Euractiv.com

The gentleman’s agreement among the EU's centrist parties to keep extremes at bay held as the European Parliament elected chairs and vice chairs of its committees, but rows over gender balance exposed tensions between the mainstream parties.

The UK, US, and EU competition authorities specified common fair competition principles on foundation artificial intelligence (AI) models like ChatGPT but did not commit to joint action, according to a joint statement on Tuesday (23 July). 

Carmen Crespo Díaz, a Spanish lawmaker from the European People's Party (EPP), was elected by acclamation chair of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee on Tuesday (23 July), an appointment welcomed by the industry and environmental NGOs.

Germany’s government and the centre-right opposition have struck a deal to ringfence the Constitutional Court against blockades and hostile takeovers, amid fears that the far-right could try to undermine the rule of law if it continues to gain ground. 

After decades of the same elites ruling through largely undemocratic means, Armenia has in recent years seen a surge in political polarisation that is threatening its ongoing democratic transformation.

The European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into food delivery apps Delivery Hero and Glovo, examining whether the two are participating in a cartel, according to a Tuesday (23 July) press release.

While the political balances of the new European Parliament started to be redrafted on Tuesday (23 July) as MEPs picked the leading roles for each policy committee, the influential economic and monetary affairs (Econ) and budget committees remained firmly in the hands of incumbent parties – S&D and ECR respectively.

The European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee (AGRI) elected on Tuesday (23 July) Czech MEP Veronika Vrecionová as its chair but postponed a vote on one of the vice-chairs after a dispute about gender balance. 

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen committed to making agriculture a part of the Green Deal while ensuring that farmers can make a living during negotiations with the Greens/EFA last week, the Greens' coordinator for agriculture, Thomas Waitz, told Euractiv.

French energy industry representatives called on newly elected members of the national parliament in a joint letter on Monday (22 July) to ensure that the country's political instability does not hold back French energy policy.    

Greens MEP Anna Cavazzini (Germany) will be chairing the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) for another term, according to a press release by the Parliament on Tuesday (23 July).

The three influential European Parliament committees responsible for energy and industry, environment, and transport elected their leaders for the next five years on Tuesday (23 July).

Ukraine said on Monday (22 July) it had reached an agreement in principle with a group of creditors to restructure $20 billion of international bonds, bringing the war-torn country closer to an unprecedented debt rework.

Hungary and Slovakia have asked the European Commission to mediate a consultation procedure with Ukraine, Hungary's foreign minister said, after Kyiv placed Russian group Lukoil on a sanctions list, stopping its supplies to the two countries.

The British government on Tuesday (23 July) faces an unprecedented legal challenge for allegedly failing to protect people, property and infrastructure from the likely effects of climate change.

Ukraine's top diplomat will visit China on Tuesday (23 July) at the invitation of Beijing for talks that Kyiv said would focus on how to end Russia's war in Ukraine and on a possible Chinese role in reaching a settlement.

A Russian court has sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to 6-1/2 years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army, the court revealed on Monday (22 July).

Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday (23 July) for the first time as a presidential candidate after enough Democratic delegates pledged to endorse her, clearing her path to the nomination.

Even with US sanctions in place, fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor and his affiliates continue to spread Russian disinformation in Moldova using the social media platform Facebook.

Russian forces are conducting drills involving Yars mobile nuclear missile launchers, Russian media reported on Tuesday (23 July), in what would be the second such exercise in less than a month.