The 79th Cannes Film Festival runs 12-23 May 2026 with Park Chan-wook as jury president, Demi Moore and Stellan Skarsgård on the panel, and Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss opening.
The 26th Brussels Economic Forum on 7 May 2026 focuses on The EU’s AI Economy in the Global Race, with PM Luc Frieden, Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion and Commissioner Dombrovskis.
On World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2026, the European Union reaffirmed its commitment to media independence and journalist safety against rising violence, legal intimidation and disinformation.
The European Parliament launches the 2026 edition of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism on 5 May 2026, with submissions opening for the EU’s flagship investigative journalism award.
Europe Day on 9 May 2026 marks the 76th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. EU institutions in Luxembourg and Brussels open their doors to citizens with a wide range of activities.
EU Mission on Cancer has reached its 5-year milestone in 2026: progress toward improving 3 million lives by 2030 through prevention, early diagnosis, treatment innovation and patient-centric care.
MEPs adopted on 30 April 2026 a resolution demanding harmonised EU definition of cyberbullying, strict enforcement of existing laws and increased platform responsibility to protect citizens online.
The EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement enters provisional force on 1 May 2026 after 25 years of negotiations, opening trade between 750 million consumers despite legal uncertainty.
MEPs voted in plenary in late April 2026 on the European Parliament’s negotiating position for the 2028-2034 EU long-term budget, demanding higher resources for defence, climate and competitiveness.
The General Data Protection Regulation marked its 10th anniversary on 27 April 2026. A decade of enforcement has reshaped global privacy norms but exposed persistent gaps.