Euobserver.com

In May, hundreds of millions of Europeans will head to the polls to elect the next members of the European Parliament. Yet around 500,000 persons with disabilities will not be able to exercise this most basic of democratic rights.

College of Europe rector Jorg Monar says the surplus money made from setting up closed-door meetings between the Saudi government and EU officials, including MEPs, "would barely cover the replacement costs of a beamer in a College seminar room."

French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ruled out delaying Brexit beyond 29 March, unless London comes up with "clear objectives" for the extension. "As [EU chief negotiator] Michel Barnier said, we don't need time, we need decisions," he said after meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel, who hit a more conciliatory tone. "If Britain needs some more time, we won't refuse but we are striving for an orderly solution," Merkel said.

Romania's former anti-corruption chief, Laura Codruta Kovesi on Wednesday received the backing of a key European Parliament committee, pitting the parliament against member states who backed a French candidate for the EU's new chief prosecutor position. MEPs in the civil liberties committees supported Kovesi with 26 votes, while Jean-Francois Bohnert received 22 votes. The parliament and member states will have to negotiate on whom to choose.

Israel is trying to annex Palestinian lands by making friends with far-right extremists in Europe and the US, an Israeli NGO has warned MEPs in Brussels.

Some 17 EU states have signed a letter to EU Council president Donald Tusk urging him to protect single market freedoms in the face of Franco-German initiatives, such as one last year to limit the rights of temporary workers in other EU states, Polish daily Rzezpospolita reports. The coalition includes Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, as well as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden.

The European Parliament's budget control committee backs Laura Codruta Kovesi for the EU chief prosecutor post after Tuesday's hearing, despite being the second-favourite of member states. The main committee in the case will vote on Wednesday.

The QS World University Rankings published on Tuesday rank universities in the United States and the United Kingdom as among the world's best. The top listing went to MIT, followed by Stanford, Harvard and Caltech in the US. Oxford placed fifth, followed by Cambridge. For EU member states, the second highest listing went to France's PSL university, which placed 50th.

The Guardian newspaper citing unnamed sources reported on Wednesday that Hungary's Viktor Orban could face expulsion from the European Parliament's centre-right European People's Party (EPP) political group. The EPP is set to discuss Orban and his Fidesz party on 20 March. The EPP is the parliament's largest group but has been wrangling over Orban's increasingly populist and anti-EU rhetoric.

The European Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that the organic production logo of the EU cannot be placed on meat derived from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites without first being stunned. The case initially stems from France where farm animal rights group, the Oeuvre d'Assistance aux Betes d'Abattoirs (OAB), argued against labelling Halal meat products as organic.

MEPs have raised concerns about the risks presented by Le Freeport, a 22,000 square meter high-security facility located near Luxembourg airport, where goods can be stored with confidentiality - and without being taxed.

The European Commission will start looking at how EU states determine genders - as part of an effort to make it easier for people to determine their own identities.

5G technology is a product of global innovation and cooperation. Drawing an Iron Curtain would therefore have an impact on all: Chinese, Europeans, Americans, and others alike.

British prime minister Theresa May on Tuesday offered MPs a vote on whether to delay Brexit, or go for a potentially disorderly no-deal exit from the EU if her renewed attempt to ratify a divorce deal fails in mid-March. May is proposing a "short, limited" one-off delay of Brexit beyond 29 March. The EU has indicated it would agree to an extension demand from London, if justified.

The daughter of a Kremlin spokesman has been hired as a trainee by a French MEP in a move attacked as bad taste by some and as a security risk by others.

After member states voted for their preferred candidates for the EU's new top prosecutor, MEPs will now hear from the candidates. Romania's former chief prosecutor was the frontrunner - until her own country started to campaign against her.

The Telegraph newspaper on Monday said that the UK is drawing up plans to pay the EU billions to settle a part of the divorce bill even if there is a no-deal Brexit next month. The UK's divorce bill is €42bn.

Austria's right-wing coalition government on Monday proposed to place asylum-seekers deemed a danger to the public in preventative "security detention" as part of a constitutional amendment. Should it pass, it means asylum seekers can be locked up without a court order on the basis of strong suspicion. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that the detentions would be subject to judicial review.

The 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index ranked Spain as the world's healthiest country, followed by Italy and Iceland. Researchers attribute part of the positive health trend to a Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts. The index also took into account smoking and obesity as well as the environment.

The EU and Arab League in a joint declaration on Monday in Egypt agreed to hold a second summit in Brussels in 2022. The two sides met for the first time in Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday and Monday and was billed as a means to cement ties on a broad range of issues, including migration. It also demonstrated to what extent the EU is willing to engage with autocrats.