European Union

The member states are expected to vote next week on whether to open accession talks with Albania, as the Commission has recommended. The Balkan country has made progress in improving the rule of law but its EU prospects remain vague as several EU capitals have called for caution in planning the bloc's next enlargement.

Europe’s river-dwelling creatures are threatened by traces of cocaine in some of the continent’s most well-known rivers, according to a new study. Migratory animals like the eel are particularly at risk.

EU nationals living in the UK will have until June 2021 to apply for permanent residency at a cost of £65 per person, under a proposed scheme unveiled on Thursday (21 June).

EU states at the Council level this week decided not to confirm some EU asylum reforms because they want them signed off as a single package. There are seven such reforms under discussion. Of those, the council had discussed this week the qualification regulations, the reception conditions directive, and an EU resettlement agreement. An EU source said they prefer treating the files "as a package".

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The EU has forged constructive political dialogue with members of the Cooperation Council for Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). These countries are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. The Cooperation Agreement, which was concluded in 1988, forms the basis for the relationship that aims at: strengthening the stability in the strategically important region; facilitating the political and economic relations; broadening economic and technical cooperation; further broadening cooperation on energy, industry, trade and services, agriculture, fisheries, investment, science, technology and environment. Cooperation between universities, business and the media also form part of the EU-GCC agenda.

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We should stop focusing on economy over health when it comes to pesticides, said MEP Eric Andrieu, the president of the PEST committee in the European Parliament. But in the case of toxic copper, he urged member states to keep in mind that the viability of organic winery is at stake and that alternatives to copper are very limited.

Germany turns out to be a major beneficiary of Greece’s debt crisis as it earned a total of €2.9 billion between 2010 and 2017. This emerges from a response of the Federal ministry of finance in Berlin to a parliamentary request from the Greens (Bündnis90/Die Grünen) in the German Bundestag obtained by EURACTIV.

The United States has terminated its membership of the UN Human Rights Council. Washington has justified its decision by saying that the Council is prejudiced - especially against Israel. Some commentators criticise the decision as a further step towards American isolation, while others show understanding for the move.

With immediate effect people in Hungary can be sent to prison if they "assist illegal migration" by, for example, helping migrants who do not have refugee status to apply for asylum. In addition, a constitutional amendment stipulating that in future no "foreign populations" should be allowed to settle in Hungary was passed with only five votes against. Commentators, not only in Hungary, are appalled.

The parliamentary and presidential elections on Sunday could change Turkey fundamentally: if the incumbent President Erdoğan and his AKP win, he will consolidate his power by introducing a presidential system and abolishing the parliamentary one. Commentators discuss the impact the elections could have on Turkey and Europe.