Sunday
23rd Jul 2017
By EUOBSERVER
Austrian chancellor Christian Kern wants to stop talks with Turkey about joining the European Union because of the country's democratic and economic deficits. In an interview with Austrian broadcaster ORF Kern described accession talks as a "diplomatic fiction" and said he wanted EU leaders to rethink their approach to Turkey. He said he would ask for "an alternative concept" at the next European Council summit.
Friday will mark 128 days since elections in the Netherlands. Four parties are negotiating to form a government coalition.
Lawmakers in Poland adopted a controversial reform of the Supreme Court, despite warnings from the EU that the move could trigger a sanction procedure over the rule of law.
EU and UK negotiators presented their Brexit positions to identify common grounds this week, but that was made difficult by the scarcity of UK position papers.
EU law professor Ellen Vos says the commission's proposed mini-reform on comitology, an obscure but often-used method of EU lawmaking, should go much further.
Candidates from all political families should be presenting their vision on where the Union should be headed. European socialists want to keep the Spitzenkandidat procedure for future elections.
Huge amounts of money from criminal activities are funnelled into the legitimate European economy. But little is being done about it at EU or national level.
