Euobserver.com

Among the criteria needed for EU pandemic recovery funds is for member states to propose arrangements "expected to prevent, detect and correct corruption, fraud, and conflicts of interests when using the funds provided."

The WHO's Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat explains Covid-19 has brought a "dual pandemic". Many mental problems are akin to "post-traumatic stress disorder," and yet to surface.

Austrian official and fiscal hawk Alfred Katterl has said the EU's 'stability and growth pact' on national debt-limits should remain sacrosanct, but some economists disagree.

With 22 candidates running for the 'Eternal City' - of which 18 are fringe outsiders who do not stand a chance (such as a bus driver, an estate agent and airplane pilot) - the real competition is down to four.

A canned €1.7bn Barcelona airport project did not come as a surprise to many Spaniards and most Catalans. Transport infrastructure in Spain is governed with an underlying mandate of protecting Madrid as the central node of political power.

The EU is to send over 100 election monitors to a regional vote in Venezuela on 21 November after being invited to do so by the country's National Electoral Council, in a sign of potential detente between the Venezuelan regime and Europe. "An unprecedented electoral process will take place ... to elect more than 3,000 regional and municipal representatives in Venezuela," the EU foreign service said in a statement.

Some 53 percent of British people thought Brexit was "going badly" or "very badly", up 15 points from June, in a survey out Wednesday by pollster YouGov. The number of those who thought it was going "fairly well" or "very well" also fell by seven points. The Times reported the same day Christmas shopping would be a "nightmare" due to Brexit-related fuel, food, and retail delivery shortages.

Media regulator Roskomnadzor has threatened to ban YouTube in Russia if the US firm did not resume broadcasting of two German-language channels run by Russian state news service RT. RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan also called to ban German broadcasters ARD and ZDF, speaking of "a real media war declared by the state of Germany to the state of Russia". YouTube had banned the RT channels over anti-vaccine disinformation, it said.

France is expected to hit back at the UK after authorities denied permits for the vast majority of French fishermen to work in its waters. The move "breached the accord which was signed in the framework of Brexit", a French government spokesman said, adding France would study "possible retaliation measures". Jean-Pierre Pont, a ruling-party MP, suggested "blocking ports or the entry of lorries towards the UK through the [Channel] tunnel".

Greece and France have signed a deal reportedly worth €5bn for the supply of three French warships. The move, coming after the US recently caused French fury when it scuppered a Franco-Australian defence contract, was "an audacious first step towards European strategic autonomy", French president Emmanuel Macron said in Paris. "Our agreement paves the way for an autonomous and strong future Europe," Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in Pristina Wednesday that Kosovo and Serbia should make peace the way Germany did with neighbours after WW2. "We want a future where Kosovo and all the Western Balkans are part of the European Union," she added. Security tensions recently soared on the Kosovo-Serbia border in a row on car number-plates. Kosovar and Serb officials are to continue EU-brokered talks next week.

The EU court in Luxembourg ruled Wednesday that EU-Morocco trade and fisheries accords were invalid because local leaders in disputed Western Sahara, which Morocco claims, had not given consent. The verdict enters into force in two months, pending appeals. The EU and Morocco pledged to guarantee "continuation and stability of trade". A senior Moroccan official told Reuters the verdict was "incoherent ... ideologically motivated and detrimental to the strategic partnership".

EU states have backed a joint statement with the US on cooperation in trade of semiconductor technology and joint regulation of the AI and big-tech industries. The EU and US held inaugural talks on the project on Wednesday. But France pushed to strike out a commitment to a second meeting in 2022 and on "mutual dependence" on semiconductors, in a show of pique over a US-Australia submarine deal, Reuters reports.

The primaries have been organised by a newly-united opposition alliance, with voting taking place in person and online. Over 633,000 people have cast ballots - around 25 percent of all opposition votes cast in 2018.

Russia is manipulating gas prices to force EU concessions on energy security, Ukraine has warned.

The European Commission was evasive when asked about the legality of push backs of migrants in Poland and Lithuania, which is illegal under EU and international law.

Country-by-country reporting (CDCR) will require non-EU multinationals doing business in the EU through subsidiaries to comply with the same rules as European companies. However, companies are allowed to defer disclosure of certain information for a maximum of five years.

The European Commission launched five new research missions to deliver on major challenges by 2030 - namely fighting cancer, climate-change adaptation, oceans restoration, smart cities and soil pollution.

In comparison to other EU members, the Czech government has escaped relatively unscathed. The populist governments in Hungary and Poland are facing serious consequences for testing EU tolerance on core democratic values.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in Skopje Tuesday she aimed to open accession talks "by the end of the year", despite a Bulgarian veto due to a bilateral dispute. She said in Tirana earlier in the day: "Albania's future is in the European Union". But diplomats told Reuters the EU's old pledge to take in all six Western Balkan countries one day is up for discussion.