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What’s getting people talking across Europe? Find articles, analysis, background information, graphics and photos on the most important issues facing the EU.

Brexit Climate change Coronavirus Defence and security Digitalization EU budget EU enlargement Economy Elections Energy Environmental pollution Europe's Workforce Europe's youth European election Eurozone Food and agriculture Health Migrants Populism Terrorism and security Tourism Trade Transportation and mobility Women's rights

Women's rights

Jussi Nukari/AFP
Jussi Nukari/AFP...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a meeting of the European People's Party in Berlin. Photo: Stefanie Loos / AFP
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends ... […]
An activist of the "Declic" movement for women's rights holds a printed half face picture showing a victim of domestic violence during a protest in Bucharest. Photo: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP-File
An activist of the "Declic" movement for... […]
A pregnant woman in Vertou, western France. Photo: Loic Venance / AFP / File
A pregnant woman in Vertou, western Fran... […]
The #MeToo effect

Economy

Ina Fassbender/AFP
Ina Fassbender/AFP...
A man casts his ballot at a polling station in Berlin. Photo: Tobias Schwarz / AFP / File
A man casts his ballot at a polling stat... […]
Greece was the 'new destination' this year as Europeans began to venture abroad as Covid restrictions eased for the summer. Photo: Aris Messinis / AFP
Greece was the 'new destination' this ye... […]
A shopper walks empty shelves at a supermarket in south London. Photo: Justin Tallis / AFP
A shopper walks empty shelves at a super... […]
The economic recovery of Europe

Migrants

Greek policemen distribute food to migrants held at the Covid-19 quarantine area in Leros. Photo: Theophile Bloudanis / AFP
Greek policemen distribute food to migra... […]
Spanish police tries to disperse migrants at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in Fnideq on May 18, 2021. Photo: Fadel Senna / AFP
Spanish police tries to disperse migrant... […]
Migrants leave the "Lipa" migrant camp near the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihac, on December 29, 2020 after it was destroyed by a fire. Photo: Elvis Barukcic / AFP
Migrants leave the "Lipa" migrant camp n... […]
A new home in Europe?

Terrorism and security

Greek policemen distribute food to migrants held at the Covid-19 quarantine area in Leros. Photo: Theophile Bloudanis / AFP
Greek policemen distribute food to migra... […]
Afghans board a military transport plane as they flee Kabul on August 24. Photo: Donald R. Allen / AFP-US Air Force / File
Afghans board a military transport plane... […]
Counterfeit banknotes and credit cards seized by French police in Toulouse. Photo: Jean-Pierre Muller / AFP / File
Counterfeit banknotes and credit cards s... […]
The EU's fight against terror

European election

ARCHIV - ILLUSTRATION - Ein Mann steckt am 20.02.2014 in in Frankfurt (Oder,Brandenburg) eine Europafahne in den Schlitz einer Wahlurne.
ARCHIV - ILLUSTRATION - Ein Mann steckt... […]
German SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz leaves the Elysee presidential Palace in Paris after meeting French President on September 6, 2021. Photo: Ludovic Marin / AFP
German SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Sch... […]
Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (L) and newly-appointed Prime Minister Jean Castex react as they give a speech during the handover ceremony, in the courtyard of the Matignon Hotel in Paris on July 3, 2020. (Photo by Ludovic Marin / AFP)
Former French Prime Minister Edouard Phi... […]
Where is the EU headed?

Tourism

Photo: Andrea Pattaro/AFP
Photo: Andrea Pattaro/AFP...
Greece was the 'new destination' this year as Europeans began to venture abroad as Covid restrictions eased for the summer. Photo: Aris Messinis / AFP
Greece was the 'new destination' this ye... […]
Ambulances waiting outside the Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon. Photo: Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP / File
Ambulances waiting outside the Santa Mar... […]
A passenger walks past closed car rental offices at El Prat airport in Barcelona. Photo: Pau Barrena / AFP / File
A passenger walks past closed car rental... […]
Holidays in the coronavirus-era

Transportation and mobility

Foto: Boris Roessler/dpa
Foto: Boris Roessler/dpa ...
Greece was the 'new destination' this year as Europeans began to venture abroad as Covid restrictions eased for the summer. Photo: Aris Messinis / AFP
Greece was the 'new destination' this ye... […]
An employee at a Nordisk Film cinema in Copenhagen checks the "Coronapas” of a customer as they come to watch a film on the first day that cinemas in the Danish capital reopened on May 6, 2021. Photo: Tom Little / AFP
An employee at a Nordisk Film cinema in ... […]
"I'm going to be isolating for 10 days, fully vaccinated, which seems incredibly cruel," says Joan Corrigan, a 41-year-old from Northern Ireland who lives in Malaga.
"I'm going to be isolating for 10 days, ... […]
The European Union in motion

Coronavirus

Eine Bundespolizistin zieht sich am Grenzübergang zur Schweiz vor einer Kontrolle eine Atemmaske auf. In der Coronavirus-Krise führt Deutschland am Montag umfassende Kontrollen und Einreiseverbote an den Grenzen auch zur Schweiz ein.
Eine Bundespolizistin zieht sich am Gren... […]
Members of the public wait to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Tate Modern in London. Photo: Tolga Akmen / AFP / File
Members of the public wait to receive th... […]
A shopper walks empty shelves at a supermarket in south London. Photo: Justin Tallis / AFP
A shopper walks empty shelves at a super... […]
A local resident receives the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in Guadeloupe. Photo: Cedrick Isham Calvados / AFP / File
A local resident receives the Pfizer-Bio... […]
Europe put to the test by the pandemic

Health

Members of the public wait to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Tate Modern in London. Photo: Tolga Akmen / AFP / File
Members of the public wait to receive th... […]
A local resident receives the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in Guadeloupe. Photo: Cedrick Isham Calvados / AFP / File
A local resident receives the Pfizer-Bio... […]
A health worker prepares a dose of the Sputnik V vaccine against the Covid-19 in Caracas. Photo: Federico Parra / AFP / File
A health worker prepares a dose of the S... […]
Facing new risks

Brexit

A shopper walks empty shelves at a supermarket in south London. Photo: Justin Tallis / AFP
A shopper walks empty shelves at a super... […]
A Union flag flies alongside European Union flags during a protest near the Houses of Parliament in London on March 14, 2019. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL
A Union flag flies alongside European Un... […]
The EU has already launched legal proceedings against the UK after it delayed custom controls on some goods arriving in Northern Ireland from mainland Britain. Photo: Paul Faith / AFP
The EU has already launched legal procee... […]
Britain’s divorce from the EU

Trade

Photo: dpa
Photo: dpa...
A shopper walks empty shelves at a supermarket in south London. Photo: Justin Tallis / AFP
A shopper walks empty shelves at a super... […]
Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans (L) and President Ursula von der Leyen unveil the 'European Green Deal' during a press conference at the EU Parliament in Brussels on July 14, 2021. Photo: John Thys / AFP
Commission Vice President Frans Timmerma... […]
Joe Biden (centre) is flanked by Ursula von der Leyen (left) and Charles Michel ahead of the EU-US summit in Brussels. Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP
Joe Biden (centre) is flanked by Ursula ... […]
Internal market flourishes, but protectionism looms

Environmental pollution

Foto: Sigrid Harms/dpa
Foto: Sigrid Harms/dpa...
Plastik drinking straw. Photo: Ralf Hirschberger/dpa
Plastik drinking straw. Photo: Ralf Hirs... […]
An undated photo released by Cornish Lithium shows exploratory drilling for lithium taking place at a former mine in Redruth, Cornwall. Cornish Lithium / AFP
An undated photo released by Cornish Lit... […]
Cars on the A7 motorway between Lyon and Vienne in southeastern France. Photo: Philippe Desmazes / AFP /File
Cars on the A7 motorway between Lyon and... […]
Working towards a cleaner union

Climate change

Greek residents try to extinguish forest fires approaching the village of Pefki. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP
Greek residents try to extinguish forest... […]
Locals walk through a burnt area of an abandoned Club Mediterranee in Lambiri, east of Patras, Greece on August 1, 2021. Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP
Locals walk through a burnt area of an a... […]
A flooded street in Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany. Photo: Ina Fassender / AFP
A flooded street in Bad Muenstereifel, w... […]
Tackling global warming

Energy

Abendröte schmückt den Himmel am Freitag (11.10.2002) am Kohlekraftwerk Mehrum (Kr. Peine) bei einer Temperatur um drei Grad und scharfem Ostwind. In der Nähe dieser Anlage drehen sich viele Windräder auf den landwirtschaftlichen Flächen. dpa/lni
Abendröte schmückt den Himmel am Freit... […]
An undated photo released by Cornish Lithium shows exploratory drilling for lithium taking place at a former mine in Redruth, Cornwall. Cornish Lithium / AFP
An undated photo released by Cornish Lit... […]
Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans (L) and President Ursula von der Leyen unveil the 'European Green Deal' during a press conference at the EU Parliament in Brussels on July 14, 2021. Photo: John Thys / AFP
Commission Vice President Frans Timmerma... […]
An electric car is charged at a roadside charging station in Berlin. Photo: David Gannon / AFP / File
An electric car is charged at a roadside... […]
The journey from a coal union to the energy transition

Digitalization

Netzwerkkabel hängen am 14.02.2013 in Jülich (Nordrhein-Westfalen) im Forschungszentrum an der Rückseite des Supercomputers Juqueen. Europas schnellster Rechner, Juqueen, geht offiziell an den Start. Mit einer maximalen Rechenleistung von 5,9 Petaflops kann der Supercomputer sechs Billiarden Rechenoperationen pro Sekunde durchführen. Foto: Oliver Berg/dpa +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
Netzwerkkabel hängen am 14.02.2013 in J... […]
A Euro coin and banknotes. Photo: Philippe Huguen / AFP / File
A Euro coin and banknotes. Photo: Philip... […]
Despite Amazon's colossal footprint and market capitalisation of more than $1 trillion, its profit margin last year amounted to just 6.3%. Photo: David Becker / AFP
Despite Amazon's colossal footprint and ... […]
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (L) meets President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, during the G7 finance ministers meeting in London on June 5, 2021. Photo: Alberto Pezzali / Pool
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (L) m... […]
A connected continent

Eurozone

ILLUSTRATION - Griechische Euro-Münzen stehen am 07.01.2015 in Köln (Nordrhein-Westfalen) auf einer EU-Fahne. Die Bundesregierung entwickelt einem Medienbericht zufolge konkrete Strategien für einen möglichen Austritt Griechenlands aus der Eurozone. Foto: Oliver Berg/dpa +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
ILLUSTRATION - Griechische Euro-Münzen ... […]
A Euro coin and banknotes. Photo: Philippe Huguen / AFP / File
A Euro coin and banknotes. Photo: Philip... […]
A euro coin and banknotes showing the map of Europe. Photo: Aris Messinis / AFP / File
A euro coin and banknotes showing the ma... […]
A nurse takes care of a Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit of the Centre Hospitalier Privé de l'Europe in Port-Marly, France, on March 25, 2021. Photo: Martin Bureau / AFP
A nurse takes care of a Covid-19 patient... […]
Many states, one currency

Food and agriculture

A wheat field in Locon, northern France. Photo: Denis Charlet / AFP / File
A wheat field in Locon, northern France.... […]
The EU has already launched legal proceedings against the UK after it delayed custom controls on some goods arriving in Northern Ireland from mainland Britain. Photo: Paul Faith / AFP
The EU has already launched legal procee... […]
A person holds a handful of dry mealworms, the larval form of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), produced for animal feed in the premises of French company Invers in Saint-Ignat, central France, on May 27, 2020. Photo: Thierry Zoccolan / AFP
A person holds a handful of dry mealworm... […]
Feeding a continent

Defence and security

25.04.2018, Brandenburg, Schönefeld: Das zweistrahliges Mehrzweckkampfflugzeug Dassault Rafale aus Frankreich ist bei der Raumfahrtausstellung (ILA) ausgestellt. Bis Sonntag präsentierten 1100 Aussteller aus 41 Ländern ihre Neuheiten von Flugzeugen über Drohnen und Flugtaxis bis hin zu Raketentechnik. (zu dpa "Ein Kampfjet für Europa - Berlin und Paris gehen in Rüstungsoffensive" am 26.04.2018)
25.04.2018, Brandenburg, Schönefeld: Da... […]
US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One after arriving at Melsbroek Military Airport in Brussels on June 13, 2021, ahead of the NATO and EU-US summits. Photo: Yves Herman / Pool / AFP
US President Joe Biden disembarks from A... […]
A Ukrainian serviceman in a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near the town of Zolote, in Ukraine's Lugansk region, on April 8, 2021. Photo: Str / AFP
A Ukrainian serviceman in a trench on th... […]
Austrian police work on November 3, 2020 at Morzinplatz, one of the areas of the multiple shootings that occured on the eve in the center of Vienna, Austria. - A huge manhunt was under way November 3, 2020 after gunmen opened fire at multiple locations across central Vienna, killing at least three people and wounding several more in what the Austrian Chancellor described as a "repulsive terror attack". One of the suspected killers, identified as an Islamic State group sympathiser, was shot dead by police who said they were searching for at least one more assailant still at large. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP)
Austrian police work on November 3, 2020... […]
A continent's preparations for a world of challenges

EU budget

Foto: dpa
Foto: dpa...
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (L) meets President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, during the G7 finance ministers meeting in London on June 5, 2021. Photo: Alberto Pezzali / Pool
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (L) m... […]
A family photo of the G7 Finance Ministers meeting at Lancaster House in London on June 5. Photo: Henry Nicholls / AFP-Pool
A family photo of the G7 Finance Ministe... […]
Combination of pictures created on January 12, 2021 shows a file photo taken on October 2, 2020 of Italian PM Giuseppe Conte at The European Council Building in Brussels (L) and then former Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, on March 5, 2018 at the PD headquarters in Rome.
Combination of pictures created on Janua... […]
A new framework for funding the future of Europe

Europe's Workforce

Photo: dpa
Photo: dpa...
A man poses holding a smartphone showing the Uber app: Photo: Tolga Akmen / AFP
A man poses holding a smartphone showing... […]
Aircraft stored by Tarmac Aerosave at the firm's aerodrome in Azereix, southwestern France, on February 4, 2021. Photo: Lionel Bonavenure / AFP
Aircraft stored by Tarmac Aerosave at th... […]
Former ECB head Mario Draghi leaves the Quirinale palace in Rome after a meeting with the Italian president on February 3, 2021. Photo: Andreas Solaro / AFP
Former ECB head Mario Draghi leaves the ... […]
Tensions between the poor and the rich

Europe's youth

Schüler der Edith-Stein-Schule präsentieren am 06.09.2017 in Erfurt (Thüringen) die selbstgestalteten Wahlplakate für die U18-Bundestagswahl. Foto: Martin Schutt/dpa
Schüler der Edith-Stein-Schule präsent... […]
In a reception classroom, children sit apart from each other on a carpet where crosses have been marked out for them to sit on, in a teaching environment safe from Coronavirus for pupils and teachers at Brambles Primary Academy in Huddersfield, northern England on June 4, 2020, as the Government's recommencing of education for Reception and Years 1 and 6 classes gets underway. - Primary schools reopened the week commencing June 1, welcoming back children in Reception, year 1 and year 6 age groups, alongside priority groups. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
In a reception classroom, children sit a... […]
(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 10, 2020 people dance and attend a rave party, on an agricultural land in Causse Mejean, in the heart of the Cevennes National Park, southern France, despite the limitation of gatherings linked to COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. - The summer has been marked by hundreds of 'free parties' in France, in spite of the COVID-19 outbreak, AFP reports on August 23, 2020. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP)
(FILES) In this file photo taken on Augu... […]
Rentrée des classes en Serbie. Photo: Andrej Isakovic/AFP
Rentrée des classes en Serbie. Photo: A... […]
Endless opportunities or no future?

Populism

Foto: dpa
Foto: dpa...
Italian Lega party leader Matteo Salvini addresses the Senate in Rome on February 12, 2020. Photo: Filippo Monteforte / AFP
Italian Lega party leader Matteo Salvini... […]
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte (C), flanked by Deputy PM and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini (L) and by Deputy PM and Minister of Economic Development Luigi Di Maio (R), delivers a speech at the Italian Senate, in Rome, on August 20, 2019
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte (C), flanked b... […]
Simple answers to complex questions

EU enlargement

ARCHIV - Zwei Männer feiern am 01.01.2007 vor einer EU-Fahne den EU-Beitritt Rumäniens in Bukarest. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT (zu dpa Berichterstattung vor dem EU-Gipfel) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
ARCHIV - Zwei Männer feiern am 01.01.2... […]
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to members of staff and contractors as she tours the NHS Louisa Jordan field hospital, set up at the Scottish Events Campus (SEC) in Glasgow on April 10, 2020, to potentially help with extra patients caused by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. - The disease has struck at the heart of the British government, infected more than 60,000 people nationwide and killed over 8,000, with a daily death toll in England of 866 reported on April 10. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / POOL / AFP)
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeo... […]
A health employee wearing a protective jumpsuit disinfects a local tram in Zagreb as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 caused by novel coronavirus on March 13, 2020. - Since the novel coronavirus first emerged in late December 2019, more than 135,640 cases have been recorded in 122 countries and territories, killing 5,043 people, according to an AFP tally compiled on March 13, 2020 based on official sources. (Photo by Damir SENCAR / AFP)
A health employee wearing a protective j... […]
European flags are waving in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. Two days before Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, the European Parliament also ratified the EU withdrawal agreement at a meeting in Brussels and finally sealed the brexit.
European flags are waving in front of th... […]
The Union is growing