Brussels, the institutions, and the 27.
Sofia's single objection to blacklisting Patriarch Kirill still holds the entire 21st sanctions package hostage to EU unanimity rules. Meanwhile, two separate legal acts — targeting cyberattacks and the torture of Ukrainian POWs — have gone through on qualified majority, exposing the two-speed machinery of EU sanctions.
The EU's 21st sanctions package against Russia remains stuck days before a self-imposed deadline. Bulgaria's veto over Patriarch Kirill, French and Italian resistance to an entry ban on Russian soldiers, and a fight over cod quotas show how a single capital can reshape continent-wide policy — and why negotiators are trading substance for unanimity.
EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels as a growing group of capitals push for trade restrictions on Israeli settlement goods. Germany has emerged as the key holdout, leaving the Commission short of the qualified majority it needs to act.
President Maia Sandu has nominated pro-European businessman Vasile Tofan to become Moldova's next prime minister, tasking him with reviving a stalled economy and pushing the country's EU accession bid forward after Alexandru Munteanu quit amid scandal.
The European Commission has circulated three options for restricting imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The real fight is not over which option, but over which legal basis — and whether that basis lets opponents like Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic veto the whole thing.
All 27 member states have agreed to open cluster six of EU accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova on 14 July, covering foreign, security and defence policy. Four clusters remain blocked, and Budapest is already warning against a 'fast-tracked' timeline.
EU ambassadors face a 15 July deadline to agree changes to the Russian oil price cap or watch it automatically jump from $44.10 to $58 a barrel under a formula written into the sanctions regime itself. The mechanics of that trigger, and Sofia's retreat from a hard veto, are what will decide the outcome.
EU finance ministers are set to approve Hungary's revised recovery plan, the last legal step before releasing €10 billion frozen over corruption concerns. But approval is not a payout — here is the machinery that turns a Council vote into an actual transfer, and what could still jam it.
Brussels referred a batch of member states to the Court of Justice in a single infringement sweep — from Spain's paperwork problems to Hungary's price caps. A plain-language guide to the EU's enforcement machine: who decides, what the steps are, and when the fines start.
MEPs have called for a tougher line on Serbia as rule-of-law problems stall its membership talks. But the Parliament cannot open or close a chapter — that power lies with the 27 governments in the Council, acting by unanimity. Here is who decides, by what procedure, and what would have to change before negotiations resume.
The appeal court's ruling separates two things that are easy to conflate: a criminal conviction and a bar on holding office. Understanding why Marine Le Pen can run despite losing her appeal means understanding that the ineligibility penalty is a distinct measure a court chooses to impose — or not.
The European Parliament has triggered a procedure that could see Europe of Sovereign Nations lose its status as a European political party — and the EU funding that comes with it. The mechanics of who files, who investigates, and who votes are less familiar than the politics.