The EU executive is recommending the bloc's member states give Bosnia-Herzegovina candidacy status, subject to reforms. The Commission said the Western Balkans "belong in our family."

A new report from the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) shows that more than 27 million people are engaged in forced labour around the world. This Tuesday, Brussels is announcing new rules to ban goods made with forced labour or those imported into the bloc. The ILO report also raised alarm over the working conditions of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.

The executive body of the European Union has recommended that Ukraine be granted EU candidate status. Kyiv has sought candidate status since 2014.

Poland's spending plans for billions of euros in pandemic recovery funding has been cleared by the EU's executive. But Warsaw must still make changes to ensure judicial independence before any payments can be made.

Each year, a billion poultry birds and tens of millions of other farm animals are transported within and outside of the EU to be bred from, fattened or slaughtered. Regulations on how that transportation happens do exist, but scores of breaches of those regulations have been documented in official audits carried out by the European Commission in recent years.

The European Commission would like to see €13 billion more per year from Europe's largest economy. EU leaders, including Angela Merkel, are meeting Friday to discuss the bloc's future budget.

The European Commission is set to increase regulation of platforms as disinformation related to the coronavirus pandemic spreads. For now, there's only a voluntary code of practice for tech giants.

The European Commission has proposed spending billions to help the EU reduce its dependency on foreign medical supplies. It said nations need to address "vulnerabilities" that came up during the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Commission has unveiled a €750 billion aid package to help the EU recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The plan will require unanimous backing from all 27 nations in the bloc.

The European Commission has called on EU member states to uphold travel bans on non-essential travel to the bloc. EU officials also said priority must be given to restoring frictionless travel within the bloc.

Ursula von der Leyen will replace outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on December 1. DW's Bernd Riegert looks back at Juncker’s five-year term.

The European Commission says eight member states are at risk of breaching the bloc's tough public spending rules next year. It wants surplus-running countries such as Germany and the Netherlands to spend more.