MEPs to debate Catalonia crisis on Wednesday

The EU foreign service is pulling out 1,000 local people from Afghanistan, but what would it do for local staff at missions in Ukraine or Mali?

Poland's president Andzej Duda will be in Brussels in an apparent attempt to end the EU-Warsaw rule-of-law row. The commission will meanwhile put ramping up European microchip production on the agenda.

Even without shaking up the ranks of the German coalition, the EU's green taxonomy may be the biggest controversy of Ursula von der Leyen's presidency of the Commission.

The move came after 20 civil society organisations and think tanks, 62 MEPs from 19 countries, and five different political groups wrote separate letters demanding a fully-fledged election observation mission to Hungary.

The EU has blacklisted Mali's prime minister for postponing elections, risking a fresh tantrum from a junta with ever-closer Russia ties.

Turkish officials say a better EU perspective would entice Ankara to enact further reforms - although that's a position some are likely to view with scepticism.