According to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the goals of the 'Europe 2020' strategy &# including that of reducing poverty by 25% &# are ''illusory''. So too is the notion that the social situation of all Slovak citizens has improved in the decades since 1989. EurActiv Slovakia reports.

Poland and Slovakia have agreed to launch a feasibility study for a natural gas pipeline known as the 'Poland-Slovakia interconnection'. A decision on whether to proceed with the project will be made in 2012. EurActiv Poland and EurActiv Slovakia report.

The EU's 'Europe 2020' target of reducing the number of early school leavers is the only one of the strategy's goals that is not causing a headache for Slovakia, which is generally wary of the Lisbon Strategy's successor. EurActiv.sk reports.

The 'Europe 2020' strategy recently presented by the European Commission needs clearer indicative goals and should be more social and cohesive, Bulgarian socialist leader Sergey Stanishev told EurActiv in an interview.

Slovakia came one step closer to naming its new candidate commissioner when the Social Democratic party (Smer-SD), the senior party in Slovakia's ruling coalition, was chosen to pick their favourite. Like in Romania, a politically neutral candidate is in the lead. EurActiv Slovakia reports.

You know, make it easier to fire them? Today’s Nobel Laureate: Before the 1970’s, similarly short durations but lower flows into unemployment meant that Europe had lower unemployment rates than the United States. But since 1980, higher durations have kept unemployment rates in Europe persistently higher than in the U.S. A general equilibrium search model

As world leaders prepare for the G20 meeting in Washington to discuss ways to overcome the financial crisis, Europe's economy took another hit after its two heavyweights, Germany and the UK, reported negative growth and higher unemployment.

The UK is rightly proud of its social security and benefit system which was invented as a safety net for people in this country fallen on hard times. However it has now been admitted by the British government that under EU rules unemployment benefits and social security payments are being paid to workers who have now left the UK and returned to their country of origin after loosing their jobs in t...

A decision last Friday (21 August) to deny the Hungarian president entry to Slovak territory for an historic commemoration has raised tensions between the two EU member states. EurActiv Hungary and EurActiv Slovakia contributed to this article.

Building on its involvement in stabilising the Western Balkans, Slovakia will continue to support EU enlargement, Slovakia's newly-appointed commissioner, Maroš Sefcovic, told EurActiv Slovakia in an exclusive interview.