Euobserver.com

In Europe the rate of recycling carpet is shockingly low at 1-3 percent. Recyclers stay away from old carpets because they don't know which (potentially dangerous) chemicals they contain, or because they are very complex due to multiple materials used.

Danish MEP Christel Schaldemose (S&D) is worried about her MEP colleagues travelling to or from areas with coronavirus infections and then meeting in the European Parliament buildings. Reacting to a letter from the parliament to its staff asking to stay home after travels to these areas, she told public broadcaster DR "if it is about keeping the risk of infection down, it should apply to us as well."

A new study released by the Union of Concerned Scientists on Tuesday reveals that ride-hailing apps, such as Uber or Lyft, result in an estimated 69 percent more climate pollution on average than the trips they displace, the news site Verge reported. If the industry wants to become more climate-friendly, companies are recommended to to electrify vehicles, increase pooled trips, and complement mass transit.

German chancellor, Angela Merkel, became irritated of Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte's, refusal to negotiate the EU budget proposals at the special EU summit on the multi-annual budget and called it "childish behaviour", according to the Volkskrant. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez asked if "Rutte realised that he [Sanchez] represented more people than all the 'frugal countries' together". Together with French president Emmanuel Macron, Merkel tried to mediate a solution.

In an internal email, the European Parliament has asked employees who travelled to areas with multiple coronavirus infections to stay at home. It concerns those who visited within the past 14 days the Italian regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna or Veneto, as well as China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore or South Korea. They are also asked to check their body temperature twice a day during these two weeks.

Former German environment minister Norbert Roettgen on Tuesday officially declared his bid to become the leader of Angela Merkel's centre-right party, the Christian Democratic Union. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had been slated to replace Merkel as chancellor, announced last month she is stepping down as party leader. Roettgen faces three other candidates. Merkel had fired Roettgen as environment minister in 2012 after a state election defeat in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The EU commissioner for health, Stella Kyriakides, is expected to meet in Rome on Wednesday with the Italian minister of health, Roberto Speranza, to assess the situation in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. The director of World Health Organization (WHO) Europe, Hans Kluge, and the EU's agency for disease prevention and control, Andrea Ammon, will also be at the meeting. A joint EU-WHO mission is currently taking place.

EU affairs ministers adopted the bloc's negotiating positions on the future relations with the UK at a meeting on Tuesday. It means negotiations can now begin next week. London plans to set out its positions on Thursday. The EU warned that the UK must first respect the withdrawal agreement struck last year and that the UK needs to mirror EU standards if it wants to access the EU single market.

The Libyan conflict has become a test of EU geopolitics in the Mediterranean, as foreign arms flood onto battlefields, a former UN weapons inspector has said.

While the numbers of coronavirus cases rising in Italy, EU authorities urge member states to introduce proportional and coordinated measures, based on scientific advice and risk-assessment evidence - but travel and trade restrictions are not recommended at the moment.

Five European Parliamentary groups warned EU member states that if they don't act on breaches of EU rules and values in Poland and Hungary, the EU's integrity and credibility will be undermined.

Our keynote speaker is the president of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, His policies have included the introduction of free secondary education across Ghana, which he rightly calls "necessary investment" in the nation's future workforce.

This year's carnival saw Jews portrayed as insects, people wearing fake ultra-Orthodox costumes, crass comments about circumcision and the Wailing Wall, uniforms resembling Nazi attire labelled Unestapo - a play on the word 'Gestapo'.

German chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party will choose a new leader at a special congress on 25 April, according to AFP. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was intended to replace Merkel, resigned earlier this month following a support scandal with the far-right in the eastern state of Thuringia. Merkel has been in power for more than 14 years.

Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets flew over the eastern Aegean islet of Agathonisi on Monday and were intercepted by Greek counterparts. The Hellenic National Defense General Staff said the Turkish planes had entered Athens' flight-information region without submitting a flight plan, according to Greek media outlet Ekathimerini.

A new European Commission study revealed on Monday that only one-in-three EU businesses are undertaking due diligence on human rights and environmental impacts in their global supply chains. Most of the businesses surveyed (70 percent of the 334 companies) agree that "EU rules would provide legal certainty and a harmonised standards for businesses' duty to respect people and the planet," said commissioner for justice, Didier Reynders.

France's former prime minister François Fillon went on trial Monday following accusations he had hired his wife as a parliamentary assistant. The alleged fake-job scandal, dubbed 'Penelope-gate' after his wife, ended his 2017 campaign ambitions to become president. French media outlet Le Canard Enchaîné also revealed that Fillon had also employed some of his children as assistants while senator.

The remaining 27 members of the European Union are on Tuesday set to adopt their negotiating mandate with the United Kingdom for a post-Brexit relationship. "The expectation is to adopt the negotiating mandate tomorrow, which would allow us to start negotiations very soon, even as early as next week," an EU diplomat was quoted as saying Reuters news agency.

The French government told the UK it will not be forced into an trade agreement through deadline ultimatums issued by the British prime minister. "Just because Boris Johnson wants an agreement at all costs on 31/12 does not mean that we will sign a bad agreement for the French under the pressure of blackmail or time pressure," said France's EU affairs minister, Amélie de Montchalin, in a tweet.

With only 11.2 percent, German chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats suffered their worst ever result in local elections in Hamburg on Sunday. They seem to have been punished for flirting with the far right in an eastern state as well as their messy leadership battle. The Social Democrats and Greens celebrated taking first and second place, respectively, meaning that they will probably maintain their ruling coalition.