European Union

A new trade EU association for micro mobility services was launched on Tuesday (2 February) to unite eight e-scooter operators such as Lime and Bolt. Abandoned scooters and safety concerns are likely to top their policy agenda.

A Moscow court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months in a prison colony for violating parole from a 2014 sentence. The European Court of Human Rights had already ruled that Navalny's 2014 conviction was "arbitrary" in 2017. Europe's press sees Russia increasingly isolating itself with this verdict that was clearly politically motivated - and examines what can be done to help Navalny now.

The military took power on Monday in Myanmar - on the same day the parliament elected in November was due to convene for its first session. The head of government and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and the president were arrested. The military justified the coup citing electoral fraud. Europe must not react unwisely, observers warn.

Mario Draghi is to lead Italy out of its crisis. President Sergio Mattarella is expected to ask the former president of the European Central Bank to form a new government today. This would not be the first time Italy is led by a technocratic government. The political parties were unable to agree on a coalition government following Giuseppe Conte's resignation. Will this break the deadlock in Rome?

While the EU is at loggerheads with Astrazeneca over commitments and delivery quantities, countries with fewer financial resources, especially those in the southern hemisphere, are having far more difficulties securing sufficient vaccine doses. Commentators explain why a fair distribution of vaccines across the globe is also in Europe's interest - and what politicians should do to achieve it.

Five Covid patients died in a fire in a Bucharest hospital last Friday. Only last November another ten people perished in a hospital fire. In December, the Ministry of the Interior presented a report listing more than 1,900 deficiencies in Romanian hospitals. Commentators discuss what measures are need to address the problem of dilapidated hospitals.