Euobserver.com

In the future, major social investment will be needed for the welfare state to reach everyone — but how can the EU-27 finance it?

The EU Commission assessed northern Germany needs only two liquified natural gas terminals to replace Russian supply, memos show, but the Berlin government is eyeing 12 potential sites — vastly exceeding assessed needs.

As EU diplomats talked of unprecedented momentum to seal the deal, the old hurdle remained: having a UK premier invest and risk sufficient political capital at home to convince his parties' Brexit hardliners and DUP to move on.

Recognition-rates for asylum hovers at around 40 percent across the EU (plus Norway and Switzerland), according to the European Union Agency for Asylum. But this seemingly-low figure doesn't include cases won on appeal and others who received humanitarian status.

Sweden has urged faith in its "unique" Nord Stream blast enquiry, as Russia repeats allegations of a Western conspiracy.

Europe is stepping back from its core values of human dignity, human rights and the rule of law, which have been the building blocks of the political edifice of the EU, writes Kostas Arvanitis MEP of Syriza/The Left.

The EU's legitimacy and credibility has also suffered recently due to the Qatargate scandal engulfing the European Parliament, which undermines the EU's ability to protect the rule of law in member states.

It is evident that the EU is putting substantial diplomatic and political effort into its 'externalisation' of migration plans: Niger, for example, received visits in 2022 from Ursula von der Leyen and EU commissioenrs Ylva Johannson and Jutta Urpilainen.

At least 100 migrants are brought to the French Border Police facility in the town of Menton every day — often kept for hours in inhumane conditions and eventually expelled under procedures that contradict European and international law.

Hungarian prime prime minister Viktor Orbán has set the ball rolling for ratification of Finland and Sweden's Nato accession.

Jonas Grimheden, the head of human rights at the EU's border force Frontex, suggests the agency should reinforce its presence in trouble spots like Greece given reports of abuse against asylum seekers.

A new exhibition at the Deutsches Historiches Musuem in Berlin unveils industrial photography of Germany's steel, coal, car, chemical and textile industries from the 1950s to 1980s — some in East Germany, some in West. But which was which?

5,000 Iranians came from all over Europe to demand more sanctions against the Iranian regime, following the repression experienced in recent months.

With hundreds of billions of euros already donated from the EU and even more to come for post-war reconstruction, what awaits the Ukrainian media will be a task unlike any other.

"Attacks on LGBTI people with a conscious and deliberate will to kill and injure have increased to unprecedented levels," the annual report by ILGA-Europe, an advocacy group, said.

Crimes committed by Russians you've never heard of feature on a new EU blacklist designed to mark one year of war.

Fusion for Energy received this year's award with the in-house Women's Network, an initiative aiming at tackling gender issues.

EU foreign affairs ministers will on Monday have an informal exchange with Ukraine's foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba. They will also talk to Moldova's deputy PM, whose country has also accused Russia of meddling in its affairs.

After years of doubt surrounding its survival, the eurozone is finally back in business and looking to grow. With Croatia finally acceding to the common currency last month, the question is now: who's next? Could it be Poland?

Robert Biedroń, a Polish socialist MEP who leads the committee on women's rights and gender equality, is pressing to make it mandatory for lawmakers to take anti-harassment courses.