Euobserver.com

Academics and young women could help to protect democracy in central Europe, a new study has indicated.

It will take hundreds, maybe thousands of years before the climate goes back to normal. Meanwhile we must work to stabilise it at the new level and adapt, Sweden's leading climate researcher says.

France's Thierry Breton is set to become the next European Commissioner for industrial policy. While he was CEO of IT giant Atos, the firm hosted unlawful partial copies of EU police data on behalf of the United Kingdom.

A new report reveals that the biggest companies in Germany fail to manage measures to protect their employees and supply-chain from human rights abuses - ahead of the government deadline for introducing tough new regulation.

French president Emmanuel Macron is on an official visit to China. The French delegation consists of French officials and business people, but also the new EU commissioner for trade Phil Hogan, the German minister for education and research, Anja Karliczek, as well as German business leaders. According to the Elysée, the message to Beijing is a united Europe that does not want to be involved in a US-China trade war.

Former Belgian prime minister and future EU Council president, Charles Michel, urged the two largest Belgian parties, the Flemish nationalist NVA and the Francophone socialist PS to take their responsibility and start government talks. The fact that they are not talking since the elections of 26 May is "a from of weakness, if not cowardliness", he said. Earlier, Christian Democrat politician Joachim Coens suggested forming a government of experts instead.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he will not give Scotland a second independence referendum, after Scottish first minister Nicolas Sturgeon claimed she would request one. "I think having another referendum, I don't think people in this country think referendums are very wonderful for harmony. We had one in 2014, the British people, the people of Scotland, were told in 2014 that that was a once-in-a-generation event," Johnson said.

The outgoing president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Friday that implementing some of the demands of climate activists "is in reality not that easy to achieve". "Anyone who pretends that it does not require any special effort, just because there is a movement in this direction among young people now, is very wrong," he said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.

The Greek government has made plans to create adequate housing for the 4,700 unaccompanied migrants minors within the next few months, reported the Greek daily Ekathimerini. The number of unaccompanied minors in the country has surged recently, with figures reaching the level of the refugee crisis in 2015, states the Greek daily. Greece is hosting 4,779 unaccompanied minors, although only about 1,200 are in safe abodes.

The centrist cabinet of Romanian prime minister-designate Ludovic Orban faces a confidence vote in the parliament on Monday, just before the presidential elections on November 10 and 24. "I am confident ... we will give Romania a legitimate government," Orban said on Sunday. The political uncertainty is delaying Romania's pick for the next EU commission - the main obstacle for the executive body to take office on 1 December.

Turkey criticised European countries on Saturday for not repatriating imprisoned members of the Islamic State (IS) in Turkey, according to DW. "We are not a hotel for IS members from any country," Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu said. Soylu's criticism was directed at countries - like the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK - that have decided to strip dual national IS members of their citizenship or refuse to repatriate them.

Researchers counted on 5 November 2018 4,187 homeless people in Brussels, compared to 1,729 on the same day in 2008, De Standaard reports. As there is not enough emergency care, 750 people, 20 of them minors, had to sleep on the street, which is three times as many as in 2008. The number of women sleeping in the street increased from 50 to 84.

Romania, and now the UK, still need to name their commissioner for the new EU executive to enter into office.

Italy is to renew its deal with the UN-backed government in Libya under which the Libyan coastguards stop migrant boats from reaching European coasts, The Guardian reported. Italy's foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, said that it would be unwise to break this deal since "it is undeniable that it has reduced the number of arrivals and deaths at sea." The agreement will expire on Saturday and be renewed automatically.

The European commission announced on Thursday it backs 55 new fossil fuel projects, as part of a list of priority energy projects. These include new gas pipelines and LNG terminals, to import fracked gas from the United States. Friends of the Earth Europe reacted in a statement that these projects could shackle Europe to decades more of fossil fuel use and asked MEPs to reject all upcoming fossil fuel projects.

The commissioner for human rights of the council of Europe reported on Thursday the "horrible" living conditions of thousands of asylum seekers held at refugee camps on Greek islands close to Turkey, Reuters writes. About 34,000 asylum seekers and refugees are living in overcrowded camps with a lack of shelter, poor hygiene conditions and substandard access to medical care.

According to the opinion of European Court of Justice's advocate general Eleanor Sharpston, the court ruled that "by refusing to comply with the provisional and time-limited mechanism for the mandatory relocation of applicants for international protection, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have failed to fulfil their obligations under EU law." She continued that these countries cannot invoke "the maintenance of law and order" or "internal security."

Eager to engage with climate-engaged youth, eight Nordic prime ministers met with nine young political leaders in Stockholm for the first time this week. But did the youngsters take the bite?

France's senate approved on Tuesday (28 October) an amendment that broadens the current controversial law of 2004 that bans religious symbols like the Islamic veil, the Jewish kippah or large crosses in all public institutions, to banning these symbols for adults accompanying children on school trips. The amendment was supported by Les Républicains and the far-right Rassemblement. However, it will most probably not pass the lower house.

Hungary's prime minister said his country's geographical position forces it to have good ties with Moscow - adding that Hungary will remain an EU and Nato member.