Berlin and Paris agree on rules for arms exports

The EU Commission is also taking legal action in another case, where it says China is restricting European companies' rights over their high-tech patents.

A new EU Commission bill wants to ensure the rights of a child from same sex couples are upheld in all EU states — at a time of backsliding of LGBTI+ rights in Poland and Hungary.

From the outset, arms manufacturers eyed this war as a profitable business opportunity. Structural changes took place across the EU, not only to fast-track arms to Ukraine, but also to make more public finance available to the highly-lucrative arms industry.

"We cannot afford any more delays," Czech minister Zbyněk Stanjura said of aid to Ukraine, adding that his country's EU presidency is "fully committed to finding a compromise".

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, is currently drawing a pension from a European Parliament fund that is some €400m in debt and may require a taxpayer bailout at a time of rising inflation and high energy costs.

How should democratic states co-operate with authoritarian governments in the future? My organisation, Democracy Reporting International, has studied the security strategies of 13 democratic governments to understand how they see this relationship.