European Union

The Spanish government has submitted its energy and climate plan for 2030 to the European Commission, three months after the deadline, while five EU countries, including France, still need to turn in their strategies.

The Court of Justice of the European Union adapts in order to guarantee the continuity of the European public administration of justice

Wojciech Dąbrowski, the newly appointed President of the Management Board of PGE, Poland's largest energy sector company, sat in an interview with the Polish Press Agency.

With their refusal to take in asylum seekers from Italy and Greece during the 2015 refugee crisis Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic broke European law, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday. Back then the EU's interior ministers had decided to impose mandatory quotas for redistributing the refugees among all member states in order to ease the burden on the countries of arrival. What can the ruling achieve now - almost five years after the crisis?

The EU Commission has announced the introduction of a short time work scheme aimed at enabling companies that have had to discontinue or reduce their production because of the coronavirus crisis to continue to employ their workers. The Commission plans to take out 100 billion in loans to finance the measure. Not all media are convinced that this is a genuine display of solidarity.

In crisis situations popular support for governments tends to increase. Political scientists call this the "rally-round-the-flag effect". But this effect is generally short-lived and criticism then grows again. Commentators believe that this point should now be reached in the coronavirus crisis.

The leaders of some countries are turning a blind eye to the coronavirus pandemic. In Belarus, for example, President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly railed against the 'corona panic' - and recommends drinking vodka to prevent infection. In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro has accused the media and politicians of scaremongering. Observers look on with concern.

Many observers are saying that the virus has also brought the European project to a standstill: member states are closing their borders, restricting their citizens' freedoms and for the most part implementing their own national policies. But some commentators argue that Europe is doing much more in the crisis than many give it credit for.