Euobserver.com

MEPs backed an EU law to protect whistleblowers from retaliation in both the public and private sectors. EU states will have two years to transpose the directive.

Swedish 16-year old activist called on MEPs to "panic" and questioned why they had emergency summits on Brexit, but not on climate change.

The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told MEPs in Strasbourg that Israeli settlements are eroding any prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. She noted that Israeli authorities last week had given the green light for another 4,600 housing units. "The two-state solution is not only fading away, it is being dismantled piece by piece," she said.

An independent panel of experts in each member state should instead guide the European Commission on legal proceedings and use of EU funds when national governments act in bad faith.

Sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will address MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday afternoon. "I expect them to take action now because there is not much time," she told journalists ahead of the meeting. "We still have an open window that is not going to be open for long," she added. Thunberg helped inspire thousands of young Europeans to protest for more climate action. "They have made history", she said.

Romania stands on the edge of an EU sanctions procedure, the EU commission has warned, amid concern that law and order is being dismantled in the interest of its ruling elite.

European Council chief Donald Tusk on Tuesday told MEPs in the Strasbourg plenary that the United Kingdom will not be treated as a "second category" EU state until its final departure from the European Union. "I have strongly opposed the idea that during the further extension, the UK should be treated as a second category member state. No it cannot," he said.

The European Commission and Poland signed an agreement Monday under which the EU provides the eastern European country with a €214.9m grant to invest in a natural gas pipeline between Denmark and Poland, to import Norwegian gas. The project benefits from fast-track procedures as a project of common interest. The pipeline is due to become operational in 2022 and is aimed at making the region less dependent on Russia.

The president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, has asked MEPs to donate funds towards the reconstruction of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, after it burnt down on Monday. He said MEPs could put their donations "as a sign of solidarity" in a box outside the plenary in Strasbourg.

French president Emmanuel Macron promised the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris would be rebuilt after a devastating fire Monday, adding that "the worst had been avoided". Macron called the 12th-century cathedral "our history, our literature, part of our psyche ... So I solemnly say tonight: we will rebuild it together." European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker released a statement on Monday evening about the fire, saying: "What a sad spectacle."

The EU cannot extend the Brexit process a third time, German foreign minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper. "They will have to decide what they want by October," Maas said about the UK. "You cannot drag out Brexit for a decade." He said another UK request for an extension "could send the signal that they plan to stay in the EU after all".

French far-right leader said Brexit party was welcome to join anti-EU movement in EU parliament.

We should not forget about the first round of presidential elections, which revealed the uglier side of Slovak politics. It is unclear Slovak voters opted for liberal values, or because their respect for the rule of law took priority.

Opposition MPs in Romania have tabled a human rights sanctions law named after a late Russian activist, in a "symbolic" boost for EU-level sanctions of the same type.

The former CEO of Volkswagen Group, Martin Winterkorn, was charged with fraud on Monday, alongside four other managers suspected of involvement in emissions cheating. Volkswagen had equipped millions of dirty diesel cars with so-called defeat devices which helped them pass emissions tests. The public prosecutor in Braunschweig, in Germany, charged the five because of "a particularly serious case of fraud and a violation of the law against unfair competition".

EU states have agreed to open trade talks with the US in a bid to rebuild relations with their oldest partner on the world stage.

Gas pipelines from "third countries", such as Russia, will have to follow EU anti-monopoly law on their offshore sections, but only in the territorial waters of EU states under a new directive adopted by member states Monday. The diluted law allows Germany and Russia to operate the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, most of which lies outside EU waters in the Baltic Sea, as they see fit bilaterally.

The EU's agriculture ministers rubber-stamped a new regulation on the future of cars on Monday, on behalf of their environment colleagues. The new regulation was the result of a political compromise and was already agreed by a large majority in the European Parliament. Cars that are sold in the EU in 2030 will have to be 37.5% cleaner in terms of CO2 emissions, compared to 2021.

More than 2.5 years after the European Commission proposed it, the directive on copyright was given the final approval by member states in the Council of the EU on Monday. The text of the directive was the subject of intense debate and lobbying, with fears that the rules, meant to protect creators, could inadvertently stifle free speech. EU countries have two years to transpose the directive into national law.

The centre-left Social Democrats (SDP) won Sunday's elections in Finland by a narrow margin. The SDP received 17.7% of votes, closely followed by the far-right Finns Party (17.5%). The Centre Party (13.8%) of outgoing prime minister Juhu Sipila suffered a considerable defeat, losing a third of its supporters, and falling behind its junior coalition partner, the centre-right National Coalition Party (17%). Finland will be the EU presidency from 1 July.