Euobserver.com

Countries that were once democratising are now moving in the other direction — think of Turkey, Myanmar, Hungary or Tunisia. On the other hand, in autocracies mass mobilisation rarely succeeds in changing political institutions. Think of Belarus, Iran or Algeria.

The EU's lobby register remains riddled with errors, with pro-transparency campaigners demanding better data and mandatory rules. The latest findings come amid a raft of proposals by the European Parliament president to weed out corruption in the wake of Qatargate.

Draft legislation in Poland aimed at relaxing some of Europe's strictest laws surrounding onshore wind-turbines has been derailed by a surprise last minute amendment, which could put Poland back on a collision course with the EU.

Industrial energy-intense sectors, outside Germany and France, will not move to the US. They will go bust, as they cannot compete in a fragmented single market. So to save industry in two member states, we will kill the rest?

Europe accelerated its electricity transition in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with solar energy developers leading the charge.

The European Parliament special committee still wants to hear from EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, whose undisclosed text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the crisis have raised transparency concerns.

The EU's border agency Frontex will spend around €100m this year to return unwanted and rejected asylum seekers.

The EU is set to propose a plan to simplify tax credits in an effort to counteract the US $369bn [€339bn] Inflation Reduction Act #IRA ahead of next week's summit of EU leaders.

From February to November 2022, there were 213 military attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. 40 percent of them are still destroyed.

Political scientist David Rowe has been looking into why so much of Europe wasn't ready for Putin — and the consequences for the Western allies of not spilling their own blood in Ukraine.

MEPs are expected to present their migration and asylum priorities on Wednesday (1 February), before EU leaders will focus on the issue at the 9-10 February special European Council.

Pressure is mounting for EU states to ease multiple-entry visas for human rights defenders from Belarus and Russia. But with EU states in charge of issuing visas, the possibilities for a coordinated EU approach appears limited.

Japan and the Netherlands are set to agree to join the United States in restricting exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.

Last June, a Latvian socialist MEP went to Azerbaijan and sang its praises — but the EU Parliament committee he claimed to represent had no idea he was there.

The ECHR ruled that Russia was in "effective control" of separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine from 11 May 2014. In doing so, the court has formally acknowledged the inter-state character of the conflict and Russia's culpability for human rights abuses.

Sanctions targeting Russia's fossil fuel earnings are now in place but as exports by European-controlled tankers persist, revenues still flow into the Kremlin purse.

Nick Aiossa, deputy director of Transparency International EU said there is a "culture of impunity" in the parliament among MEPs, which contributed to the Qatargate scandal that has rocked the insitution at the end of last year.

If just one-in-five barriers were removed from EU internal border regions, it could gain around two percent in GDP.

The director of Amnesty International Greece on the political spying scandal that now threatens to bring down prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Activists and NGO staff work with the constant fear that they are being spied on.

A no-confidence vote on the Greek government is set for Friday, following revelations of state-led surveillance on senior military officials and a minister.