Our guide to Europe’s complexities, by breaking down and explaining political decisions, terms, events and processes into a reader friendly format.

NGOs say Italy's code of conduct for rescue ships is incompatible with international law.

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Europe Decoded

'It's a shame': NGOs blast Italy's code of conduct for rescue ships

The code compels ship to disembark without delay as soon as the first rescue operation is complete, even if other migrants remain lost at sea.

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Denmark hosts some of the world's largest manufactures of wind turbines.

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Europe Decoded

'Fears of relocation are real': Danish industry warns of US subsidies

The Inflation Reduction Act offers generous tax breaks and rebates for green technology, but only if it is manufactured in North America.

19/01/2023

French Presidence Emmanuel Macron, right, and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after a joint news conference at the EU-Med9 summit in Alicante, Spain, Dec. 9, 2022.

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Europe Decoded

How Macron and Sánchez hope for diplomatic reset at Barcelona summit

Talks on energy and migration will dominate the summit on Thursday.

19/01/2023

Germany and France took up almost 80% of all extraordinary state aid schemes approved by the European Commission since March 2022.

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Europe Decoded

Germany & France account for most EU subsidies. Why is that a concern?

The US Inflation Reduction Act has triggered an intense debate in the EU that pits industrial subsidies against fair competition.

17/01/2023

TikTok is owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, a fact that has stoked fears of political interference.

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Europe Decoded

TikTok battles privacy concerns and espionage fears in Europe

TikTok is under growing scrutiny over concerns related to data transfers and possible access by the Chinese government.

10/01/2023

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, left, greets Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin at an EU summit in Brussels, June 24, 2022.

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Europe Decoded

Europe’s leaders are younger and less experienced. Does it matter?

Today, the average age of a European head of government is 53. In the 1980s, it was over 65.

09/01/2023

Core inflation gives a more accurate description of the economy because it excludes the volatile prices of food and energy.

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Europe Decoded

Explained: What is core inflation and what it says about the economy

Core inflation attempts to give a more precise picture of the health of the economy and people's purchasing power.

09/01/2023

Eva, left, and Dana, right (full names not given) pose inside the Artemis brothel in Berlin, May 8, 2009.

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Europe Decoded

EU countries are split on how to deal with sex work

Belgium became the first European country to decriminalise sex work in 2022. Now MEPs are debating what the rules should be at the EU level.

03/01/2023

The EU deal builds upon an OECD tax agreement endorsed by 137 countries around the world.

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Europe Decoded

The EU has a new deal on 'tax fairness'. This is how it will work.

The EU's deal builds upon a landmark tax agreement brokered by the OECD and endorsed by 137 countries around the world.

16/12/2022

A Shahed-131 UAV documented by Conflict Armament Research in Ukraine in November 2022.

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Europe Decoded

Ukraine war: Western components found in Iranian drones used by Russia

The findings from Conflict Armament Research throw into question the long-established regime of United Nations sanctions against Iran.

14/12/2022

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Europe Decoded

What do we know about the European Parliament corruption scandal?

A European Parliament vice president and MEP staffers are implicated in a corruption and bribery scandal. Here's what we know so far.

13/12/2022

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Europe Decoded

Calls for reform of EU lobbying rules grow amid corruption scandal

"It is the only institution that basically has virtually no rules imposed on their representatives and very weak enforcement of those ethical rules," said one expert, referring to the European Parliament.

12/12/2022

The voluntary reallocation system was meant to prevent incidents such as the Ocean Viking crisis that pit Italy against France.

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Europe Decoded

EU states have relocated just 117 asylum seekers out of 8,000 pledges

The system is supposed to enable the relocation of people from southern EU countries to other states across the bloc.

15/11/2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country's $38-billion deficit was "unsustainable."

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Europe Decoded

Ukraine's 2023 budget has a $38 billion gap. Who will help cover it?

Russia's war has ravaged Ukraine's economy, prompting a drastic decline in revenues and forcing the country to ask for foreign assistance.

14/11/2022

Dan LaMoore works on a Seth Thomas Post Clock at Electric Time Company, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, in Medfield, Mass., US.

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Europe Decoded

When will the EU end seasonal clock changes? Only time will tell.

Time in Europe is political and ending the twice-yearly practice will require a lot of political decisions.

28/10/2022

The European Central Bank is among the latest bank to raise their benchmark interest rates.

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Europe Decoded

Why do central banks raise interest rates to curb inflation?

Banks hope that if borrowing money becomes more expensive, consumer demand will fall, bringing down prices along the way.

27/10/2022

The closed-door arbitration system of the Energy Charter Treaty is under increasing criticism from EU member states.

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Europe Decoded

What is the Energy Charter Treaty and why is it so controversial?

The ECT establishes a system of private arbitration that can result in multimillion euro compensations for fossil fuel companies.

26/10/2022

Attendees at the EU Space Forum in Brussels

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Europe Decoded

Europe's space sector hesitates between independence and cooperation

The European Space Forum 2022 takes place this week in Brussels.

26/10/2022

Bulgaria and Romania remain outside the Schengen Area, which means they cannot abolish border checks with other EU countries.

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Europe Decoded

What's keeping Bulgaria and Romania out of Schengen?

Both the European Commission and the European Parliament have said the countries are ready to join the passport-free area.

24/10/2022

This photo taken from video provided by Russia on Feb 19, 2022, shows a Yars thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile being launched from an air field.

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Europe Decoded

Explained: Who has nuclear weapons in Europe and where are they?

France, Russia and the Uk are the only European countries to have nuclear weapons. But the US also has about 100 nuclear warheads stored across the continent.

13/10/2022

G7 leaders are designing a price cap to slash the Kremlin's oil revenues.

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Europe Decoded

The G7 wants to cap the price of Russian oil. It won't be easy.

Western countries want to use their leading insurance and shipping companies to slash the Kremlin's oil revenues.

10/10/2022