The Barcelona City Council, with the Barcelona Knowledge Hub of the European Academy (managed by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation), annually awards the Barcelona Hypatia European Science Prize to a researcher based in Europe (not necessarily in the EU-27). The existence of the prize responds to a strategic choice by a city council interested in highlighting its city's scientific capital. Prizes give recognition and credit to those who receive them, but also to those who give them. There are many scientific prizes in the world, but they are typically international, national, or sub-national in scope. There are very few European ones. It is a surprising lack (the EU had them but, I don't know why, abolished them) and an opportunity for the Hypatia prize, which has already covered six editions, to establish itself as a European benchmark. The reputation of a prize is given by the list of its recipients. And here the prize's trajectory has been very good. In all six cases, the jury has chosen well. Among the awardees, László Lovász later received the Abel Prize (the Nobel Prize in Mathematics), Nancy Cartwright the BBVA Prize, and in September 2025 the jury conferred it to Philippe Aghion, a French economist, who a month later received the Nobel Prize. A positive side effect of the prize is that the awardees strengthen their ties with Catalonia. Thus, Aghion received the prize on June 15 in a solemn ceremony at the Saló de Cent, and on the 16th he gave a presentation at the Cercle d’Economia and on the 17th another, more academic, at the Summer Forum of the Barcelona School of Economics.

This week has been particularly tough in Brussels. Not only because the city, without even shutters on most houses, is not at all prepared for heatwaves like the one we have experienced. But also because the European Union has marked a new setback in the consistency between what it preaches and what it does. After last week the European Parliament gifted us chilling images with the celebration of the new law to expel migrants with shouts of “Send them back, send them back”, this week the European Commission met with the Taliban. There are few possible nuances to this sentence.

The European Commission has proposed this Friday to extend by one year plus the temporary international protection regulations for Ukrainians who flee the war and seek refuge in the European Union. However, Brussels has proposed amending legislation to exclude from the right to remain in EU territory all Ukrainian citizens who are of military age (mostly men between 23 and 60 years old) and are able to serve in the Ukrainian army.

The Taliban arrived in Brussels this Tuesday to discuss the deportation of immigrants to Afghanistan. This is the only thing the European Commission has confirmed, which has not wanted to reveal with whom, when, and where they met. Absolute secrecy reigns among the community authorities.

The constant threats and humiliations from Donald Trump against the European Union are accelerating the European bloc's process towards greater autonomy. The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has voted in favor – by 43 votes to 14, with 1 abstention – to proceed with the creation of a digital euro, an initiative that had been stalled in the community chamber for years.

The European Union wants to have a say in the war in Ukraine again. After months on the sidelines of negotiations sponsored by Donald Trump, which were paralyzed as soon as the war with Iran began, Brussels considers that there is now a momentum for diplomacy with Russia and to put an end to the Ukrainian conflict.

This Wednesday, the European Parliament approved the Return Regulation, by 418 votes in favour, 218 against, and 30 abstentions. The session ended with fervent applause from the right wing of the hemicycle, which was shouting with overflowing joy “send them back!” (send them back!) The spectacle brought to mind a coven. As the United States under Trump reminds us daily, contemporary covens are beginning to take place also, or especially, within democratic institutions themselves. But what exactly were they celebrating?In the political sphere, the approval of the regulation represents the victory of those who advocated for a "tougher" migration policy, which nowadays is synonymous with illiberal. In May 2024, a few weeks after the approval of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, seventeen European states signed a letter calling for "innovative" solutions and "paradigm shifts," especially to facilitate and accelerate deportations. Two years later, with the approval of the Regulation, these proposals, which until recently the European Commission itself considered contrary to EU law, have become a reality.In terms of concrete measures, the Return Regulation represents an acceleration of a trend that has been consolidating for some time: detection operations within EU territory, extended detention periods (increasing from six months to two years, extendable), detention and deportation of minors, forced deportations in a wide range of cases, penalties for lack of cooperation (including for those persons legally not deportable), and entry bans that can reach 10 years or more.

Agreement in disagreement. European leaders only agree on one thing about the proposal they have on the table for the next European multiannual budgets (2028-2034): they don't please anyone.

Pedro Sánchez is increasingly alone in the European Union with the migratory challenge. A few days after the entry into force of the migration reform and the agreement to create centers outside the Community territory for deporting immigrants, several European leaders have reproached the Spanish Prime Minister for his stance on migration and the massive regularization of newcomers at the European Council meeting this Friday in Brussels, according to various diplomatic sources.

Pedro Sánchez is already used to swimming against the current in the European Union. He was one of the first leaders to raise his voice against Benjamin Netanyahu and, later, against Donald Trump. He also refused to accept the major rearmament demanded by NATO and, among other things, is the voice that has shown itself most openly opposed to the hardening of migration policies. And now, he adds another battle in which he finds himself increasingly alone: at a time when the community club intends to toughen its tone against China, Sánchez defends it as a "potential ally". "Europe needs friends", he defended at the entrance to the meeting of European leaders.

The United States administration has once again attacked European allies from Brussels. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday a new review of the deployment of American troops in Europe and threatened to stop paying its NATO dues until all allies fulfill their defense spending commitments. Spain, for example, has refused to commit to reaching 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, as demanded by the White House. "Some countries have not yet shown a credible path to meeting commitments made in The Hague. Too much talk," lamented the American leader.

The relationship that the European Union should maintain with China has divided member states in recent years, but now all agree in qualifying the trade deficit between the European bloc and the Asian giant "unsustainable", according to various diplomatic sources. For this reason, more and more European governments are advocating for an escalation of tone against Beijing, and want to request at the leaders' summit this Thursday and Friday in Brussels that the European Commission put forward measures to limit Chinese imports.

The European Union is in a hurry regarding migration and, at an unusual speed, the European Parliament has definitively ratified the regulation that will allow the installation of centers outside the community territory to deport immigrants, as the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has attempted in Albaniathe Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to Albania

Donald Trump's threats to withdraw US military capabilities from Europe were serious. The Pentagon has reported that it intends to reduce its presence on the European continent for the rest of NATO allies, and European countries are preparing and organizing to replace and fill the defense gaps that the North American power will leave, according to diplomatic sources from the Atlantic Alliance. In fact, many European allies have already put on the table what capabilities they can contribute and how they can contribute to Europe's security.

Leo XIV has come to Spain to deliver a speech of inclusion and respect, “the resistance to the imposition of a single meaning,” as Jan Patocka said, although it is hard to believe coming from the highest authority of an institution founded on belief and dogma, that is, the unprovable, and all that follows from it in both theory and practice. But Leo XIV is a pope who gets involved in what is happening in the world, beyond religious debate. He has demonstrated this since his arrival by building his image –in his transition from the American to the global stage– with a clear opposition to Trump and his delusional frivolity.

The official discourse of the European Union calls for a common defense, greater military autonomy, and less dependence on Donald Trump's United States. At this point, however, the reality is that the most pressing issue is unresolved. As community leaders admit in hushed tones, European allies still lack sufficient war industrial capacity to stop buying weapons from the North American power, a deficiency that has become evident again with the failure of the production of a latest-generation Franco-German fighter jet, which was also to have Spanish participation. the failure of the production of a fighter jet of Franco-German origin of the latest generation, which was also to have Spanish participation.

I wonder if we would be scandalized if the European Commission invited members of the Islamic State to Brussels, the terrorist group that terrorized Europe with attacks and beheaded foreign journalists in front of a camera to then disseminate the images. That's why I'm so surprised that the news that the Commission plans to meet in Brussels in the coming weeks with a delegation of the Taliban, who are more or less like the Islamic State, has gone unnoticed.

Before the last European elections on June 9, 2024, Ursula von der Leyen was already hinting during the election campaign about the new role that the far-right would play in the European Union. In order to secure the renewal of her mandate at the head of the European Commission, she repeatedly stated that not all far-right parties are the same and opened herself up to negotiations with formations like that of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Although she ultimately did not need their support, the relationship between conservatives and the far-right changed entirely. Without a sanitary cordon and with great electoral results, the far-right has consolidated itself in state governments and in the Eurochamber, and they are no longer just honking horns, but have also adopted a central and powerful role in the European Union.

The European Union has agreed to oblige airlines to show the prices of flights they offer with a carry-on suitcase included. And in case the consumer does not want to bring one, it will be deducted from the final bill. In this way, the European bloc wants to improve transparency and facilitate price comparison, and prevent consumers from finding themselves being charged a substantial amount of money to add a carry-on suitcase. As for backpacks or handbags that fit under the front seat – with a maximum size of 40x30x15 cm – they will continue to be free.

The same day that the European Union's major migratory reform enters into force, the community border control agency, Frontex, has published a report in which it assures that the arrival of irregular new arrivals has fallen by 40% during the first five months of this year, to 39,000 entries. The only migratory route that is growing is the one that culminates on the Iberian Peninsula: it increases by 40%, although it remains in absolute figures below routes such as the central Mediterranean or the eastern Mediterranean. "Algeria continues to be the main country of origin, and the Balearic Islands continue to be the most frequented destination," points out the Frontex report.