Euobserver.com

The looming collapse of the Irish border deal, threatening security, is the elephant in the room in Brexit talks, a top UK think-tank has warned.

Alarm Phone, a hotline service for migrants in distress, has released video footing showing an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) boat making dangerous manoeuvres next to people swimming for their lives at sea. Malta does not deny the footage.

Among the casualties of coronavirus - worldwide and in the EU - is the defence sector. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has not made the world a less dangerous place and there is no alternative to having a functioning defence system.

Power is like manure, it should be spread, never piled up.

The EU Council announced last week (20 May) it had "adopted a decision to provide up to €3bn of macro-financial assistance to 10 enlargement and neighbourhood partners to help them cope with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic". "Financial assistance will be provided in the form of loans on highly favourable terms", its added. At €1.2bn Ukraine will get the largest loan. Tunisia will receive €600m.

Most EU countries are now breach the common fiscal rules, as governments tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The commission plans to link recovery funds to countries following its budgetary advice - but sanctions seem to be few.

The European Commission wants to cut chemical pesticides by 50 percent in the next decade - but the definitive target will be subject to the results of a risk assessment. Green NGOs have urged their full phase-out by 2035.

The General Court of the European Union delivered a blow against Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG, which own and operate a major gas pipeline between Russia's Vyborg and Germany's Lubmin. The companies disputed an amendment to an EU law on dealing with common rules for the internal market in natural gas. The court ruled against them, saying the EU law (Directive 2019/692) has no bearing on them.

A new Spanish law, which enters into force on Thursday, obliges all people older than five to wear a face mask both indoors and outside in public if social distancing of at least two metres is not possible, El País reported. Spain already required people to wear a mask on public transports during the lockdown, but the county is strengthening the rules while easing other restrictive measures.

The EU's statistical office Eurostat says annual inflation throughout EU states that use the euro as a currency dropped to 0.3 percent, down from 0.7 percent in March. The lowest annual rates were registered in Slovenia (-1.3 percent), Cyprus (-1.2 percent), Estonia and Greece (both -0.9 percent). The highest annual rates were recorded in Czechia (3.3 percent), Poland (2.9 percent) and Hungary (2.5 percent).

The prospect of a second wave of coronavirus infection across Europe is not 'if' but 'when', according to Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the agency responsible for advising governments on disease control, the Guardian reports. "The question is when and how big, that is the question in my view", she said, adding "it's not the time now to completely relax."

EU transport ministers agreed on Wednesday on extending the validity of certain certificates and licences in the road, rail and waterborne transport sectors, and relaxing rules on port services. "[This] will provide the flexibility and legal certainty needed to maintain our supply chains and ensure continued mobility by road, rail, sea and inland waterways, while safeguarding safety and security," said the Croatian transport minister Oleg Butković, who chaired the discussion.

Defectors from French president Emmanuel Macron's party, la République en Marche, have formed a small, new faction called Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity, costing Macron his parliamentary majority. The president now commands 288 MPs in the 577-seat house. He also had informal support from two centre-right parties, MoDem and Agir, with 56 seats together, enabling him to govern smoothly, but the defections undermined Macron's authority, French commentators said.

The pandemic is strangling quality journalism around the world, but that suits some governments, leading European and international editors have said.

The EU Commission said it is still aiming for a recovery initiative above one trillion euros to kickstart the pandemic-hit EU economy - after a German-French proposal called for a commonly-financed €500bn plan.

EU commission has accused US leader of undermining multilateral cooperation, after his latest threat to permanently cut off World Health Organization funding.

The European Commission is set to unveil the much-awaited Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategy on Wednesday, after several postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The short-term damage to financial markets may be smaller than feared. The damage to democracy is considerable because it weakened the ECJ - the most effective institution to stop attacks against democracy and rule of law in EU member states.

"The pandemic should be a wake-up call that the EU is facing collective risks requiring not just collective answers, but also the acknowledgement of the already existing interdependencies [of its health systems]," said one expert.

The angriest citizens can turn to protests or violence, leading governments to increase control and monitoring of platforms, reinforcing the problem. This painful point has to be made to stop the EU repeating China's mistake of top-down internet regulation.