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Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has defended his caution on phasing out lockdown measures, as Ireland lags behind Europe in plans to reopen restaurants (late June), hotels (July), and bars (August). It would be "premature" to move faster without "proper data", he told MPs Wednesday, while urging Irish people to "hold firm". Shirtless photos of Varadkar himself flouting lockdown measures at a picnic in the park went viral last weekend.

Suspected human smugglers face up to 15 years in prison after Belgium and France announced 26 arrests Wednesday in a case linked to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese people in a lorry in the UK last year. There were 16 raids in Brussels, arresting 11 Vietnamese and two Moroccan nationals. The joint operation by Belgian, British, French, and Irish police was coordinated by EU judicial agency Eurojust in The Hague.

Russian gas tanker, the Christophe de Margerie, was, on 27 May, approaching the Russian island of Wrangel in the Arctic Ocean en route to the Chinese port of Jingtang, the Barents Observer news website has reported. The trip is the earliest-ever on the northern route without using an ice-breaker ship, although one is accompanying the tanker, amid record-high temperatures in the Arctic region in recent years due to climate change.

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed borrowing €7.7bn on the financial markets to increase spending on vaccines, drugs and healthcare over the next four years, reports Reuters. Although it still needs approval, the plan aims to reduce Europe's reliance on imports when it comes to medical products and pharmaceuticals.

China's effort to undo Hong Kong autonomy despite a 1997 treaty to preserve the former UK colony's freedoms "affects not only our direct interests in Hong Kong, but also the maintenance of the rules-based international order where legal and political commitments are to be respected," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said in a letter to EU states on 26 May, Bloomberg reports. EU states needed "robust messaging", he added.

With an eye-watering over a trillion euro revised budget and a €750bn recovery package, the EU Commission hopes to restart Europe's economy. Here are some of the key aspects of the proposals.

'The current standard for vaccines is to be kept at two to eight degrees and that is really tough in many developing countries when it can be up to 50 degrees outside,' warn experts on the challenges facing low-income countries.

Hungary's government deserves an apology for the way its use of emergency powers under the coronavirus pandemic have been portrayed, writes justice minister Judit Varga.

The European Commission's €1.85 trillion recovery plan from the coronavirus crisis did not convince environmental NGOs, such as Greenpeace, which believes that the proposal fails to offer a truly 'green recovery' and alternatives to the existing economic model.

Italy and Spain, the worst-hit EU countries by the coronavirus pandemic, will get much of the new money under the European Commission's recovery plans - that mark a turning point for the bloc in moving towards joint debt.

The European Commission announced on Wednesday its updated work programme for 2020 as part of the EU's recovery plan. "The commission remains fully determined to deliver on its flagship initiatives, the European Green Deal and the Digital Strategy, as they are key to relaunching the European economy and building a more resilient, sustainable, fair and prosperous Europe," reads the announcement.

The EU Commission will propose on Wednesday a €750bn recovery package, economics commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in a tweet, calling it a "turning point" in the Covid-19 crisis. It comes on top of the one-trillion euro EU budget and the €540bn already agreed in financial support to EU countries. German press agency, DPA, reported that €500bn of that will be distributed to member states via grants and €250bn through loans.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and top EU officials said there ought to be an independent enquiry in future into the World Health Organisation's (WHO's) handling of the pandemic at a video-summit Tuesday. "We will need to work together in order to reform some international organisations," EU Council president Charles Michel said, referring to the WHO. "We share with Japan the same values: multilateralism, rule of law, democracy," he added.

Former EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini has been appointed the new rector of the College of Europe, an elite post-graduate school with facilities in Bruges, Belgium, and in Warsaw. Mogherini, a former Italian diplomat, was already teaching international relations there. She is the first woman in the post, but her appointment was marred by allegations of favouritism and irregularities, after she skipped the queue of less political candidates.

Denmark has said boyfriends and girlfriends of their Danish partners can enter the country once again, but only if they are German or from the other Nordic states. "If you say you are a boyfriend and sign [a form], we will assume it [is true]," Danish justice minister Nick Hækkerup said on TV Tuesday. Previously, only Danes or spouses of Danes were being let in, with very few exceptions.

EU Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic pleaded with EU affairs ministers for "rapid agreement" on the EU budget and recovery plans to be unveiled on Wednesday - but an agreement and ratification process has its risks.

Trump's envoy to Germany provoked lively debate on Russia, Iran, and Nato, but Grenell's departure left some breathing "relief".

MEPs want to launch the delayed two-year event in September, which would require a joint position of the three main EU institutions before summer. EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is optimistic about reaching an EU Council's position under the Croatian presidency.

The EU's joint-transparency register lists thousands of lobbyists and what they spend or earn trying to shape EU legislation. New and clearer rules set for launch at the end of the year may lead to more realistic figures.

For many Europeans, Angela Merkel's change looked sudden. But the groundwork started two years ago. Germany slowly ripened for the Merkel-Macron plan. This explains why it didn't meet massive public resistance in Germany.