2017 in Europe
This is a list of events that took place in Europe in 2017.
Incumbents
Croatia
European Union
- President of the European Commission: Jean-Claude Juncker
- President of the Parliament:
- *Martin Schulz
- *Antonio Tajani
- President of the European Council: Donald Tusk
- Presidency of the Council of the EU:
- *Malta
- *Estonia
Ireland
Monaco
Russia
Turkey
Events
January
- January 1 – At least 39 people are killed in an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul.
- January 5 – A cold wave across Europe leaves at least 61 dead, including several migrants and homeless people.
- January 18 – 30 people are missing and feared dead after an avalanche buries a small hotel in the mountains of central Italy, following a series of earthquakes.
- January 20 – At least 16 people are killed and about 40 injured after a bus carrying Hungarian students crashes and bursts into flames on a highway in northern Italy.
February
- February 2 – The European Parliament unanimously approves visa-free regime in the Schengen Area for Georgia.
- February 5 – In the largest protest since the 1989 Revolution, an estimated 600,000 people rally in main Romanian cities against a Government Ordinance decriminalizing some graft offenses.
- February 12 – Former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is elected Germany's president.
- February 24 – Slovenia permits same-sex marriages for the first time under a law giving gay couples largely the same rights as heterosexuals though barring them from jointly adopting children.
March
- March 2 – A methane gas explosion kills eight miners and injures six in western Ukraine.
- March 9 – Donald Tusk is re-elected as President of the European Council despite opposition from his home country, Poland.
- March 13 – János Áder is re-elected for a second five-year term as President of Hungary by the country's parliament during a secret vote.
- March 15 – Mark Rutte's centre-right VVD wins Dutch general election, positioning him for a third successive term as prime minister.
- March 22 – Three people die and at least 40 are injured after an attacker drives a car along a pavement in Westminster, stabs a policeman and is shot dead by police in the grounds of Parliament.
April
- April 2 – Conservative Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić wins Serbia's presidential election by a huge margin.
- April 3 – An explosion on a train carriage in Saint Petersburg's underground metro kills at least 14 people and injures dozens more.
- April 7 – Five people die and 14 are seriously injured after a hijacked truck ploughs into a shopping centre during a terrorist attack in Stockholm.
- April 16 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the country's prime minister declare victory in a referendum designed to hand Erdoğan sweeping powers.
- April 28 – Ilir Meta is voted in as President of Albania amid an opposition boycott.
- April 29 – Turkey blocks access to Wikipedia, citing a law that allows the government to ban certain websites for the protection of the public.
May
- May 7 – Emmanuel Macron wins French presidential election over rival Marine Le Pen.
- May 13 – Portugal's Salvador Sobral wins the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with his song "Amar pelos dois".
- May 22 – 22 people are killed and hundreds are injured when a suicide bomber attacks concertgoers at Manchester Arena.
June
- June 3
- * Seven people are killed and 48 injured in a terrorist attack in London after assailants use a vehicle to plow into pedestrians on London Bridge and attack others with knives in nearby Borough Market.
- * More than 1,500 people are injured after Juventus fans watching the Champions League final stampede in a Turin square after mistaking firecrackers for an explosion or gunshots.
- * Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wins a second five-year term in office in early general elections.
- June 5 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of NATO.
- June 8 – British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative wins the parliamentary elections but falls short of a majority.
- June 14
- * At least 79 people are dead or missing and presumed dead in London's Grenfell Tower fire.
- * Leo Varadkar becomes Ireland's first openly gay Taoiseach.
- June 17 – A raging forest fire envelops a stretch of road in central Portugal, killing at least 61 people, including about 30 motorists who are trapped in their cars.
- June 18 – Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche! wins absolute majority in French parliamentary elections.
- June 27 - 2017 cyberattacks on Ukraine
- June 29 – Serbian parliament elects the new government of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, the first woman and first openly gay person to hold the office.
- June 30 – German lawmakers vote by a wide margin to legalize same-sex marriage, a landmark decision which comes just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel drops her longstanding opposition to a free vote on the issue.
August
September
- 24 September – 2017 German federal election
- * The, led by incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, wins the highest percentage of the vote with 33%, though it suffered a large swing against it of more than 8%.
- *The Social Democratic Party of Germany achieved its worst result since post-war Germany at 21%.
- *The Alternative for Germany, which was previously unrepresented in the Bundestag, became the third largest party in the Bundestag with 12.6% of the vote. It was the first time since 1957 that a party to the political right of the CDU/CSU gained seats in the Bundestag.
October
Deaths
January
- 1 January
- * Tony Atkinson, Welsh economist
- * Derek Parfit, English philosopher
- 2 January
- * John Berger, English art critic, novelist, painter and poet
- * Viktor Tsaryov, Russian footballer
- 3 January – Igor Volk, Ukrainian-born Russian cosmonaut and test pilot
- 4 January
- * Ezio Pascutti, Italian footballer
- * Georges Prêtre, French conductor
- 7 January – Mário Soares, 17th President and 105th Prime Minister of Portugal
- 8 January – Peter Sarstedt, English singer, instrumentalist and songwriter
- 9 January – Zygmunt Bauman, Polish sociologist and philosopher
- 10 January
- * Roman Herzog, President of Germany
- * Oliver Smithies, English-born American geneticist and physical biochemist
- 11 January – François Van der Elst, Belgian footballer
- 12 January
- * Giulio Angioni, Italian writer and anthropologist
- * Graham Taylor, English footballer and manager
- 13 January
- * Gilberto Agustoni, Swiss prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
- * Lord Snowdon, English photographer and filmmaker