Even though French Socialists launched a personal attack on Angela Merkel's financial housekeeping in their European roadmap, their centre-left colleagues in Germany are playing a subtler endgame, EurActiv France reports.

Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht could take action this week against two Chinese telecommunications companies over allegations they benefit from state subsidies, a move that could hobble negotiations and precipitate a trade war.

Moldova's parliament gave itself powers to sack Constitutional Court judges and change election rules, moves Brussels said would harm the country's bid for closer ties with the European Union.

The migration of Roma to Germany has prompted one German economist to urge the EU to amend its Free Movement Directive ahead of a January 2014 deadline for lifting labour restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals.

Putting people and cargo onto the rails may be one way to reduce roadway air pollution, a key goal of the EU’s rail transport policy, but doing so creates another hazard for those living close to railways – noise.

The Pesticide Action Network has accused the German chemicals company BASF of buying credibility for industry views within academia, after one of its employee was offered a professorship at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

With the rest of the United Kingdom's GDP ten times that of Scotland, the country's only route would be to join the euro if it wishes to be truly independent, writes Graham Bishop.

The Scottish high court ruled on Friday (3 May) that the government has the right to introduce a legally binding minimum price on alcohol, the first of its kind in the EU. The spirits industry says it will appeal the court ruling.

Europe’s economy will contract by more than expected this year and budget deficits will decline more slowly, the European Commission said on Friday (3 May), signalling that rising unemployment and the bleak outlook allow some scope for slowing the pace of austerity.

Turkey's energy minister has confirmed that the government has picked a Japanese-French consortium to build the country's second nuclear power plant, a project expected to cost an estimated €15 billion.

EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger is keen on the idea of a second term after his current mandate ends in 2014, but would also consider a career in the private sector, EurActiv has learned.

As the United Nations marks World Press Freedom Day, a watchdog organisation has published its annual report today (3 May) showing that three EU countries - Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria - saw a dramatic decline in press freedom.

The powerful employers’ group BusinessEurope has called on European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to radically shift the EU's energy policy away from climate change mitigation towards cost-competitiveness and security of supply.

Banking officials at a conference in New York City have reportedly admitted that despite their statements about the importance of energy savings, they are reluctant to lend money in practice.

Even if Germany had to write off the loans it extended to Southern European countries as part of the eurozone’s emergency rescue measures, the economic advantages of its membership would still be overwhelming, according to a recent study by the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

In the Bangladesh port city of Chittagong, activists want the EU to get tough on the booming ship recycling industry that has become notorious for its poor labour and environmental safety records. New EU legislation is already in the making and could be finalised in June.

French surgeons have fitted 650 people with replacement hips that had not yet been certified as meeting European standards, health officials said on Thursday (2 May). The case resembles last year's scandal over faulty breast implants, which triggered a revision of the EU's legislation on medical devices.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in 10 months on Thursday (2 May), driven to act by an economy wallowing in recession and freed to do so by sharply falling inflation.

The General Court of the European Union has ordered the European Medicines Agency (EMA) not to release documents on clinical trials, after two access-to-documents were requested, at least until the Court has issued a final ruling.

Older and disabled people are put off by the UK government's flagship energy efficiency programmes because of their complexity and fear of taking on debt, unpublished government research shows.