European Union

Policy coherence is widely regarded as essential for achieving sustainable development, climate targets, and reducing inequality, as reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Recent scholarship has moved beyond technocratic approaches, drawing on comparative politics, particularly the “3 I's” of ideas, interests, and institutions, to highlight the inherently political nature of coherence. Yet even these studies often treat coherence as binary, easily observable, and intrinsically beneficial. Building on a coherence literature focused on discourses and frames, this paper challenges these assumptions by examining how policy (in)coherence is constructed and contested. Focusing on policy implementation in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's coal heartland, we analyse two cases before and during the 2022 energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine: the commissioning of the Datteln IV hard coal plant in 2020, and the clearance of the village of Lützerath for mining in 2023. Drawing on 28 semi-structured interviews with German energy, climate, and environmental experts, alongside policy and media analysis, we find that (in)coherence is greatly constructed and contested under shifting political and economic pressures, instrumentalised and legitimisatised by different actors to advance their interests, and profoundly shaped by temporal dynamics. Given recent findings that challenge the 2030 Agenda's assumption that policy coherence reduces inequalities, we also explore how (in)coherence is perceived to shape multidimensional inequality in the Energiewende more broadly. Here, we find that (in)coherence is most prominently perceived to cause delays in climate mitigation, disproportionately affecting youth, low-income households, migrants, and activists. In this context, (in)coherence is not merely technical, political nor constructed, but fundamentally a matter of justice, shifting the analytical focus from whether policies and their implementation are coherent to how, and for whom, coherence matters.

The President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, met in Guatemala City on 20 May 2026. After the meeting they issued a joint press release.

The India-Africa summit was set to be held next week in Delhi after more than a decade.

On 21 May 2026, President António Costa delivered a speech at the Mexican Senate, ahead of the 8th EU-Mexico summit of 22 May 2026, in Mexico City.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

The EU’s code of conduct group for business taxation has elected Tina Humar as its chair for a period of two years.

The President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, met in Guatemala City on 20 May 2026. After the meeting they issued a joint press release.

El presidente del Consejo Europeo, António Costa, presentó durante una rueda de prensa conjunta los principales resultados de las conversaciones mantenidas con el Presidente Bernardo Arévalo en Ciudad de Guatemala el 20 de mayo de 2026.

Approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Press briefing ahead of the upcoming Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) and General Affairs Council will take place on Thursday, 21 May 2026 at 16.15.

The Council and the European Parliament reached a deal on two regulations enacting the EU's tariff reductions set forth in the EU-US Joint Statement, while ensuring robust safeguards and preserving the necessary flexibility.

Approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

The Council had suspended certain elements of the EU visa rules in 2024.

The G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, met on 18 and 19 May 2026 in Paris, France. They were joined by the Heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Chair of the Multilateral Development Banks’ Heads Group, and the African Development Bank (AfDB). They also held consultations with Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea. 

Press briefing ahead of the upcoming Agriculture and Fisheries Council will take place on 20 May 2026 at 14.00.

Schweizer «Lost Places» boomen, doch der Trip in die Ruinen ist lebensgefährlich. Ob die morsche Schwefelquelle Linthal, Geister-Lifte in San Bernardino oder das tückische Mondmilchloch – hier lauern tiefe Abgründe.

The outbreak, caused by a rare Ebola species, is thought to have caused 139 deaths so far.

Ein Mann versuchte in Basel am Donnerstagmorgen, zwei Mädchen in sein weisses Auto zu locken. Aufmerksame Passanten schritten ein. Die Polizei sucht Zeugen und Hinweise zu dem etwa 50-jährigen Verdächtigen.

Die Zahl der Raiffeisenbanken in der Schweiz hat sich seit dem Jahr 2000 mehr als halbiert. Doch die Fusionstreiber sind andere als im Rest der Branche.