Keeping the Red Flag flying

The Left won't let this pass. The European Parliament must establish a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the EU Commission for illegal conduct, maladministration and negligence, and to make sure these mistakes don't happen again.

In this episode Daniel Ziblatt discusses the dilemmas facing Europe's modern-day conservative parties — including the German Christian Democratic Union and the European People's Party.

Brussels is increasingly expected to serve as the European Union's sheriff on rule of law — but its ability to enforce adherence to democratic norms and values remains weak.

James Crisp has Boris Johnson's old job in Brussels covering EU affairs for The Daily Telegraph. He often writes with that jaundiced eye on the European project you'd expect from a correspondent on a venerable Conservative UK newspaper.

Ursula von der Leyen appears secure in her job as president of the European Commission. That's despite a troubled vaccine rollout in which delayed deliveries can cost lives and livelihoods.

This summer some 450 undocumented workers and migrants in Brussels refused food during two months. They were protesting Belgian immigration rules that human rights officials and campaigners say arbitrarily obstruct them from legal and stable residency.