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Estonia has arrested 10 former employees of the local branch of Danske Bank as part of an international investigation into alleged money laundering involving Georgia and Azerbaijan. Those arrested "mostly were customer relationship managers whose job it was to notify of money laundering cases, to prevent them," Estonian prosecutor Lavly Perling said at the press conference on Wednesday.

French police unions on Wednesday called on members to handle only emergencies in a protest triggered by a €62m cut in the national police budget due to be approved by members of parliament on Thursday. The French interior ministry has offered a one-off bonus of €300 to officers in compensation after weeks spent containing protests by the grassroots 'Yellow Vest' movement.

Some 45 issues will require legislative changes in the coming months, the Irish government said on Wednesday in a 130-page contingency plan, 'Getting Ireland Brexit ready' for the UK to leave the European Union without a withdrawal deal in March 2019. It would "potentially involve severe macroeconomic, trade and sectoral impacts," the government said. A fall in the value of sterling "would impact on the competitiveness of Irish businesses".

In response to the EUobserver article Muscat's one-man rule poses problems for EU.

The Kosovan deputy PM calls on Nato members to follow the US in supporting the enlargement of the Kosovo Securitiy Force. "Kosovo owes it to both its own people and the international community to take this step", Behgjet Pacolli says.

The 'Yellow Vests' protests have the potential to change the game in the French European Parliament elections, bringing new issues onto the agenda. But the greatest threat, potentially, is to the populist parties on the edges of the political spectrum.

The European Commission on Wednesday reiterated its demand that the US should appoint a permanent Ombudsperson to deal with European complaints on how their data is handled by US companies, in its annual report on the EU-US data pact Privacy Shield. That position should be filled by 28 February 2019, or the commission will "consider taking appropriate measures" - an identical threat when May 2018 was the deadline.

The European Commission has published its 'no-deal' Brexit planning - a 10-page document plus 17-page Q&A. It covers citizens' rights, aviation, haulage, and financial services. Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said it would "turn an abrupt exit into a softer landing". The plans asks member states to allow UK citizens "to continue to be considered as legal residents" in the EU and pledges to "avoid full interruption" of EU-UK aviation.

Latvia was wrong to prevent its central bank governor, Ilmars Rimsevics, representing Latvia in the European Central Bank, the EU court's advocate general, Juliane Kokott, advised on Wednesday. Rimsevic, one of the EU's longest-serving central bankers, faces prosecution for alleged bribery in Latvia. However, he should not have been barred from participating in ECB meetings without the EU court first having a say, the court opinion says.

Chinese hackers have been reading sensitive EU diplomatic cables for the past three years, according to a US cyber-security firm.

UK business daily, the Financial Times, has chosen American-Hungarian investor and philanthropist, George Soros, as 'Person of the Year 2018' for his role as "standard bearer of liberal democracy and open society". Born to a Jewish family in Hungary, the 88-year-old founded the Open Society Foundations but has been singled out by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban as a state enemy.

On the eve of the 19 December deadline from the EU Commission for an "excessive deficit procedure" against Rome over its 2019 budget plans, Italy's economy ministry announced on Tuesday that an informal agreement had been reached with Brussels. Sorting the Italian problem leaves the commission to focus on tackling French budget deficits, after president Emmanuel Macron announced a €10bn tax cut in order to calm 'Yellow Vest' protestors.

Britain's interior minister Sajid Javid will publish an immigration white paper on Wednesday, his department has said. It will set up a post-Brexit immigration system focussed on skills, not origin, and mark the end of free movement from other European Union countries. The white paper will instead introduce a new visa scheme for skilled migrants, from the EU and beyond.

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel resigned on Tuesday after losing a vote of confidence in parliament initiated by the French-speaking Socialist Party and the Green Party. Earlier the Flemish nationalist coalition partner N-VA withdrew support for Michel after he decided to sign the non-binding UN migration pact. Unless snap elections are called, Belgium's federal election will be on 26 May, the same day as the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Following 12.5 hours of negotiating, EU institutions reached a provisional agreement on single-use plastics on Wednesday morning, according to the Austrian EU presidency. The Commission proposed in May to ban plastics products such as plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks or cotton buds, making up 70 percent of marine litter. The parliament suggested in addition that packaging and fast-food containers also be banned from 2021.

EU fisheries ministers agreed early Wednesday morning on 2019 fishing limits for commercial stocks in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The number of fish stocks managed at maximum sustainable yield levels will rise from 53 to 59, and there will be additional protection for the European eel. The Oceana NGO said it was very modest progress and insufficient for sustainable fisheries in EU waters.

Some 3,500 army personnel will be on standby for a no-deal Brexit in March 2019, the UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the British cabinet said it would publish some 160 technical notices, with 80,000 emails going out to businesses this week, plus a 100-page Partnership Pack. The move comes as premier Theresa May's deal with the EU comes up for a parliamentary vote in January.

Malta's PM already enjoys the kind of one-man rule Hungary and Poland are trying to build, but can the EU afford another political confrontation in sensitive times?

Unprecedented protests against Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's "illiberal" style mark a rare united front of opposition parties, amid new violence against opposition MPs.

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Monday evening proposed a motion of no confidence in prime minister Theresa May over her handling of Brexit. However, it was not a motion against the government, making the move symbolic rather than a bid for new elections. Smaller opposition parties, including the Scottish National Party, have urged Corbyn to support a full-on motion of no confidence, with Brexit 101 days away.