EU: More growth and jobs: EU invests €873 million in clean energy infrastructure

Europe's transition to a clean and modern economy is the goal of the Energy Union, a priority of the Juncker Commission. It is now becoming the new reality on the ground, and one important building block is adapting the European infrastructure to the future energy needs. Properly interconnected electricity lines and gas pipelines form the backbone of an integrated European energy market anchored on the principle of solidarity. Thus, supporting these 17 selected electricity and gas projects , signals Europe's willingness to upgrade and make the European energy system more competitive that will ultimately deliver cheaper and secure energy to all European consumers.

The EU funding for the chosen projects comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the European support programme for trans-European infrastructure.

Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič said: "Once more we demonstrate that cooperation and solidarity pays off and that the Energy Union is becoming a reality with tangible impact on the ground. These are important projects with major cross-border benefits and by implementing them we strengthen energy resilience of EU Member States. The Connecting Europe Facility has yet again shown tremendous added value in the modernisation of the European economy."

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: "The construction of the Biscay Gulf France-Spain interconnection marks an important step towards ending the isolation of the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of the European energy market. Only a fully interconnected market will improve Europe's security of supply, reducing the dependence of single suppliers and giving consumers more choice. An energy infrastructure which is fit for purpose is also essential for renewable energy sources to thrive and for delivering on the Paris Agreement on climate change."

For the complete EU Commission Press release, click here

EU Refugee Crises: Plea for a European asylum agency by - Prof. Dr. Friedrich Heinemann

More and more people seem to want to take the 'easy way out' when it comes to the refugee crisis. "Ceilings" and "border closures" should be the means by which we deal with the issue. Others want to rely on quotas and spread those who need help around Europe.

The problem, unfortunately, is that all of these solutions threaten Europe's open borders, the Schengen area. The 'easy way out', clearly, involves sealing the borders.

Closely-monitored, sealed borders are a costly obstacle to European trade and will ultimately affect European prosperity. Moreover, quotas are not going to work by themselves. So long as EU member states have diverging rules regarding accepting refugees and so long as the refugees themselves oppose the quotas, stricter border controls will have to be in place.

So where can we find a viable solution? Open borders within Europe are only likely to remain a reality if the EU finally finds a truly European solution to its asylum policy woes, beyond relying on a simple quota system.

The Mannheim-based Centre of European Economic Research (ZEW) has come up with a proposal that involves establishing a European Asylum Agency (EAA). The EAA would have comprehensive responsibility for processing refugees and implementing asylum procedures in all EU countries.

People seeking protection in a member state would be processed by the agency, which would be financed by the Brussels budget and which would set up a network of reception facilities throughout the EU.

Giving responsibility for the refugees to such an agency would have many advantages: The asylum procedure would be cheaper and fairer than the current system of relocation. Costs could be reduced due to the fact that the cases could be processed more quickly by the agency's managers than they currently are.

Currently, asylum officials have to deal with individuals from many different countries of origin and there are high costs involved in the training necessary to process people from such diverging backgrounds and cultures.

In contrast, the EU officials that would staff the EAA network would be highly specialised in dealing with such cases. As a result, the ZEW study concluded that the time and money saved through these measures would yield savings of anywhere between 16% and 40%.

The other advantage of a European process would be that the 'race to the bottom' in terms of offering the worst conditions for refugees would stop. In the current system, each EU country can make life as miserable as they like for refugees in order to deter them, thus shifting the burden to their neighbours.

Member states such as Germany, which do not participate in such practices, must then bear the costs as a result. Ethical misconduct has become financially beneficial and nations that embrace it are getting a free ride.

There are also problems in the way quotas are calculated, where capacity is calculated by analysing a country's population, GDP and unemployment rate, and then subsequent way in which they are implemented.

While countries like Germany and Sweden have accepted refugees in numbers double or even triple their allotted quotas, other countries in Central and Eastern Europe have only taken a fraction, sometimes just 5%; in the case of Slovenia and Slovakia, they have only fulfilled 1% of their obligation.

Read morePlea for a European asylum agency | EurActiv