The EU on Tuesday in Brussels opened two more chapters in its accession talks with Serbia, on public procurement and on scientific research, but did not open one on education and culture due to concerns by Bulgaria and Croatia over the rights of their minorities in Serbia. Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic cut short his trip to Brussels on Monday in protest. Serbia has now opened six out of 35 chapters.
The European Parliament's main political groups have raised the alarm over illicit Russian money in a letter to the EU foreign service.
After two years of stalled talks, member states decided to keep the current rules on tarriffs but to suspend them in case of “state-induced” distortions in raw material and energy.
EU member states, with the exception of Austria, said that Turkey's EU accession process should continue even if no new chapter will open soon.
Novelist and essayist Elif Shafak said that isolating Turkey would "play into the hands of populism" and that liberals everywhere should defend their values with "emotional intelligence".
Socialist leader Gianni Pittella rejects a call for continued cooperation from his centre-right counterpart, in a dispute that threatens the balance of power in the house.
Plans to rent harbour facilities to Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline project on the Swedish island of Gotland have split local political parties on strategic issues.
Four eurosceptic and far-right parties will receive less money up front and will have to present bank guarantees, in a crackdown on misuse of funds after several scandals.
Serbian PM Vucic cut short a trip to Brussels, the same day as Russian foreign minister said that the EU was pushing Balkan countries to "antagonise" Russia.
Philip Hammond says it would benefit the EU and the UK, but his cabinet colleague in charge of Brexit has already said he is not interested in such a deal.
Work on a UK financed 4m concrete wall near the French port of Calais has finished, a French government local representative said on Monday. The wall stretches 1km along a road where lorries queue to board ferries heading for the UK. Work on €2.7m wall started on 20 September.
Ten years ago, French-speaking Belgians were shocked to see Flanders had seceded, only to find out later the TV programme was a hoax. That scenario is unlikely today, say Belgian separatists.
Turkey is the world's most prolific jailer of journalists, according to a survey by the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Of 259 journalists who are behind bars across the world, 81 are in Turkish prisons. China ranks second with 38 imprisoned journalists, followed by Egypt, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Paolo Gentiloni was sworn in as Italy's new prime minister on Monday following the resignation of Matteo Renzi. Gentiloni, a former journalist, is part of Renzi's Democratic Party. While finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan will remain in his post, interior minister Angelino Alfano has become foreign minister.
The European Commission must take action to improve the situation of European farmers vis-a-vis the retail sector that buys their products, EU agriculture ministers have said in a text adopted unanimously on Monday. "The fight against unfair trade practices has entered a new stage," said Slovenian agriculture minister Gabriela Matecna, who chaired Monday's ministerial. They asked the commission to prepare work that would lead to a bill or "non-legislative measures".
