European Movement - West London

20/04/2026

Just Sayin'

20/04/2026

Unnoticed by many, EU enlargement is moving forward at a steady pace. The European Commission is edging closer to wrapping up membership talks with Montenegro, and the council may soon set up a working group on drafting an accession treaty. Albania, the other frontrunner, is hoping to be in the EU by 2030, too. The commission may soon issue a positive assessment report on rule of law reforms, opening the final stage of negotiations with Tirana.

But what seems to be good news today might turn into a major headache for European policymakers tomorrow. It is only a matter of time before far-right populists in France, Germany, or the Netherlands wake up to the EU’s imminent expansion. Once they do, they will likely stoke fears of migration to boost their already substantial electoral numbers. Of the two frontrunners, Albania is particularly exposed, given its chronic problems with corruption and organised crime. But Montenegro, a much smaller country that is home to just 600,000 citizens, is not immune to bad press either. Securing ratification won’t be smooth sailing. In France, for example, there is a constitutional clause requiring either a three-fifths majority in both chambers of the legislature or a referendum, as a hold-over from efforts to keep Turkey out.

What Montenegro and Albania, along with the rest of the Western Balkans, need is to make a positive case for their membership. Geopolitical arguments—if it is not Brussels, Russia and China will be taking over—won’t do the trick. Rather, candidate countries should emphasize their tangible contribution to European security and welfare. They should style themselves as a net asset for the union, not a burden. And this messaging should not only be geared toward Brussels but also key member states.

Montenegro and Albania are frontrunners for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, but they can’t just sit back and wait. To meet their 2030 accession ambitions, they must make a strong positive case.

20/04/2026

In Poland, 80,000 people still work in coalmines – the last in the European Union that is fully committed to the energy transition. Once active mines are being converted to other uses, and yet coal is being extracted at record rates worldwide, and with the Iran war pushing up oil and gas prices, some in Poland are asking whether it is worth completely phasing out this fossil fuel

In Poland, 80,000 people still work in coalmines – the last in the European Union that is fully committed to the energy transition. Once active mines are being converted to other uses, and yet coal is being extracted at record rates worldwide, and with the Iran war pushing up oil and gas prices, s...

20/04/2026

The airport in Qaqortoq replaces Narsarsuaq – around 60 kilometres away – as the primary access point, significantly reducing travel time to the southern hub of Greenland.

The airport in Qaqortoq replaces Narsarsuaq – around 60 kilometres away – as the primary access point, significantly reducing travel time to the southern hub of Greenland.

20/04/2026

Modern civilisation is everywhere: the idea of untouched, pristine nature feels like a dream from the past – and yet, there are still places in Europe where human interference is minimal, and conditions resemble those we would have if humans had never existed.

These are primary and old-growth forests: trees grow chaotically while a diverse vegetation fights for its space, every breath is made heavy by moss and mould, dead branches lie still amid young, vibrant shrubs.

These havens are already rare and continue to decline, because we are used to interfering with nature: we log trees to make space for cropland and pastures, extract wood and construction materials, and plant non-native species. The remaining undisturbed (or, more often, barely disturbed) ecosystems account for less than 3% of Europe's total forest area.

Modern civilisation is everywhere: the idea of untouched, pristine nature feels like a dream from the past – and yet, there are still places in Europe

20/04/2026

The government is sending ever stronger signals about its plans for closer alignment with the EU. At the start of the month, the Prime Minister promised that this summer’s UK-EU summit “will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year’s summit” but “be more ambitious” in seeking “closer economic cooperation” with the EU.

Then, last weekend, briefing emerged which suggests that a forthcoming bill could grant ministers powers to adopt EU law in a range of sectors much wider than those where the UK committed to alignment at last year’s summit.

But there remains a curious disconnect between the government’s ever-bolder rhetoric on alignment, and its actions. Our new divergence tracker shows that, in many of the areas where the government has previously expressed in interest in closer alignment – like chemicals, products and vehicles – it is doing little to close regulatory gaps.

Joël Reland argues that the UK government’s plans for closer EU alignment may prove more difficult than anticipated. The government is sending...

20/04/2026

Rachel Reeves joined EU finance ministers for dinner in Washington last week, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meetings – the first time a chancellor had done so since Brexit.

It was the latest symbolic step in Labour’s marked shift towards prioritising closer EU relations.

That makes perfect sense against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s reckless Middle East conflict. But domestic politics and economics have increasingly aligned in favour of a lean towards the EU, too – or, rather, Labour has increasingly opened its eyes to them.

The damage to the economy dwarfs the upsides from the various non-EU trade deals the UK has struck since 2016

20/04/2026

With war still dominating the global news, one writer who’s spent a large part of his career thinking and writing about conflict is Sir Michael Morpurgo. He was born during World War 2, and came of age during the Cuban missile crisis.

https://www.channel4.com/news/im-very-offended-by-donald-trump-sir-michael-morpurgo

With war still dominating the global news, one writer who's spent a large part of his career thinking and writing about conflict is Sir Michael Morpurgo.

19/04/2026

Twenty years ago, the EU decided to put a price on CO2 emissions. Now, with less than two years before the system's next phase comes into force, it is under more pressure than ever.

The heart of the European Union’s climate strategy is the emissions trading system (ETS), a 20-year-old programme that has gradually pushed polluting

19/04/2026

More than half a million Poles live on a pension too low to live, but too high to qualify for welfare.

“Since the local stores turned into supermarkets, nobody lets you buy on the tab. There’s just one store left where I can lend. To be frank, I don’t always pay it back. Then the boss tells me to help around, tidy up a bit and crosses out the loan,” said Stefan, a 66-year-old pensioner from Poland, for a recent NGO report on poverty.
He’s not the only one trying to make ends meet. One in five elderly people in Poland are undernourished, and 80% can't afford buying their prescribed medication.

The country's minimum pension is the equivalent of €400, while the EU average is €1,440. After paying for rent, heating, and medicine, you’re easily left with less than €3 a day – hardly enough for food.

“Surely, that’s not a dignified life,” Joanna Sadzik, president of Szlachetna Paczka, an NGO helping people with financial difficulties, told The European Correspondent. Still, the minimum pension is too much to receive social benefits: to qualify, an individual's monthly income cannot exceed 1,010 złotys (around €250).

“Since the local stores turned into supermarkets, nobody lets you buy on the tab. There’s just one store left where I can lend. To be frank, I don’t a