Michael Bird

ROME/BUCHAREST - With the EU set to boost organic farmland, how can it maintain consumer confidence in an agricultural sector tainted by fraud? 

WORLD - Cereal is the new petroleum, farmland the new reservoirs of oil, and ships loaded with grain are the new pipelines. As the value of crops increases, every country in possession of this resource is in a position of power, and its transport to market is a politically-charged operation.

ZAGREB - Although women have the legal right to abortion across the vast majority of countries in Europe, women in some east European countries are finding it tougher to terminate pregnancies. Our grantees looked into examples of Croatia, Romania, and Poland.

BRUSSELS - The European Social Fund (ESF) “is Europe’s main instrument for supporting jobs, helping people get better jobs and ensuring fairer job opportunities for all EU citizens”, according to the ESF website.

VALLETTA - The Mediterranean republic of Malta operates a tax system where companies pay the lowest tax on profits in the EU - only five per cent. Over the last three months, journalistic network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) dug into over 150,000 documents that show how international companies take advantage of this system, using Malta as a pirate base for tax avoidance in the EU.

Journalists from west Europe have broadcast and printed stories about east Europe that are distorted or false, leading to a fake presentation of reality which victimises nations and some of their poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

The migration of criminality between European countries is a major source of social and political tension on the continent. Though dominant in the news, this phenomenon is barely covered in reports released by national and European institutions, creating an information gap that furthers mistrust and fear between people.

The EU's member states' focus on energy independence is putting at risk the environment and the health of its citizens, due to the bloc’s continued exploitation of European uranium resources.

Russian-backed separatists have plundered the rebel-held regions in Ukraine’s industrial heartland and created an economy stricken with fear, hypocrisy and contradiction. How has business transformed since the rebels took control of Ukraine’s east?