A process not an event: but Brejoin is in the airThe two candidates most likely to be the UK’s next prime minister say they want to reverse Brexit. But it’s likely to be a slow process rather than a grand event.
From concerns over Israel to getting negotiations right with “our American friends,” data protection has been no walk in the park for veteran EU supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski.
THIS WEEK: Magyar heads to Brussels to unlock Hungary’s frozen EU recovery money by 31 August Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is expected in Brussels to negotiate the release of €10.4bn in frozen EU recovery funds. In Cyprus, foreign affairs ministers meet informally to discuss Iran and Russia. A new strategy on humanitarian aid will be unveiled by the EU Commission on Wednesday.
“State and regional governments in Europe, as in many other regions in the world, often have quite a lot of devolved powers,” Climate Group’s executive director Champa Patel explains. “Whether that’s fiscal, regulatory, financial, technical; there are many policy areas where they can make most decisions themselves.”
Viktor Orbán’s allies cried foul, after Tisza proposed a new limit of eight years for Hungarian PMs – to be imposed retrospectively. Meanwhile, more classified documents were published in the scandal relating to a previous pardon for paedophile, which helped bring down Fidesz last month, and further moves to dismantle the former regime’s grip on Hungary’s universities.
EU states agreed to launch the legislation at the earliest in July next year – after first proposing a two-year delay. MEPs wanted an immediate launch – but agreed for 1 January 2027 as a compromise. Neither was accepted.
Recent reforms by Robert Fico’s government in Bratislava have drawn intense scrutiny for undermining the rule of law — prompting the European Parliament to renew its call to freeze EU funding for Slovakia.
EU lawmakers accuse the commission of breaching public access to information rules – by amending a law actually intended to bring transparency to the rapidly-expanding data centre sector.
call for data centre transparency after Investigate Europe revelations of Big Tech lobbying campaign
Boring plenary debates? Get rid of the MEPs“The Commission is also not taking the debate seriously, they’re just sitting there for three hours, and at the end they read out a script that was prepared beforehand,” complains Bas Eickhout, a Dutch Green MEP.
MEPs have rejected a request to lift the immunity of the long-serving German MEP Angelika Niebler, after a request from the European Chief Prosecutor and media reports over her alleged misuse of EU funds.
Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony says Orbán’s system has “collapsed”, forcing Hungary to rebuild. He gives an insider’s view of Magyar and of Orbán’s €2bn ‘Castle’, while urging the EU to see its cities as strongholds of democracy.
THIS WEEK: Final push for US trade deal and migration returns as EU leaders travel to MexicoThis week will see high-stakes negotiations over a trade deal with the US and new deportation rules, before the first EU-Mexico summit in 11 years. Meanwhile, MEPs meet in Strasbourg, where the EU Commission will present a new fertiliser strategy, while Latvia faces political instability following the government’s collapse.
A renewed push to ditch fossil fuels is long overdue, but thanks to the influence of industry lobby groups, permitting exemptions intended for renewables are being used for new dirty energy projects, such as CO2 pipelines and fossil hydrogen.
As Poland faces mounting pressure to recognise same-sex marriages registered in the EU, one young activist from Warsaw tells EUobserver how conservative forces are trying to resist reform and what it means for LGBTQ+ rights in the country.
Péter Magyar’s new government has moved with startling speed in its first days in office, combining symbolic political gestures with sweeping institutional changes aimed at dismantling key pillars of Viktor Orbán’s system. As ministers tour the extravagant interiors of the former regime, the new administration is promising transparency, legal reckoning and a rapid reorientation towards Europe.
From Hungary to France, financial strains, political influence, and growing restrictions on press freedom are ever worse in Europe, the general secretary of the European Federation of Journalists, Ricardo Gutiérrez, tells EUobserver in an interview.
Rightwing groups in the European Parliament have extended for six months a controversial committee investigating NGOs that receive EU funding.
Nato remains strong despite current tensions, says Stubb as he calls Europe to take on more responsibility for its own defence.
In his inaugural speech before parliament, Peter Magyar promised accountability, democratic renewal and national reconciliation, while condemning the corruption, propaganda and institutional decay of the previous era. He vowed to restore the rule of law, rebuild trust in public institutions and urgently unlock frozen EU funds. “This is your change of system,” Magyar told thousands gathered outside parliament on Budapest’s Kossuth Square, where supporters celebrated the beginning of what he called “a free, democratic Hungary”.
Péter Magyar’s embrace of national symbols has unsettled critics at home and abroad, but his approach could signal a shift towards a more inclusive, less confrontational form of Hungarian patriotism.