France: Macron v unions
15 Sep 2017
French unions are famously radical and resistant to reforms. On 12 September rail workers, students and civil servants protested in cities from Paris to Toulouse against loosening labour regulations, seen as a key public test of…
EU: Northern Ireland’s different Brexit deal
08 Sep 2017
The impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland - and its border with the Republic of Ireland - is one of the key issues being discussed in the early stages of UK-EU negotiations. Some feared a return…
European Court orders countries to take migrants
08 Sep 2017
Many so-called asylum-seekers have refused to relocate to central and eastern Europe because the financial benefits there are not as generous as in France, Germany or Scandinavia. Now many believe a European Court ruling on 6…
Europol: prayer needs
01 Sep 2017
Europol assists the 28 EU member states in their fight against serious international crime and terrorism. It also works with many non-EU partner states and international organisations to reduce terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, organised fraud,…
France: Macron’s test on labour reforms
01 Sep 2017
France has an unemployment rate of 9.5%, double that of the other big European economies, and President Macron has vowed to cut it to 7% by 2022. The country's unwieldy labour code, 3,000 pages long, is…
Europe: terrorists posing as migrants
25 Aug 2017
Faiez Serraj, head of the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, has said that Europe is at risk from terrorists posing as migrants unless western capitals help Libya stem the numbers crossing the Mediterranean. He claimed that…