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Is it okay to sacrifice nature in the name of security? This is the debate affecting Poland as a new electronic fence is being built on the border with Belarus. With it Warsaw can better manager the immigration crisis on its eastern border. But environmental activists are against it. According to them, tens of thousands of trees have been felled to erect the fence.

Is it okay to sacrifice nature in the name of security? A border fence in Poland is igniting the debate.

Poland: nature versus security

From leaning in to quiet quitting, our attitudes towards work have changed a lot over the last 50 years. Spain’s government has approved a measure to cut weekly working hours from 40 to 37.5. More and more European countries are embracing shorter working hours, and some are even trialling the four-day week. 

Do Europeans want to “work less, live better”?

All work and no play makes for a dull Europe – and many countries are trying out a shorter working week.

ARTE Europe Weekly

Rome, more specifically the Vatican, is celebrating the Jubilee year. On the programme are masses galore, renovations left and right and never-ending queues. The Eternal City is getting ready to welcome millions of pilgrims from around the world, on top of the usual tourists. There is a lot of excitement, but the Jubilee doesn't always mean happiness, or cheap accommodation. 

The Eternal City is getting ready to welcome millions of pilgrims from around the world on top of the usual tourists.

Rome under construction

Developed over 80 years ago for their indestructible qualities, PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are now inescapable. From kitchenware to drinking water, and even in the entire food chain, these synthetic chemicals with variants in their tens of thousands, are piling up in our environment and posing a serious health threat. With over 2,300 contamination ‘hot spots’ across Europe, the risk to our bodies is real. For the last decade, the EU has been trying to regulate their use, but the industrial sector is pushing back, using economic arguments to maintain the status quo.

PFAS: Can Europe Stop 'Forever Chemicals'?

While some are pushing for a total ban, the chemical industry is fighting back hard in Brussels with an intense lobbying campaign against any PFAS restrictions.

One of the big promises of Brexit was to reduce immigration to the UK. Whilst more EU citizens are leaving the UK than moving there, they have been replaced by people from Asia (India, Philippines, Pakistan) or even Africa (Nigeria). Between 2022 and 2023, net migration hit a record level of 682,000. Key sectors like agriculture and healthcare, which historically depended on European workers for often difficult jobs, haven't found local workers and have had to look further afield.

Five years after Brexit, immigration from the EU to the UK has been replaced with immigration from outside the EU.

Immigration in post-Brexit Britain

Denmark is offering Syrian refugees financial bonuses of up to €27,000 per adult and €6,700 per child to return home. As other EU countries like Austria weigh the option of paid repatriation, Denmark’s policy stands out amid ongoing uncertainty in Syria.  

Denmark is offering Syrian refugees up to €27,000 to go back, despite ongoing uncertainty in their home country.

Denmark Offers Syrians Hefty Sums to Go Home

There are tourist traffic jams on the iconic Charles Bridge and hardly any locals left in the old town. Prague’s relationship to tourism has become complicated. To ease matters, public officials are trying their best to counteract the flows of tourists, while locals stay pragmatic.

Due to mass tourism, Prague runs the risk of becoming a victim of its own success.

Mass Tourism in Prague

Just 30km east of London, Grays in Essex voted for Brexit by a large margin. What do people there think of their vote today, 5 years after Brexit? As poverty has increased in Britain, the City of London has kept its status as a global banking hub.

"Bregret": Britain 5 Years After Brexit

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Serbia’s biggest-ever protest movement, after a deadly roof collapse at a train station in Novi Sad in November. Since then, rallies calling for accountability and an end to corruption have spread across the whole country. Populist leader Aleksandar Vučić is still gripping onto power, but could the revolt end his political career? It’s a decisive moment that may indicate whether the country’s future will lean towards Russia or the EU.

Are Serbia’s student protests a tipping point?

The fatal collapse of a station roof has pushed student protesters to demand systemic change.

The breakout success of Chinese DeepSeek has shaken the US’s position as a global leader in artificial intelligence. But although it might seem like a two-horse race between the US and China, the EU was the first region in the world to have created a legal framework for AI and is starting to massively invest in supercomputing and innovation. As the European Commission said, “The race for AI is far from over.”

Is Europe still in the AI race?

Europe may be lagging behind in AI technology, but DeepSeek’s rise is a sign it could catch up.

Politics and society
ARTE Journal

All videos

Poland: nature versus security

ARTE Europe Weekly

Rome under construction

ARTE Europe Weekly

Immigration in post-Brexit Britain

Denmark Offers Syrians Hefty Sums to Go Home

Mass Tourism in Prague

"Bregret": Britain 5 Years After Brexit

ARTE Europe Weekly

ARTE Europe Weekly

Politics and societyARTE Journal

All videos

Poland: nature versus security

ARTE Europe Weekly

Rome under construction

ARTE Europe Weekly

Immigration in post-Brexit Britain

Denmark Offers Syrians Hefty Sums to Go Home

Mass Tourism in Prague

"Bregret": Britain 5 Years After Brexit

ARTE Europe Weekly

ARTE Europe Weekly

Politics and society
ARTE Journal