News & Analysis

Jul 17, 2026

Europe's Last Border Fence Comes Down as Gibraltar Joins Schengen

At midnight on 15 July the fence between Gibraltar and Spain came down, the last hard border on Europe's mainland. A new EU-UK treaty folds the territory into the Schengen travel zone and closes a Brexit dispute that ran for more than four years.

News & Analysis

Jul 16, 2026

Europe Rallies for Ukraine in Paris. Its Sanctions Policy Stalls in Brussels.

Twenty-five leaders pledged deeper military support for Kyiv at a Paris summit this week — even as EU foreign ministers failed, again, to agree a new Russia sanctions package.

News & Analysis

Jul 16, 2026

Four Countries Just Moved Closer to Joining the EU — All in One Day

Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Montenegro all advanced their EU membership bids in Brussels on Tuesday, in the bloc's biggest single-day enlargement push since 2002.

News & Analysis

Jul 16, 2026

The EU Puts €883m Behind Gaza's Recovery as It Tries to Shape the Peace

The European Commission has launched a €883.6 million "Team Gaza" initiative to fund early recovery in the enclave, positioning the EU as a lead financier of reconstruction under the internationally backed peace plan.

News & Analysis

Jul 15, 2026

The EU Has a Draghi Scoreboard. The Commission Didn't Build It.

A Brussels think tank's Draghi Implementation Index counts only what has become binding law — 15.7% of the agenda, it finds. Its sharpest recommendation is that Europeans shouldn't need a think tank to know this.

News & Analysis

Jul 15, 2026

Europe Can Field an Army. It Still Can't Say What It's For.

The EU just ran its largest-ever military exercise and is breaking spending records. But a sharper question now divides the continent: as NATO turns more European, what is Brussels' defence machinery actually for?