Euobserver.com

Mary Lawlor, UN' special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said a Greek registration system for NGOs working with migrants is in breach of international law.

The European Commission proposed imposing sanctions on trading partners when international labour and climate commitments are not respected.

The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, puts the case for her country joining the European Union, to leaders at the Brussels summit.

The independence campaign launch featured a new Scottish government report, comparing the UK's economic and social record with those of other European states — and arguing, unsurprisingly, that Scotland should be independent as a result.

The European Parliament approved a big update of the EU's carbon market, a carbon border tax, and the social climate fund.

Bulgaria has raised hope of a breakthrough on Western Balkans enlargement by endorsing a French blueprint for North Macedonia accession talks.

New rules to reduce the use of pesticides in the EU and support farmers were finally unveiled, after a three-month delay due to rising concerns over the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food supplies.

Danish citizens over 50 will be offered a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose in October, prime minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Wednesday. But vulnerable people will have the opportunity of re-vaccination from next week after a new variant, BA5, is on the rise. Danish authorities announced a shift in strategy, no longer believing vaccination can limit spread of the virus, but instead mainly prevent severe illness.

Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio announced on Tuesday his departure from the 5-Star Movement due to disagreement with party leader and former prime minister Giuseppe Conte over Ukraine. The party was backed by 33 percent in the 2018 elections but has become increasingly uneasy about Italy sending weapons to Ukraine. De Maio hinted he will form a new parliamentary group backing the government of prime minister Mario Draghi.

China's soft support to Russia is deeply troubling for Europe. Here is the EU's biggest trading partner signalling that it is on the side of Russia, its aggression, and its challenge to the post-war international order.

Ukraine has taken delivery of several powerful and long-range German howitzers, its defence minister said Tuesday. Germany had promised them back in May, along with 30 tanks, three multiple-rocket launchers, and 500 anti-aircraft missiles, Kyiv noted. The lag in delivery had seen German chancellor Olof Scholz criticised in Ukraine and in central and eastern Europe as deliberately dragging his feet.

Jarosław Kaczyński, the eminence grise of Polish politics, has said he is stepping down from his roles as deputy-prime minister and national security chief, in order to prepare his ruling Law and Justice party for elections next year. "The party must regain vigour, because the most important time for any political party in the world is drawing closer," he told the Polish news agency PAP Tuesday.

The EU court in Luxembourg has struck a blow against Europe's data-collection regime on flight passengers in the name of civil liberties.

EU member states have rejected MEPs' call for stricter limits for one of the most harmful chemicals in waste.

EU diplomats have urged "calm" amid escalating Russian rhetoric on Nato-member Lithuania, which sparked talk of "World War 3" on social media.

Covid infections have begun to spike in Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, and Denmark, prompting doctors to raise the alarm, The Guardian reports. "The pandemic is accelerating again, despite the warm weather," Dr Benjamin Davido, an infectious disease specialist in Paris, said. Portugal now has the second highest infection figures in the world. Health experts said unrestrained tourism in the summer will make matters worse.

"We will not continue to work with a customer that is targeting a journalist illegally," Chaim Gelfand, chief compliance officer of NSO Group told MEPs — but shed little light on EU governments' use of its Pegasus spyware.

Compassion fatigue coupled with complex Belgian bureaucracy is affecting Ukrainians in Brussels — some of whom are being told to leave by their hosts.

The EU's statistical office Eurostat has ranked Denmark and Ireland as the most expensive EU states for consumer goods and services. At 140-percent the EU average, both had the highest price levels followed by Luxembourg (132 percent), Sweden (128 percent) and Finland (126 percent). The lowest price levels were found in Poland (60 percent) and in Romania and Bulgaria (both 56 percent), said Eurostat.

The European Commission said it will mobilise some €600m aid to help African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to soften a food crisis created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It said €150m will go to humanitarian assistance, €350m on food and €100m to other types of support. "Russia is still blocking millions of tonnes of desperately needed grain," said EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, in a statement.