Coronavirus: EU’s COVID-19 hot spots push up infection rates

The European Commission has laid out options to get frozen Russian assets, be they central bank reserves overseas or seized yachts, to make money for war-ravaged Ukraine. But the path forward remains unclear.

The EU has stopped buying Russian seaborne crude oil as it seeks to deprive Moscow of a key revenue source fueling its war in Ukraine. The move will hurt Russia but not as much as the bloc would have liked.

Massive US subsidies for American companies have sparked concerns in Europe, as the EU views them as anti-competitive. While their talks reached no breakthrough, the two sides said they would intensify discussions.

Judges have ruled that Germany should be able to take part in the EU's €750-billion COVID-19 reconstruction fund. The court rejected two complaints that participation hands too much power from Berlin to Brussels.

More than 100,000 people have entered the European Union via the western Balkans without documentation this year. The Obrenovac camp near Serbia's capital, Belgrade, has become a transit point for migrants from around the world, some of whom have spent years on the road.

The European Commission wants to ensure that the rights of LGBTQ parents are recognized in all EU countries. But conservative EU member states are expected to push back.

Recent discussions in Europe about a gas price cap are said to have been tough, heated and even ugly. The European Commission has put a proposal on the table, but EU member states are finding it difficult to reach a compromise among themselves – despite giving their political support to a gas price cap in late October.

For years, Brussels has been at loggerheads with the Hungarian government over a host of issues – migrants, the rights of minorities, media freedoms, the independence of the justice system and, most recently, over Russia and Ukraine. Long-standing tensions are coming to a head as Hungary delays a proposed EU aid package to Ukraine, while the EU holds up billions of euros in funding to Hungary over rule-of-law concerns.

European leaders have promised aid to Ukraine "for as long as it takes." But the amount of aid promised has not been what has actually arrived in Ukraine. DW's Nick Connolly takes a look at what kind of support has been pledged so far.

The EU has pledged to free a part of the funds earmarked for Hungary in exchange for Budapest allowing joint funding for Ukraine. Hungary has also announced it would start debating Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership.

Leaders from Europe and Southeast Asia are hopeful a summit this week will usher in an era of better economic ties and help European producers in Asia diversify away from China.

EU member states are divided on the cap, with Germany, Austria and the Netherlands skeptical of the policy. Talks will resume on Monday, with France a key player in the final negotiations.