Cuardaigh

The human rights situation is worsening in Belarus, with a continued climate of oppression in the country. Meanwhile, presidential 'elections' are due to take place on 26 January 2025. The democratic forces of Belarus call this vote a 'self-reappointment of Lukashenka' and urge the international community not to recognise it. The European Parliament will hold a debate on the situation and possible actions with the High Representative /Vice-President of the Commission, Kaja Kallas, during the January ...

The focus of the December 2024 European Council meeting lay on two main issues: Ukraine and the European Union in the world. On Ukraine, the main message was that the EU will give full support to Ukraine for as long as necessary. In that context, EU leaders condemned Russia and those who support its war, and also discussed the path to peace. Regarding the EU in the world, EU leaders first examined developments in the Middle East, with a strong focus on the situation in Syria, and, over dinner, held ...

The European Council consists of the 27 Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States, who are voting members, together with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission, who have no vote (Article 15(2) Treaty on European Union). The chart shows the current members, the national office they hold, their most recent European political affiliation, and the year their membership began.

The last European Council meeting of 2024 will be the first to be prepared and chaired by the institution's new President, António Costa. The agenda has a heavy external relations component, including, besides Ukraine, a strategic discussion on the 'EU in the world'. This exchange over dinner, not designed to lead to written conclusions, will cover transatlantic relations, EU-UK relations and enlargement. In addition, EU leaders will discuss the situation in the Middle East and developments in Moldova ...

In recent decades, the digital information sphere has become the public space for debate: the place where people access information, and form and express opinions. Over the past 10 years, global information ecosystems have also increasingly become geostrategic battlegrounds. Authoritarian state actors are testing and fine-tuning techniques to manipulate public opinion and foment divisions and tension, to undermine democratic societies and open democracy as a system. At the same time, the geostrategic ...

Involving young people could be considered an ethical requirement in any inclusive approach to the policy-making process. However, while young people are often the direct addressees of specific policy initiatives, their voices are little heard – whether at Member State or EU level. Over the past 5 to 6 years, the younger generations have been able to claim more attention from politicians, and from society at large, on matters they close to their hearts. A case in point was the school climate strikes ...

During the November III plenary session, the European Parliament is expected to vote on the second von der Leyen Commission as a whole. This vote should be the penultimate step in the investiture process that began after the European Parliament elections. If the Commission obtains Parliament's consent – by a majority of the votes cast – the European Council will then appoint its members by qualified majority, allowing the new Commission to take up its duties for the expected starting date of 1 December ...

The European Council consists of the Heads of State or Government of the 27 EU Member States, as well as the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. It became a formal European Union (EU) institution with a full-time President in 2009, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Although it does not include legislative functions, the European Council's role – to 'provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development' and to define its 'general ...

Media freedom and pluralism are among the rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Article 11) and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10), together with freedom of expression and information. The EU is actively engaged in protecting the independence and safety of journalists, as a crucial component in the proper democratic functioning of its institutions and Member States. Nevertheless, in recent years an increasing number of attacks and threats against journalists ...

The last formal European Council meeting under the presidency of Charles Michel had an exceptionally full agenda, covered in only a day. The most prominent topic was migration, with EU leaders agreeing on comprehensive conclusions, marking a shift in the European Council's approach to the issue. Strong emphasis was put on fighting the instrumentalisation of migrants and on increasing returns. Other core agenda points were Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presenting his 'victory plan', ...