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Meeting in Brussels as heads of state try to persuade Hungarian leader to back €50bn packageAs leaders prepare for the summit, last-minute talks are ongoing to convince Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to sign off on a funding package for Ukraine.Charles Michel, the European Council president, posted a photo of talks with Orbán. Continue reading...

Member states hope to persuade Hungary to remove its block on funding at Brussels emergency summitEU leaders have returned to Brussels for a second showdown in two months with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán over his refusal to sanction a new €50bn assistance package for Ukraine.A mixture of frustration and anger prevailed in the city as leaders arrived for dinner on Wednesday night on the eve...

‘UK internal market’ to be created to ease unionist fears over de facto border in the Irish SeaNew rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister.A command paper titled Safeguarding the Union...

French agriculture minister set to hold takes in Brussels as around 10,000 protesters turn outValérie Hayer, a French politician and president of the Renew Europe group in the European parliament, has spoken out about the impact of Brexit.“Four years ago, the United Kingdom left us,” she wrote, adding:Purchasing power, social security, global influence, border protection: nothing, absolutely nothing, has been a success. The populists...

Andrea Leadsom says businesses experiencing ‘some friction’ should ‘adapt’ to changes in trade rulesBusiness live – latest updatesBritish businesses experiencing “some friction” when trading with the European Union after Brexit is the “price you pay” for “being a sovereign state again”, a government minister has said.On the fourth anniversary of Britain officially leaving the European union, the health minister and Brexiter Andrea Leadsom said...

Charles Michel’s decision comes ahead of EU meeting where Hungary’s PM is expected to block Ukraine support packageThe president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has abandoned plans to quit the position early amid fears it could have led to Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, getting the role.His decision comes six days before a crunch meeting of EU leaders at which Orbán is expected...

French government set to respond after being surprised by scale and fury of grassroots demonstrations in agriculture sectorPierre Bretagne woke at 4am to feed the cows on his organic farm near the coastal town of Pornic in western France, then did something he had never dared to before.He made a cardboard protest banner about the nightmare of French bureaucracy and went to cheer on...

Bloc plans to bulk-buy key drugs for all 27 countries, potentially leaving Britain ‘behind in the queue’The EU is to stockpile key medicines that will worsen the record drug shortages in the UK, with experts warning that the country could be left “behind in the queue”.The EU is seeking to safeguard its supplies by switching to a system in which its 27 members work...

European Commission president says policymakers have to find a way forward to find lasting solutions for farmersHere are photos from France this morning, where farmers are continuing to block roads.Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president, said today there was a “sense of urgency” that things had to improve for Europe’s agriculture sector.I think we all sense that there is an increasing division...

France, Poland and Austria among nine countries where radical rightwing parties predicted to finish firstPopulist “anti-European” parties are heading for big gains in June’s European elections that could shift the parliament’s balance sharply to the right and jeopardise key pillars of the EU’s agenda including climate action, polling suggests.Polling in all 27 EU member states, combined with modelling of how national parties performed in...

Three people questioned on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter after collision in Pamiers, south of Toulouse A woman and her teenage daughter have died in southern France after a car hit a roadblock where they were standing. The blockade had been set up by farmers taking part in growing anti-government protests.The 35-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter were killed at 5.45am when a car went...

London mayor calls for ‘youth mobility agreement’ in one of the most pro-European interventions by a Labour politician since EU exitLondon mayor Sadiq Khan has called for young people to be able to move freely to and from the EU for the first time since Brexit in order to lessen the economic and cultural damage caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European...

Dental union says region will be ‘disproportionately’ affected by EU amalgam phase-out as health service is weakest in UKConcerns have been raised about the future availability of silver dental fillings in Northern Ireland due to an imminent phasing out of the amalgam across the EU.The plan to phase out amalgam by 1 January next year will apply in Northern Ireland due to the Brexit...

MEPs react to ‘tragic’ findings revealing UK falling behind EU in key environmental policies since BrexitBrexit divergence from EU destroying UK’s environmental protectionsNorthern Ireland ‘dirty corner of Europe due to lack of governance’Explainer: UK environmental protections dropped since BrexitEuropean lawmakers have lamented the UK’s decision to weaken environmental rules since leaving the EU, after the Guardian revealed it is falling behind in almost every...

Hungarian PM met a who’s who of rightwing leaders on his travels in 2023, as critics point to failures at homeEurope’s pariah prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is jetting across the globe in search of friends.Hungary, an EU and Nato member that has been backsliding on democratic norms for more than a decade, has become even more isolated in the western club over the past...

Attitudes to climate, migration, global economic turmoil, Ukraine and Covid will dominate this year’s elections, research indicatesEurope’s voters are no longer divided into left or right, pro- or anti-EU camps, a survey suggests, but into five distinct tribes whose conflicting concerns are likely to dominate nearly 20 elections across the continent this year.The polling suggests 2024’s European parliament and national elections will be fought...

‘I’ve been in love with the UK since I was a little girl’ says woman dismissed after missing official deadlineA French woman has spoken about how she lost her job in Shropshire and was left “heartbroken” about life in the UK because of a mix-up over the immigration process for EU citizens launched after Brexit.Sophie, who is married to a British man, was in...