EUโs top court scraps controversial truck return obligation
The rulings ends a very bitter dispute that split EU member countries.
internal market
How a law on truck movements divided the EU
The EU’s top court delivers a ruling on an exceptionally fierce legal fight this week.
โTidal waveโ: Europeโs populists push for migrant clampdown as Trump cranks up rhetoric
France and Germany have joined calls for a tougher EU migration policy following a series of far-right election wins.
European Parliament inches toward commissioner hearings in November
Chairs of the Parliament’s committees prefer a Nov. 4 start date.
UK scraps Brexitโs โNot for EUโ food labels โ for now
The eleventh-hour policy reversal follows a huge backlash from businesses.
Breton slams โempressโ von der Leyenโs power grab and Franceโs loss of influence in EU
Former French commissioner tells Le Monde that France has lost power in the new European Commission setup.
The EU far right wants to give Elon Musk a free speech award
If shortlisted, Musk will be invited to the European Parliament to defend his views on free speech.
Show me the money, Gastein says
SNEAK PEEK โย Gastein day 1 kicks off with a plea to ramp up investment in health โ and ways to do it. โ Can tech help to close the gender health gap? Some think so, but only if its funded and reaches all in need. โ Is COP29 the breakthrough year for health and [โฆ]
Europeโs financial ambitions slam into German opposition
Olaf Scholz’s hostility to UniCredit’s swoop on Commerzbank is a sign that pan-European integration will remain elusive.
Europe launches its first space commissioner straight into a budget scrap
Despite not having much experience on space, Andrius Kubilius is tipped to be running EU rocket and satellite policy.
Reenvisioning Europeโs digital sovereignty
Von der Leyen’s current dominant position presents an opportunity to turn the bloc into a global-facing innovation powerhouse.
Thierry Breton: โI had to do itโ
The former French European commissioner gives his first public comments since his surprise resignation last week.
France mourns its loss of influence in von der Leyenโs new Commission
After Thierry Breton’s resignation, French officials are bemoaning a loss of influence in Brussels.
The winners and losers of the new European Commission
What the portfolios tell us about the EUโs power dynamics.
Breton out, Sรฉjournรฉ in: What triggered the resignation?
Thierry Breton, the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner, announced his resignation from the European Commission on 16 September, citing tensions with President Ursula von der Leyen.
โAnyone but himโ: Inside Ursula von der Leyenโs long breakup with Thierry Breton
The split between the Commission president and her biggest internal critic had been brewing for years.
Von der Leyen set to reward France with bigger EU top job after Bretonโs exit, French officials say
The new French commissioner-designate could oversee parts of trade, research and innovation, economy and financial services and capital markets union.
Bretonโs resignation could mark a new chapter for EU digital policy
The resignation of now-former Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, known as the key architect of the EUโs current digital agenda, is viewed by some as a chance to reshape what has often been criticised for being controversial.ย
France nominates foreign minister Stรฉphane Sรฉjournรฉ for EU Commission
French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister Stรฉphane Sรฉjournรฉ as a European Commissioner following the resignation of the EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton.
French Commissioner Thierry Breton resigns over row with Von der Leyen
Thierry Breton, Internal Market Commissioner also in charge of tech and defence announced his resignation from the European Commission, in a last move to question von der Leyenโs right to reign.
Finnish horse enthusiast is an EU tech front-runner
Henna Virkkunen is well placed to nab a key European Commission post on tech or innovation.
The great Commission puzzle: Who we think will get each portfolio
Ursula von der Leyen is about to hand out key jobs in her team. Hereโs POLITICOโs version of the next Commission.
Michel Barnierโs โagriculturalโ pastย
The newly appointed French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, is a familiar face in Brussels circles as a former MEP, Commissioner for the Internal Market and Brexit negotiator. But for many, his in-depth knowledge of European agricultural issues may come…
Meloni will continue play to the center โ for now
The Italian leader isnโt too eager to hang her hat with the Euroskeptic far right โ at least not just yet.
As France cracks down on Telegram, EU sits on the sidelines
Europe has moved slowly to regulate Pavel Durov’s social media app.
Europe needs an โAbundance Agendaโ
Taking economic growth seriously isnโt just a matter of good policy and good politics, itโs also a precondition for the EU to be taken seriously as a geopolitical actor.
Von der Leyenโs new Commission: The names we know so far โ as Belgium misses deadline
Almost all the nominees have been put forward for the next top team of EU commissioners.
The European Commission hopefuls with one thing on their mind
EU governments are battling for their people to get roles linked to the economy.
Donโt go head-to-head with Musk on space internet, satellite CEO tells Europe
Europe should look beyond space internet and start planning for a military-grade surveillance system instead.
TikTok to ditch โaddictiveโ tool in Europe at EUโs request
TikTok promised not to roll out a reward program in its Lite app to push users to engage more in the European Union.
After a whirlwind 5 years, Bretonโs back for more
POLITICO looks back on the French commissioner’s first stint at the Berlaymont.
Telecoms stakeholders urge Breton to reconsider some stances in light of Commission appointment
Telecom industry stakeholders have called on incumbent Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, to reconsider some of his previous stances in light of his potential reappointment for the 2024-2029 term.
Macron names von der Leyenโs foe Thierry Breton for second term as EU commissioner
Franceโs President Emmanuel Macron proposed incumbent EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton for a second five-year term in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seen by Euractiv.
Emmanuel Macron nominates Thierry Breton for another term at European Commission
France wants its current commissioner to serve another term.
European Parliamentโsย gender equalityย drive thwarted by the right-wing
There’s been a marked decline in women MEPs in the European Conservatives and Reformists group of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
EUโs IRISยฒ satellite plan runs into mega complications against SpaceXโs Starlink
Elon Musk’s Starlink is stealing a march on the EU’s fledgling alternative.
Is IRISยฒ heading for a rethink?
SNEAK PEEK โ The EUโs IRISยฒ satellite communications network project is increasingly troubled. โ NATO seeks to make procuring arms faster, the allianceโs procurement agency boss Stacy Cummings told me. โ The U.K. and Germany team up on defense as fears grow that U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump will ditch Ukraine if he wins in [โฆ]
A โconditional paymentโ is still a payment: the Court of justice rules again on online order buttons (Case C-400/22, Conny)
Alessandra Fratini and Giorgia
Lo Tauro, FratiniVergano European Lawyers
Photo credit: Namakkalshowroom,
via Wikimedia Commons
Introduction
On 30 May 2024, the Court of Justice
of the European Union issued its judg…
Lockheed Martin gears up for laser wars
SNEAK PEEK โ Lockheed Martin is working on laser technology, a top executive told Josh. โ Dassault Aviation CEO รric Trappier is troubled by the uncertainty of Franceโs political situation. โ European Parliament: Renew Europeโs Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann will lead the SEDE subcommittee and the EPPโsย Borys Budka will head ITRE. Good morning, and welcome to Morning [โฆ]
No to Orbรกn, yes to Meloni. European Parliament hands out top jobs but cuts out (parts of) the far right
Centrist majority managed to keep Patriots for Europe at bay but backed the European Conservatives and Reformists.
Greenโs Cavazzini re-elected as IMCO chair
Greens MEP Anna Cavazzini (Germany) will be chairing the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) for another term, according to a press release by the Parliament on Tuesday (23 July).
Press release – Committees elect Chairs and Vice-Chairs
All of Parliamentโs 20 standing committees and four subcommittees are holding their constitutive meetings on Tuesday to elect their Chair and Vice-Chairs.Committee on Constitutional AffairsCommittee on Foreign AffairsCommittee on Agriculture and Rural …
Farnborough Airshow kicks off; Joe Biden drops out
SNEAK PEEK โ The Farnborough International Airshow starts today in the U.K. as the EUโs space program stutters. โ Tensions between Rome and outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg escalated over the weekend โ Plot twist in the French defense committee: Jean-Michel Jacques is the new president. Good morning, and welcome to Morning Defense. In case [โฆ]
Von der Leyen is in! Let the fighting over the next European Commission begin.ย
EU leaders will fight back against โtoo powerfulโ von der Leyen as she assembles her team.
How to speak EP
Your guide to the jargon that’s everywhere in Brussels.
How Europe screwed up its rocket program
One successful test launch doesn’t mean that Europe’s struggles in the space race are over.
EU Parliament centrists circle wagons to keep far right out of top jobs
Liberals are incensed over a backdoor deal between the EPP and ECR.
The future of packaging in Europe
We need to change how the EU packages food and beverages to transition to a low-carbon circular economy.
Letโs be a bit more honest about what a โEuropean identityโ looks like
Emphasizing Europeโs โJudeo-Christianโ heritage and looking only to antiquity betrays the European project, excluding the various peoples and entities that shaped the Continent.
Le Pen pushes back against Macron picking Breton as EU commissioner
New fight brews between French president and surging far right ahead of snap election.
EU pushes back on IMF criticism of โinward-lookingโ industrial policies
A senior EU official pushed back on the IMF’s recommendation that countries should pursue policies that encourage the diffusion of new technologies, arguing that the EU must sometimes introduce โprotectingโ measures to ensure its own economic security….
Macron wants Breton to return as EU commissioner in a blow to the far-right
National Rally had claimed it should nominate the French commissioner if it wins the parliamentary election โย but the president wants Breton back in Brussels.
How to navigate Hungaryโs EU presidency policy agenda like a pro
The countryโs Council stint will be marked by political change in Brussels following the EU election.
Recent asylum case law of the CJEU: Distinction, Integration or Extension from ‘Mainstream’ EU law?
Professor Steve Peers, Royal Holloway University of
London
Photo credit: Luxofluxo, via Wikimedia Commons
Introduction
While attention has been focussed
on the overhaul of EU law on asylum โ which I have analysed in an upcoming
article…
EU defense commissioner: The flashy new job that ainโt all itโs cracked up to be
The bloc’s military powers are so weak that big names are likely to want a better Brussels post than defense chief.
Germany backs down in gas levy fight
The climbdown comes after the EU threatened legal action and capitals warned the fees were making it harder to quit Russian energy.
Europeโs new political consensus: We need to make more weapons
The war in Ukraine has shifted thinking โ both among politicians and the public โ on the need to spend more on defense.
Oreo and Toblerone-maker gets โฌ338M EU fine for illegally breaking up EU single market
Company stopped retailers from buying popular brands for less elsewhere in EU
The frontrunners for the next European Commission
Even before the European elections, maneuvering is under way for top jobs in Brussels.
โCrystal clearโ that Europe needs a Starlink-like secure satellite program, says space boss
“We have to have a secure connectivity program,” said the European Space Agency’s director general.
Compatibility of Member Statesโ Alcohol Health Warning Labelling with EU Law
Dr Nikhil Gokani,
Lecturer in Consumer Protection and Public
Health Law at the University of Essex, Chair of the Alcohol Labelling and Health Warning
International Expert Group at the European Alcohol Policy Alliance,
Vice President of the La…
Europeโs cultural identity โ thatโs what weโre fighting for
In the last three decades, weโve enjoyed the luxury of not having to ask ourselves what it is we stand for. But those times have passed.
Commission opens infringement procedures against Bulgaria over medicine tenders [Advocacy Lab Content]
The European Commission has open infringement procedures against Bulgaria for the long-term violation of internal market rules and illegal procedures allowing private hospitals to avoid tendering for medicines.
Protecting the conditional autonomy of governing bodies in sport from review โfrom a competition standpointโ: how the Court should decide its pending cases on the transfer system, the regulation of agents and club (re-)location.
Stephen Weatherill
Jacques Delors Professor of
European Law (Emeritus), Faculty of Law and Somerville College, University of
Oxford
Photo: Lassana Diarra, by ะ ัะฑะฐะบะพะฒะฐ ะะปะตะฝะฐ, on Wikimedia Commons
In preparing this paper I have
bene…
EU announces deal with Andorra and San Marino โ just donโt mention finance
Deal is “one of the most far-reaching” says EU Commission, but fears over lax regulation mean it isn’t as comprehensive as once hoped.
Brussels slams Berlinโs โill-foundedโ effort to delay EU satellite project
Germany’s Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck wants to suspend the IRIS2 satellite project; the EU isn’t giving way.
At last a Directive protecting platform work โ Now what?
Catherine
Jacqueson, Professor of EU law and Alberto Barrio, post-doc on the WorkWel-project, Law Faculty, University of
CopenhagenPhoto credit: conceptphoto.info, via Flickr
Finally, the European Parliament formally
adopted the directiv…
Europe shrugs off Washingtonโs TikTok fears
Though it was previously willing to follow in Americaโs footsteps, Europeโs response is muted this time around, largely avoiding debate about the app as the EU election looms.ย ย
Press release – Products made with forced labour to be banned from EU single market
Parliament has given its final approval to a new regulation enabling the EU to prohibit the sale, import, and export of goods made using forced labour.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionCommittee on International Trade Source : ยฉ E…
Press release – Right to repair: Making repair easier and more appealing to consumers
The new rules reinforce the right to repair, aim to reduce waste and bolster the repair sector by making it easier and more cost-effective to repair goods.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
The European Parliament by the numbers
A look at the data from a very eventful Parliamentary term.
โTrustedโ rules on trusted flaggers? Open issues under the Digital Services Act regime
Alessandra Fratini and Giorgia
Lo Tauro, FratiniVergano European Lawyers
Photo credit: Lobo Studio Hamburg, via Wikimedia Commons
1 Introduction
The EUโs Digital Services Act (DSA)
institutionalises
the tasks and responsibilities of โt…
Time for a European single market โwith teethโ to take on China, India, leaders told
Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta tells POLITICO that government subsidies should become a “European tool.”
Breton takes victory lap after killing von der Leyenโs business envoy pick
Markus Pieper resigned hours before his first day as the EU’s SME envoy.
Thierry Breton wants โNuclear Technologies Actโ
The Internal market EU Commissioner Thierry Breton wanted to push for a Nuclear technologies act to motivate the development of an integrated nuclear industry in Europe, he said on Thursday (April 11). The proposal was welcomed by nuclear developers as…
Thierry Breton says European Space Law might be presented after the summer
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told Members of the European Parliament that the Commission will need “extra time” to present the European Space Law legislative proposal, possibly after June’s EU elections.
Macron โlovedโ my tweet sniping at von der Leyen, says French commissioner
Thierry Breton stirs the pot. Again.
Europe wields new tech law to protect EU election
Social media giants will have to tool up to stop deepfakes and disinformation from going viral.
Macronโs liberals pile pressure on von der Leyen
Centristsโ numbers are set to drop in the EU election, but that doesnโt stop them upping the ante on the Commission incumbent.
The EUโs controversial business supply chain oversight rules live on โ at a cost
Capitals secured major concessions in their last-minute push against more stringent rules.
Europeโs content police have a new target: generative AI
The EU announces that it’s looking into AliExpress, LinkedIn and generative AI.
Press release – Parliament adopts its position on major reform of EU Customs Code
The overhaul of the EU Customs Code reform would change the way customs authorities operate, cooperate with traders and manage goods that people order online.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Press release – Parliament backs tighter EU rules for toy safety
The draft rules aim to decrease the number of unsafe toys sold in the EU single market and better protect children from toy-related risks.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Press release – Artificial Intelligence Act: MEPs adopt landmark law
On Wednesday, Parliament approved the Artificial Intelligence Act that ensures safety and compliance with fundamental rights, while boosting innovation.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Ho…
European lawmakers rubber-stamp EUโs AI rulebook
โNo โifsโ and โbutsโ: these are the rules,โ said Romanian liberal MEP.
Press release – Defective products: revamped rules to better protect consumers from damages
On Tuesday, MEPs adopted new EU consumer-protection rules to better respond to increased online shopping, emerging technologies and the transition to a circular economy.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionCommittee on Legal Affairs …
Press release – Parliament wants to improve consumer protection against misleading claims
Parliament has adopted its position on establishing a verification and pre-approval system for environmental marketing claims to protect citizens from misleading ads.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 20…
Macron furious after French commissioner blasts von der Leyen
European Commission bureaucrats have also taken a dim view of Thierry Breton’s social media swipe.
Apple and Epic resolve gaming app row under EU pressure
Breton said the EU’s new digital rules were “already showing very concrete results!”
Press release – Green Claims directive: press conference with lead MEPs on Tuesday at 14.30
Co-rapporteurs Andrus Ansip (Renew, Estonia) and Cyrus Engerer (S&D, Malta) will brief journalists following the plenary vote on the green claims directive.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food SafetyCommittee on the Internal Market and …
Press release – Deal on EU ban on products made with forced labour
Early Tuesday, negotiators from Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on new rules that ban products made with forced labour from the EU market.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionCommittee on International Trade So…
Press release – New rules for a responsible and transparent short-term rental sector
The rules aim to reveal the actual impact of short-term rental services and enable local authorities in response to develop appropriate policies.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Press release – Parliament adopts new transparency rules for political advertising
The new rules will aim to enhance citizensโ trust in election campaigns and help fight against disinformation and foreign interference.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Press release – Transparent political advertising: Press conference after final plenary vote
Rapporteur Sandro Gozi (Renew, FR), will brief journalists after Tuesdayโs plenary vote on new rules on transparent and secure political advertising.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Press release – First vote on the biggest EU customs reform since 1968
On Thursday, the Internal Market Committee adopted its position on the EU Customs Code reform that will restructure the way customs authorities work in the EU.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Ursula von der Leyen announces bid for 2nd term
One of Europe’s most powerful leaders is poised for another 5 years running the European Commission.
Von der Leyen plans new defense commissioner post
The Commission president indicated Central and Eastern Europe would be in line for such an important job.
EU probe finds most influencers skirting Internal Market rules
Watching a favourite influencer chow down on the latest fast food fad or cocktail may feel like entertainment, but those posts are likely adverts in disguise, the EU said Wednesday (14 February).
Press release – Greenwashing: how EU firms can validate their green claims
The Internal Market and Environment committees adopted on Wednesday their position on the rules on how firms can validate their environmental marketing claims.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food SafetyCommittee on the Internal Market a…
EUโs new rules to protect children from harmful chemicals in toys
The European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee on Tuesday (13 February) adopted new rules to ensure safety and protect children from harmful chemicals present in toys.