Good morning from Brussels,

EU interior ministers will explore new ways to improve the return of irregular migrants to non-EU countries at an informal meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday, diplomats told Euractiv. 

A non-paper signed by 15 member states—including Germany and France—calls for a review of the Return Directive, which was last reviewed in 2008 and is now considered insufficient by these countries when it comes to ensuring removals.

Nicholas Wallace and Théo Bourgery-Gonse explain that another idea is to focus on ‘return hubs’ for processing irregular migrants outside of the EU, as Italy has already done with Albania, and boost partnerships with non-EU countries to address the “root causes” of irregular migration.

Hungary, which currently holds the EU rotating presidency, will preside over the meeting, which is expected to lay the groundwork for the upcoming summit on 17-18 October.

Politically, the migration debate found fertile ground to re-emerge on the surface after far-right parties scored high in several elections across the bloc. Moreover, EU capitals keep an eye on the Middle East conflict and potential new refugee waves from that region.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, known for his long-standing anti-migration stance, backed on Tuesday establishing “hotspots outside the EU” and said that, in the end, every EU leader would agree with him.

Meanwhile, Germany has seen a decrease in asylum applications after the government’s migration crackdown. 

As Georgia prepares for decisive parliamentary elections on 26 October, EU leaders are expected to remind Tbilisi 'not to reverse' its current pro-European course, according to draft summit conclusions seen by Euractiv.  

Meanwhile, documents seen by Euractiv reveal the European Parliament is mulling two timetables for the confirmation hearings of the next European Commission. 

On foreign matters, as EU member states scramble to provide Ukraine with a €35 billion loan by the end of the year, Hungary announced putting on the brakes until the US presidential election in November at an EU finance ministers' meeting on Tuesday.

On trade, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told MEPs on Tuesday that Chinese carmakers currently enjoy multiple “technological advantages” over their European counterparts. On the same day, Beijing retaliated against the EU's electric vehicles tariff decision by announcing provisional duties on brandy.

BERLIN 

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has hailed the drop in asylum applications as proof that the country’s tough measures are working, with figures for 2024 showing a 23% drop from the previous year. Read more.

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PARIS

French agency places Novo Nordisk’s anti-obesity drug under close surveillance. Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk has announced the launch of its anti-obesity drug Wegovy in France. Still, the country's drug safety agency has already said it will monitor its use to ensure it is not misused for aesthetic purposes. Read more.

German and French MPs want to relaunch the ‘European Energy Union’. French and German MPs want the next Franco-German parliamentary session, scheduled for early December, to provide an opportunity to present a joint ‘proposal for deliberation’ on improving Europe's electricity and hydrogen networks. Read more.

OSLO

Norway raises terror threat level amid rising concerns over Israeli, Jewish targets. Norway will raise its threat level from moderate to high, namely because of the intensification of threats against Jewish and Israeli targets in the country, the Norwegian Police Security Service said on Tuesday. Read more.

ROME

Italian Prime Minister and European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) leader Giorgia Meloni appears to be looking to unite the right-wing European People's Party (EPP) group and the new far-right Orban-led Patriots for Europe group, as both have been invited to a three-day convention in Dubrovnik. Read more.

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MADRID | BUDAPEST

Hungary denies involvement in €9.2 million loan to Spain’s far-right Vox party. The Hungarian government denied on Tuesday any knowledge or involvement in the loan granted by Magyar Bankholding (MBH) to Spain's far-right Vox party. Read more. 

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LISBON

Portuguese PM reaffirms goal of making Portuguese an official UN language. Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro on Tuesday reiterated his government’s goal of strengthening the country's consular network and, along with Brazil, making Portuguese an official language of the United Nations. Read more.

WARSAW

Polish MEPs from the Civic Coalition (KO, EPP) alliance pushed for an earlier review of the 2035 ban on new combustion car selling, a proposal put forward by Italy. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czechia aims to be among the EU’s top 10 economies by 2040. As Czechia recovers from years of high inflation, newly appointed Industry and Trade Minister Lukáš Vlček has presented an ambitious economic strategy to become one of the EU's top 10 economies in terms of GDP per capita by 2040. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Fico lashes out at Slovak media, cand alls for stricter controls. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD/NI) lashed out at major media outlets at a press conference on Tuesday, accusing them of undermining his government and hinting at new possible measures against them, including creating a national media authority. Read more.

SOFIA

Commission signals patience wearing thin with Bulgaria on recovery plan. The European Commission is showing signs of losing patience with Bulgaria, which has dragged its feet for more than two years in adopting reforms to continue payments under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan. Read more.

• EU: Informal meeting of employment, social policy and health ministers expected to reflect on labour shortages, effective involvement of labour market reserves, and social inclusion;
• Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates in Parliament’s plenary debate on Hungarian Presidency activities, in Strasbourg, France; Receives Minister-President of Federal State of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann;
• Commission Vice President Dubravka Suica delivers keynote speech at Ukraine-South East Europe Summit, in Dubrovnik, Croatia;
• Cohesion Commissioner Elisa Ferreira meets with CMU - Confederation of Outermost Municipalities;
• Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders meets with Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency Commissioner Yukata Arai; Meets with United States Consumer Product Safety Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric; Participates in OECD Committee on Consumer Policy ministerial meeting;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor-Braçe]