Reform UK proposes welfare ban for EU citizens with settled status
Party's £50bn savings plan would require renegotiating the Withdrawal Agreement and could strip rights from over 700,000 EU nationals on Universal Credit
Monday, 17 August 2026Europe · Analysis
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
Topic · Thing
National and European elections, read for what they change in Brussels rather than for the campaign itself.
Party's £50bn savings plan would require renegotiating the Withdrawal Agreement and could strip rights from over 700,000 EU nationals on Universal Credit
Reform UK leader secures second victory in Essex seat without major party opposition, while parliamentary standards inquiry looms and constituency's deprived neighbourhoods see no new promises.
Former prime minister and Renaissance leader bets that a summer spent meeting voters at markets, ports and vineyards can erode Edouard Philippe's lead for the centrist vote ahead of the April 2027 presidential election.
Italy's prime minister suspends Schengen with Spain and adopts tougher tone on borders to protect her right flank ahead of a possible spring election.
Parliament will vote next Tuesday on the nomination of a jurist removed by Orbán's government in 2011, a move the European Court of Human Rights later ruled unlawful.
Conservative politicians discuss replacing Friedrich Merz after one year as AfD leads national polls and threatens to win state power for the first time in September.
Centre-left MEP and likely 2027 presidential candidate Raphaël Glucksmann says the Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security attributed a coordinated operation to Russian military intelligence, weeks before he is expected to declare his candidacy.
Around 50,000 Moroccan migrants crossed into the Spanish enclave in late July, leaving 88 dead and handing far-right parties across Europe a potent campaign issue ahead of a cluster of national votes in 2027.
The last prominent anti-war figure in Russian public life has left the country after detention, foreign-agent designation and exclusion from September's parliamentary vote.
With parliament in deadlock and the president under pressure, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians leads polls at 36 percent while Brussels watches a NATO ally on Ukraine's border.
More than 100,000 people evacuated across four regions as temperatures near 40°C. The PP governs 11 of 17 regions and faces scrutiny over firefighting cuts and climate rhetoric shaped by Vox alliances.
Warsaw has formally requested Washington arrest and hand over Zbigniew Ziobro, who faces 19 charges including leading a criminal group within the justice ministry and deploying Pegasus spyware against opponents.
A France 24 investigation examines pressure on courts, media and abortion access, while the government balances migration crackdowns with half a million new work visas for labour-hungry employers.
Karol Nawrocki has submitted a second proposal for a nationwide vote on 27 September, but the Senate controlled by Donald Tusk's coalition is unlikely to approve it.
German chancellor says foreign financing of political parties is illegal as State Department launches programme framed around 'civilizational heritage' and 'lawfare'
German chancellor rejects nearly $5 million State Department programme targeting 'Western civilisational heritage' weeks before key regional vote where AfD leads polls.
French far-right leader announces candidacy hours after court upholds embezzlement conviction, while party president Bardella signals pragmatic shift toward Berlin's centre-right
Reform UK leader resigns Clacton seat while under investigation for undeclared £5 million gift, framing the move as a referendum on establishment pressure.
A French appeals court rules Tuesday on whether the National Rally leader's embezzlement conviction and five-year ban on public office will stand, potentially ending her fourth bid for the Élysée.
Paris appeal court rules Tuesday on whether to uphold a five-year ineligibility sentence that would exclude the National Rally leader from her strongest-ever shot at the Élysée, while her protégé Jordan Bardella waits in the wings.
ECB president tells Les Echos she may leave before her 2027 term ends to inject a European voice into a French campaign dominated by the far-right National Rally.
Brussels drafts incentives after Belgrade scales back contested judicial laws, but the Serbian president's surprise resignation announcement complicates the timing of any new cluster opening.
Analysis by 150 political scientists shows support has nearly quintupled since 1995, with the steepest gains concentrated in the past three years across France, Germany and Austria.
The Labour leader steps down less than two years after a 411-seat landslide, undone by a flawed ambassadorial appointment, policy reversals and a May local election drubbing that brought Andy Burnham to the brink of Number 10.
Nicusor Dan's surprise choice of Adrian Vestea breaks constitutional convention and splits his own party, leaving Romania's pro-European forces fragmented as far-right support grows.
Legislation would abolish the existing public media body, create an independent oversight board with equal government and opposition representation, and open senior posts to competition as pro-Fidesz outlets shed staff and revenue.
Former Hungarian prime minister appears in Brussels insisting his political project continues despite losing power, as new government prepares to reclaim billions in frozen funds.
Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje party won 43 percent of the vote but cannot form a majority, while the presidency sits vacant after Vjosa Osmani failed to secure a second term.
The 109-page legislative programme targets asset declarations, public procurement and hidden oligarch wealth, going beyond the European Commission's 27 super milestones that Orbán's governments failed to meet.
Civil Contract takes 49.81 percent of the vote, securing a parliamentary majority but falling short of the two-thirds threshold needed to ratify a constitutional referendum demanded by Azerbaijan.
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