Euranet Plus Panorama

This week’s European Parliament plenary session has been overshadowed by Qatargate, following a series of searches, arrests and corruption allegations that have shaken the EU legislative to its core.
 
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An EU-Western Balkans summit took place in Tirana this week. Surprisingly, this is the first time the summit has been held in the Western Balkan region itself. We take a trip to Albania to judge what, if anything, has changed.

Three years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this week’s Panorama will focus on public health as the European Commission presents its new global health strategy.

This week, our radio stations take us for a whistle-stop tour of the European Parliament’s 70th anniversary plenary in Strasbourg. We’ll drop in on a host of debates, on topics as wide-ranging as terrorism, football, migration and money.
 
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In the words of UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, speaking as COP27 got underway last week, the world is on the “highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator”. So; does anything look different after Sharm el-Sheikh?
 
Photo: EU at the UN COP27  © European Union

With EU asylum applications recently hitting their highest point since the refugee crisis of 2015/2016, national asylum systems are straining at the seams.
This week, Euranet Plus member stations along the various migration routes report on their respective countries’ approaches to the increased pressure.
 
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European leaders and experts are already working to rebuild Ukraine, an exercise that remains daunting as war continues to destroy the country.
 
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Having secured gas stocks for this winter, the EU is seeking greater unity to agree new long-term measures to meet even greater supply challenges next year and accelerate the bloc's energy independence.
 
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This week, our radio members look at the debates surrounding the enlargement of the free movement area to Romania and Bulgaria, and the new wave of migration on the Western Balkan route.
Currently, 26 European countries are members of the Schengen area, of which 22 are EU members. Romania and Bulgaria are among the four states - together with Croatia and Cyprus - that are legally bound to join the area in the future. While in practice the two countries have met all the EU's border management criteria for more than a decade, they are still waiting at the door.
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The latest developments in Russia's war against Ukraine, particularly the annexation of four of its territories and the sabotage of two Baltic Sea pipelines, suggest that Moscow is moving into a new phase of the war. This sparks a new stage of concern for the EU, our member stations report.
 
Gas pipelines from Russia to Europe © Shutterstock, Inc