Euobserver.com

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's reply to Macron's pan-European letter says more about the CDU leader's domestic strategy than it reveals a truly different vision for Europe.

The European Commission recommended on Tuesday that member states carry out national risk assessments of 5G networks within three months in order to develop a common EU approach. It did not, however, go as far as to ban Chinese companies from being involved in the sector. In future 5G networks will be vital for key functions in society such as energy, transport, banking, health and to run elections.

The European Parliament backed a law on copyrighted content online. Defenders says it will safeguard right holders from being exploited by big tech firms. Critics say it spells the end of internet freedoms and curtails expression.

The European Parliament on Tuesday backed a proposal to stop the obligatory one-hour clock change between summer and winter time, leaving it up to member states to decide on their time zone and adjust their clocks for the last time in October 2021, 20 years after daylight-saving time was made compulsory in the EU. The text, approved by 410 against 192, needs final approval by EU ministers.

MEPs will discuss and vote in Strasbourg on Tuesday on a highly-disputed reform of copyright to fit the digital age, and ensure that authors, composers, artists, film-makers and other creators receive payment for their works when published online. In future, digital platforms would be responsible for filtering out videos and music and other creative content that are published in breach of copyright law.

France has signed €40bn of business deals with China, despite concerns on strategic investment and human rights abuses.

MPs from France and Germany met on Monday for their first biannual joint parliamentary session in Paris, as agreed under the Aachen treaty signed in January. The new French-German mini-parliament is composed of fifty deputies from each country, selected proportional to their numbers in the national parliament. It aims to improve Franco-German cooperation in Europe.

The European Parliament's leadership, the Bureau, decided on Monday in Strasbourg to limit polling ahead of May's elections following pressure from the political groups, reported Bloomberg. Only four polls will get published instead of nine as originally planned. Surveys published in February and March showed that Christian Democratic and Socialist groups would remain the biggest parties. As of 23 April, a purdah will apply.

A majority of members of the UK parliament voted on Monday (329 votes to 302) to remove control of the Brexit process from prime minister Theresa May, and allow themselves indicative votes to find a majority for a Brexit option, which could be, for example, to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit, or hold another referendum. May responded she would not guarantee to abide by any outcome.

Adding pressure on British prime minister Theresa May, the European Commission on Monday revealed contingency plans on its website for a no-deal Brexit scenario. "While .... not desirable, the EU is prepared for it," it said. UK citizens will be subject to checks when crossing borders into the EU. The EU would also apply its rules and tariffs at borders with the UK.

The European Union on Monday urged Israel and Gaza to "re-establish calm and to protect the lives of Israeli and Palestinian civilians" after seven Israelis, including two children, were injured when a rocket fired from Gaza hit their home in the Israeli community of Mishmeret, north east of Tel Aviv. In retaliation, Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and sent extra troops to the border on Monday.

Ahead of the European Parliament election in May, the bloc is ideologically split between authoritarians seeking to reduce its sway, and those seeking a moderate track. In essence, voters have to decide if they want to move forwards or backwards.

British prime minister Theresa May admitted on Monday she does not yet have enough support to put her Brexit agreement to a third vote. "I have had to conclude that as things stand, there is still not sufficient support in the house, to bring back the deal for a third meaningful vote," she said. The PM also appeared sceptical on holding an 'indicative vote' of MPs on other Brexit options.

Romania will move its embassy to Jerusalem, its prime minister has said, shattering the EU line on the Arab-Israeli conflict while the country holds the EU rotating presidency.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban insisted in an interview on public radio on Sunday that he would continue "information campaigns" ahead of the European elections. The European People's Party (EPP) voted last week to suspend Orban's Fidesz party over violations of EU rule of law, and previous controversial posters of EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. "We have exposed them and, naturally, they are angry," Orban said.

British prime minister Theresa May is "effectively out of power", Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon said after last week's EU summit. "I would like to see article 50 revoked. That would be preferable to crashing out with no deal," she told the Scotsman. Sturgeon joined hundreds of thousands of people marching in London on Saturday demanding a second Brexit referendum.

Pressure on British prime minister Theresa May to resign is growing, UK media reported, after an EU summit offered a short extension for the UK to approve May's deal on Brexit. May is set to update ministers on her Brexit strategy at a cabinet meeting on Monday. Rejected twice by British MPs by record margins, it remains unclear whether a third vote on the deal will be held this week.

More than one million people marched on Saturday to the UK parliament demanding a second referendum on Brexit in one of the biggest marches of the century, according to the BBC. Meanwhile a petition on the UK parliament website for the government to revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU reached record five million signatures. Parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate.

A total of 29 deals amounting to €2.5bn were signed during Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to Rome on Saturday, making Italy the first G7 country to accept loans from China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Chinese leader's Europe tour continues on Monday to Paris where a series of cooperation deals on nuclear power, aerospace and clean energy initiatives are expected to be signed.

It is a divisive 'Brussels bubble' debate: whether to give the European Parliament more of a say on who becomes the next European Commission president. But the issue goes right to the heart of European integration.