It is crucial to have a rule of law protection mechanism that unambiguously and concretely protects national judiciaries and the effective application of EU law at the national level.

Europe needs more solidarity and financial transfers, these must strengthen the values that connect Europeans, not undermine them.

Why should Germans, Dutch, Swedes and their leaders care about a possible tragedy on distant Greek islands where more than 40,000 refugees and migrants live crammed together in dismal sanitary conditions?

The EU and Turkey have a common interest to support more than 3.5 million refugees now in Turkey; to control mobility in the face of the biggest public health crisis in a century: and to provide humanitarian assistance to more than 2 million displaced near the Turkish border in Syria.

It is in The Gambia's interest to see its diaspora thrive in Germany. It is not in its interest to see it disappear. It is The Gambia's interest to help those in Germany who want an agreement.

EU Balkan enlargement is only possible if it is deeply transformative. None of the current candidates and potential candidates have a chance of joining without a deep transformation.

National courts are central pillars in the EU legal architecture. They must defend the norms and enforce EU rules in all member states directly. 

What is needed is a process that does not replace accession and yet is different; a process that promises EU influence and is also attractive and credible to Balkan publics and leaders. 

Nobody in The Gambia wants a return to the tragedy of recent years, when tens of thousands were captured and mistreated in Libya and huge numbers died on the "backway" to Europe.

L'UE doit également prouver qu'elle honore sa parole face aux dirigeants qui s'emploient à établir des relations avec leurs voisins et avec les minorités dans un véritable esprit de réconciliation.

The EU also needs to show that it keeps its word to leaders who reach out to neighbors and minorities at home in a true spirit of reconciliation

Do think tanks matter? Do the things they write ever "cause" anything? And how would we ever know?

Komisja Europejska musi jak najszybciej zaskarżyć Polskę do Trybunału Sprawiedliwości Unii Europejskiej (TSUE) za naruszenie podstawowych wartości i zasad UE, koncentrując się na procedurach dyscyplinarnych i kontroli władzy wykonawczej nad sędziami.

The European Commission needs to take Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) as soon as possible for infringement of the EU's fundamental values and principles, focusing on disciplinary procedures and the executive's control over judges.

The legitimacy of the Council of Europe matters. Its destruction would be a harbinger of much worse to come. What is needed are bold measures, both in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

This is the right moment for European democracies to send a strong signal that certain red lines should not be crossed and that certain types of behaviour are intolerable and unacceptable.

They have called for "cleaning our cities, street by street" and "mass expulsions". With so little to distinguish their views they are in fact ideological twins: Viktor and Matteo, defenders of a darker, illiberal Europe.

France, the Netherlands, Germany and others need to do more than put things on hold. They need to propose a constructive policy which is tougher, more transparent, and more credible than the current accession process.

No member state of the EU has ever gone as far in subjugating its courts to executive control as the current Polish government has done.

Is this the end of a dark decade and the turning point in the biggest scandal in the history of the Council of Europe?

For Athens and Skopje to succeed in 2018 where their predecessors failed both governments need a mutually beneficial breakthrough they can defend in front of their domestic audiences. They need to help each other to deliver.

The current policy debate on migration and asylum in the key European capitals remains deeply confused over both values and instruments. Without clarity of thought no effective and humane policy will ever emerge.

Bosnian leaders and international officials in Sarajevo have warned that unless there is an urgent change in the state election law Bosnian democracy might come to an end in October 2018.

For the ECtHR to protect its reputation PACE, the institution which chooses its judges, must itself be transparent and committed to the highest standards. If nobody pays attention, if PACE is run by networks indifferent to democracy, then the prestige and credibility of the Court risks suffering as well.

The dominant clichés are that Bosnia is riven by ethnic hatred; that therefore political stability can only ever be fragile; that the constitutional arrangement which ended the war in 1995 reinforces communal tensions; and that the country remains perpetually on the verge of violent collapse.

There are no partnerships with migrants' home countries that make sense or have an impact; there is no coherent system for legal migration to replace irregular migration; efforts to fight smugglers appear helpless, even pathetic at times. 

Eine schnelle Verbesserung der Lage ist möglich – und bedarf gleichzeitig großer Anstrengungen. Dafür werben wir: eine Politik, die Menschen die Möglichkeit eines sicheren, legalen Weges öffnet, Abschiebungen einschränkt, Leben rettet, und die Qualität von Asylverfahren an der europäischen Außengrenze erhöht.

We were convinced from the outset that Europe needs a credible guardian of red lines on basic human rights. It matters hugely, therefore, when such a human rights organisation can be corrupted. 

We suggest how to reform a dysfunctional accession process; and when to bring it to an end. We seek to dispel illusions, restore clarity and propose ways how the European Union and the Council of Europe might better protect fundamental human rights.

The choice – and thus the future legitimacy of the Council of Europe – is now in the hands of 33 men and women and, if they fail to act, in the hands of those of the whole of PACE or even other institutions of the Council of Europe.

If PACE wants to restore its credibility, and get to the bottom of this affair which threatens its legitimacy, this must not be allowed to happen.

The European Union urgently needs a credible policy on asylum and border management. It must combine effective control of external land and sea borders with respect for existing international and EU refugee law.

A political earthquake took place in Strasbourg this week. What happens next will determine the future of Europe's leading human rights body.

At this moment, PACE is shaken by news of a serious scandal, following evidence that votes on key human rights issues have been manipulated for years. 

In this follow-up to Caviar Diplomacy, we take a closer look, four years later, at the progress that has been made on miring the Council of Europe in a swamp of corruption.

ESI published an update on the state of implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement on refugees in the Aegean: what has worked, what has failed, and what is to be done. 

Viktor Orban has exploited the confusion and insecurities around the European refugee crisis, and the weakness of mainstream political leaders, to further expand his influence in EU capitals and in Brussel

Today, the road to a credible EU policy on asylum passes through Lesbos.

The current dramatic shortage of resources means that for all practical purposes the right to an individual review of asylum applications has already vanished for the vast majority of those who arrive in Greece today. 

The history of relations between Bosnia and the EU since 2000 shows that whenever Bosnian institutions were seriously challenged by the EU to co-ordinate, they were able to do so – often to the surprise of their European counterparts.

We must challenge one popular myth: the notion that it is the fault of Greece that relocation of refugees is not working. In fact, this scheme it is not working any better in Italy. The problem lies deeper.

There is a race today in Europe between two very different concepts of how to restore control over the European Union's external borders.

If the EU is serious about making readmission work, it must help Greece increase it capacity to file readmission requests and return accepted migrants to Turkey.

Mülteci krizine çözüm konusunda Almanya ve Türkiye'den daha iyi konuma sahip ve daha fazla inanılırlığı haiz başka iki ülke yok. İkisi de bu sorunun çözümünde vazgeçilmez aktörler olarak belirmekte.

A new generation of EU accession reports will be published. If developed further in coming years, this may be the beginning of a revolution in accession methodology.

If Germany and Turkey cannot reach a deal, there are no other solutions in sight, and the mass migration of Syrians and others into the EU will continue.

In the current political climate, there is little that European Union institutions can bring to the table. For this reason, it is Germany that must take the lead. We also explain why an agreement between Berlin and Ankara is in the security interest of Turkey.

Viktor Orban offers no credible or practical proposals how to deal with the causes of displacement; he also has no credible proposals on how to stop the loss of control on the EU's external borders.

Europe is witnessing the biggest movement of people across South East Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s: the mass migration of mainly Syrian refugees from Turkey to Greece and then on to Germany.

Today Greeks vote in a referendum whose outcome could have dramatic consequences for their country. Polls show that the result is on a knife-edge. Every vote counts.