Euobserver.com

Britisih prime minister Theresa May said on arriving at the EU summit in Brussels that "I don't expect an immediate breakthrough but I do hope that we can start to work as soon as possible on the assurances that are required". May was referring to the 'backstop' agreement on the Irish border under the Brexit withdrawal vote she postponed this week, before fighting off a leadership challenge on Wednesday night.

Labour MP Diana Johnson has brought a private members bill to Westminster that proposes to decriminalise abortion in the whole of the UK, which means that, if successfully passed, current provisions for Northern Ireland will also be repealed.

An EU commission official already worried in 2015 that a more lenient emissions limit could be illegal - but the EU went ahead anyway.

The General Court of the EU said Thursday the European Commission was not allowed to change nitrogen oxides limits for cars when it introduced a new, more realistic, test. It ruled in favour of the cities Paris, Brussels, and Madrid, which had challenged the decision by national governments to accept a commission proposal to allow a 168 mg/km limit while EU law had set a 80 mg/km limit.

Political control of a new supreme court in Hungary puts leader Viktor Orban in the vanguard of an anti-EU rebellion.

The European Parliament and the Council agreed on Wednesday to revise the European Citizens' Initiative, which allows European citizens to ask the Commission to submit a legislative proposal, if they muster one million signatures. The reformed initiative will be more user-friendly, making it easier to participate in the democratic process, the commission has said. Introduced in 2012, an estimated nine million Europeans have supported a European Citizens' Initiative.

Europe must make sure that its current dependence on fossil fuels is not replaced by another one: on primary raw materials coming from outside our continent.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Wednesday the largest annual increase in more than 40 years of the minimum wage, saying "a rich country cannot have poor workers". The lowest-paid workers salary would rise 22 percent to €900 per month in 2019, which would cost the state €340m per year. French president Emmanuel Macron under pressure from large public protests announced a €100 increase in the minimum wage.

The US rejected on Wednesday an EU-backed proposal to reform the World Trade Organization. "With respect to the proposal advanced by the European Union, China, and India, it is hard to see how it in any way responds to the concerns raised by the United States," US ambassador Dennis Shea told the WTO's General Council. Without reform the whole system is at risk, EU commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has warned.

The UK prime minister and leader of the conservative party, Theresa May, was backed by 200 Tory MPs against 117 in a confidence vote on Wednesday night. She will be in Brussels on Thursday pushing at an EU summit for a better deal on what happens if the EU and UK cannot agree on their future relationship after Brexit, risking the UK could be tied indefinitely to many EU laws.

Ralph Regenvanu, foreign minister of the Pacific island Vanuatu, said at the COP24 talks in Poland it was disappointing the host country was promoting coal - but was happy with EU contributions to tackle climate change.

EU officials warn that even if the Conservatives topple British prime minister Theresa May, the Brexit deal on offer would remain the same. At summit, EU-27 leaders are only expected to give a statement on the backstop, no legal assurances.

Hungary passed a law Wednesday setting up new courts overseen directly by the justice minister, that critics said would allow political interference in the judiciary, further undermining the rule of law. The administrative courts will take over cases on government business, such as taxation and elections, currently handled in the main judicial system. The justice minister will have significant powers in appointing the judges and will oversee the courts' budgets.

Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called a vote of confidence on his government's controversial reforms ahead of this week's EU summit. The vote is to decide if its programme, which includes a political purge of judges, "should be continued", he said. His ruling party, which controls parliament, is certain to vote yes, in what one opposition MP called a political "cabaret", as EU leaders fret over Poland's anti-democratic swerve.

MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to free Ukrainian prisoners. One of them, Oleg Sentsov, received an EU human rights prize in absentia there the same day. Sentsov, a Ukrainian film maker from Crimea, was jailed on terrorism charges in a show trial in 2014. Putin should also free 23 Ukrainian sailors recently captured by the Russian navy, who face six years in prison, MEPs said.

The European Parliament spelt out its position on Theresa May's Brexit and leadership problems on Wednesday afternoon, explicitly stating there could be no renegotiation of either the withdrawal agreement or the political declaration, and that without an Irish 'backstop', there would be no deal. However, "all efforts to make clear [the backstop was a last resort] were welcomed", the statement from Conference of Presidents added.

Italy could lower its national deficit target to two percent of GDP in a revised budget designed to alleviate EU complaints, an Italian treasury official told the Bloomberg news agency Wednesday. Rome felt "positive" its concession would see the European Commission allow Italy to overspend on fiscal rules, the official said. French plans to raise welfare in light of the 'yellow vest' riots could also see France break EU rules.

UK prime minister Theresa May warned on Wednesday that any new leader would have to either rescind Article 50 or ask for an extension of the transition period. Speaking in the House of Commons, May - who faces a vote of no confidence this evening, and a possible leadership challenge - told MPs that the only way to ensure Brexit happened next March was to keep her as leader.

Bulgaria is to face renewed EU scrutiny over a Russia gas pipeline, four years after its previous project, South Stream, failed.

British prime minister Theresa May has vowed to fight for her job "with everything I've got", after Conservative MPs triggered a vote of no confidence in her leadership, set for Wednesday night. May, who this week postponed the crunch parliamentary vote on approving her Brexit deal, also warned any new leader "wouldn't have time" to get Brexit through the UK parliament, so would have to "delay or even stop" Brexit.