Extremism and racism are on the rise throughout Europe and racist political discourse is increasingly common in mainstream European politics, finds a report published on 1 December by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR).

Despite the EU's official determination to reduce "inefficient cash payments" across Europe, EU rules allow extra charges to be applied to card payments, indirectly supporting the use of cash.

Large energy projects for oil, gas and renewables are facing a "double whammy" of falling oil prices and tightening financing conditions, raising concerns about future supplies once demand start to pick up again, experts have warned.

Delegates from 186 nations are in Poznan, Poland today (1 December) to launch 12 days of talks designed to bring forward an international deal to tackle climate change. But the conference is currently overshadowed by an EU internal row over how to share the 'effort' of reducing CO2 emissions.

"Capitalism is under threat from greedy big-time speculators," fears John Monks, secretary-general of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), writing in the autumn edition of Europe's World.

"China sees the European Union as a possible balance to the United States," argues Dingli Shen, deputy director and professor from the Centre of American Studies in Fudan University, in the autumn edition of Europe's World.

Grassroots sports movements can play a key role in engaging citizens in societal challenges by promoting the instrumental value of sport as a means of delivering better health, social integration and environmental protection, argues a sports NGO in an interview with EurActiv.com.

Pupils from across the EU will today (27 November) compete for EU-wide translation prizes in a competition designed to promote the profession among young people in Europe.

The European Commission is seeking to earmark an additional €1 billion over the next two years to spur investment in high-speed Internet as a means of helping the recession-hit EU economy to recover from the financial crisis.

The European Commssion's economic recovery plan includes exceptional authorisation for state aid to the ailing car industry and a €5 billion push to develop cleaner cars. But NGOs question whether the industry can be forced to turn the money into green investments.