Euobserver.com

The world is becoming less Western as China and other actors grow in importance alongside the US. The West must reinvent itself to remain a stabilising force.

France is pushing for a tougher EU starting position on the trade deal talks with the UK. France, along with other member states, wants Britain to commit to following EU standards on social and workers' rights, the environment. The EU Commission only proposed that the UK commits to the current EU standards and does not undercut them. EU countries are due to sign off the negotiating mandate on 25 February.

Facebook has postponed the European roll-out of its new dating app, after an inspection of its European headquarters in Dublin by Ireland's data protection commission (IDPC), AFP reported. The IDPC said it only learnt of the planned 13 February launch at the start of February. The IDPC conducted the inspection after it said Facebook failed to provide information in a privacy-review process. Facebook says it has strong privacy safeguards.

The EU Commission on Thursday set a moderate eurozone growth forecast for this year and 2021, at 1.2 percent. Inflation is likely to accelerate slightly. The commission said that while the first phase of a US-China trade deal helped reduce risks, the spread of the coronavirus was now the main threat to economic growth. "The longer it lasts, the higher the likelihood of knock-on effects on economic sentiment," it said.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday defended the use of external experts during her time as German defence minister, in testimony before a parliamentary inquiry. She said mistakes were made in awarding contracts, but insisted that outside expertise was necessary, especially on digitalisation. An inquiry has been looking into the use of outside experts at the ministry which von der Leyen ran from 2013.

British prime minister Boris Johnson has lost his chancellor, Sajid Javid, through resignation, and sacked his minister for Northern Ireland, Julian Smith, in a much-wider than expected cabinet reshuffle, which the opposition said showed the government was in "crisis" just two months after being elected. Smith had been widely-praised in Brussels and Dublin for getting the devolved Stormont Assembly in Belfast running again, after several years suspension.

They call themselves the "Pact of Free Cities". The mayors of Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw want EU funds to bypass their governments, in order to fight climate change and populism.

Morocco is a far cry from Libya. But Spain's cooperation on migration with Morocco still warrants closer scrutiny. The argument that Morocco is a safe country and a reliable recipient of EU funding is becoming harder to uphold.

The new president of the Committee of the Regions has warned the EU Commission that a top-down, centralised, Brussels-driven conference will fail to rebuild trust in Europe. Instead, he proposes a stronger say for local and regional authorities.

How are campaigners winning progressive victories in the age of bigots and bullies?

The European Commission said on Wednesday that it has sent legal warnings to eight member states - Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain - over their delay in applying new anti-money laundering rules, adopted two years ago. The "formal notice" is the first step of a legal procedure that could end up in fines if EU rules are not quickly implemented into national law.

MEPs have called on the EU Commission for an action plan to end the illegal trade in pets that causes animals to suffer, spreads disease, and generates money for organised international crime. The non-binding resolution was approved by 607 votes in favour, three votes against and 19 abstentions. According to the commission, about 46,000 dogs are traded between EU member states every month - most of them without being registered.

The UN rights office on Wednesday published a list of companies that have business activities related to settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Among the 122 business entities identified in the report, 94 are domiciled in Israel and 18 in six other states. These include the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. A full list can be found here.

As many as 60 British officials who work in the EU Commission have secured an Irish passport in order to be able to progress within EU institutions after Brexit, RTE News reported Wednesday. Simultaneously, there is concern in Dublin that not enough Irish officials are taking on EU positions, with 29 percent of Irish officials being over 58 years of age. EU officials are employed proportionally to member states' size.

The European Parliament approved on Wednesday a resolution calling on the EU Commission to protect consumers and citizen's rights in the context of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making. The resolution will be passed to the EU Council and commission, so that they take into account MEPs' views, ahead of the commission's announcement on the European approach to AI on 19 February.

The Italian Senate approved on Wednesday lifting the immunity of far-right leader Matteo Salvini so he can face trial for allegedly kidnapping 131 rescued migrants last July when he was interior minister, Spanish news agency EFE reported. Salvini, the head of Italy's League party, will have to account for its "closed port" policies in the court in the city of Catania.

The European Parliament on Wednesday backed an EU trade deal with Vietnam which aims to eliminate 99 percent of tariffs, with 401 votes in favour, 192 against and 40 abstentions. The deal sailed through despite possible conflicts of interest of the lead rapporteur, who resigned his post. Critics also say the deal does not go far enough when it comes to labour and human rights in the country.

Police officers in Northern Ireland on Tuesday arrested four men over the murder of Lyra McKee, a 29-year-old journalist who was shot dead by a New IRA gunman last year, Deutsche Welle writes. McKee was killed during rioting against the Good Friday Agreement that ended a three decade sectarian conflict. She was an LGBTI activist who wrote about growing up in a post peace agreement country.

A leadership contest is back on in German chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party - which could decide not only the centre-right's future but also Germany's European policy. Berlin has been absent from the EU and will likely remain so.

Western Balkan secret services have handed over more the 250 alerts on suspected foreign terrorist fighters since last summer - fed into the EU's police database by the Czech Republic, according to a confidential document seen by EUobserver.