MORNING BID EUROPE-EU and migrants: Uncharted waters

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* A look at the day ahead from European Economics and Politics Editor Mark John and EMEA Markets Editor Mike Dolan. The views expressed are their own.

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - A first passenger boat carrying migrants being returned from Greece to Turkey docked in the Turkish town of Dikili earlier this morning, one of two that earlier set sail from the Greek island of Lesbos with a total 131 migrants on board. The returnees were primarily from Pakistan and some from Bangladesh and they had not applied for asylum - meaning Turkey is likely to deport them back to their home countries. There is still conflicting information about what happens next, but broadly speaking we expect several hundred more to be returned in the course of this week. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere even suggested at the weekend the "high point" of the migrant crisis was behind us, pointing to the drop in numbers of migrants getting all the way through to Germany. But with daily new arrivals adding to the tens of thousands of migrants already in Greece and highly resistant to the idea of going back to Turkey, that comment will strike many observers as premature.

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjoern Jagland travels to Warsaw today to tell Polish officials of the rights watchdog's concerns that a revamp of the constitutional court there is a threat to the rule of law and democracy in Poland. He will be followed by European Commission VP Frans Timmermans on Tuesday ahead of a discussion on the matter by the European Commission on Wednesday. The Commission has formally got the power to impose punitive action against Poland based on the Council of Europe's recommendations. Yet diplomats say several EU member states are reluctant to move against Poland and any talks will be long drawn out to delay decision-making.

As if Greece didn't have enough on its plate, talks with its lenders about its reform progress are due to resume in Athens on Monday, ultimately aiming to conclude a bailout review that will unlock further loans and pave the way for negotiations on long-desired debt restructuring. Tensions rose at the weekend as a leaked transcript suggested the IMF may threaten to pull out of the country's bailout as a tactic to force European lenders to offer more debt relief. Euro zone officials suggest talks on debt relief could begin on the sidelines of the IMF's spring meetings in mid-April if there is a deal on reforms. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in a letter to Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday she believed negotiations on a new debt deal were "a good distance away."

MARKETS AT 0645 GMT

Brent crude's drop to its lowest levels in a month is probably the eye-catcher of the morning so far, with prices undermined by last week's reports that Saudi Arabia will not agree to an output freeze without a sanctions-free Iran that's intent on catching up on the rest. Brent fell as low as $38.18 after struggling for the past four weeks to find any foothold above $40. Copper too was down for the 7th straight day and hit its lowest in a month. The commodities slippage is interesting given the dollar's drop over the past week, even though the fallout from Friday's relatively strong US March employment report has seen the buck stabilise somewhat this morning. Euro/dollar, which hit its highest level in more than five months late last week, has retreated back below $1.14 this morning. Dollar/yen, however, continues to push back down to 111/$ and this has weighed on the Nikkei225 again overnight. With Shanghai/HK closed, the rest of Asia markets were firmer, with gains in Malaysia's ringgit underlying the rebound in the region's emerging markets. European stock futures are pointing to the negative open, however, with commodities dictating direction and after the collapse of the Orange (LSE: 0OQV.L - news) /Bouygues (LSE: 0HAN.L - news) telco talks on Friday. Sterling weakness from Friday also watched closely, with background Brexit fears the only reason given.

Upcoming events/data/ themes for market reports on Monday:

* Europe corp events: Ryanair traffic figures

* EZ Feb PPI

* ECB chief economist Praet speaks in Rome

* Turkey March inflation

* Ireland March exchequer returns, March consumer confidence

* US Feb factory orders

* Bank of Canada business outlook survey

* Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari speaks in Minneapolis, Boston Fed chief Rosengren speaks in Boston (Editing by Tom Heneghan)