European Commission

The European Commission president's 2023 holiday at the Cretan summer house of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has revealed a "structural shortcoming" in the bloc's ethics rules, the European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly said in a press release on Tuesday. 

A European political drama unfolded into the early hours of Thursday morning, as the approval of all European Commissioners by the relevant European Parliament committees remained uncertain.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament agreed to approve all seven pending European Commissioner candidates, according to Politico, citing four MEPs and political officials.

The European Commissioner-designate for health and animal welfare, Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi, failed to sail through his vetting in Brussels on Nov. 6, and will have to provide further written details, according to parliamentary sources.

Nominees for some of the European Union's top jobs face parliamentary hearings on Monday, as lawmakers start to vet would-be commissioners to oversee Europe-wide policies ranging from agriculture to trade for the next five years.

It is simply impossible to overlook the devastation in Valencia, Spain. Even if you were to try, the rivers of mud, the piles of cars, the rising number of victims, remain etched in your mind. The death toll has passed 200, the highest in any European country in half a century. For now. Because the continent has not managed to prepare itself for the onslaught of the climate crisis.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised North Macedonia's reform efforts Thursday, but stressed the need for progress on constitutional changes if the country was to make progress with its bid to join the EU.

The European Commission will propose during its new term measures to tighten the EU's stance on migration, responding to pressure from governments across the bloc for which irregular arrivals have become a major political and security problem.

Greece has reportedly abstained from a vote in the European Union on Friday about blocking the European Commission's plans to impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), contributing to Brussels' plan for levies on China's EVs to proceed and start getting implemented as of next month.

The European Commission has referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union over a law aimed at protecting national sovereignty. The Commission argues that the law violates European regulations by creating a Sovereignty Protection Office, which is responsible for investigating activities allegedly conducted in the interests of foreign countries, organizations, or individuals.