Euobserver.com

European consumer protection authorities have called on German carmaker Volkswagen to guarantee that repairs after the Dieselgate scandal would not affect the cars' performance, Reuters reported. The European Commission said VW should improve consumer information and wants VW to do more to compensate European car owners after it admitted to US regulators in 2015 that it had cheated on emissions tests using software installed in cars on sale in Europe.

"We will continue to call on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility and to fully cooperate with all efforts to establish accountability," EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine. She said that the weapon used to shoot down the plane, killing 298 people, "belonged beyond doubt" to Russian armed forces.

EU leaders and Japanese prime minister signed a series of agreements, including the EU's biggest trade deal ever, designed as an answer to the disruption of the world order by the US president.

Israeli disinformation campaign targeted Brussels news magazine to silence Palestinian NGO group.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will meet US president Donald Trump in Washington on 25 July, the commission confirmed on Tuesday. It said they will discuss "deep cooperation" between the EU and the US "across a wide range of priorities, including foreign and security policy, counter-terrorism, energy security, and economic growth," and that they will focus on "improving transatlantic trade and forging a stronger economic partnership."

The EU and Japan on Tuesday signed a free-trade agreement that includes removing EU barriers on Japanese cars and Japanese duties on EU cheeses and meats. They also signed an agreement that recognises EU and Japan's data protection systems as "equivalent". The trade deal will now have to be ratified by the European and Japanese parliaments. EU Council president Donald Tusk hailed it as "the largest bilateral trade deal ever."

The new UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute will be in Cyprus on 23 July to start consultations for a possible new round of negotiations to solve the island's division, after previous talks failed last year, Cyprus foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides said in Brussels on Tuesday. Lute will also have talks with Turkey, Greece, the UK and the EU. "We don't have [the] luxury for a new failure," Christodoulides said.

Russia has urged the US to help it go after a British human rights campaigner in return for cooperation in an election-meddling probe.

The British prime minister faces rebellion from both sides of her party as a key Brexit legislation is debated in parliament. The EU in the meantime gets ready for a no-deal scenario.

Four protesters from the Russian art group, Pussy Riot, who interrupted the World Cup final match between France and Croatia by invading the pitch have been sentenced to 15 days in jail. The protestors called for the release of political prisoners, the end to illegal detentions at political rallies, and halting policing of people's political views on social media. They were also banned from sports events for three years.

The official 'Leave' campaign behind the 2016 victory in the UK referendum on Brexit has been fined and reported to the police, after a nearly two-year investigation. The Electoral Commission found that 'Vote Leave' had overspent by £500,000 (€565,000) on a £7m limit on campaign spending, and had colluded with another Brexit group, 'BeLeave'. The head of the commission also said Vote Leave had "resisted our investigation from the start."

The global economy could suffer a $430bn loss in GDP as a result of a trade war between the US and the rest of the world, the International Monetary Fund has warned, adding that the US itself would be "especially vulnerable", the Guardian reported. The IMF said the new tariffs risked lowering global growth by 0.5 percent by 2020, and the US would find itself "the focus of global retaliation".

EU and Chinese leaders agreed on a joint statement to pledge more cooperation to uphold multilateralism - but concrete trade issues remain to be solved.

Owners of Volkswagen diesel cars will be able to have a software update of their car's engine for free until 2020, EU commissioner for consumers rights Vera Jourova announced on Monday. When the Dieselgate scandal broke in 2015, the German carmaker pledged to remove, before 2019, a defeat device designed to cheat on emissions tests from some 8.5m cars.

Airbnb, a website for home rentals, has breached EU consumer rules, the EU Commission said Monday, as it gave the US company until the end of August to propose changes or face sanctions. The commission said Airbnb should make it clear whether an accommodation is offered by an individual or a professional, provide greater details of the price, and tweak its terms of service to make it fairer to consumers.

The EU is a "foe", while the US must "engage" with Russia, the US has said, as Donald Trump prepares to meet Vladimir Putin.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday that he sees "no perspective in the short term" for EU-China talks on a free trade agreement. At an EU-China summit in Beijing, he said that "if China wishes to open up it can do so." Juncker, with European Council president Donald Tusk, met Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang. They said they hope to conclude soon a bilateral investment agreement.

"There is a Chinese egoism that we cannot overlook," says Jo Leinen, the head of the European Parliament's China delegation, as EU and Chinese leaders meet in Beijing.

Italy on Sunday evening accepted the docking of a boat with some 450 migrants on board, after France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Malta pledged to take 50 people each. Czech PM Andrej Babis refused to do so, saying it would be a "road to hell". Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini, who had so far refused to open the country's ports to boats with migrants rescued by NGOs, claimed "political victory".

Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin, global trade, and Brexit will dominate the EU agenda this week, as well as a major EU-China summit in Beijing.