European court

Construction market officials believe it is a matter of days until the government waives the criterion of the maximum pending projects permitted for companies entering tenders of higher budgets - a move that would open up the market and offer greater flexibility toward the optimum absorption of money from the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Ilias Kasidiaris requested his release under conditions in a new application submitted to the Lamia Misdemeanor Court Council. Kasidiaris who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in the case of the Golden Dawn. In his new application, he claims that he has served his entire sentence and is entitled to conditional release.

Greece is being referred to the European Court for the fourth time over "widespread failures" in urban wastewater management. 

The case brought by the European Commission pertains to 153 medium-sized towns and cities (from 2,000 to 15,000 residents), where Greece continues to flout directives for protecting public health and the environment.

The speaker of Georgia's parliament said on Monday he signed into law a controversial "foreign influence" bill adopted despite mass protests, Western condemnation and a presidential veto.

Georgia's parliament adopted the divisive law last week, overriding a presidential veto on the measure, which critics say is anti-democratic and mirrors Russian legislation used to silence dissent.

A European court on Thursday upheld Italy's right to seize a prized Greek statue from the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, ruling that Italy was justified in trying to reclaim an important part of its cultural heritage and rejecting the museum's appeal.

Last week I attended the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The parliamentarians from 46 European states, including former Tory ministers, voted to accept Kosovo into membership despite loud objections from Serbia. 

The European Commission has referred the Greek state to the European Court because of its long-standing practice of paying off its commitments to its citizens and suppliers whenever it wishes. The cause is a long-term delay in paying the hospitals' commitments, which total 1.3 billion euros.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday issued a scathing decision against Greece, rapping authorities for breaches of privacy, medical procedure and judicial due process, over a Health Ministry campaign in the spring of 2012 to name and shame sex workers who were found to be HIV positive after being forcibly tested for the disease.

In a move that adds strain to European Union cohesion, Hungary has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission (EC), seeking criminal proceedings against Bulgaria over its imposition of a new transit fee on Russian gas.

A year after the agreement between Cyprus' Agriculture Ministry, halloumi producers, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it seems Cyprus' protected cheese is facing new challenges.