European Union

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Member states are fighting to reduce marine litter by endorsing new rules which ban the use of certain throwaway plastic products for which alternatives exist.

European Council President Donald Tusk congratulated Stefan Löfven on his reappointment as Prime Minister of Sweden

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have signed the new German-French friendship treaty. According to the agreement Berlin and Paris want to enhance their cooperation on Europe policy and campaign for a common foreign and security policy. While some commentators fear that the Franco-German pact excludes other states, for others the agreement points the way forward.

Police in Northern Ireland say that the car bomb attack in the city of Londonderry on Saturday could have been the work of the militant underground organisation the New IRA. Commentators discuss what impact the Brexit negotiations could have on peace in Ireland.

The global economic elite is currently in Davos for its annual meeting. But key figures like Trump, May and Macron are not among the roughly 3,000 persons attending this year. For commentators this is just one of several reasons why they see the World Economic Forum falling short of expectations.

The "10YearChallenge" action on social media has taken a unique turn in Turkey: hundreds of women have posted photos with the hashtag Özgürleştik ("We have become emancipated") showing how they have stopped wearing a headscarf in the last decade. The new challenge has rekindled an old debate.