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🇪🇺 Beyond the headline-grabbing examples of Poland and Hungary, defiance of EU law is becoming more common across the bloc. Our #LawlessEurope special package delves into how it's affecting every area of daily European life. Read the stories here 👉 politi.co/3O1OLmG

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Boris Johnson’s premiership will end on September 6, after the Conservative Party elects a new leader in a ballot ending September 5.

Boris Johnson set to step down on September 6

The scandal-hit UK prime minister has eight weeks left in his job.

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine held separate talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on plans to reopen safe routes for shipping grain via the Black Sea.

Putin and Zelenskyy edge closer to Black Sea shipping truce

Erdoğan held separate calls on grain shipping with leaders of Russia and Ukraine, boosting hopes of progress.

There seems to be no sign of truce anytime soon between the European football’s governing body UEFA and the rebel Super League...

UEFA battles Super League at EU’s top court

Judgement expected by early 2023 in key case for future of football.

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As if Emmanuel Macron's second term wasn't challenging enough — he now has the “Uber Files” to contend with. Opposition parties are summoning the French president to explain his past support of Uber's lobbying efforts in France.

Macron faces criticism, calls for inquiry over links to Uber lobbying

France’s souped-up opposition has found the first scandal with which to corner the French president, who lacks an absolute majority in parliament.

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COMMENT: As Boris Johnson departs office, toxic aftershocks will take on lives of their own. And as with all wars, the trajectories can become highly unpredictable once conflict has commenced.

Boris Johnson: Assisted suicide or fratricide?

The manner of the prime minister’s departure may trigger more Tory bloodletting.

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The European Commission says EU citizens benefit from some of the world’s highest environmental standards. But in Taranto, Italy, where red iron-ore dust coats the neighborhoods and cancer rates are high, residents don’t agree.

How Italy’s biggest steel mill makes a mockery of EU environmental rules

The European Commission says EU citizens benefit from some of the world’s highest environmental standards. Taranto residents don’t see it that way.

What would a city designed for women look like? Welcome to Umeå, Sweden, where gender equality is central to urban planning 🇸🇪

(Re)designing the city for women

Urban planning that caters to needs of female residents makes for fairer, greener cities, experts say.

Romania’s honeybees are feeling the sting. Almost a decade after the EU restricted the use of seeds that have bee-killing insecticides, Bucharest is still using them to prop up its cash crop exports.

�?Carpet of bees’: How Romania flouts EU ban on bee-killing insecticides

Beekeepers say Brussels is closing its eyes to a legal �?super loophole’ that keeps banned seeds out in fields.

OPINION: Though his premiership is at its chaotic and unseemly end, Boris Johnson deserves to rank among the handful of British figures who made a real difference to the world.

In defense of Boris Johnson

Not all will share his enthusiasm for Brexit and its bold reassertion of national sovereignty, but none can deny its seismic significance.

What do you do when your air fryer catches fire while making Belgian frites? It happens more than you may think. The EU is struggling to check a huge influx of products against its laws — making it more likely that consumers are buying faulty products.

Spot checks: Europe’s customs officers struggle to catch faulty goods

A surge of e-commerce in places like Alibaba’s Belgian hub has �?changed the nature’ of trade.

For the first time, the Dutch government has apologized to relatives of victims of the 1995 genocide in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

Dutch government apologizes to relatives of Srebrenica victims for the first time

International community failed Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren tells memorial ceremony.

Italy's candidate to lead the European Stability Mechanism, Marco Buti, has withdrawn from the race.

Italy backs out of race for bailout-fund chief ahead of key vote

Eurozone finance ministers must decide who will succeed ESM chief Klaus Regling.

Mass surveillance is banned in the EU. Or, at least, it’s supposed to be.

Europe’s state of mass surveillance

The EU’s top court says mass surveillance is banned. Governments do it anyway.

Poland and Hungary are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rule-of-law problems in the EU. Over the past five months, we’ve examined four corners of the bloc for widespread defiance of laws and regulations. Here's what we found 👇

Lawless Europe: How EU states defy the law and get away with it

Defiance against EU law is on the rise, data shows. POLITICO delves into the consequences for average EU citizens.

Georgians increasingly fear their EU dreams are being jeopardized by their government's efforts to keep sweet with the Kremlin.

Georgians fear their government is sabotaging EU hopes

Georgians have big EU dreams, but fear their government is more interested in keeping sweet with the Kremlin.

The Italian town of Taranto is home to Italy's biggest steel mill. According to several experts, it is a key factor explaining higher-than-average cancer rates among locals. Many want the plant shut down altogether. Italy's government has other ideas.

How Italy’s biggest steel mill makes a mockery of EU environmental rules

The European Commission says EU citizens benefit from some of the world’s highest environmental standards. Taranto residents don’t see it that way.

Former EU digital agenda chief Neelie Kroes has been named in an investigation into Uber. New reports show she lobbied on behalf of the company during her "cooling-off period" after her stint as a commissioner.

Commission to send letter to former EU digital chief over Uber allegations

Former Commissioner Neelie Kroes reportedly lobbied on behalf of the ride-hailing platform during her �?cooling-off period.’

"Russia killed my husband. Not on the frontline in Ukraine. But here, in our Brussels apartment." Nelli Karpachova fled from Odesa to Belgium with her husband Sasha after Russia's invasion. Two months later, he died of a heart attack. Read her story: politi.co/3AGc5Dm

In decision after decision, the EU's top court has fine-tuned its belief that mass surveillance violates fundamental privacy rights. Governments do it anyway.

Europe’s state of mass surveillance

The EU’s top court says mass surveillance is banned. Governments do it anyway.

“We’re just f---ing illegal”: Leaked documents show Uber thwarted police and secretly courted...

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Recently leaked documents show that Uber has consistently avoided regulation and courted lawmakers to make way for its questionable practices. The Silicon Valley giant is now under investigation for unethical practices.

politico.com

The ride-share service is under investigation after texts, emails, memos and other documents reveal how executives engaged in questionable practices during its global expansion.

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COMMENT: The slayers who felled Julius Caesar were hunted down and slaughtered in turn. Could Boris Johnson’s ousters face a similar fate?

Boris Johnson: Assisted suicide or fratricide?

The manner of the prime minister’s departure may trigger more Tory bloodletting.

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Boris Johnson’s humiliating downfall was a victory for his Conservative critics. But it was also a moment of payback for another, quieter part of the British establishment: the civil service.

Revenge of the Blob: How officials helped topple Boris Johnson

Now the UK prime minister has quit, what will happen to the Tories’ war on Whitehall?

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OPINION: Boris Johnson was prime minister for less than three years but in that short time, he altered the course of European history.

In defense of Boris Johnson

Not all will share his enthusiasm for Brexit and its bold reassertion of national sovereignty, but none can deny its seismic significance.

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Criminal trials, both real and Potemkin, are becoming a critical means for Russia and Ukraine to seek to influence the course of the war through the court of public opinion.

Russia’s long history of show trials in Ukraine

Capture, sentence, exchange: Russia’s long-standing practice since 2014 in Ukraine’s occupied east is now becoming a critical means to influence the war.

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Anger is surging among a growing number of Georgians, who fear that their EU dreams are being jeopardized by their government's efforts to keep sweet with the Kremlin.

Georgians fear their government is sabotaging EU hopes

Georgians have big EU dreams, but fear their government is more interested in keeping sweet with the Kremlin.

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British MPs head back to Westminster this morning with the race to be the next prime minister about to hit full throttle. More in London Playbook: politi.co/3ACMQlB

British politics is showing little sign of shifting to the center anytime soon. With a heady mix of tax-cutting, woke-bashing and Brexit-backing policies, the Tories chasing the top job aren't straying far from Johnson's style of politics.

Tory hopefuls swerve right as race to replace Boris Johnson intensifies

UK Conservative leadership contenders kick off a bidding war on taxes, Europe and identity politics.

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The backroom deal between the leaders of several of the EU Parliament’s political groups to create new well-paid jobs out of thin air and place controversial candidates in key administration positions is starting to get pushback More in Brussels Playbook: politi.co/3AG5jxJ

OPINION: The EU is picking a bureaucratic fight at the UN. It could jeopardize the economies, and even the food supplies, of dozens of developing countries if it doesn’t back down.

The EU is jeopardizing the food supply in developing nations

The bloc’s opposition to a sound standard undermines the trade networks keeping food on the table for millions of people.

🏠In Vienna, more than 60 percent of the city’s inhabitants live in subsidized properties. The city’s approach to housing is removing stigma from social housing, and inspiring cities across the bloc to do the same.

How Vienna took the stigma out of social housing

In some European cities living in social housing is a misfortune. In Austria’s capital it’s an indicator of high-quality urban life.

Post-Brexit UK is looking for fields where it can get ahead of the EU — and that’s potentially good news for patients with rare diseases.

Patients with rare diseases hope for Brexit-hastened treatments

Brussels is eyeing the UK’s post-Brexit approach to solving cell and gene therapy headaches.

Canada will allow the delivery of a key component to help deliver Russian gas to Germany, Ottawa announced, despite appeals from Ukraine to hold off on returning the equipment.

Canada will return key Nord Stream pipeline component

Berlin cheered the decision as a way to increase Russian gas supplies, though Ukraine had urged against the delivery.

Crowed field! And they’re off! There are now nine official contenders vying to be the next Conservative leader and U.K. prime minister. And things are already getting nasty out there. More in Sunday Crunch: politi.co/3apFkzG

OPINION: The British army’s capacity to defend the realm is generally assumed — but should it be?

UK’s defense peacock parade

The British army’s capacity to do the job of defending the realm is generally assumed — but should it be?

Who’s going to replace the European Parliament’s powerful administrative chief when he steps down this year? The answer could be taking place in a series of backroom deals, which have left opponents accusing the Parliament’s leadership of cronyism.

European Parliament plots backroom deal to appoint top bureaucrat

The Parliament’s powerful administrative chief is leaving, and an arrangement to replace him has opponents alleging cronyism.

The EU aims to revamp its approach to chemicals as part of the bloc’s Green Deal effort. How do they plan to do it and what are the key friction points? We take a look 👇

4 key questions on the EU’s shift to more sustainable chemicals

The EU’s effort to make chemicals more sustainable is one of the hottest files in the bloc’s Green Deal effort.

We asked six Ukrainian refugees to depict their experiences with videos or photos, and to tell us how things have changed. Their answers include stories of adjustment and loss, deep grief and small pleasures, and in one case a return home to Ukraine.

Refugee Diaries: Images of home, old and new

The second installment in a series of digital diaries following those displaced by the war in Ukraine.

Penny Mordaunt, the UK’s international trade minister, has joined an increasingly crowded race to succeed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.