European Politics & Institutions

MEP scrutiny of conflict of interest for Commissioners-designate: A democratic tool or a scam?

Since European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced her proposals for the new batch of European Commissioners, the legal affairs committee, also known as JURI, has been in charge of examining each candidate's conflict of…

Orbán’s main foe Péter Magyar talks corruption, Ukraine and battle against the government

"Building a new country step by step, brick by brick, and to bring back our country and to build a new European, peaceful and liveable modern Hungary. That's our motto, and that's our plan," Hungary's…

Orbán’s relations with Brussels at boiling point

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had a tense exchange at the Strasbourg plenary on 9 October, after Orbán outlined his country's EU Council Presidency initiatives. Orbán stressed…

The EU has lost its patience with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán. So, now what?

Halfway through its six-month rotating presidency, rather than playing the honest broker, Budapest has blocked many files, including the ones on aid to Ukraine. It further blocked a statement denouncing Moscow's media ban, and it…

Having more far-right governments across Europe is a matter of time | Radio Schuman

Cas Mudde, a Dutch political scientist and one of Europe’s leading populism scholars, answers Radio Schuman's question of how more and more far-right party chiefs are becoming government leaders in Europe. Last Sunday, Austria’s Freedom…

Has the EU really become more transparent? Sort of, EU ombudswoman says

As EU ombudswoman since 2013, Emily O'Reilly oversees an independent body tasked with holding EU institutions accountable. She investigates cases of maladministration, either on her own initiative or in response to complaints from EU citizens.…