The European Commission has taken a further step towards implementing the €90,000 million support loan for Ukraine, which will provide Ukraine with essential budgetary support and defence equipment in 2026 and 2027. The approved package includes a proposal for the Council to approve the remaining €45 billion of the loan for 2027. President Ursula von […]
An investigation into the Italy-Albania migration agreement wins the 2026 Daphne Caruana Galizia Journalism Prize
An investigation into the migration agreement between Italy and Albania was awarded the 2026 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism on Wednesday. The winning report, by journalists Giacomo Zandonini from Italy, and Maite Vermeulen from the Netherlands, published on the Dutch journalism platform De Correspondent, focuses on an agreement under which Italy built a detention […]
The European Parliament’s priorities for the new anti-corruption strategy
The Plenary adopted its priorities for the Commission’s forthcoming anti-corruption strategy, aimed at strengthening prevention, enforcement and integrity across the EU. In a resolution adopted by a show of hands, Parliament states that the anti-corruption strategy must address the evolving risks of corruption linked to organised crime and new technologies, following the entry into force […]
The EU and Moldova are strengthening their partnership with a disbursement of 157 million euros from the Growth Plan
The European Union (EU) and the Republic of Moldova (hereinafter ‘Moldova’) held the tenth meeting of the Association Council in Brussels on 5 October. The meeting underlined the shared strategic objective of Moldova’s accession to the EU and sent a clear message: Moldova is moving resolutely towards EU membership and its future lies firmly within […]
The Commission proposes to release €4.2 billion for Hungary and restore its full access to Erasmus and Horizon Europe
The European Commission has proposed to the Council that the protective measures adopted in 2022 against Hungary under the Conditionality Regulation be lifted, as it considers that Hungary has remedied the breaches of the rule of law affecting the EU budget. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission: “Hungary has taken significant steps to […]
2026 Rule of Law Report strengthens Europe’s prosperity, security and democratic resilience
Last July 17, the European Commission published its seventh annual Rule of Law Report, assessing the state of the rule of law across all EU Member States, as well as four candidate countries: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The rule of law underpins Europe’s prosperity, democracy and security. Independent justice systems, effective anti-corruption frameworks, […]
Serbia and enlargement: MEPs expect a genuine commitment to EU values
The Serbian government continues to assert that EU accession is its strategic objective, but MEPs warn that this is often not reflected in its actions. Progress towards EU accession involves not only adopting reforms, but also their thorough and comprehensive implementation, MEPs warn in a report on Serbia adopted on Wednesday with 468 votes in […]
The Commission has published its fifth annual Rule of Law Report
The Commission has published its fifth annual Rule of Law Report, examining systematically and objectively rule of law developments in all Member States on an equal basis. In comparison to the first issue of the Rule of Law Report adopted in 2020, Member States and the EU as a whole are much better prepared to detect, […]
European Commission proposes structured dialogue with Spain on the Spanish General Council of the Judiciary
In its 2022 and 2023 Rule of Law Report for Spain, the Commission had made the following recommendation: “Proceed with the renewal of the Council for the Judiciary as a matter of priority and initiate, immediately after the renewal, a process in view of adapting the appointment of its judges-members, taking into account European standards […]