Euobserver.com

A strike has hit Norwegian oil and gas production in the North Sea, with three production sites closing production on Monday and four more set to follow on Wednesday. Workers are demanding wage increases in compensation for rising inflation. The conflict comes as European countries struggle to build gas storage ahead of the winter, after the Ukraine war disrupted normal deliveries from Russia.

The European Parliament is being sued for refusing to show how jailed neo-Nazi and MEP, Ioannis Lagos, spent EU taxpayer money on himself.

Although some assure that the collapse of the glacier could not have been predicted, climatologists, mountain experts and glaciologists agree in blaming the tragedy on climate change.

Companies and lobby groups like Spotify, Google and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) were able to lobby member states using live knowledge of the trilogue discussions on content-ranking systems, advertising and liability for search engines.

The main opposition to new rules on child sexual abuse material comes from Netherlands and Germany, despite being among the worst for hosting child sexual abuse content, a report found.

EU auditors said on Monday that some payments under the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) have proven to be susceptible to fraud, urging the European Commission to do more to address this risk — for example, by using new digital tools. Olaf, the EU's anti-fraud office, and national authorities have revealed that the agricultural areas that are publicly-owned land or with unclear ownership are the most susceptible to fraud.

Confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs should be used to pay to rebuild Ukraine, said Ukraine's prime minister Denys Shmygal. "Today, the direct infrastructure losses of Ukraine stand at over $100bn [€95bn]," he said. "Who will pay for the renewal plan, which is already being valued at $750bn [€719bn]?" he said.

Germany reported its first monthly trade deficit in goods for over three decades, as a result of inflation and trade disruption. Energy prices have pushed up the value of imports to the country, while its own exports have been disrupted by the global trade shock following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent EU sanctions. According to the Federal Statistics Office exports were down 0.5 percent in May.

The Chinese mission to the EU responds to last week's Madrid Nato summit, which stated China posed "systemic challenges" and warned against the "deepening strategic partnership between Russia and China".

About 1,000 SAS pilots from Denmark, Norway and Sweden went on strike Monday following several months of failed attempts to reach an agreement. Around 200-250 flights and 20,000-30,000 passengers will be affected every day of the dispute, which could push the semi-public SAS company into bankruptcy. The unions are demanding that new pilots are not hired on cheaper agreements in the two subsidiaries SAS Link and SAS Connect.

The EU is planning to sign a memorandum of understanding with Namibia in November about production of so-called 'green hydrogen', Reuters reports, citing anonymous EU sources. The deal, designed to reduce dependence on Russia and to lower emissions, comes after Europe agreed to also buy natural gas from Egypt and Israel. The director-general of Namibia's National Planning Commission, Obeth Kandjoze, told Reuters work was underway on the EU deal.

Israel and Poland have pledged to mend relations, which deteriorated when Poland curbed Jewish property restoration rights from World War Two. "It was agreed that relations would be restored to their proper course," Israeli president Isaac Herzog said following a call with Polish president Andrzej Duda on Monday, Reuters reports. Poland will send back its ambassador to Israel, Duda said, and a new Israeli ambassador-designate was being sent to Warsaw.

The European Central Bank decided to shift its €344bn corporate debt portfolio from polluting oil and gas companies toward more sustainable businesses.

The European Commission will set up a platform to map and coordinate the reconstruction of Ukraine after Russia's war ends, commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday. "Ukraine can emerge from this war on a path towards ... a modernised judiciary, stronger institutions and a solid track record in the fight against corruption, but also with a greener, more digital and more resilient economy," she said.

Fabrice Leggeri, the former head of the EU's border police Frontex, sought to attend a European Parliament committee meeting in mid-July. He was told not to come.

MEPs will gather in Strasbourg for the final plenary before the summer break, with a crucial vote on the classification of gas and nuclear. The Czech Republic will present to EU lawmakers its presidency's priorities for the next six months.

Sooner or later, the European Court of Human Rights will have a final say on whether Grenoble is allowed to permit the 'burkini'. Its judgment, like the one permitting the outlawing of full-face veils, risks influencing policymaking across the continent.

By only screening, fingerprinting or relocating (some) refugees, or by outsourcing our border control to Turkey and giving Erdogan our keys, we will not solve the current problems.

Three people were killed and several critically injured in a shooting in the Fields shopping mall close to Copenhagen's airport Kastrup late Sunday afternoon. Panic reportedly broke out among shoppers as gunfire rang out inside the mall. A Harry Styles concert nearby was cancelled and metro lines in the Danish capital closed. Police arrested a 22-year old ethnic Danish man and removed videos he had posted recently on social media.

Germany's energy companies are calling on the government to impose a levy to help pass on rising prices to households and businesses. Only certain importers like Uniper depend heavily on Russian gas and face a sharp increase in costs as they are forced to buy gas at high prices on the global market. If parliament approves the plan, the additional cost will be shared among all gas customers.