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Markus Pieper resigns from €17k-a-month role hours before he was due to start amid claims of favouritismEurope live – latest updatesA row threatening to overshadow Ursula von der Leyen’s campaign for a second term as European Commission president has ended after a German colleague in her Christian Democratic Union party quit his new role as her special envoy for small businesses.Markus Pieper resigned from...

Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, says ‘every life counts equally, whether in Ukraine, in Gaza, or in Sudan’The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has warned of a further escalation in violence in Sudan.“The Sudanese people have been subjected to untold suffering during the conflict which has been marked by indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, ethnically-motivated attacks, and a high...

UK hospitality industry hit by crisis as thousands of young Italians are forced out by latest round of rules and cost-of-living crisisEmanuela Reccia has lived in London for almost a decade. She was a teenager when she left her home city of Naples to become a waitress in the UK, bringing her expertise and love of Italian cuisine to the capital.But the 27-year-old, like...

Rules due to come in this month will impose new handling fees – and experts say small suppliers are already being driven awayMinisters’ decision to impose Brexit import checks on 30 April will lead to shortages of some foods, flowers and herbs, industry leaders have warned.In the week after the government was accused of blindsiding the British food industry by giving 27 days’ notice...

Child safety group says Meta ‘putting profits before protecting children’, as messaging app lowers age limit from 16Campaigners have reacted with anger to the social media company Meta lowering age restrictions for WhatsApp users to 13 in the UK and EU.The change to the messaging app, which reduces the age limit from 16 to 13, was announced in February and came into force in...

Péter Magyar building centrist movement that has visibly shaken ruling party he dramatically broke withA political newcomer who is causing headaches for Hungary’s government has said his experience as a regime insider can help him succeed where other opposition figures have failed, citing his “crazy” rise in the polls and “vision” as signs that change is possible.Fourteen years after the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor...

Fees of up to £145 on EU animal and plant products through Dover and Folkestone begin on 30 AprilBusiness live – latest updatesTrade groups have warned that consumers could see a rise in food prices after the UK government announced the introduction of post-Brexit charges on imports of EU food and plant products later this month.The government has published details of fees – known...

Sevington site was never designed to handle volume of imports envisaged by post-Brexit changes due in April, port’s health chief warnsAn inland facility set up to carry out checks on nearly all EU meat and dairy imports coming through Dover will be unable to cope when post-Brexit rules come in next month, the port’s health authority has warned.The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) said...

Brussels vote cancelled after it became clear law would not pass final stage with majority voteThe EU’s nature restoration laws appear on the verge of collapse after eight member states, including Hungary and Italy, withdrew support for the legislation.The laws, which have been two years in the making and are designed to reverse decades of damage to wildlife on land and in waterways, were...

No risk of dam breach, Ukraine’s state hydropower company says, after Russian on dam in ZaporizhzhiaRussia regards itself to be in a state of war due to the West’s intervention on Ukraine’s side, the TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, Reuters reported.The EU is set to impose a tariff of up to 50% on Russia grain imports amid fears that...

Leaders of the bloc caution that the country will have to undertake more reforms before the next step can beginEU leaders have agreed to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina on joining the bloc, while also stressing the Balkan country would have to undertake more reforms before the talks could begin.“Congratulations! Your place is in our European family. Today’s decision is a key step...

Ukraine could receive the first €1bn of interest on the sequestered assets by early JulyEU leaders have agreed in principle to commandeer a large majority of the profits generated from frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine.The proposal could generate €3bn (£2.6bn) this year and the first billion could be released to Ukraine by July, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen,...

Leaders at summit agree text that says pause should lead to ‘sustainable ceasefire’ Meanwhile, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has met with Luís Montenegro, who has been nominated as Portugal’s next prime minister.Both are members of the centre-right European People’s party. Continue reading...

EU leaders call for ‘immediate humanitarian pause’ while US expected to bring UN resolution calling for truce without delayEU leaders have overcome their differences to call for an “immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza, hours before the US is expected to bring a resolution to a vote at the UN calling for a truce and a hostage deal without delay...

Survey shows supporters of nationalist parties hold widely differing views on EU membership, migration and support for UkrainePopulist and nationalist parties fighting the European elections in June are deeply divided on almost all key issues, according to a survey, in a finding that questions their chances of defining the bloc’s agenda even in the event of a predicted far-right surge.However, the report, by the...

Civil liberties network says in states where far-right parties influence power, rule-of-law deterioration risks becoming systemicThe rule of law is declining across the EU as governments continue to weaken legal and democratic checks and balances, a leading civil liberties network has said, highlighting in particular a sharp rise in restrictions on the right to protest.Berlin-based Liberties said in its annual report, compiled with 37...

Six of bloc’s leaders sign agreement in Cairo aimed at boosting economy and bringing stability to regionEU leaders have sealed a €7.4bn (£6.3bn) deal with Egypt to help boost the country’s faltering economy, in an attempt to bring stability to the “troubled” region and avert another migration crisis in Europe.The three-year EU-Egypt strategic partnership involves €5bn in soft loans to support economic changes, €1.8bn...

Revised corporate sustainability directive, first agreed in December, draws criticism from environmental campaignersEU countries have slashed the scope of a law to make companies hunt down human rights abuse and environmental harm in their supply chains.The EU’s corporate sustainability directive, which was agreed in December but nearly scuttled after a minor coalition partner in the German government withdrew its support, was approved by member...

Members of justice committee say €150m in EU funding went straight to country’s president, Kais SaiedThe European Commission has been accused of “bankrolling dictators” by senior MEPs who have claimed that the €150m it gave to Tunisia last year in a migration and development deal has ended up directly in the president’s hands.A group of MEPs on the human rights, justice and foreign affairs...

Centre-right European People’s party says it wants to create deportation deals with non-EU countries to head off rise of far rightA group of political parties backing Ursula von der Leyen for a second term in one of the most powerful jobs in Brussels at the head of the European Commission is planning to call for further migration reforms, similar to the UK’s Rwanda policy,...

Destroyer Caio Duilio, part of the EU shipping protection force, took out weapon when it came within four miles of the vesselAn Italian warship participating in the EU naval protection force in the Red Sea was forced to shoot down a Houthi missile on Saturday in a rare engagement by the country’s navy, which has largely avoided direct action since the second world war.The...

Producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflationFood industry trade bodies are discussing whether to take legal action against the government over post-Brexit plans that will require all meat and dairy products sold in the UK to be labelled as “not for EU”.Food producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling...

Ombudsman says papers show EU agency made four offers to help Greece with surveillance of boat that sank, but got no responseOpinion: Emily O’ReillyThe rules governing the EU’s border and coastguard agency Frontex must be urgently revised if Europe is to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragedy off the coast of Greece in which about 600 people are thought to have died, an...

Exclusive: Shift in sentiment requires EU politicians to focus on defining an acceptable peace, say authorsSupport for Ukraine among Europeans remains broad, but nearly two years after the full-scale invasion barely 10% now believe it can defeat Russia, according to an EU-wide survey – with some form of “compromise settlement” seen as the most likely end point.The shift in sentiment – this time last...