Euobserver.com

'National security' means different things to different people, lacking a strict, agreed definition. Therefore, any exemption for its sake is vague from the outset and open to abuse.

Turkey deported 44,768 Afghan nationals in the first eight months of 2022, a 150-percent increase from the first eight months of 2021 — *before* the Taliban takeover.

The proposal shortens the approval period for new renewable energy installations from twelve to nine months, and requires member states to determine so-called "renewables acceleration areas" where rapid deployment of renewables are allowed.

A dead body in a freezing river, spinal injuries after falling off a wall, a pregnant woman given a punishment beating after being forced back — this is what's happening on the EU's eastern border.

The European Commission says solidarity on migration remains — despite Paris refusing to relocate some 3,500 asylum seekers from Italy under a French EU presidency-inspired proposal to distribute thousands of people across member states.

It was the first time auditors checked such goals as a whole — and found major differences in how these priorities were incorporated into the 2021-2027 budget.

It is up to Ukraine to decide when to enter negotiations with Russia, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday, commenting on speculations the West might push Kyiv to start talks with Moscow. "Ukraine will decide what to do. Our duty is to support them", he added when arriving at the Brussels meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers. Lithuania's minister Gabrielius Landsbergis added that speculation is "unhelpful".

Erdoğan wants Sweden to hand me over because he hates me — it's time for Nato to stop his juvenile and anti-democratic games.

Even some of the Kremlin-critical comments spread across Facebook were part of the disinformation effort, the Political Capital report found.

Recent research by the Bruegel think-tank warned that freelancers are, on average, at a much higher risk of poverty in old age than traditional employees. Here's how to fix this.

Last week I wrote that Mastodon was shitty, and for the second time in the very short life of this newsletter, I'm going to have to eat my own words.

The EU will do Bosnia and Herzegovina no favours by moving them forward on a candidacy track that they are not prepared for — and itself no favours by abandoning its own values.

Rule of law questions are mounting against the EU's police agency Europol, following a recent expansion of powers amid data abuse scandals. Those powers include the processing and analysis of data of innocent people with no links to any crime.

As the principal author of the OECD's new 2023 draft regulation on lobbying, I'd like to see many meaningful comments and suggestions from all kinds of stakeholders.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine put it on an "irreversible" path toward a clash with the "collective West", France has warned.

The new rules, seemingly inspired by the Covid-19 recovery fund's structure, would have governments negotiate a four-year debt reduction path with the commission — and then have EU ministers give their green light on it.

The German government on Wednesday blocked the sale of a chip factory to a Swedish subsidiary of a Chinese company, AP news reported. The mooted deal raised concerns over putting German IT production capacity in Chinese hands. The decision follows a recent compromise over a Chinese shipping firm's investment in a German container terminal, and a visit to Beijing last week by chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki on Wednesday, and Belgian workers were holding a nationwide general strike, over the cost-of-living increases, AP news reported. The main trade unions in Belgium and Greece called for wage rises, and measures to tackle inflation. Russia's war in Ukraine has driven up energy and food prices, as governments struggle to buffer the price hikes.

The European Commission wants to raise some €18bn for Ukraine. But the proposal is already being challenged by Hungary, which remains unhappy it has yet to receive Covid-pandemic recovery funds from Brussels.

Through a mechanism to be voted upon on Wednesday, member states would permanently be able to derogate at will from their obligations under EU asylum law — de fact creating a cherry-picking system between EU member states.