European Union

As delegations from Sweden and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday, Turkish President Erdoğan again dampened expectations that Sweden will join Nato soon. Although Sweden's counter-terrorism laws have been tightened and the Supreme Court recently approved the first extradition of a PKK supporter, Turkey's demands have not yet been met, Erdoğan said. But his real focus is the US, commentators suspect.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Swiss parliament per video on Thursday, appealing for solidarity and calling on it to allow the export of Swiss-made war materials to third countries, something Switzerland has so far refused to do citing its neutrality. The Swiss People's Party (SVP), the strongest parliamentary group, did not attend the session on the same grounds.

The European Parliament yesterday passed the world's first law regulating artificial intelligence. The legislation defines different risk levels for different applications. Programmes such as facial recognition software that are considered particularly risky are to be banned; others will only be allowed under certain conditions. While some commentators welcome the decision, others fear overregulation.

Boris Johnson deliberately misled the British parliament and held it in contempt as an institution on several occasions - this was the verdict in the report by the House of Commons Privileges Committee tasked with investigating the Partygate affair. It recommended Johnson's temporary suspension from parliament, a move the former PM pre-empted by resigning last week. The British press is divided in its assessment of the report.

Is Europe's industry in danger? Looking at the current flood of regulatory initiatives from the EU, the answer is yes, unfortunately. Businesses need a break from too detailed political intervention. Then they can focus on what they do best: innovate.

A well-functioning internal market must be at the centre of the EU’s electricity market reform. This means some elements of the proposed reform need to go because they put energy projects across Europe seriously at risk, writes Morten Helveg Petersen.

The European Commission's proposal of common rules promoting the repair of goods marks an important step towards implementing a circular economy in Europe. However, ambitions must be raised in order for the right to repair to become a reality, writes Thierry Libaert.

Croatian tourism officials are anticipating a record year for the sector after the country joined Europe's free-movement Schengen zone in January, which has boosted the number of visitors to its picturesque Adriatic coast.

As talks drag out into their third month, Greece and Hungary are still blocking EU sanctions on Russia, hoping to strong-arm Ukraine into removing companies from its "war-sponsors" list.