European Parliament
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20 January 20124PresseuropEl País
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Hungary-EU
Viktor Orbán dodges MEPs questions
19 January 2012PresseuropNépszava -
European Parliament
Hurricane Schulz replaces Buzek the Calm
18 January 20123PresseuropDer Spiegel, Financial Times Deutschland, Wprost, Gazeta Wyborcza -
Hungary-EU
Brussels starts power struggle with Orbán
18 January 20128PresseuropNépszabadság, Magyar Nemzet, Népszava -
Editorial
Elect the Commission
16 December 20113Presseurop -
European Parliament
A code of conduct for MEPs
1 December 20112PresseuropEl Mundo -
EU Budget
Brussels tightens belt
21 November 20113PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Editorial
EU not out of the woods
28 October 20112Presseurop -
European Summit
Birth of a United States of Europe
27 October 201113PresseuropLibération -
Journalism
European prize contested
19 October 2011PresseuropExpressen -
Press review
Barroso goes for bravado
29 September 20117Presseurop -
Climate change
Poland cold to more CO2 reductions
5 July 20112PresseuropRzeczpospolita -
European Parliament
Brussels readies for expenses scandal
22 June 2011PresseuropThe Independent -
Belarus
Europe speaks up for Poczobut
13 May 20111PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
European Parliament
Towards transnational Euro-elections
20 April 20113PresseuropThe Daily Telegraph -
Corruption
Lobbying scandal forces EU's hand
1 April 20112PresseuropPresseurop -
Corruption
Another MEP gets caught redhanded
28 March 2011PresseuropEl Mundo -
European Parliament
Three MEPs caught in lobby sting
21 March 20111PresseuropThe Times -
European Parliament
Lazy MEPs unmasked
9 March 2011PresseuropEl Mundo -
European Parliament
MEPs want to bid Adieu to Strasbourg
11 February 2011PresseuropDe Standaard -
European Parliament
Freedom of information under threat
2 February 2011PresseuropEUobserver.com -
EU Presidency
Frosty reception for Viktor Orbán
20 January 2011PresseuropNépszabadság -
Institutions
EU finally gets its budget
16 December 2010PresseuropLa Libre Belgique -
Institutions
Parliament loses first battle of the budget
17 November 2010PresseuropPresseurop -
Editorial
Power to the people
22 October 2010Presseurop -
Sakharov prize
MEPs split over Fariñas award
22 October 2010PresseuropEl País -
EU Budget
MEPs dream of a European tax
21 October 2010PresseuropLes Echos -
24 September 20102Le Monde Paris
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10 September 20103Le Monde Paris
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European Union
Lab animals will be less vulnerable
9 September 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
European Commission
Barroso, the Union's in a state
8 September 20101Presseurop -
European Institutions
Brussels has its work cut out
1 September 2010PresseuropLa Voix du Luxembourg -
29 June 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung
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Institutions
Is Brussels in the clutches of lobbies?
28 June 20102Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
Diplomacy
MEPs make a stand
23 June 2010PresseuropLe Monde -
European Parliament
SOS against financial lobby
22 June 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
European Parliament
Fast track funding – a bailout in disguise?
22 April 2010PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
16 March 2010PresseuropEl Mundo
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European Parliament
"Westerners" remain the masters of invective
9 March 20101România libera Bucharest -
24 February 2010PresseuropDagens Nyheter
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EU-US
MEPs swat Swift
12 February 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
Religion
MEPs stick up for Christians
22 January 2010PresseuropRzeczpospolita -
Institutions
A million citizens can change the Union
20 January 20103El País Madrid -
European Parliament
Future commissioners sit the orals
11 January 2010Presseurop -
European Parliament
See Strasbourg and die...
18 December 20091La Repubblica Rome -
European Parliament
MEP assistants quizzed about piles
16 December 2009PresseuropFrankfurter Rundschau -
Bank secrecy
EU opens its books to spooks
27 November 2009PresseuropDer Spiegel -
Editorial
The coronation of Parliament
27 November 20091Presseurop -
26 November 2009România libera Bucharest
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Brussels
EPP pushes for Commission blacklist
25 November 2009PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza
The election of Martin Schulz as new president will pave the way for a change of atmosphere in the European Parliament. In the wake of the reign of the consensus-building Pole, Jerzy Buzek, the German socialist is intent on shaking up institutions in Brussels. 
After quibbling for several weeks, the European Commission launched three legal actions against the Hungarian government. But who will back down first – Budapest or Brussels? The Hungarian press is not expecting any great changes. 
In his “Speech of the Union” to the European Parliament on September 28, the President of the Commission sought to defend his institution and put forward concrete proposals to leave the crisis behind. But the European press has no illusions about his true room for manoeuvre. 
As the EU fights a losing battle to finance its increasingly wide range of roles and responsibilities, member states reluctant to contribute to community institutions are being held to blame for an imminent cash flow crisis.
Rightly reviled on 9 September by the European Parliament for its manhandling of the Roma, still and all France has raised a question – what is their place in Europe? – that the Union can’t just ignore in the hopes that it will simply go away. 
With all that has recently transpired throughout Europe, observers have been awaiting the first EU state of the union speech from its chief executive in Brussels. Though the EU is indeed slowly pulling itself out of the financial crisis, the tone of the speech reveals a marked lack of ambition, according to the European press. 
Today lobby groups wield more power in Brussels than they do in Washington. And in the absence of stricter regulations, they will continue to enjoy unlimited freedom to influence European legislation.
We were inured to the foul mouths of populist MEPs from the new member states who took their seats in Strasbourg last June. But they can’t hold a candle to their Western European counterparts, recounts România liberă.
The new Lisbon Treaty authorises popular initiatives backed by at least a million signatures. But that figure will not suffice to provide a regulatory framework for this new tool of participatory democracy. 
On Monday, the European Parliament embarks on eight days of hearings for the 26 European commissioners designate of the Barroso II team. The European press reports that the evaluation exercise, which is an opportunity for parliament to demonstrate and reinforce its authority, is none too popular with candidates for commission posts.
Overheard moaning about her stint in the European Parliament, Rachida Dati, ex-French justice minister, has unwittingly raised that nagging question once again: What exactly do MEPs do and how much do they get done? 
In recent months a series of scoops in the European press have unearthed widespread abuse of taxpayers’ money by MPs and ministers in several member countries. As UK and Italian politicos continue to be pilloried, the European Parliament has started putting its own house in order.