. But the momentum suggests that the talks could be…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is producing empty phrases, Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said, arguing Europe must choose between federalisation or dissolution. “We have two choices – we are at a fork in the road. We can move in the direction of federation or we can disband the euro,” Varoufakis told Euronews’ Europe Today programme on Thursday. The economist said EU leaders were choosing neither option and “falling in the vacuum in between”. Varoufakis blamed Europe’s problems on a monetary union lacking fiscal and investment structures, claiming the continent has been starved of investment for two…

The European Union is working to strengthen its weapons industry, increase defence spending, and improve joint procurement. As it prepares for less US military involvement and aims to limit American companies’ roles in contracts, Brussels is encouraging faster production and closer cooperation. However, even with strict rules, loopholes and ambiguities still allow weapons to reach high-risk destinations. A defence push reshaping the system The EU has pledged to support Ukraine, strengthen its own defence industry, and buy more equipment from European sources through new plans such as EDIS and the 2025 Defence Readiness Omnibus. These strategies aim to simplify joint…

Published on 11/02/2026 – 6:08 GMT+1 ArcelorMittal announced in May 2024 that it planned to invest in an electric arc furnace at its Dunkirk plant, and formally confirmed the investment on 10 February 2026. French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné and several ministers were present for the announcement, which involves a total planned investment of €1.3 billion. The company says the project will allow the construction of an electric arc furnace with a capacity of two million tonnes a year, due to come on stream in 2029. The aim is to produce steel without coal, whose combustion generates…

Industrial decline. Disruptive technologies. Sluggish investment. Regulatory barriers. Punitive tariffs. Unfair competition. Climate change. Demographic crisis. The formidable challenges besetting the European Union have triggered a desperate search for bold, ingenious solutions that can deliver the much-needed big bang. But just how big are leaders willing to go? “Our ambition should always be to reach an agreement among all 27 member states,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a letter to leaders ahead of an informal summit on Thursday. “However, where a lack of progress or ambition risks undermining Europe’s competitiveness or capacity to act, we should not…

United States Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby is expected to tell European NATO allies that only a limited number of US troops will be withdrawn from NATO territory as part of any posture review, Euronews can reveal. Sources close to the situation have said Colby will use Thursday’s meeting of NATO defence ministers to commit to keeping the vast bulk of currently stationed troops in Germany and Italy and along Europe’s eastern flank in place Colby is deputising for US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who will not be attending the meeting. There are currently approximately 80-90,000 US troops stationed…

Immigration has returned to the centre of the European political agenda, and with it, some of the toughest questions facing the European Union today. Across Brussels and national capitals, lawmakers are debating whether to apply the “safe third country” concept and create an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin to speed up asylum procedures. At the same time, Spain has moved ahead with a large-scale regularisation plan granting legal status to thousands of migrants already living and working in the country, a step that supporters say will strengthen labour markets and foster integration, but critics fear could alter migration…