2024 in the European Union

On 24 August 2024, Pavel Durov, a co-founder of the Telegram messaging service and the social network VK, was arrested after landing at Le Bourget Airport. The arrest was part of a preliminary investigation by the French National Judicial Police. On 28 August, Durov was indicted on twelve charges, including complicity in the distribution of child exploitation material and drug trafficking, was barred from leaving France, and was placed under judicial supervision.

The Draghi report is a 2024 report addressing European competitiveness and the future of the European Union. Authored by former ECB president and former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi, it was one of two widely anticipated reports on EU reforms in 2024, together with the report on the EU internal market by Enrico Letta.

In July 2024, a series of environmental protests began in Serbia against the Jadar mine, a European Union–backed and Serbian government-approved lithium mining project. The project was proposed by Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto to develop Europe's largest lithium mine in the West Serbian region of Jadar, causing significant backlash due to its potential environmental damage and exploitation of the local population for economic and geopolitical gain.

The 2024 Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the third in a trio of rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union positions currently held by Hungary. Hungary's Presidency of the Council in 2024 is the final nation in the twelfth trio of Council Presidencies together with Spain and Belgium, which began on 1 July 2023 and will last until the end of 2024. It is Hungary's second Presidency of the council, after its first in 2011.

The 2024 European farmers' protests are a series of protests by farmers that have been occurring since December 2023. The farmers have protested against low food prices, proposed environmental regulations (such as a carbon tax, pesticide bans, nitrogen emissions curbs and restrictions on water and land usage), and trade in agricultural products with non-European Union member states, such as Ukraine and the Mercosur bloc of South America. The protests take place in a context of the Common Agricultural Policy, a program where the EU provides €57 billion in subsidies to farmers (approximately a quarter of all EU subsidies).

Belgium held the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2024. The presidency was the second of three presidencies making up a presidency trio, which began with the presidency of Spain, and was scheduled to be followed by that of Hungary. It was the 13th time Belgium had held the presidency. The motto that was chosen for the presidency was "Protect, Strengthen, Prepare".