Euobserver.com

The parliament's legal affairs committee narrowly gave the green light to France's Thierry Breton - with some MEPs critical of the candidate's links to IT firm Atos. Meanwhile, Brussels still waits for a UK commissioner.

Beyond the Israel-specific dimension of this decision, the EU court places ethics back at the heart of European consumer choices and reminds us that our daily, mundane purchases may have considerable and unforeseen geopolitical implications, particularly as regards occupied territories.

The new commissioner-designates from France, Hungary and Romania have passed the conflict of interest scrutiny in the European Parliament's legal affairs committee. The biggest debate concerned France's Thierry Breton, who had shares in a French IT firm Atos, and whom Socialists, Greens and the far-left wanted to ask further questions. Breton passed the scrutiny by 12-11 votes, while Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi and Romania's Adina Valean sailed through unopposed.

The EU's top court ruled Tuesday that member states must oblige retailers to identify products made in Israeli settlements with special labels. "Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the state of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin," the European Court of Justice said. Israel has said that the labelling is unfair and discriminatory. The EU argued that settlement expension undermines hopes for a two-state solution.

The French veto on EU enlargement is not a political gambit, France says, but what can still be done to restore faith in time for a crunch summit in May?

Although the governing Socialists Party (PSOE) won the most seats at Sunday's elections, the political deadlock continues with a deeply-fragmented scenario, in which the far-right Vox party is in a strong position while the centre has become irrelevant.

The European Investment Bank has billed itself as the world's largest climate change action financier as it plans to phase out gas, oil and coal projects. It has, however, not ruled out backing carbon capture and storage technologies.

During the night of 10 November a planned asylum centre in the city of Bilzen, in the Belgian province of Limburg, was set on fire. According to fire services and the police it was an arson attack. The federal government was planning to use the building as a new asylum centre in December. There were no victims.

Chinese president Xi Jinping said during a visit to Athens that China wants to make the Greece China's "logistic centre" to Europe, the Guardian writes. After the signing of 16 bilateral trade deals, the Greek president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos said this is "a new chapter of decisive importance in the already excellent relations between China and Greece." The former Greek government blocked an EU condemnation of China's human rights record.

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Brexit party, announced his party will not field candidates against the 317 Conservative MPs standing for re-election. "We will concentrate our total effort into all the seats that are held by the Labour party," Farage said in a move designed not to split the pro-Brexit vote at the 12 December election.

James Le Mesurier, 48, who set up the White Helmets, has been found dead in Istanbul, the Guardian reports. According to Turkish authorities, he was found with fractures to his head and legs and appeared to have fallen from a balcony. The White Helmets are a Syrian rescue group that consists of 3,000 volunteers and operates in rebel-held areas of Syria to help people during Syrian and Russian bombings.

In a joint statement, the ministers of finance of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark and Bulgaria have asked for an European tax to fight the environmental damage of aviation, Forbes writes. "We believe that more coordination on pricing of negative externalities of aviation could ensure that the polluter pays a fairer price for the use of aviation transport," the statement says.

Christos Stylianides, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, announced the EU is mobilising €55m for Sudan as at least eight million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 6.3 million not having enough food to meet their needs. Stylianides welcomed "recent announcements by the new transitional Sudanese government (...) to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance", adding "aid must reach all areas of Sudan, including conflict zones."

EU member states' contributions to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions have more than doubled since 2013. The total contributions amounted to €21.7bn in 2018, from €20.4bn in 2017, according to the conclusions adopted by EU finance ministers on Friday. This fund is considered an important mechanism to achieve the targets set by the climate change agreement reached in Paris in December 2015.

EU countries gave their final green light on Friday to the free trade deal between the bloc and Singapore signed last year, removing nearly all customs duties and non-tariff barriers. Singapore is the EU's largest trading partner in the southeast Asian region, with a total bilateral trade in goods of over €53bn and another €51bn of trade in services. The deal will enter into force on 21 November.

Next week will see a new round of commissioner hearings for the latest candidates from France, Hungary and Romania in the European Parliament, while crucial elections take place in Romania and Spain.

Bosnia requested an interview with the French ambassador to Sarajevo, after Emmanuel Macron described the country as a "ticking time bomb" and one of the greatest concerns for Europe due to the "problem of returning jihadists".

Catalan MEP Diana Riba (Greens) has accused Spain's foreign minister Josep Borrell of "serious negligence" for tweeting a classified document from the British Sirene office, concerning the European arrest warrant issued against the former Catalan minister Clara Ponsatí, and asked the commission to investigate it. However, a spokesperson of the EU's executive body said that it is "up to the national authorities to look into this matter".

In its final step towards become a European border police corp, the EU Council, representing member states, on Friday, officially rubber-stamped a new regulation underpinning Frontex. The self-described law enforcement agency will now have more powers to return unwanted migrants. It will also have a standing corps of 10,000 border guards at its disposal, the ability to acquire its own equipment, and operate in countries outside the European Union.

Citing an EUobserver investigation, MEPs on the consumer protection committee have slammed the EU Commission for allowing Apple to get away with refusing to comply with a common smartphone charger for over a decade.