Europe News Europe not ready for increasing drought, flooding and forest fires With increasingly frequent episodes of drought, flooding and forest fires across Europe, an audit of EU spending and action on the ground suggests the bloc is not keeping up with a worsening situation – and as much as two-fifths of local projects are having little to no impact. 16/10/2024
Europe News Key MEP threatens to block EU budget without more transparency A recent draft plan to tip hundreds of EU funding programmes into a single pot caused an ‘explosion’ in the European Parliament, Monika Hohlmeier said. 15/10/2024
Europe News EU regions against Commission's draft plan to centralise next budget The EU’s upcoming budget (2028-34) should be simpler and more flexible, but regional and local authorities must remain involved, Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, a member of the Committee of the Regions, told members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Brussels on Monday. 15/10/2024
Europe News Lithuania pleas for EU funds as it bears brunt of Russia’s war Brussels shouldn’t forget its border regions as it revamps its trillion-euro budget, the finance ministry's Mindaugas Liutvinskas told Euronews – as he urges EU counterparts to seize Russian assets and issue eurobonds. 10/10/2024
Europe News EU's €240bn budget: Bloc's auditors blast spending errors Error rates in EU spending have soared to a level not seen since the financial crisis, in part because of complex and overlapping programmes — and it’s not clear how Brussels will repay pandemic-era debts, the European Court of Auditors said. 10/10/2024
Europe News MEPs oppose cuts to EU programs, demand increased budget for 2025 Parliamentary budget committee adopted its position on the 2025 budget, rejecting the Council's proposal to cut €1.52 billion from flagship EU projects such as Horizon Europe or Erasmus+. 08/10/2024
Europe News Money matters under scrutiny, Newsletter This week's key events presented by Euronews' finance reporter Paula Soler 07/10/2024
Green News NGOs target new Commission with launch of ‘Blue Manifesto’ With a European Oceans Pact in the pipeline and a new Fisheries and Oceans Commissioner set to take office later this year, green groups have set out their demands for the next EU executive. 01/10/2024
Europe News Sweden and Finland want to tie EU farm subsidies to rule of law The call comes after Brussels blocked billions in funds to Poland and Hungary due to concerns over judicial reforms and democratic backsliding. 23/09/2024
Green News Civil groups call on EU leaders to prioritise regional support funding Central and eastern European countries are among the biggest beneficiaries of transition funds due to their historic dependency on the coal mining sector and heavy industries. 18/09/2024
Europe News Brussels moves to deduct €200 million fine from Hungary's EU funds Budapest will soon be deprived of a share of its EU funds for refusing to pay the fine imposed by the European Court of Justice. 18/09/2024
Europe News EU bungled plastic waste tax, auditors say A new levy intended to discourage the landfill and incineration of plastic waste is plagued by dodgy data, and may have led to an uptick in crime, auditors warn 16/09/2024
Europe News Erasmus+ and research funding slashed in EU’s 2025 budget plans MEPs and pressure groups have decried a €295m planned cut to the Erasmus+ student exchange programme, formalised by EU member states on Friday. 13/09/2024
Europe News Bloc needs simpler, flexible, policy-based budget, says EU official How should the bloc finance its next budget? How big should it be? And what should be its spending areas? A policy discussion organised today by the influential Brussels-based think tank Bruegel offered some ideas. 04/09/2024
Green News EU hails benefits of multi-billion-euro environmental action A cost-benefit analysis by the European Commission says nearly €3.5 billion of EU money pumped into real-world environmental schemes through the LIFE programme gave a tenfold return on investment – justification, green groups say, for massively ramping up spending. 02/08/2024
Europe News From allowances to golden parachutes: How much are MEPs paid? We look at the perks the newly elected lawmakers meeting this week can expect. 16/07/2024
Europe News Auditors slam poor oversight of cohesion spending The EU's cohesion funds aim to reduce social and economic disparities between the richest and poorest regions, but both the Commission and member states are failing to adequately oversee their spending, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). 08/07/2024
Ukraine What's at stake for Europe in Ukraine's EU membership talks? A new budget, rule of law, defence, and security are the top priorities for opening the European Union's gates to Kyiv. Will Ukraine and the EU be up to the challenge? 26/06/2024
Belgium Von der Leyen spars with rivals on EU budget and Chinese trade war With two weeks until European elections, candidates diverged on the size of the bloc’s trillion-euro spending, EU air defence, and whether to impose US-style punitive tariffs on Beijing. 21/05/2024
Health news Bloc’s health budget facing uncertain future – EU official An unprecedented funding line for health in the current EU long-term budget will likely be a one-off, said a senior official mulling long-term financing more sustainable than EU funds alone. 15/05/2024