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Czech MEP Jan Zahradil stepped down as rapporteur on the EU trade deal with Vietnam following revelations by this website into possible conflicts of interest. "I believe that, in order to avoid politicisation of the final stage of the process and not derail it, practical solutions have to be found. Therefore, I decided to tender my resignation as standing rapporteur," he said in a letter.

The EU has raised concern on the prospect of a battle for the Libyan capital, as foreign actors jostle for influence in the strategic location .

Russia plans to create an air defence 'dome' across its polar region by arming all of its Northern Fleet's Arctic divisions with S-400 missile batteries, a Russian naval commander said on Russian TV. In September Russia already deployed its S-400 air defence systems to the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the far north. "This means that the Arctic will be protected from any kind of enemy aerial attack" he said.

On Monday "informateur" Paul Magnette, also president of the Francophone Socialist Party (PS), offered to resign from his mission to find a coalition for a new Belgian government. King Philippe did not accept his resignation, but started a new round of consultations with Belgian party leaders instead. The Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever (NVA) wants to replace Magnette. It's not clear what other parties think of it.

Thousands of Hungarians protested Monday against plans to tighten government control over theatres. A bill, softened since its original introduction last week, is planned by Viktor Orban's government to be passed in parliament this week. It could make way for the government to have a say in appointing theatre directors. Critics see it as part of Orban's efforts to dominate the nation's political, economic and cultural life.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to implement a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine by the end of the year, at their meeting on Monday in Paris hosted by France and Germany. They also agreed to implement an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange by the new year. The meeting's aim was to revive the 2015 Minsk peace agreement for eastern Ukraine that has stalled.

The US army is deploying its largest number of troops to Europe in 25 years as 20,000 troops are expected to take part in a massive force projection exercise, joining some 9,000 troops already there. The exercises will span across 10 European countries from May-June at a time of increased tensions with Russia. The aim is to show the US can deploy massive forces quickly to Europe, if needed.

The Flemish government has decided to reduce the speed limit on the Brussels ring road from 120 to 100km/h, as part of a climate action plan. According to an organisation for a "better environment" (BBL) however, the climate impact will be limited. As the ring road passes through all three Belgian regions, all have to agree. No decision has been made, but the Brussels and Walloon government react positively.

For Romanian centre-right MEP Adina-Ioana Valean, the previous chair of environment committee and current chair of industry, research and energy (ITRE), climate and industrial policy-making must go hand-in-hand to bring sustainability and prosperity to Europe.

The Maltese Labour Party is a curious creature. No minister, MEP, MP, president, or former president has yet criticised Joseph Muscat publicly and outright over the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The Green Deal is expected to increase the current EU goal on emissions cuts, from 40 to 50 percent by 2030. However, most MEPs believe that this will not be enough to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

The ruling party of nationalist Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban submitted plans to parliament on Monday to tighten control over theatres, a decision - prompting protests from artists who see artistic freedom at risk, Reuters writes. The law says cultural organisations should "actively defend the interests of the nation's wellbeing and development". A public petition urging parliamentarians to reject the bill has gathered more than 47,700 signatures.

The Dutch national anti-terrorism agency (NCTV) reduced on Monday the threat of a terror attack in the Netherlands for the first time since 2013, Reuters writes. "We still see jihadist attacks in the West every now and then", the NCTV said. "But the situation is incomparable to the 2015-2017 period, when we saw dozens of attacks in Europe every year," they added.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday banned Russia from the Olympics and world championships in several sports for the next four years, after WADA's executive committee conclude that Moscow had manipulated laboratory data, the Guardian writes. Russia has been surrounded by doping scandals since a report commissioned by WADA in 2015 found evidence of mass doping in the country.

Human rights abusers worldwide will, in future, face EU asset freezes and travel bans under new-model sanctions agreed by foreign ministers in Brussels.

The European Parliament's internal body, designed to sanction MEPs for conflicts of interests, has failed to deliver any meaningful verdicts. Some are hoping a future proposal for a new independent ethics body will help hold MEPs accountable.

The European Asylum Support Office combed through social media to monitor refugee routes to Europe for three years. The agency sent weekly reports on its findings to member states, the EU Commission and institutions such as UNHCR and Interpol.

EU member states have voted to ban from the market chlorpyrifos, a pesticide which is toxic to the brain in both its forms, and has been the subject of a long-running Le Monde and EUobserver investigation.

Human rights abusers worldwide are to face EU asset freezes and travel bans under new-model sanctions agreed by foreign ministers in Brussels Monday. "Today, the EU unanimously decided to legislate a worldwide EU human rights sanction regime," Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok said. The EU foreign service will put forward a legal proposal following Monday's deal, with diplomats predicting it will take six months before the measures enter into force.

The European commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said on Monday that Europe "should be able to move ahead and correct the mistake that was committed in October," when three member states (Denmark, France and the Netherlands) oppose opening accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. "We should be able to start accession negotiations with both countries in spring," Várhelyi told reporters, before the EU foreign affairs meeting.