Good morning.
As we move into 2026, the media landscape keeps evolving. We are glad to announce today that EUobserver is also evolving.
After more than 25 years of being a leading independent voice in Brussels journalism, we are now joining the journalist-owned central European publishing house Denník N in order to grow — not only in the reach and impact of our stories, but also in how we serve our readers.
For you, the reader, nothing changes. Every morning, you will receive this newsletter, with an intro written by one of our reporters and original stories that go beyond the surface and try to explain the consequences and root causes of the political, economic, environmental and social developments shaping Europe and the world.
For us, it's a new beginning. We’re happy to be joining a publication that shares EUobserver’s values: staying independent, speaking truth to power, and keeping readers well-informed. For those of you who do not know Denník N, let me make a small introduction. Denník N was founded in 2014 by a group of journalists who left Slovakia’s largest daily after its takeover by an oligarch. Today, it is one of central Europe’s most-respected independent media groups, with newsrooms of over 200 journalists in Prague and Bratislava. And around 80 percent of Denník N is owned by its journalists and staff.
Without a doubt, you will spot more articles from central and eastern Europe on EUobserver, covering stories often overlooked by the Brussels-based media. But EUobserver will stay independent, as our reporters and I will continue making our own decisions about what and how to report.
In short, EUobserver will keep doing independent, investigative and insightful journalism on EU affairs, and, by joining Denník N, gain the experience to grow while continuing the legacy of our founder Lisbeth Kirk and strengthening our role as a trusted voice in Brussels — and beyond.
If you want to know more, click here.
Elena Sánchez Nicolás, editor-in-chief
What else you need to know
“The problem that we’re pursuing here is not to establish whether things are illegal, it is to establish whether politically it is undesirable,” said Dirk Gotnik, a Dutch centre-right MEP with the European People’s Party.
Croatia’s Dubravka Suica will be representing Brussels at the launch of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace on Thursday.
One of the goals, according to EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis (whose team oversaw the report), was to identify “obstacles” to wider euro adoption.
The European Environment Agency warns “according to some estimates, about eight percent of deaths can be attributed to hazardous chemicals. These numbers could be [an] underestimate.” That’s why the EU chemicals REACH policy needs urgent reform.
The EU Democracy Shield has a blind spot: Europe isn’t auditing what AI actually tells its citizens. When Russian-speaking Europeans ask an AI about the war in Ukraine, they may receive systematically different answers than their English-speaking neighbours.
French president Emmanuel Macron lands in New Delhi on Monday where he and other EU leaders will join prime minister Narendra Modi and AI executives future of AI at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
US president says greenhouse gases aren’t a threat anymore. The EU is also easing green rules to help businesses. Are European climate policies at risk?
Treating methane as an afterthought in air quality policy is no longer a technical oversight but a political choice, with measurable consequences for citizens’ health, farmers’ livelihoods and environmental resilience.
In case you missed it
The EU’s trade diversification agenda will be on the table in Cyprus — but most eyes will be on Donald Trump’s highly-controversial peace board.
“There were more civilians killed and injured in 2025 than in the previous three years,” Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth, who heads the UN refugee agency’s division in Ukraine, told EUobserver
The recent US report on ‘EU censorship’ left dozens of names of civil society and EU officials unredacted in emails – while carefully hiding company employee names.
OpenAI spends more on AI than the whole EU. Europe is lagging in the innovation race — here’s why, and how it plans to catch up.
Spain’s move forces a harder conversation. Is it better to pretend half a million workers do not exist, or to regulate the reality already on the ground?
The EU’s political elite gave a standing ovation and breathed “relief” after a US message of “reassurance” in Munich, even though it was larded with far-right tropes.
Ukraine’s agriculture industry has faced numerous challenges since Russia’s 2022 invasion. While farmers have battled to maintain production, Ukraine’s exports have caused friction with EU member states. What began as an emergency lifeline for a country at war has evolved into a structural shift — one now testing political solidarity inside the EU.
Europe hold over machines, pharmaceuticals in global supply chains can be used to deter and shape the behaviour of “systemic rivals” such as the United States and China, a new report finds.
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