Euobserver.com

The EU is urging the Palestinian Authority to accept tax income from Israel in order to avoid financial collapse, aggravating the risk of instability, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has refused the money, which makes up 63 percent of the PA's budget, since last year on grounds that Israel illegally deducted part of it. But the EU says he ought to accept it "on a provisional basis".

The knock-on affects from a 'war on drugs' in Europe is creating problems in Albania - and as far afield as Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Ultra-conservative versus liberal ideas on European identity will do battle in the EU elections in May - fuelled by Russian hate speech.

A public petition from people around Europe demanded the European Commission prohibit trade with Israeli settlements. But the Brussels-executive rejected the request, telling reporters it has no legal basis to act on the matter.

The European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that the EU-Canada free trade agreement, and its controversial dispute settlement mechanism, is in line with the bloc's rules.

Serbia and Kosovo have agreed to restart EU-brokered talks on better relations, amid ongoing disagreement, in the region and beyond, on a land-swap deal.

Sweden Democrats are now not set to join a new Salvini-lead far-right group in the European Parliament, party leader, Jimmi Akesson told Dagens Nyheter. "I am disappointed," he said, to not have been invited. His party could however not work with "Russia friends from France" - a reference to Marine Le Pen, he added.

Five candidates discussed what they would do if they were the next president of the European Commission. But the big absentee of the evening was the candidate of the European People's Party.

Carles Puigdemont is set to take legal action to defend his rights as European Parliament candidate and for voters' right to cast a vote for him. He could go so far as to challenge the outcome of the May elections.

US president Donald Trump and several members of his family on Monday sued Deutsche Bank to stop it from handing over financial records to congressional subpoenas investigating his companies' financial dealings. Trump's lawsuit contends that demands for records by Democrat-controlled House committees have "no legitimate or lawful purpose" and were issued to harass him as president. Deutsche Bank started providing financial records to New York state's attorney general last week.

"The case of Danske Bank is not closed for us," EU's justice commissioner Vera Jourova has told the Financial Times. The commission's pledge to follow up on the money-laundering scandal came despite a vote in the European Banking Authority on 16 April rejecting that its supervision of Danske Bank had failed, and shelving an investigation into the €200bn Danske Bank scandal linked to illicit Russian money.

The European Court of Justice is expected to hand down its decision on whether the highly-controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is compatible with European law.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said Monday he hopes Britain's ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party will reach a deal this week on the withdrawal agreement from the EU, including possible membership in a customs union. "The ball is in the UK court," Barnier told students in Leuven university in Belgium. Labour has also been discussing the idea of holding a confirmatory referendum on any Brexit deal.

The exiled ex-Catalan president and independence leader Carles Puigdemont has been barred from running in the European Parliament elections in May by Spain's electoral authority. Two of his former colleagues, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati, were also banned Monday. Puigdemont, in exile in Belgium, called it a "flagrant violation of the fundamental human right to stand in elections", and signs of "collusion" between judges and unionist politicians in Madrid.

French far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, is campaigning to 'save' Europe by transforming it into what she calls a De Gaulle-inspired 'Alliance of Nations'. She also warns against pushing Russia into the arms of China.

The Spanish left declared victory over the far-right in elections on Sunday, as their adversaries vowed to "reconquer" the country.

The UK's opposition Labour party's leadership will decide on Tuesday whether the party's manifesto for the European elections in May should commit to holding a second Brexit referendum. The party is split on the issue and under pressure from polls. An Opinium survey found support for the Brexit party lead by Nigel Farage neck-and-neck with Labour on 28 percent each, and support for the conservatives down to 14 percent.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron are co-hosting a West Balkan summit in Berlin on Monday to revive dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo on possible border changes. The initiative comes after a Brussels-led dialogue collapsed last year. Leaders of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and EU representatives will participate, while North Macedonia's Zoran Zaev and Albania's Edi Ramawill meet separately with Merkel.

A draft treaty on future EU-Swiss relations is not acceptable to Swiss trade unions. "This text is dead," said Pierre-Yves Maillard, president of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation (SGB) in an interview to NZZ am Sonntag. Switzerland has the highest wages in Europe and could not allow uncontrolled opening of the Swiss labour market due to risk of wage pressure. "Ultimately there is no way around fresh negotiations," he added.

While several UK parties have already launched their campaigns ahead of European Parliament elections on 23 May, the Conservative party is holding back and focussing instead on next week's local elections, party chair Brandon Lewis has told the BBC. Talks between UK prime minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn are set to continue this week to try to break the deadlock over Britain's exit from the European Union.