The Local Europe

With the appointment of centrist François Bayrou as France's new prime minister - the fourth PM this year - John Lichfield believes that there are reasons to hope that he may succeed in a very difficult job.

In this week's Inside Italy review, we look into questions over the fairness of Italy’s controversial tourist tax, and why the Italian education system is in dire need of a sweeping reform.

Minority coalitions are coming together in Saxony and Thuringia after state elections, while Germany currently has a minority federal government. How can they function?

The Schengen Area is set to expand as Romania and Bulgaria gain full membership. How will this historic decision impact Europe’s borderless travel zone and the EU economy?

Germany's bureaucracy can be notoriously inflexible - but what happens when a close family member is unexpectedly rejected for a visa? We spoke to a foreign worker about his recent Schengen visa ordeal and how he overcame it.

Johan Forssell, Sweden’s migration minister, has launched a 'business council' with experts from Spotify and other actors in the business sector to provide advice on how to attract highly-skilled foreigners to the country.

French public sector workers, including air traffic controllers, will walk out on Thursday - leading to flight cancellations at some of France's key airports.

In this week’s Inside Spain, we look at why the Spanish economy's internationally recognised growth is doing little if anything to improve the wellbeing of Spaniards, and how everyone is talking about the rivalry between two late night TV talk shows.

It won't reopen for another week but on Friday media were allowed inside the newly-restored Notre-Dame cathedral for the first time, as president Emmanuel Macron visited to thank the 2,000 people who have worked on the incredible restoration.

Austria’s Maria Theresa was more than a monarch—her policies revolutionised access to education.