Euobserver.com

Commission president Juncker promised in 2016 that rules relating to the approval of pesticides like glyphosate would be changed, but member states refuse to play ball.

EU executive asking member states for mandate to help US producers get a better share of imports of non hormone-treated meat.

The EU would "collapse" if parties like the far-right Sweden Democrats took power across Europe, Sweden's former leader, Carl Bildt, said in a TV duel six days ahead of elections.

"Italy isn't fragile. It isn't the sick man of Europe," Italian finance minister Giovanni Tria said on Sunday in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper in a bid to reassure financial markets, which are increasingly concerned the anti-establishment government in Rome could breach EU spending limits under public pressure to deliver on its anti-austerity election promises. On Friday, Fitch Ratings changed its outlook on Italy from stable to negative.

The Spanish justice ministry has contracted a Belgian law firm, paying it up to €540,000, to defend Spanish supreme court judge Pablo Llarena in a civil lawsuit filed in Belgium by former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont. The ousted politician says Llarena acted impartial and violated rights to a fair trial under the presumption of innocence. Llarena will have to appear in a Belgian court on 4 September, reports El Pais.

An online Delta poll published on Sunday showed that 47 percent of Scots would vote for independence at another referendum on Scotland's future if UK leaves the EU, against 43 percent if it remained a member. Another poll by Our Future Our Choice published on Monday found that 52 percent of people in Northern Ireland would vote for a united Ireland if the United Kingdom quits the EU.

The number of officials who have left the UK's Brexit department is equivalent to more than half of its total staff, leaving a very young team with an average age of 32 to do the job, reports The Independent. The Dexeu department was set up as a time-limited operation, with staff loaned from other government departments. "Only a small minority have actually left the civil service," said a Dexeu spokesman.

EU anti-dumping measures on solar panels from China expire at midnight on Monday after the European Commission rejected industry requests for an expiry review investigation. "This is a watershed moment for the European solar industry. By removing the trade duties, the European Commission has today lifted the single biggest barrier to solar growth in Europe," said Christian Westermeier, president of SolarPower Europe, representing importers and installers.

The European Union's ban on the import and production of several types of halogen light bulbs went into effect on 1 September. Stores will be allowed to sell their remaining stock of halogen bulbs. Meanwhile, LED bulbs will be recommended as a greener alternative, lasting five to 10 times longer and using less energy. LED bulbs are also recyclable.

The European Union and the United Kingdom share the same values, but so far there has been little discussion about how they will cooperate to defend democracy after Brexit.

Fewer people are trying to cross the Mediterranean, but more of them are dying as EU and NGO rescue missions dwindle and the Libyan coastguard takes over.

Resumption of Kosovo-Serbia talks, with a controversial deal in the air, marks the return to work of EU institutions after the summer break this week.

From farming to research and development, the soft drink sector's impact on industries is equivalent to 1.24 percent of EU GDP.

EU institutions have voiced hope of a new breakthrough in Western Balkans enlargement, amid warnings about land swaps for ethnic reasons.

Based on the preliminary results of an online survey in which mostly Germans took part, the EU executive is proposing that the whole EU stops changing times in March and October.

EU negotiators aim to sweeten cooperation with UK after Brexit so that London is more willing to accept keeping Northern Ireland in the bloc's customs union.

Immigration and the far-right hogged the spotlight at this week's high-level EU meetings in a sign of the times in Europe.

EU institutions are hoping to conclude a legally binding deal on normal relations between Kosovo and Serbia before the mandate of the current European Parliament and Commission end next May, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in Vienna on Friday. The deal could include a Kosovo-Sebia land swap and Serbian recognition of Kosovo, so long as the land swap observed international and EU law on ethnic minorities, she said.

The European Commission will decide on Friday to recommend the scrapping of biannual daylight-savings time changes and keep clocks permanently on summertime, commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has told German ZDF TV. A large 80% majority of 4.6m EU citizens said in a recent survey the summertime scheme should be abolished - a record high response for any EU public consultation. Council and parliament approval will also be needed.

The Czech senate is Europe's most active national parliamentary body when it comes to the number of EU debates, according to a study by the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies. Hours spent on EU debates ranged from 300 yearly in the Austrian Nationalrat to over 1,000 hours in the Dutch Tweede Kamer or the UK House of Commons. Lithuania and Cyprus spent the least time on EU discussions.