Eurotopics.net

Anti-Covid Vaccination rates are stagnating across Europe - and the lower the rate, the more alarming the infection and mortality figures of the fourth wave are. Austria is now considering drastic measures: curfews for the unvaccinated if the number of occupied Covid intensive care beds goes above 600. In Romania, where hospitals are once again overburdened, curfews are already in place.

The dispute over Poland's rule of law came to a head in Strasbourg last Tuesday: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to block the Covid recovery aid requested by Warsaw until the country rescinds its contested judicial reforms. Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the EU of blackmail, but at the end of the week held talks with Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.

The 26th UN World Climate Conference starts in Glasgow on 31 October. But signs that it could be a failure are already accumulating: key players like China's head of state Xi Jinping will be absent, and a new report backed by the UN Environment Programme shows that the world's governments plan to produce twice as much oil, gas and coal by 2030 as the Paris climate targets allow. In Europe's media the mood ranges from faint optimism to disappointment even before the summit kicks off.