European Union

The May 2019 European parliament elections will take place in a context which make a very promising ground for protest votes and extreme views, aided by bots and algorithms.

Russia's parliament voted Thursday (17 January) against sending delegates or paying contributions to the Council of Europe, increasing the risk of ultimate exclusion from the rights body and the European Court of Human Rights.

UK's opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, could face a string of frontbench Labour resignations if he backs a second Brexit referendum, due to fears of a backlash for the party in leave-voting constituencies, reported to the Guardian. A YouGov poll found the UK would now vote to stay in the EU by a 12 percent point margin, if another referendum was to be held by now.

German minister of finance, Olaf Scholz, is set to sign a pact during a two-day visit to China on Friday opening the market for financial services. Germany hopes to become the new centre for renminbi-denominated financial products in Europe, when the UK leaves the European Union. German chancellor Angela Merkel has proposed a EU-China summit during Germany's 2020 EU presidency,

Norway's conservative prime minister Erna Solberg added on Thursday the small Christian Democratic Party to her three-party minority government, making it the first majority government in Norway since 1985. In return she accepted the Christian Democrats' demand to update Norway's abortion laws in light of biotech developments. Rules permitting abortion after 12 weeks of a "seriously ill" child will change as well as rules for fertility treatment.

The EU on Thursday (17 January) decried the disproportionate use of force by Zimbabwe authorities during protests in which doctors say 68 people suffered gunshot wounds.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said in Belgrade Thursday he wanted a solution to the Serbia-Kosovo conflict "based on [UN] Resolution 1244" - a 1999 text which says Kosovo is part of Serbia. He spoke amid EU-brokered Serbia-Kosovo talks on Serbia's recognition of Kosovo's independence, which would open up EU entry prospects for both. Russia, as a UN Security Council veto holder, could block the EU deal at the international level.

US president Donald Trump has declined to let US house speaker Nancy Pelosi use a military plane to visit Brussels on Friday, where she was to meet EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini. He did it amid a political feud over his plan to build a wall on the Mexico border. Pelosi could do her "seven-day excursion", which was to include Egypt and Afghanistan, by "flying commercial", he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (17 January) called for stability in the Balkans during a pageantry-filled visit to Serbia, a key Moscow ally.

Not a single wind energy project has been approved in France since December 2017, an embarrassing fact for Paris as it tries to position itself as a champion of climate action in Europe.

Nations across the globe should step up preparations against global risks such as climate change and cyber attacks, EU officials say, as these areas remain the most pressing for global experts surveyed ahead of this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place in Davos next week.

European Union countries that undermine the bloc's democratic principles could lose EU funds, under a draft law backed by the European Parliament on Thursday (17 January).

Three EU leaders and the president of the ECB travelled to Strasbourg this week to debate with MEPs, but attendance was poor.

As EU member states debate the bloc’s next 7-year budget, no sector should be off-limits. Annika Hedberg argues that each euro spent should provide added value for the EU and its citizens, including the agricultural sector, a major recipient of EU money.

The review of the EU Copyright Directive must ensure that publishers, regardless of their size, equally benefit from this reform, writes Carlos Astiz.

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

Organising a second referendum on Brexit would take a year, the prime minister's office told reporters on Thursday. The analysis of the time for legislation, plus a campaign, for the vote came in a one-page document given to MPs participating in prime minister Theresa May's cross-party talks, in the wake of the defeat of her Brexit bill, but surviving a no-confidence vote on the government.

The old king of political vulgarity, the proto-Trump, is back. The news of the day is that Silvio Berlusconi will be running for a seat in the European Parliament, reviving his political career after a ban imposed over a tax fraud conviction expired.

The US-initiated Middle East summit to be held in Warsaw in mid-February has been touted as the most important event held in the city since the 2016 NATO summit. But Tehran has dismissed the meeting as a “desperate anti-Iranian circus" and the EU is struggling for a common position.

A senior official from Kazakhstan, one of the five members of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), has called for greater cooperation between EEAU and the EU, ultimately aiming to create a single economic space from the Atlantic to Pacific. But a Commission spokesperson made clear it could only be a long-term goal, depending on political developments.