This week our podcast focuses on the spread of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant and the threat it poses to Europe's long-awaited return to normality after almost 18 months of restrictions and lockdowns.

What is the World Health Organisation so worried about? What are the plans to shield the EU from another wave of infections and what does Delta mean for the bloc's new COVID-19 digital certificate? We spoke with EURACTIV’s health reporter, Giedre Peseckyte, to find out.

We’re also talking climate legislation and the proposal to extend the EU’s carbon market, a plan French MEP Pascal Canfin considers “politically suicidal.” For more on this story, we were joined by Kira Taylor, EURACTIV’s energy and environment reporter, and Clara Bauer Babef from EURACTIV France.