Euobserver.com

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday said Bosnia and Herzegovina has to do better in its efforts to align with the European Union. "I have to regret that the rate of alignment has dropped in the first months of this year and this is, certainly, not in line with the aspirations to become a European Union candidate country," he said.

Over 100 intellectual-property experts and academics called on Tuesday on the UK, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the EU to stop blocking the proposal demanding the temporary lifting of intellectual properties rights for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. The call comes ahead of this week's round of the 'TRIPS Waiver' negotiations at the World Trade Organization. The proposal is currently supported by over 100 countries, including the US.

Poland has postponed a Constitutional Court verdict, on whether EU or Polish law has primacy in the country, from Tuesday until at least Thursday. The EU Commission has urged Poland to scrap the procedure, in a court stuffed with political loyalists of the ruling, eurosceptic PiS party. Polish human rights Ombudsman Adam Bodnar also said Tuesday the process "sooner or later will lead to Poland's removal from the EU".

France's anti-trust watchdog has handed Google a €500m fine for using French news agencies' material, Reuters reports. Google must now present proposals within two months on how it will compensate the agencies, and other publishers, for the use of their news. If it does not, Google could face additional fines of up to €900,000 per day. Google said it was disappointed at the decision.

EU finance ministers on Tuesday approved investment plans from 12 member states - including Italy, Spain and France - paving the way for the first payments of grants and loans from the bloc's €800bn Covid-19 recovery fund to boost the economy. Plans from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Slovakia were also given the green light. The next group of plans could be approved on 26 July.

Lithuania's parliament has approved the mass detention of asylum-seekers and restricted their rights to appeal, in a bid to deter the newly-high numbers crossing the border from Belarus. Reuters writes. Some 84 members of the 141-seat parliament voted to pass the law, brushing aside protests from Red Cross and other non-government organisations saying it violates Lithuania's international obligations and migrants' rights.

The European Medicine Agency told Reuters on Tuesday that it is analysing data on rare cases of nerve disorder, discovered among some of those who receive the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in the US. The review comes after the US Food and Drug Administration added a warning for a rare side-effect called Guillain-Barre syndrome, which occurs when one's immune system damages the nerves. Most people recuperate from it.

The spread of the more contagious Delta variant has prompted authorities in member states to accelerate inoculation campaigns, and even make vaccination mandatory - in a bid to halt the new surge of cases and avoid lockdowns in the autumn.

The NGO search-and-rescue vessel Ocean Viking was the only civilian ship at sea. In the span of just four days, it saved nearly 600 people - often in a race with an aggressive Libyan coast guard.

The first battle of the 'Fit for 55' package has to be fought on the home front. Europe will also have to win the battle for the hearts and minds of citizens, mindful of the 'yellow vests'-style protests.

The EU must differentiate between temporary and Covid-19-related action from permanent changes before making any final decisions based on the new EU trade policy strategy.

Israels new foreign minister, Yair Lapid, told EU counterparts in Brussels Monday the new Israeli coalition, which included hardliners, had no plan to create a Palestinian state. "It's no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this," Lapid said. "If there's eventually a Palestinian state, it must be a peace-loving democracy," he added, while pledging support for humanitarian and economic aid to Palestinians.

Ethiopian officials involved in blocking aid to the war-torn Tigray region should face EU sanctions, EU foreign relations chief Josep Borrell said Monday. Ethiopia was using "famine as a weapon of war", with over 1.8 million people at risk of starvation, he said. "Water in the Nile can be used in a way that benefits everyone," Borrell also said, on Ethiopia's plan to launch a new dam, threatening Egypt's supplies.

France needs to push back the retirement age and the government will continue its pension reforms as soon as the Covid-19 situation is under control, French president Emmanuel Macron said in a televised speech Monday. His initial proposals for pension reforms provoked weeks of protests and strikes just before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Macron put it on hold as he ordered France into lockdown a year and a half ago.

EU foreign-affairs chief Josep Borrell said Slovenia's prime minister Janez Janša did not speak for the EU, despite holding the EU presidency, when he went on an anti-Iran regime rant in video-talks with an Iran opposition group this weekend. Janša's comments "did not represent the European Union, most definitely not ... they were certain opinions of the Slovenian prime minister," Borrell said Monday, amid sensitive, EU-chaired Iran nuclear non-proliferation talks.

The Cuban government should listen to its people's grievances instead of reacting with a crackdown on the biggest demonstrations there in 30 years.

As the first anniversary of the deadly Beirut explosion approaches, the EU said it hopes to develop the legal framework for sanctions targeting Lebanese leaders by August. More than 11 months since Lebanon's government resigned in response to the blast in August 2020, the country is still headed by a caretaker government. The EU said the sanctions would be "balanced" against people from Lebanon's various ethnic, sectarian, and political divides.

Prime minister Mark Rutte admitted on Monday coronavirus restrictions had been eased too early, reimposing restrictions in a bid to halt the surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, Reuters reported. "We had poor judgement, which we regret and for which we apologise," Rutte said. Infections have increased eightfold in a week, reaching their highest level in 2021. Meanwhile, several organisations joined a lawsuit aiming to overturn the restrictions.

The EU has temporarily paused its own plans to create a new tax on online sales, targeting US firms such as Google, in order to help forge new minimum-tax rules at the global level, the European Commission said Monday. "We will work together to reach this global agreement," EU economic affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said, referring to an emerging G-20 level accord on how to tax tech giants more.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Monday that the gap in Covid-19 supplies is "hugely uneven and inequitable," Reuters reported. He added countries and regions should not order more millions of doses before other countries have supplies to vaccinate their health workers and most vulnerable, specially when the Delta variant is "driving a new spike in Covid-19 cases and death".