Hydrogen accounts for less than two percent of the EU's energy production. It’s been used in various industries for some time, but those processes have relied on natural gas, leading to CO2 emissions. The EU's ambition is to turn hydrogen from a polluting niche market to a clean mass market. Renewable hydrogen is seen as crucial for Europe to meet its international climate commitments, and to limit its dependence on natural gas providers, be that Russia or other countries. But how does this complex transformation happen in practice? We discuss the issue with two MEPs.

Talking Europe speaks to European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, whose wide-ranging portfolio covers migration and asylum, security issues, education and what the EU calls "promoting the European Way of Life", among other things. We focus on migration and the EU's efforts to rectify what Schinas calls a historic failure to build a cohesive asylum and migration policy.

It was like an estranged couple agreeing to give themselves another chance. Announcing the "Windsor Framework" in late February, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were emphatic that the UK and the EU are allies, trading partners and friends. The deal on Northern Ireland seemingly puts an end to years of tensions, following Britain's decision to leave the European Union in June 2016. But how can the remaining obstacles be overcome? And is re-joining the EU a realistic option one day for Britain and for the bloc?

Sweden is using its presidency of the EU Council to keep European countries mobilised in their support for Ukraine, and to try to enforce the current sanctions on Russia more effectively. Sweden's EU Affairs Minister Jessika Roswall speaks to Talking Europe about those issues, as well as Sweden's application to join NATO, and Stockholm's other priorities in its EU presidency, which is now two months into its six-month stint.

The news of another migrant drama off the coast of Italy on February 26 has prompted familiar expressions of shock by EU leaders, as well as familiar calls for the EU to rethink its approach to migration and asylum. Dozens of people are thought to have died in the Mediterranean this year, not just near Italy, but off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia too.

Before February 24, 2022, few could have imagined that Ukraine would be awarded candidate status to join the EU in the space of just a few months. But the war on Ukraine has transformed the relationship between Kyiv and Brussels, evident not just in the various bilateral visits at the highest level, but also in the reforms that the Ukrainian government is undertaking. Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, assesses the current state of affairs and outlines the steps ahead.

Talking Europe hosts one the EU's most hawkish voices on Russia, Urmas Paet, who was Estonia’s foreign minister from 2005 to 2014. He is now an MEP and vice-president of the foreign affairs committee in the European Parliament. Paet outlines his hopes for a stronger EU defence capability and for more transparency on frozen Russian assets, as well as accountability for alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Europe is becoming more aware of itself as an economic and trading power – that’s the message from France’s secretary of state for European affairs, Laurence Boone. She talks about the new tools the EU has given itself to take on unfair competition, especially from Chinese companies, but she also downplays the warnings of a possible conflict with the United States over subsidies. Boone also outlines the latest moves when it comes to sanctions on Russia and EU support for Ukraine and Moldova.

Ukraine is burning through ammunition faster than the West can resupply it. That was the stark backdrop to the meeting of the so-called Ramstein group of Ukraine’s allies in Brussels on February 14. The huge challenge for Kyiv is not just to secure weapons such as fighter jets, but to keep munitions flowing to those arms that have already been delivered. NATO’s chief has admitted that this has now become a grinding war of attrition.

In this special travelogue, FRANCE 24's Caroline de Camaret and Luke Brown follow EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell step by step through the EU-Ukraine summit that happened last week in Kyiv. Our team accompanies him on the train, on the plane, in meetings and on a visit to a mine clearance operation. Borrell analyses his relations with his European and Ukrainian counterparts as well as the EU's support for the war and shares his geopolitical vision. We discover European diplomacy in action on the ground and behind the scenes, all the while collecting impressions of the trip.