European Union

Europe is about to get a new digital law. It will change the way Google, Facebook and Amazon do business. The mechanisms that allow them to make billions are polarising society. We need robust new rules to protect our democracy.

Worldwide we are witnessing the return to great power rivalry, and – as a reaction – the calls for strategic sovereignty of the European Union are gaining strength. But how can the EU navigate through a more competitive world and maintain its core values at the same time? These questions are at the core of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's 21st Foreign Policy Conference.

MEP Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA) rates the new EU Rule of Law mechanism as a success despite all the criticism. For the first time, the disbursements of EU funds are linked to compliance with the Rule of Law, with the aim of combating corruption and illiberal attacks to democracy and fundamental values.

The Hungarian-Polish veto on the EU budget and the recovery fund was averted at the European Council last week, but threats to core European values were not. The EU’s rule of law crisis is nowhere near to being solved, and attacks on fundamental rights and democracy will intensify in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

MEP Michael Bloss takes stock of the negotiations on the EU Climate Law, and on the performance of the German EU Council Presidency, in the wake of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

An interview with MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA) on the protection of the rule of law in the EU, the European Commission’s proposals and the demands of the European Parliament.

Hungary and Poland indicated in November that they would veto the European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 and the Next Generation EU (NGEU) economic recovery fund. However, recent developments indicate that Hungary’s and Poland’s views on the matter have diverged. What does Budapest stand to gain by using its veto?