Euobserver.com

Facebook election ad rules, which ban cross-border campaigns by pan-EU parties as if they were equivalences to foreign meddling, "runs counter to the nature" of the EU project, the top civil servants of the EU's main three institutions, Martin Selmayr of the European Commission, Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen from the EU Council, and the European Parliament's Klaus Welle have said in a 16 April letter to the US tech giant.

Bulgaria, Hungary and Malta were named as the EU's worst offenders on press freedoms by a leading French NGO, while Norway and EU state Finland ranked best.

Romanian senators have backed a law that will let several high level corruption suspects off the hook by shortening the statute of limitations of crimes, in defiance of EU concern on "systemic" abuse of rule of law in the member state, which currently holds the EU presidency. Romanian prime minister Viorica Dancila also pledged to "finalise" other controversial changes, despite European Commission warnings Bucharest could face an EU sanctions procedure.

Greek MPs have voted to seek "every appropriate legal and diplomatic action to satisfy Greece's demands" on WW2-era war reparations from Germany. "This claim is our historic and moral duty," Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras also said. The parliament did not mention a figure, but a committee in 2016 said it was worth €300bn. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert rejected the claim Wednesday, saying it had already been "conclusively settled".

British people should use the extension of the Brexit deadline to 31 October to "calm down and rethink things a bit" and "then look at the issue [of leaving the EU] again" Dutch socialist politician and senior EU official Frans Timmermans said in a TV debate Wednesday. "I absolutely hope that the UK might stay in the EU," he added. "Who knows what might change in the meantime?" Timmermans said.

MEPs have watered down European Commission proposals on Terrorist Content Regulation, saying online firms should have 12 hours to remove offensive material the first time regulators flagged it, instead of just one hour. MEPs also voted, by 308 to 204, to relieve firms of having to monitor their own platforms. An EU official said the diluted bill could not stop live-streaming of terrorist attacks, as recently occurred in New Zealand.

The European Commission on Wednesday published a list of US products facing sanctions over a long-running dispute among rival airlines Boeing and Airbus.

Poland should not join the euro until its economic level was equal to Germany's, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland's ruling party chief, has said in a proposed cross-party declaration. All parties should "guarantee the euro won't be introduced in Poland until we reach Western growth levels. The main point of departure is Germany", he told a party conference Wednesday. Poland is obliged to join the euro when it matches technical fiscal criteria.

Germany's largest lender, Deutsche Bank, expects to face "significant disciplinary action" by US and UK regulators, including fines and prosecution of "senior management", over its role in an €18bn money-laundering affair five years ago, according to an internal bank memo seen by British newspaper The Guardian. The bank helped move mostly Russian money linked to the Kremlin into the US and EU.

The EU will challenge US lawsuits against European companies in Cuba if new US measures against Havana, expected Wednesday, lead to a clash, the European Commission has said. The EU "is ready to protect European interests, including European investments and the economic activities of EU individuals and entities in their relations with Cuba," a commission spokesman said. Europe opposed "extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures," he added.

Latvia's banks will be "the cleanest" in Europe, Krisjanis Karins, the country's prime minister, told MEPs in Strasbourg Wednesday after Latvian lender ABLV collapsed last year in a money-laundering affair. "It's a little bit like fighting rats. I can make sure I get the rats out of my house and my house is clean, but what about my neighbours?", he added, referring to recent banking scandals in other EU states.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has cleared Danish and Estonian financial regulators of breaking any EU laws in their handling of a €200bn money laundering scandal at Danish lender Danske Bank and its Estonian branch. The EBA, which has just two full-time staff dealing with money laundering, also did not issue recommendations for change in its decision Wednesday. Questions over regulators' "responsibility" remained "unanswered" Jeppe Kofod, a Danish MEP, said.

The European Commission on Wednesday announced a preliminary list of products against the United States as countermeasures over a broader and ongoing dispute on subsidies to US aircraft maker Boeing. The list represents some $20bn in US exports to the EU and covers everything from aircraft to chemicals and agri-food products. The commission says the estimated damage caused to EU rival Airbus by US support to Boeing was $12bn.

Brunei has defended its draconian anti-gay laws in a letter to MEPs by saying that few homosexuals are actually stoned to death in practice.

Congress would torpedo a UK trade deal if Brexit led to a hard border in Ireland, a senior US politician has warned in a blow to Brexiteers.

Pro-Brexit pressure group Leave.eu faked photos back in 2016 of migrants attacking women in the UK and a video about migrant boats said to be in UK waters, according to an investigation by British broadcaster Channel 4 News. Aaron Banks, a British businessman who bankrolled the group, denied the accusation on Twitter. Centre-left Labour Party MP Jo Stevens said the fakes were designed to stoke "hatred and anti-immigrant feeling".

The Sudanese military junta should hand back power to civilian authorities, the EU foreign relations chief, Federica Mogherini, has said following a coup which left protesters urging army chiefs to stand down. "The European Union will not recognize the legitimacy of the Transitional Military Council," Mogherini told MEPs in Strasbourg Tuesday. Instability in Sudan could prompt new waves of refugees, also from nearby Somalia and Eritrea, to make for Europe.

CO2 emissions by airlines grew by 4.9 percent last year and by 26 percent over the past five years, the Transport & Environment NGO has said. Low-cost flights by the Jet2 Wizz Air, EasyJet, Vueling, Norwegian, Ryanair, TAP, Finnair, Lufthansa, and KLM carriers created the bulk of the problem. "When it comes to climate, Ryanair is the new coal," Transport & Environment aviation head Andrew Murphy said.

The European Parliament will vote amidst a battle of technology standards. The European Commission is accused of favouring one technology over another.

British plans to - maybe - take part in EU elections risk legal chaos in the next European Parliament, which could be resolved only by treaty change - an unlikely prospect.