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.

Bulgaria has become notorious for holding elections. In 5 years, voters went to the polls 8 times. But this debilitating crisis finally ended on April 19th, when the Progressive Bulgaria party won an outright majority. It is led by the former president, Rumen Radev, now the prime minister.

Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU member states have been trying to reach an agreement on the rights of air passengers travelling within the bloc. The current rules date back to 2004, but the scale and nature of air travel have changed dramatically since then. We take you inside the negotiations, examine the key sticking points, and explain why MEPs are pushing for stronger protections for passengers affected by delays and cancellations.

This week’s special edition of Talking Europe asks whether the EU is ready for the disruption that comes with Artificial Intelligence. It is the most important technological revolution of the century, and is set to impact every aspect of our lives.

It has been called Europe’s demographic time bomb: Older people are living longer, while younger people are having fewer children. Last year in France, for example, deaths outpaced births for the first time since the end of World War II, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call for "demographic rearmament".