European Parliament in Nutshell: May 2026
Every month, the European Parliament plenary session takes place in Strasbourg. And every month, IR Media follows it closely. These are the highlights of the last plenary session taking place from 18th to 21st April 2026: Risky foreign investments in EU A strong European Union is the last thing many powerful countries want. Because it’s a competition for them. So some of them are trying to weaken it. Most of the time this happens in a friendly way. For example these countries invest in European sensitive sectors like defence, artificial intelligence, financial services or critical raw materials. Through these investments they not only make Europe dependent on themselves, but they also gain access to sensitive information they could potentially missuse… So this Tuesday, the European Parliament decided that the foreign investments in those sensitive sectors will be screened. And presented the rules for how it will be done. The goal was not to make these rules too complex, so it wouldn’t discourage foreign investors. The EU still wants foreign investors, but given the currrent geopolitical tensions, it wants to have a better overview of them. Deterioration of democracy in Slovakia On Wednesday Eurodeputies adopted a resolution in which they express concern over how the current Slovak government is systematically weakening democracy. For example by reforming criminal law so there would be less strict rules on corruption. Or by changing the constitution, so that it wouldn’t have to respect the European law, and restored the so-called “traditional values”. Which, in the Slovak understanding, means things like not recognizing the existence of trans people or conditioning sex education by parental consent. Slovak government also maintains warm relations with Russia, and is trying more and more to silence public service media and restrict women’s rights. They are also not transparent with how they are using EU funds. A suspicion exists that they are even abusing them to build luxury private properties. Parliament therefore called on the European Commission to look into Slovakia and determine whether it is embezzling European money. European Order of Merit During this plenary session, the European Order of Merit was awarded. The European Order of Merit was invented in 2025 to appreciate individuals who have exceptionally contributed to European unity, democracy, and values. This year, 20 people received the Order. Among them were, for example: The next sitting will be held from 15th to 18th June 2026 in Strasbourg