Ceuta migrant crisis sparks EU border control debate

The influx of migrants who entered the Spanish territory of Ceuta — an exclave surrounded by Morocco on the north coast of Africa — has left many unanswered questions about what motivated thousands to make the journey at that time.

Details have yet to emerge about the role of online misinformation and whether the arrival of predominantly Moroccan nationals was aided by Rabat. However, rather than waiting for the circumstances leading up to Thursday and Friday's crisis — in which at least 88 people died — to become clearer, European leaders have piled criticism on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Sánchez was criticized for laxity in controlling European borders, despite Ceuta not being attached to mainland Europe and none of the approximately 60,000 entrants being transferred across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Iberian Peninsula. Italy and Denmark were especially scathing, coordinating letters of disapproval sent to the European Commission over the weekend.

On Monday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attempted to strike a diplomatic balance, praising Sánchez while acknowledging concerns raised by national leaders. She argued that the crisis should serve as a catalyst for tougher EU migration controls.

Roundup

Europe's Race for Gene-Edited Crops

Often described as "molecular scissors," New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) are a new generation of breeding technologies that allow scientists to make precise changes to DNA. After years of political wrangling, the EU is now set to relax rules so that plants obtained with certain NGTs involving limited genetic changes will be regulated in the same way as conventionally bred varieties.

Political Thriller in the Europa Building

The critically acclaimed French political thriller Baron Noir has chosen the Europa building — the European Council's headquarters in Brussels — as a location for its fourth season. A crew is staging a night-time EU summit in the same third-floor room where leaders usually meet.

Let the Markets Decide on Chinese AI

European policymakers should not ban Chinese AI models, nor should they promote them, argues Alicia García Herrero in her latest column. Their task is not to pick a foreign winner: it is to keep the market open, price risks honestly, and spend scarce political capital building strength at home.

Across Europe

Hungary Gets Backup Energy from EU Grid

Hungary has urged households to curb electricity use after its only nuclear power plant was forced offline by low water levels on the Danube, leaving the country increasingly reliant on imports from neighbouring EU states. To offset the loss of generation, Hungary has roughly doubled electricity imports from neighbouring countries since last week, with most additional power flowing from Czechia.

Germany to Reconsider Funding Weight-Loss Drugs

France has started reimbursing modern weight-loss drugs, while Germany has so far maintained that they are too expensive. However, the chair of the national health expert body said in an interview on Sunday that "It would certainly be worth considering health insurance coverage for weight-loss drugs under certain conditions."

Busting the Shadow Fleet

A warship from the EU's naval mission in the Mediterranean on Sunday boarded a sanctioned tanker linked to Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" as part of a verification operation west of the Italian island of Pantelleria. Italian authorities said the ship's captain initially refused to provide the requested cooperation. An Italian boarding team was subsequently deployed by helicopter from the Thaon di Revel to carry out the inspection.