Euobserver.com

The death of an anti-corruption activist in Ukraine has highlighted the dangerous climate for reformers in the EU neighbour.

US president Donald Trump will hold bilateral meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan while in Paris to mark 100 years since the end of the first world war. A ceremony attended by French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel will mark the armistice on 10 November, then more than 120 foreign dignitaries representing states that fought in WWI will meet on 11 November.

Two-thirds of Europeans believe that the world used to be a better place, according to an Eupinions survey from the Bertelsmann Stiftung. Italians were particularly nostalgic, with 77 percent finding the past better. 'Nostalgic' Europeans often appear more rightwing and are generally more critical of immigration, the survey found. Support for EU membership was higher, at 82 percent, among non-nostalgics than among nostalgics (67 percent).

Ahead of the eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, 10 smaller northern EU countries, including non-euro members, branding themselves as 'Hanseatic' states, have presented a joint paper on how to reform the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). They suggest that more power be given to the ESM managing director, who should be "tasked to verify the adequacy of the borrower's repayment capacity" before financial assistance is granted.

"Europe wastes 30 percent of food; it is an ethical scandal," Bernhard Url, executive director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has said in an interview to El Pais. A lot of agricultural production gets lost through lack of infrastructure, logistics and knowledge, he said. Imports from as far afield as New Zealand, Chile, Canada make absolute control impossible, he added.

EU legislators are fast-tracking legislation that should make the certification systems for cars, motorbikes, tractors, and industrial vehicles, such as bulldozers, 'Brexit-proof'.

EU institutions must continue to seek justice for the killers of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruna Galizia in order to protect press freedom in Europe.

Arron Banks, the British tycoon who donated £8m (€9m) to pro-Brexit campaigners in 2016, told British broadcaster the BBC on Sunday that the money did not come from Russia. "For the record, there was no Russian money or interference of any type," he said, adding: "It [the £8m] was generated out of insurance business written in the UK." British police are currently investigating Banks' alleged violation of electoral rules.

The three main EU powers, France, Germany, and the UK, "aim to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran" they said on Friday, after the US decided to reimpose sanctions on firms present there from Monday. They said "work continues" on creating a new payment system to enable investments and purchases of oil and gas, with finance ministers to "further pursue this at their next meeting".

A surge in pressure and violence is directly related to a stricter control of power by president Aleksandar Vucic, who was the former minister of information during the Slobodan Milosevic regime.

A debate among would-be EPP 'Spizenkandidat' candidates next week in Helsinki will be the first of many clashes of ideas ahead of European elections next May. The liberals are also holding their own congress.

A debate among would-be EPP 'Spizenkandidat' candidates next week in Helsinki will be the first of many clashes of ideas ahead of European elections next May. The liberals are also holding their own congress.

The British high court has said three Polish suspects can be extradited under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW), despite the "current concerns regarding changes that impact the independence of the Polish judiciary". The three men had hoped the UK would follow Ireland, which blocked a Polish EAW this year on those grounds. The EU court in Luxembourg has also ruled the Poland concerns could be a basis for non-extradition.

British police are investigating "reasonable suspicion" that pro-Brexit campaigners received millions of illicit funds in 2016, as exit talks limp forward.

Following the example of Austria and Hungary, Prague is also mulling pulling out of a UN deal on migration aimed to better manage the flow of people - a move the UN called "bizarre".

The fate of Norway's conservative government under prime minister Erna Solberg could be decided by just one Christian Democrat member in a vote on Friday. Christian Democrat leader, Knut Arild Hareide, challenged Solberg's rule by suggesting his party move its support to a new Labour-led government, which would effectively shift the balance of power in parliament. The Christian Democrats are split down the middle ahead of the vote.

Macedonia's deputy prime minister, Bujar Osmani, was onboard when the first direct commercial flight between Greece and Macedonia in 12 years took off on Thursday evening. The twice-weekly service follows a deal between the two nations to end a 27-year name dispute, leading Macedonia to formally change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Greece's largest carrier, Aegean Airlines, will operate return flights twice weekly.

The European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Union's banking watchdog, publishes stress tests of 48 European banks on Friday, The last such test was published in 2016. Special focus will be on ailing Italian banks, but Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, is also set to be closely-watched after three years of losses.

Western buyers purchase hundreds of millions of dollars of manufactured products in Cambodia, which gives them the economic leverage to encourage meaningful changes in factory and worker conditions.

Businesses in northern Italy are anxiously watching the standoff between the European Commission and the Italian government. They used to be the 'Northern League's' most important electorate - but the party's profile and priorities have changed.