With Europeans sizzling in a record-breaking heatwave in May, and lands and rivers facing severe drought conditions in April, the effects of extreme climate-related events are becoming increasingly obvious. We sit down with the EU's Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, Dutch politician Wopke Hoekstra, to talk about the EU's carbon emissions reduction targets, the next COP summit, and, of course, the energy crisis resulting from the war in the Middle East.

The EU Parliament and EU Council have provisionally agreed to simplify and speed up the return of migrants staying in the bloc unlawfully. Backers of the deal say it is urgent to do something about the low enforcement of deportation orders: 27 percent last year, and just 24 percent the previous year. But critics say governments are giving in to anti-migrant sentiment as they face pressure from rising populist forces across the EU.