European Union

Austria's minister of the interior Herbert Kickl, of the right-wing nationalist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), has urged Austrian police in an email to restrict the access to information of media that are critical of the government to a minimum. The minister said in addition that police press releases should cite both the nationality and the residency status of criminal suspects. The Austrian press is appalled.

The former French prime minister Manuel Valls, who was born in Barcelona, wants to run for the office of mayor in the city's local government elections in May 2019. Valls would run as an independent candidate endorsed by Ciuadadanos. Commentators from Spain and France ask what's behind Valls' transnational political ambitions.

Psara v Parliament
Law governing the institutions
The General Court confirms the Parliament’s refusal to grant access to documents relating to MEPs’ subsistence allowances, travel expenses and parliamentary assistance allowances

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The charity rescue ship Aquarius is planning to disembark 58 migrants in Marseilles, France, despite not having French permission to do so. SOS Mediterranee said that was its "only option" after Italy again refused to let it go there. The ship will have to end rescues when Panama shortly revokes its flag under Italian pressure. Italy Monday also passed a new law to make it easier to deport migrants.

A Russian national with a Maltese passport is reportedly part of a €10m international laundering racket in south-west Finland.

Five years and €10bn after its EU bailout, Cyprus is still a weak link in Europe's banking system - amid renewed fears on Russia money-laundering.

EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova has blamed the British tabloid media for spoiling the political climate around Brexit talks. "Media can build the culture of dialogue or sow divisions, spread disinformation and encourage exclusion. The Brexit debate is the best example of that," she said at a forum in Vienna on Monday. "Just last week, the EU leaders were called 'Dirty Rats' on another front page".

The UK has said EU airlines could continue to fly there even if there was no deal on Brexit and that it would unilaterally accept EU aviation rules in order to prevent a rupture if need be. It published the technical paper as the European Central Bank urged Dutch lender ING to return important staff from London back to Europe.

Greek police have detained the editor-in-chief and publisher of the newspaper Fileleftheros, after an article las week which alleged Panos Kammenos, the country's far-right defence minister had mishandled EU funds designed to help migrants in camps on Greek islands. Some of the EU money had been funnelled to Kammenos' business partners, the article alleged. The arrest came after Kammenos complained to police about it, AP reports.

Austria's far-right interior minister Herbert Kickl has instructed police chiefs that their officers should name the foreign nationality and asylum status of suspects and offenders in press interviews, according to leaked emails obtained by the Kurier and Standard newspapers. He also said police ought to send "pro-active" messages to media about related sex offences and complained that government critical media "ignore facts" on the problem.

Prime Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Zoran Zaev focused on the economic benefits of a “yes” vote in the upcoming referendum on the Macedonia name change, saying that the trade with Greece is going to double.

Distributed energy solutions such as solar PV, batteries, and smart controls are getting cheaper by the day and will soon outperform traditional energy sources such as coal, gas, and nuclear power, says Hervé Touati. In any case, Blockchain-type solutions will be needed for the mass deployment of electric vehicles, he warns.

The system for approving pesticides has to show greater transparency, a special committee of the European Parliament has concluded. An article by EURACTIV France’s media partner, the Journal de l’environnement.