European regions and cities demand clear rules and solid financial backing to help Europe’s ailing car industry through the shift to electric vehicles (EVs). The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on Wednesday adopted an opinion on the European Commission’s Automotive Package, arguing that the transition will only succeed if regions are adequately equipped to carry it.

Regions said electrification is crucial to achieving climate-neutral road transport, but that success depends on affordability and access. They called for charging infrastructure across regions, funded by European, national and regional budgets, as well as targeted demand support in lower-income regions.

“Europe’s regions and cities have spoken with one voice: competitiveness and electrification by 2035 go hand in hand,” said María Chivite, President of the Navarre region in Spain, who drafted the opinion. Europe can only lead the transition, she argued, if regions receive “real financing”.

The Commission proposed the Automotive Package in December. It suggests a 90-percent-cut in tailpipe emissions from 2035, with the remaining 10 percent offset through low-carbon steel or e-fuels and biofuels. The CoR welcomed these temporary flexibilities but warned that they must not delay zero-emission mobility.

Brigitte Torloting, Chair of the Automotive Regions Alliance (ARA) and Vice-President of France’s Grand Est region, warned that time is short and “global competition will not wait for us”. She called for a strategy that protects automotive production in the regions, backed by strong European instruments such as “European preference.” Without a clear framework and targeted investment, she said, Europe risks losing its industrial base, from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to major suppliers.

Made in the EU

“European preference” is an approach first introduced in the Commission’s proposal for an Industrial Accelerator Act in March and is designed to prioritise EU-based manufacturing. The Commission suggests public procurement contracts and state-subsidised industrial projects to source a minimum percentage of materials or components from European producers. For EV production, the Commission proposed that 70% of components for new cars – excluding the battery – must originate within the EU.

CoR members also welcomed the “Made in the EU” approach to strenghten European production but insisted it must be proportionate, so that SMEs and regional supply chains are not buried in red tape.

With automotive production concentrated in specific territories, the opinion also calls for targeted cohesion funding, skills and quality jobs.

According to EU figures for 2024, the automotive industry contributed 7 percent of EU gross domestic product (GDP), about EUR 170 billion in exports and supported around 13.8 million jobs, 3.5 million of them in manufacturing. According to CoR figures, the 41 regions organised in the Automotive Regions Alliance (ARA) generate more than 40 percent of EU GDP.

This story was produced by the European Newsroom (enr) in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The editorial responsibility lies with the enr. 

Press contact:

Theresa Sostmann
Tel. +32475999415

Theresa.Sostmann@cor.europa.eu

Is artificial intelligence growing more rapidly than humanity’s ability to contain it? The EU’s tech chief had a stark warning for the development of AI systems: if we don’t put guardrails in place now, the technology might soon be beyond our control.

In an interview with the European Newsroom (enr), European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen (Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy) said AI systems are becoming more capable and harder to evaluate.

The Finnish politician called for the establishment of international rules, which she said were already being discussed among G7 and G20 countries. She told journalists she was convinced that countries which are currently unwilling to regulate the sector will eventually come around.

China and the United States are currently leading in AI development but are showing no signs of slowing down despite recent warnings from industry insiders. Meanwhile, the EU has already begun to enforce its landmark AI Act.

Virkkunen also spoke about the addictive nature of social media networks and the impact they have on European children, calling on platforms to take greater responsibility. The Commission last month proposed a new law that seeks to limit the use of social media, including restrictions on gaming, for kids under 15.

The interview was conducted by enr news agencies dpa (Germany) and PAP (Poland) on behalf of the enr network.

Read some of our coverage here:

• European Newsroom (enr) – EU tech chief expects countries leading AI race to come around on safety
• dpa (Germany) – EU demands response from Claude, OpenAI on cyberattacks
• PAP (Poland) – Virkkunen: Social media is becoming increasingly addictive; clear age limits are needed
• Tanjug (Serbia) – EU tech chief expects countries leading AI race to come around on safety

European regions and cities are calling on the EU to give millions of displaced Ukrainians legal certainty and a genuine choice between building a future in Europe and returning home safely. Their appeal comes as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure intensify ahead of what is expected to be another harsh winter for the war-torn nation.

Temporary protection for displaced Ukrainians was set to end in March 2028. Eurostat data from July shows that almost 4,5 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine were benefiting from the mechanism, which was established shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

“Temporary protection was the right emergency response, but it cannot be the long-term answer,” said Antje Grotheer, Chair of the European Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) Working Group on Ukraine. “People forced to flee Ukraine because of Russia’s war need certainty about their future,” the President of the Bremen State Parliament added.

An opinion drafted by Grotheer and adopted by CoR members on Tuesday calls for timely, accessible information on legal options beyond temporary protection so that people can make informed decisions.

It notes that decisions on legal status are taken mainly at EU and national level, while their practical consequences are managed in cities and regions. Local authorities need predictable funding and administrative capacity to keep public services running and respond to housing pressures, the CoR said.

Grotheer demanded that cities and regions are given a voice in shaping the transition after the EU’s temporary protection runs out.

Preparing for winter

The opinion sets out three parallel priorities: supporting the inclusion of displaced Ukrainians in European communities, investing in their education and skills for the benefit of host societies and Ukraine’s recovery, and enabling voluntary, informed and safe return when conditions allow.

“It’s time now to realise that we should not only treat Ukrainians as vulnerable refugees; we should treat them as our partners,” said Ylva Johansson, EU Special Envoy for Ukrainians in the EU. “Their future is part of Ukraine’s future, and that future is in the European Union,” she added.

“The millions of Ukrainians currently living outside the borders of our country are a huge human potential that Ukraine cannot afford to lose,” said Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko, President of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils (UAROR) and Chair of Kharkiv Regional Council.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that 49 percent of Ukrainian refugees – down from 61 percent in 2024 – have expressed hopes or intentions to return one day, with security, housing and essential services among the key conditions.

Protecting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been a central part of the EU’s support since 2022. In a letter to CoR members, President Kata Tüttő and Grotheer warn that the attacks risk depriving communities of basic living conditions. The letter recalls that the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had described the attacks as “a strategy of terror”.

“Cities and regions must act before the arrival of the cold further aggravates the already difficult humanitarian situation,” the letter warned. It said regions and cities can deliver support in the form of energy equipment, used municipal vehicles, medical supplies or IT equipment.

This story was produced by the European Newsroom (enr) in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The editorial responsibility lies with the enr. 

Press contact:

Theresa Sostmann
Tel. +32475999415

Theresa.Sostmann@cor.europa.eu

The European Union’s technology chief expects countries that oppose stricter artificial intelligence rules to change course, as AI systems are becoming more capable and harder to evaluate.

“I’m sure that all those countries who are not willing to regulate the use of AI, they will come back to that quite soon,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen told the European Newsroom (enr) on Friday. She warned of a “risk of very serious incidents” in the absence of any guardrails and called for the establishment of safeguards at an international level.

Concerns about the risks of AI have been at the centre of public attention for weeks, sparked mainly by hacking attacks carried out by AI software that acted autonomously during test runs. Some industry insiders have sounded the alarm, warning that artificial intelligence could potentially cause large numbers of deaths if the technology were to spiral out of control.

Virkkunen warned that fierce global competition is creating a risk that “companies are coming to the markets with products that they haven’t been testing enough.” She pointed to incidents in which AI agents had escaped from test “sandboxes” and service providers or developers had been unable to control their own systems.

At the same time, she said, some AI models “have become so capable that it’s more and more difficult also to evaluate them.” Adequate testing required highly qualified experts, sufficient expertise and enough time, she added.

The EU began enforcing its AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive legal framework to regulate AI based on the level of risk it poses, in August. Virkkunen said that the Commission had already sent a Request for Information (RFI) to two major US-based AI companies – OpenAI, known for ChatGPT, and Anthropic, known for Claude – as well as to some Chinese companies not further specified.

An RFI is a formal investigative tool used by the Commission to gather facts, data, and internal documentation from businesses, governments, or member states.

Global AI race

China and the United States have emerged as frontrunners in the development of AI systems, showing no signs of hitting the breaks. Governments in both countries have rejected calls to slow down its development, arguing it would create a competitive, strategic and economic disadvantage.

“Currently the risks are mainly focused and related to cyber security,” Virkkunen said, but she warned of more serious risks in future, including the possibility that highly capable models could be used in connection with biological weapons or fall into the hands of terrorists.

The Finnish politician called for the establishment of international rules to mitigate the risks of AI. She said the security of AI models had already been discussed within the Group of Seven (G7) this year as well as among G20 countries, and that the discussions would continue.

Talking about the EU’s role in AI development, Virkkunen said the Union should avoid dependence on a single company or third country for critical technologies and develop AI systems based on European values, languages and culture.

Regulation could be the fastest response for tenants facing their next rent payment, Italian MEP Irene Tinagli said. Measures to moderate rent increases and restrict short-term rentals in neighbourhoods under the greatest pressure could help in the short to medium term.

“In the long term we need structural measures that provide a greater supply of affordable homes,” she told the European Newsroom (enr) on Wednesday. That would however require substantial investment and long-term planning, she added.

Tinagli, who chairs the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis (HOUS), said residential property “has become an asset” and was increasingly attracting investors and real estate funds. These investors were buying entire buildings and evicting tenants or sharply raising rents, she said, describing a pattern seen in cities across the EU.

One such case was Maricarmen Abascal, whose eviction from her longtime Madrid home made her a symbol of Spain’s housing protests. She died in hospital at the age of 87 on October 7, two weeks after her eviction. She never returned home, despite an agreement with the apartment’s owner, Urbagestión, that would have allowed her to return at roughly her previous rent rate.

In the interview, conducted before news of Abascal’s death emerged, Tinagli described Abascal’s eviction as “a case that we are seeing in many other cities and countries across the European Union” and added: “It tells me that we need to do something.”

European tools, local action

While housing remains primarily a national and local responsibility, the EU could provide authorities with tools to act, alongside guidelines and parliamentary resolutions, Tinagli said.

She pointed to greater use of cohesion funds, “reprogramming them to address housing investments”, and more flexible state-aid rules to support social and affordable housing projects.

Work on an Affordable Housing Act, which the European Commission proposed last month, was intended to give authorities clearer criteria for restricting short-term rentals “where they are becoming increasingly invasive of the dynamics of the city,” the Italian politician said.

Such restrictions could range from limits on licences to outright bans, depending on local housing pressures. Reducing potential returns from holiday lets could curb investors’ interest in driving up property prices, she added.

The EU should not accept any cuts to the proposed allocation of funds to defence and security in the next long-term EU budget, German MEP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

“Without security, we have no discussion anymore about anything,” the chair of the European Parliament’s committee on defence and security (SEDE) told the European Newsroom (enr) on the sidelines of Parliament’s plenary session.

The European Commission has proposed €131 billion for investment in defence, security and space under the European Competitiveness Fund in the EU’s 2028–2034 budget. This represents a five-fold increase compared with the current budget period.

Asked what compromise she would accept on the size, funding or allocation of defence spending to secure a budget agreement, Strack-Zimmermann said: “We need everything without compromises.”

The next long-term budget requires unanimous agreement among EU member states and the European Parliament’s consent.

Support for Ukraine

Strack-Zimmermann accused Russia of trying to deter European leaders from visiting Kyiv and undermine their support for Ukraine following attacks during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit last Sunday.

Asked about accelerating deliveries to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s war of agression, Strack-Zimmermann said funding was available but action required approval from national governments.

Ukraine needed humanitarian, military and economic assistance, including money to produce more weapons to protect its people, she said.

All in on SAFE

Strack-Zimmermann urged countries to move faster on joint defence procurement, backing the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument.

SAFE provides up to €150 billion in competitively priced loans to member states aimed at accelerating large-scale investment in critical capabilities.

“We have more than 150 different weapons systems and to protect Europe we need this SAFE program,” the German politician said.

She said the programme had attracted interest both within and outside the EU. According to the European Commission, 19 EU member states have submitted defence investment plans, such as France, Italy and Poland, but not Germany.

The first non-European country to participate in SAFE was Canada, which concluded an agreement with the EU in June.

The mass arrival of migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in July sparked a debate about the role of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) role in future crisis situations.

In an interview with the European Newsroom (enr), Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens said the European Union should improve its “situational awareness” and better connect early warning systems at the bloc’s external borders.

The European Commission this week proposed a new mandate for Frontex that includes setting up a rapid-response team that can deploy within 24 hours.

In addition, a senior EU lawmaker called for Frontex to take operational command in such situations. Leijtens rejected the idea, arguing that responsibility for protecting the EU’s external borders should remain with member states.

Leijtens also addressed pressure on the EU’s eastern borders amid Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. He said the issue was not just about migration, but reflected the close links between defence, security, border management and migration.

The Frontex chief also highlighted the drop in irregular migration through the Western Balkans, and called upon EU candidate countries in the region to complete the necessary reforms for membership. “They know that if they want to join the Union, one chapter will be about border management, so why not tick the boxes now,” he said.

The interview was conducted by journalists from European Newsroom partner agencies dpa (Germany), CTK (Czech Republic), and PAP (Poland) on behalf of the entire network.

Read some of our network’s coverage here:

• European Newsroom (enr): Frontex chief calls for better EU border intelligence after Ceuta crisis 
• dpa (Germany): Frontex chief draws lessons from migration crisis in Ceuta
• CTK (Czech Republic): Frontex chief: The EU must identify developments at its external borders in good time
• PAP (Poland): “It’s no longer just a question of migration.” The head of Frontex on the eastern border
• Tanjug (Serbia): Leijtens: Frontex is aligned with the Western Balkan countries; cooperation is fruitful and positive

Brussels (European Newsroom) – The European Union should improve how it detects and connects early warnings at its external borders after the mass arrival of migrants in the Spanish autonomous city Ceuta in July, said the chief of the EU border agency Frontex, Hans Leijtens, while insisting that responsibility for border protection must remain with member states. 

“I think we should improve our situational awareness as Europe, and Frontex can play an important role in that,” Leijtens told journalists of the European Newsroom network in Brussels. 

He said a broader picture could be built from satellites, aircraft, observers on the ground and information from social media. Much of the information was already available, he said, but needed to be better connected. 

The remarks come as the European Commission floated plans for a Frontex rapid-response team that could deploy within 24 hours in a crisis. The team would still be sent only at the request of a member state, according to an action plan presented by EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner in late September. The plan also envisages a larger role for Frontex in returns. 

Leijtens said he did not expect a new Frontex mandate to change the basic division of responsibility. “There I would find it difficult because not only in our mandate but in general protecting European borders is a member state responsibility and we can’t take over responsibility,” he said. 

He described the events in Ceuta as more of a public-order issue than a conventional border incident. Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in northern Africa, saw a sudden mass crossing from Morocco on July 30–31, 2026, triggering a diplomatic dispute among EU countries. Spanish estimates rose from about 72,000 to 80,000 arrivals, while Morocco cited about 40,000. Many people returned before being registered, making the final total uncertain. According to news reports, some 83 people died, and the crisis reignited debate over EU border control, asylum rules, solidarity and Frontex’s role. 

The episode raised a further question for the EU’s early-warning debate: whether the challenge was detecting the signals, sharing them or responding to them. 

Leijtens said the deaths were horrifying and should be prevented. “The fact that so many people lost their lives is absolutely horrifying and something we should prevent.” 

The European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber had called for Frontex to take command in a crisis such as Ceuta. The Commission’s rapid-response plan, by contrast, retains the requirement that a Member State request assistance.  

The Commission’s proposal for a revised Frontex mandate is expected by the end of October. 

EU cohesion policy becomes tangible when people learn, work, access public services and cooperate across borders. This was one of the key messages of the closing event of EUconomy – Partnerships4Prosperity, a 12-month media initiative by dpa-Custom Content, co-funded by the European Union. 

The event took place at the Berlin newsroom of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and was streamed live via LinkedIn. Journalists, Interreg project coordinators, students, communication professionals and other stakeholders in European regional cooperation discussed how the impact of EU cohesion policy can be made more visible to regional audiences. 

Claudius Schmidt-Faber, Senior Economic Expert at the European Commission in Germany, placed cohesion policy in the context of European integration and future regional development. Looking ahead to the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework from 2028, he also addressed the future architecture of cohesion policy. 

“When we speak about cohesion policy, we are speaking about one of the most concrete promises of the EU: that integration should benefit all regions, territories and citizens,” Schmidt-Faber said. Europe cannot be resilient if entire regions are left behind, or united if borders remain barriers. “Cohesion is not a luxury. It is necessary.” 

Interreg builds cooperation and trust 

A central topic of the panel discussion was why the impact of cohesion policy is often difficult for citizens to see. Dr Kai Böhme, an expert in European regional policy and territorial development, as well as founder and director of Spatial Foresight, offered a simple explanation: “You don’t see things when they work well.” When cross-border transport, healthcare or education function smoothly, the cooperation behind them often remained invisible. The absence of obstacles could itself be a result of successful cohesion policy, Böhme added. 

Izabela Glišić, Head of the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg VI A Brandenburg-Poland 2021-2027 Cooperation Programme, emphasised that Interreg was fundamentally about funding cooperation between regions and countries. A central focus was building trust, creating relationships that can continue beyond individual funding projects. 

Interreg supports regions in addressing challenges in areas including innovation, mobility, healthcare, climate adaptation, emergency services and education. “Interreg is not only about funding projects. It is about building habits of cooperation,” said Schmidt-Faber. “It creates trust – and in today’s Europe, trust is a strategic asset.” 

TRAIL: Cohesion policy in higher education 

Pinar Hepperle, Coordinator of the Sustainable Business Development Master’s programme at Offenburg University, contributed the project perspective. The Interreg-funded TRAIL project connects universities in Offenburg, Strasbourg and Basel. Students gain international and practical experience and prepare for a sustainable, cross-border working environment. 

TRAIL shows how EU cohesion policy can connect students, universities, companies and the regional labour market. Hepperle also highlighted a key communication challenge: projects need to be explained differently to different audiences – including students, companies interested in cooperation, the wider public and administrative stakeholders. Effective communication therefore requires different approaches and formats rather than one single message, she said. 

The discussion underlined that reporting on EU-funded projects should go beyond funding figures and institutional language. The key questions are concrete: Who benefits? What has changed? Which regional challenge is being addressed? And why was cross-border cooperation necessary? 

© Annette Riedl

About EUconomy 

EUconomy – Partnerships4Prosperity is a 12-month media initiative by dpa-Custom Content, co-funded by the European Union. The project produces free multimedia content packages – including videos, images and social media material – documenting EU-funded cross-border projects in Germany’s border regions with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, France and Denmark. All content is made available free of charge to media outlets across Germany and beyond.  

dpa is the lead agency coordinating the European Newsroom (enr), a network of European news agencies.  

Press contact: euconomy-pressevent@dpa.com 

The hottest summer ever recorded, rivers and lakes drier than ever, and wildfires burning thousands of hectares of nature to the ground – Europe is experiencing it all. 

The Executive Director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Leena Ylä-Mononen, said that climate adaptation is no longer optional as the impact of climate change is already visible. “Severe droughts have disrupted agriculture, our transport, and even energy infrastructure. And we have seen intense heatwaves across many parts of Europe that have had huge impacts on the infrastructure, health and well-being of people,” she told the European Newsroom (enr) in an interview. 

She urged European politicians to look beyond the next election and plan for the climate risks already foreseeable over the next decade. “This kind of short-termism is not going to help us,” she said. 

Ylä-Mononen warned that these extreme conditions could fundamentally change agriculture in parts of Europe, with some crops no longer viable in the driest areas of the Mediterranean. 

She also underlined that accelerating the uptake of renewables is key to reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and limiting Europe’s exposure to volatile energy prices. The EEA chief pointed to the need for greater flexibility and storage capacity to help protect households and businesses when prices rise. 

According to the EEA, gas price fluctuations in early 2026 cost the EU €13 billion by mid-April, while renewable energy generated €29 billion in consumer savings, highlighting its role in stabilising the energy system. 

The interview was conducted by journalists from European Newsroom partner agencies dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH and Czech News Agency (CTK) on behalf of the entire network. 

Read some of our network’s coverage here: 

• European Newsroom (enr): EEA chief warns climate change could make parts of Europe unsuitable for farming 
• dpa (Germany): Climate change hits Europe – Environment Agency urges action 
• CTK (Czech Republic): EEA Director: Anyone who denies the link between extreme weather and climate is ignoring the science 
• PAP (Poland): A wake-up call for the agricultural and energy sectors. Adapting the economy could cost as much as 137 billion euros a year
• TANJUG (Serbia): Leena Yla-Mononen: Climate change could render parts of Europe unsuitable for agriculture 

Brussels/Copenhage (enr) – Increasing the uptake of renewable energy is key to safeguarding Europe’s energy security as the EU seeks to heavily reduce CO2 emissions and become independent from imported fossil fuels, European Environment Agency (EEA) Executive Director Leena Ylä-Mononen said. 

“Shifting to the sustainable future by improving our circular economy, uptake of renewables, improving energy efficiency – all this is central to Europe’s push to reduce our dependency and reliance on energy imports, fossil fuels, and imports of natural resources,” she said in an interview with the European Newsroom (enr) published Tuesday. 

Following a summer leaving Europe scarred by heatwaves, drought and wildfires across the continent, the EEA chief renewed calls to speed up the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate “the increasing magnitude of climate-related disasters and related losses.” She argued that breaking away from fossil fuels and accelerating the transition to renewable energy is a crucial piece of the puzzle. 

At the same time, she pointed to the typical increase of gas prices during “a period of cold weather.” Ylä-Mononen called for for “flexibilities” when it comes to energy storage, “so that we would have a bit of more buffer for the citizens when the hard times come.”   

In a report published in July, the EEA warned that the EU “remains vulnerable to external fossil fuel supply shocks, as gas prices still drive EU wholesale electricity prices.” The report said gas price fluctuations in early 2026 cost the EU 13 billion Euro by mid-April while consumers saved 29 billion Euro thanks to renewable energy, making it “the system’s most effective shock absorber.” 

Ylä-Mononen said that “many aspects and solutions are needed indeed to protect also the most vulnerable households.” She cited innovative solutions such as using electric vehicles’ batteries to power homes “as a specific reserve then to feed back in electricity when the prices are high.”  

The EEA chief pointed out that ramping up local renewable energy sources was particularly difficult for cities. “Cities in particular have a challenge because their whole energy and also the mobility infrastructure is based very much still on the fossil economy.”  

Cities had “limited possibilities to have individual windmills,” she said. However, she added, solar panels are “a feasible option, especially if the city or the national authorities are supporting that type of investment.” 

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the EU agency that provides independent environmental data, assessments and analysis to support policymaking in Europe. 

Heat, drought and water scarcity could fundamentally change agriculture in parts of Europe, with some crops no longer viable in the driest areas of the Mediterranean, European Environment Agency (EEA) Executive Director Leena Ylä-Mononen said. 

“Some crops will not grow anymore, especially in the most arid Mediterranean, southern European area,” Ylä-Mononen said in an interview with correspondents of the European Newsroom (enr) published Tuesday. More intensive irrigation would not necessarily provide a solution because of water possible water scarcity. Some land currently used for farming might therefore no longer be suitable for agriculture in some regions in Europe, she said.  

This summer gave the “clearest possible illustration” of what Europe is facing, she told the enr. “Severe droughts have disrupted agriculture, our transport, and even energy infrastructure. And we have seen intense heatwaves across many parts of Europe that have had huge impacts on the infrastructure, health and well-being of people.” Harvests were coming in late and smaller, “so we may have even food security issues this winter,” Ylä-Mononen warned. 

The effects are spreading beyond Europe’s traditional dry zones, according to Ylä-Mononen. She pointed to drought in Ukraine and Hungary, as well as unusually dry conditions in the United Kingdom and her home country, Finland. Although northern Europe could become suitable for some additional crops, it was unlikely to compensate for recurring losses caused by drought, floods and extreme weather elsewhere, she added.  

Future-proof solutions 

Ylä-Mononen urged European politicians to look beyond the next election and plan for the climate risks already foreseeable over the next decade. “This kind of short-termism is not going to help us,” she said, arguing that infrastructure and agricultural investment decisions needed to take account of ten-, 20- and 50-year time horizons.  

The warning comes as the EU’s Joint Research Centre reports drought conditions across half of the EU and the United Kingdom, with low river flows and deteriorating conditions for some crops in several parts of Europe. 

In an assessment released in March – ahead of this year’s summer heatwaves – the EEA said “at present, drought (54%), heavy rain (21%), frost (16%), and hail (9%) together account for 80% of agricultural losses in the EU.”  

Ylä-Mononen said Europe could no longer treat climate adaptation as an optional policy to be addressed when budgets allow. Heat and drought are already affecting agriculture, water resources, transport and energy systems, and some damage could have been avoided through earlier investment, she said.  

The EEA chief stressed that adaptation must complement, not replace, mitigation: Europe needs both to reduce emissions and to prepare for climate impacts that will continue even under ambitious emissions cuts. But the costs of both action and inaction are rising.  

Estimates of adaptation costs in the sectors transport, energy and agriculture cited by the EEA range from 53 billion Euro to 137 billion Euro per year until 2050, depending on the scenario of temperature rise above pre-industrial levels. 

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the EU agency that provides independent environmental data, assessments and analysis to support policymaking in Europe. 

Brussels (enr) – Local and regional leaders raised concerns that the next multiannual EU budget risks undermining investment in affordable homes needed to alleviate Europe’s deepening housing crisis.

“Europe’s housing challenge is not simply about building more housing units,” said Kata Tüttő, President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), an EU advisory body home to democratically elected regional and local representatives from all 27 Member States.  

At a gathering in Brussels on Thursday, they demanded the EU “move from political ambition to concrete investment and delivery,” arguing that failing to invest now will only put affordable housing further out of reach for millions of Europeans.

As negotiations over the EU’s next long-term financial framework gather pace, cities and regions fear that affordable housing could become a casualty of competing spending priorities as several EU member states seek to cut the European Commission’s proposed €2 trillion budget for ‌2028-2034.

Tüttő called on the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s lending arm, to “mobilise the scale of investment” that cities and regions need to “make communities liveable” by providing essential infrastructure. She cited public transport, as well as energy and water infrastructure, as key examples.

Italian MEP Irene Tinagli, Chair of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis (HOUS), said addressing the housing crisis “requires investment, better coordination across all levels of government and a shared commitment from European institutions, Member States, regions and cities”.

The CoR and EIB on Thursday agreed on closer cooperation in key areas including social infrastructure, housing, and energy. The European Investment Bank’s president, Nadia Calviño, said “investing into resilient cities and regions, into cohesion and housing” was a strategic priority.

According to EIB figures, the world’s largest multilateral development bank provided a record €5 billion in financing for housing projects across Europe in 2025. The EIB is targeting an increase to €6 billion this year, Calviño confirmed.

The investments are a contribution to the European Commission’s Affordable Housing Plan, which was launched in December and aims to boost housing supply, mobilise public and private investment, and support Member States and regions in expanding social and affordable housing.

According to the Commission’s estimates, however, the EU needs to build 2 million homes each year to meet current demand, which amounts to an investment of approximately €153 billion per year.

This story was produced by the European Newsroom (enr) in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The editorial responsibility lies with the enr.

Brussels (enr) – The European Union’s migration commissioner has renewed his call for Germany to gradually end controls at its internal borders, pointing to falling numbers of irregular arrivals and the bloc’s new asylum rules.

It was now time to gradually abolish internal border controls, Magnus Brunner told members of the European Newsroom (enr) network in Brussels.

The Austrian commissioner said the EU’s external borders were better protected and that irregular crossings had fallen sharply. Frontex recorded about one-third fewer irregular crossings at the EU’s external borders in the first half of 2026 than in the same period last year.

The EU’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum also took effect on June 12. Brunner said member states had begun implementing the rules and that the bloc was already seeing progress.

He welcomed steps by individual countries to ease controls. Checks on the border between Germany and Luxembourg on the Trier motorway have been lifted, he said. He also cited the suspension of controls between Austria and Slovenia.

Germany has had checks at its land borders since September 2024. Former Interior Minister Nancy Faeser ordered them, and her successor, Alexander Dobrindt, intensified them in May 2025. Dobrindt has repeatedly extended the measures, which are currently due to remain in place until September.

Brunner also defended the EU’s new Entry/Exit System, known as EES. The digital system records the entry and departure of travellers from outside the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

He acknowledged that the system had caused problems at some airports, including in Greece and Portugal, but said: “The system itself works very, very well.”

The system has faced criticism over long queues. The Airports Council International Europe has reported waiting times of up to five hours and missed connecting flights.

Brunner said professional truck drivers from the Western Balkans faced a particular problem because they can currently stay in the EU for no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. He proposed that EU member states and Western Balkan countries negotiate long-term visas on a bilateral basis.

Brussels (enr) – European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman David McAllister has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to support German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal for an associate membership for Ukraine as it moves towards joining the European Union.

The proposal is an opportunity that Ukraine should seize, the German centre-right lawmaker told members of the European Newsroom (enr) network in early June. Claims that it would amount to “membership light” or second-class membership were incorrect, he said.

Instead, it would allow Ukraine to become more closely integrated into the EU step by step before full membership, making the benefits of the bloc more visible to its people. One possibility would be for Ukraine to participate in the European Parliament as an observer, McAllister said.

Zelenskyy has expressed opposition to the idea, arguing that it would be unfair for Ukraine to be present in the EU but have no say in its decisions. In a letter to EU leaders, he called for the bloc to move faster and not keep Ukraine in a waiting room until full membership.

Merz said earlier that rapid full EU accession for Ukraine, which is fighting Russia’s invasion, is not realistic. For the interim period, he has proposed allowing Ukraine to attend EU summits and ministerial meetings without voting rights.

His ideas also include an associate member of the European Commission without a portfolio or voting rights, associate members of the European Parliament and an associate judge at the European Court of Justice.

Enlargement Agenda

McAllister said EU enlargement was high on the bloc’s agenda and that the Western Balkans were at the heart of Europe. A stable region was an investment in peace and security, he said.

The CDU politician called for each candidate country to be assessed individually and on its merits rather than treating the Western Balkans as a single group. Montenegro was a clear frontrunner, he said, while North Macedonia’s accession path remained blocked by a political dispute with Bulgaria.

Eight other European countries are officially recognised as EU candidate countries alongside Ukraine: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye.

Luxembourg (enr) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) is on course to meet, and potentially exceed, its target of allocating five percent of its financing in the European Union to security and defence projects this year, EIB President Nadia Calviño said.

That would amount to around 4.5 billion euros, according to the EU’s lending arm.

“Tt’s clear that we need more investment in the area of security and defence in Europe,” Calviño told members of the European Newsroom (enr) network in Luxembourg in June. “For the coming years, we are ready to do more to finance Europe’s security and defence capabilities,” the Spanish former economy minister added.

The EIB significantly increased its support for the sector last year in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine and the broader deterioration in the geopolitical situation. Financing for security and defence projects rose to more than 4 billion euros in 2025, four times the previous year’s level and almost five percent of all EIB Group financing in the EU.

“The shift of policy in security and defence has been a turning point for the EIB Group,” Calviño said.

Within only a few years, the bank had expanded its eligibility rules to include purely military projects. It now supports companies and investment funds active across the security and defence sector.

The EIB has gradually eased its financing rules since 2024. It can now provide funding for military equipment, infrastructure, services and technology. Weapons and ammunition remain excluded.

The Luxembourg-based EIB is the EU’s long-term lending institution. Its owners are the bloc’s member states, and its investments are generally intended to support the European Union’s political objectives.

The enr spoke with Calviño on the sidelines of the EIB’s annual Board of Governors meeting, as well as a meeting of EU ministers responsible for economic affairs, finance and the EU budget.

Gdańsk/Brussels (European Newsroom) – Ukrainian cities and regions risk being left out in deciding how billions in reconstruction funds are being used unless they are given a robust role in the planning, governance and implementation of reconstruction support, a joint statement by the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine warned. 

Meeting on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) 2026 in Gdańsk, Poland, the alliance called for a “localisation marker” in donor planning tools and ring-fenced funding with direct local access. 

Antje Grotheer, President of the State Parliament in Bremen, Germany, and chair of the European Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) Working Group on Ukraine, argued that local and regional authorities should have a greater voice in donor discussions and reconstruction planning. She stressed that Ukraine’s decentralisation reforms have been key to maintaining resilience during the war.   

“We feel there is an increasing need for stronger coordination of support that targets municipalities and regions,” Grotheer said.  

Oleksii Riabykin, Deputy Minister for Rebuilding and Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, said his country is already moving from emergency reconstruction to building resilient communities. Experience gained by Ukrainian cities, towns and villages during the war can help strengthen resilience across in Europe, he said. 

EU law implementation

The joint statement released Wednesday stressed that over 70 percent of EU law is implemented at local level, but most reconstruction funding for Ukraine is still channeled through national governments, leaving municipalities to compete over the leftovers. At the URC 2026 in Gdańsk, the CoR and its alliance partners demanded a structural fix.  

The alliance also encouraged Ukrainian regions to exploit existing EU programmes and platforms. It underscored the contribution of neighbouring EU countries to both Ukraine’s military efforts and its reconstruction, arguing that they should receive targeted support.  

EU member states that share a border with Ukraine are Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. 

The alliance brings together EU and Ukrainian local and regional authorities and was co-founded by the CoR, an EU advisory body, in June 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Its goal is to coordinate an effective reconstruction of Ukraine that involves local and regional authorities rather than centralising the implementation of funds to the state. 

The URC was also established after Russia’s full-scale invasion, building on the foundations of the annual Ukraine Reform Conference established in 2017 by supporters of Ukraine, including the European Union.  

The URC 2026 takes place on June 25 and 26 and focuses on the sectors most impacted by Russia’s attacks, such as energy, critical infrastructure, and logistics. The lead-up to the conference was overshadowed by escalating dispute between Warsaw and Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had named an army unit after Ukrainian underground fighters from World War II who are also blamed for massacres of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews in what is now western Ukraine.  In response, Poland’s right-wing conservative President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of a high Polish order of merit. 

This story was produced by the European Newsroom (enr) in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The editorial responsibility lies with the enr. 

Migration policy is high on the European Union’s agenda. But one month after the bloc’s new rules – known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum – came into force, is the EU beginning to see the desired results?

For Magnus Brunner, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, the answer was yes. In an interview with the European Newsroom (enr) published on Thursday, he said that member states have begun implementing the rules and that illegal border crossings into the EU already dropped by 37% in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous year.

In light of these figures and the new rules, the Austrian politician said it is now time to “gradually” abolish internal border controls between EU member states, such as ongoing controls in Germany and Austria. He argued that the EU’s external borders were now better protected and reiterated that the number of irregular border crossings had fallen dramatically.

Journalists also quizzed Brunner about the Entry/Exit System, a new digital entry and exit procedure for people who are not from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. While admitting concerns from member states and critics that the system is still causing trouble in some member states, he said that it is generally performing as expected.

A major issue, however, remains for professional truck drivers from countries in the Western Balkans, who need to enter the EU to deliver goods. Currently, they can only stay in the EU for a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period. As a solution, Brunner proposed to EU member states and Western Balkan countries to negotiate long-term visas bilaterally.

The interview was conducted by journalists from European Newsroom partner agencies dpa, APA, and CTK, on behalf of the entire network.

Read some of their coverage here:

• dpa (Germany) – EU Commissioner: It is time to lift German border controls
• APA (Austria) – Brunner: “It is time now to get rid of the internal border controls”
• CTK (Czech Republic) – Commissioner Brunner: The European Commission has a good working relationship with the Czech Republic regarding the Migration Pact
• PAP (Poland) – Commissioner: Migration Pact is working – the number of illegal border crossings has fallen by 37 per cent
• Tanjug (Serbia) – Brunner: EU and Western Balkan drivers to agree on visas, ETIAS has no start date

More impressions from the interview. Photos: Michael Brandt/dpa/European Newsroom

The European Newsroom (enr) welcomed a group of journalists from the United States to its offices in Brussels as part of their two-week exchange programme with the RIAS Berlin Kommission.

The visitors came from New York, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona and represented various media outlets such as Semafor, WCVB, NPR, CNN, KTVI/KPLR, WSOC Charlotte, Spectrum News, ABC, The Dispatch, and CBS.

What followed was a lively exchange about the state of journalism, news coverage and press freedom in the United States and Europe, how to get information from crucial sources, as well as the similarities and differences between the daily press briefings in the White House and the European Commission.

Tim Kohnen presented the European Newsroom’s work as a Brussels-based network of European news agencies. He was accompanied by Katharina Redanz and Niklas Treppner from the German press agency dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, who gave more insight on how to report on EU affairs as a correspondent in Brussels.

The RIAS Berlin Commission organises exchange programmes several times per year, primarily for radio and television journalists from the US and Germany. It is dedicated to improving German-American understanding in broadcast journalism, for example through immersive study trips and newsroom visits.

This time around, the journey took the journalists to Munich, Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, and Brussels. They were accompanied by Christoph Jumpelt, RIAS Executive Director.

Ireland will take over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1, 2026.

In a background briefing for the European Newsroom (enr) at the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels, journalists got an early glimpse of what the presidency will be working on in the months ahead.

Correspondents from several European Newsroom member agencies spoke with Eoin Flavin (Spokesperson Coreper II ) and Peadar Ó hÚbáin (Spokesperson Coreper I). 

They engaged in a lively Q&A on a range of topics – from competitiveness, security, and defence to EU enlargement, support for Ukraine and online safety. 

The talk brought together journalists from enr partner agencies dpa (Germany), CTK (Czech Republic), APA (Austria), and UKRINFORM (Ukraine).

More impressions from the briefing. Photos: Tim Kohnen/European Newsroom