Euobserver.com

The EU Council stressed on Tuesday the importance of international cooperation and development policies at all levels of government to protect life in oceans and seas. In their conclusions, member states recognised the need for protecting the Arctic, the outermost regions and overseas countries, given their specific vulnerability to climate change. The council calls on the EU Commission to propose policy options that respond to the "alarming" situation.

The EU's top court ruled Tuesday that there are reasons to question the independence of a new judicial chamber in Poland, created under the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government, that monitors and potentially punishes judges. But the European Court of Justice (ECJ) left it to the Polish Supreme Court to examine the new chamber's independence, where some members have been recommended by PiS.

A suspected 'middleman' in the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case was arrested on Tuesday by Maltese authorities, the Times of Malta reported. A presidential pardon is being considered for the suspect since he claims to know who masterminded the assassination plot. The newspaper said experts from the European police organisation Europol were on hand to seize devices from the suspect after receiving green light from a magistrate.

Supporters of populist parties in Europe tend to be more favourable to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, but to dislike the EU and migrants, according to a fresh survey by US pollster Pew. "Supporters of many right-wing populist parties in Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and Sweden are all at least 20 percentage points more likely than non-supporters to express confidence in Putin," it said.

The US has said Israeli settlements in Palestine are not illegal, aggravating its split on international norms with Europe.

EU governments and the parliament agreed in marathon talks ino next year's budget - which will boost spending on climate, border protection, and the European satellite system. It will also be a benchmark if there is no long-term budget deal.

MEPs on the foreign affairs committee ought to be like second-tier EU diplomats on the Western Balkans and Russia, according to its German chairman, but foreign policy splits could bedevil its work.

Welcome to the EU engine room: the European Parliament (EP's) 22 committees, which churn out hundreds of new laws and non-binding reports each year and which keep an eye on other European institutions.

Belgium is in the midst of a nationwide reassessment of its colonial past. Under pressure from a younger, more activist, generation and a growing African diaspora, the former colonial power has taken some steps over the past year.

Fundamental reforms are needed if the EIB is to become more accountable, democratic and transparent. Establishing a firm grasp on corruption to ensure that public money no longer feeds corrupt systems is a vital first step.

After socialist and liberal MEPs gave the green light to Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi to become commissioner, the new EU executive is on track to take office in December.

MEPs approved Hungary's commissioner-designate Oliver Varhelyi in the European parliament's foreign affairs committee on Monday. It means the new EU commission led by Ursula von der Leyen can take office on 1 December if the parliament approves the EU executive without a UK commissioner next week. Varhelyi was given written questions following his hearing last week after socialists and liberal lawmakers had concerns over his closeness to PM Viktor Orban.

A new report from the pan-European organisation Energy Community revealed on Monday that coal-fuelled power plants in the Balkans are struggling to comply with the emission targets established under their national plans. "The situation is especially critical in the Western Balkans as the deadline for some plants to go offline is literally around the corner if they continue to operate at high-usage," said an executive of the organisation.

Official results of the parliamentary elections in Belarus showed not one single opposition candidate was elected, leaving president Aleksander Lukashenko firmly in power. Two opposition candidates who won a parliamentary seat in 2016 were not allowed to stand for elections again. Lukashenko plans to run again for office in presidential elections next year. Critics have called the elections fraudulent. The official turnout was 77 percent.

German chancellor Angela Merkel's spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer called the current protests in Iran "legitimate and deserving of our respect when people courageously air their economic and political grievances," Deutsche Welle reports. She added that "the Iranian government should respond to the current protests with a willingness to engage in dialogue," and that Germany urges "the government in Tehran to respect freedom of assembly and expression."

EU powers and Russia are making preparations for a peace deal on Ukraine, with Moscow to give back three boats to Kiev in the latest step.

Anthony Gardner, US ambassador to the EU under Obama, told CNBC Trump is making a "historical mistake" with the EU. "For 60 years, the US administration, both Republic and Democratic, thought that European integration should be promoted because it was good for Europe and it was good for the US," he said, adding "this administration decided that European integration is bad and that the EU is in fact an enemy."

Judges indicted Alexandre Nardella, finance director of François Bayrou's centrist party MoDem, on charges of embezzlement of European Parliament funds, AFP reports. MoDem, part of France's president Emmanuel Macron's En Marche, is alleged to have used funds intended for the salaries of European Parliament assistants to pay people working for the party in France. Sylvie Goulard was rejected by the European Parliament as a EU commissioner because of this case.

Nikos Christodoulides, foreign minister of Greek Cyprus, told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini he hopes to restart reunification talks that fell apart in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana. He said a five-party conference, along the lines of Crans-Montana, outlining the methodology and procedure of future negotiations, could take place as soon as December. However, he warned that this is only possible if Turkey refrains from "violations and provocations".

A BBC investigation revealed links between the exchange platform for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Wex, and Russia's security services. According to the Moscow Times, the Russian founder of the exchange platform, Alexey Bilyuchenko, told the BBC that he was taken to the Federal Security Service (FSB) offices in Moscow to provide access to the online wallets of Wex's customers - where €406m worth of cryptocurrency were stored.