After more than ten years of waiting: Bulgaria and Romania have been given the green light to join Europe’s free-travel Schengen area by air and sea from March 2024. However, some restrictions will remain in place.
In 2024, elections will take centre stage – not only domestically but also EU-wide as well as in the USA and Russia. The Union is looking at elections in early June. Many of the present discussions revolving around migration, enlargement or the budget will remain hot-button issues. The beginning of the year is marked by the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union beginning as well as an extraordinary EU Council Summit. What are the individual countries looking at?
The European Union wants to better protect journalists and media companies from political influence and has agreed on the so-called European Media Freedom Act. While the safeguards offered by the law have been mostly welcomed, it does not come without flaws – and issues across the European media landscape remain.
The EU has again reaffirmed its full commitment to the accession prospects of the Western Balkans. The geostrategic environment with Russia’s war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East threatens global security, emphasising the importance of the Western Balkans for the EU.
The European Commission asked the member states for an additional 66 billion Euro for the coming years, partly to finance additional aid for Ukraine, due to a lack of money in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The increase in the long-term budget is to be discussed by the European heads of government at the EU summit at the end of this week. A protracted debate is looming.
”European leaders will not tolerate over time an imbalance in the trade relationship,” said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in an interview with the European Newsroom on Tuesday, ahead of the EU-China summit on December 7. Besides trade, the EU officials plan to also address China-Russia relations, sanctioned MEPs and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.