Euobserver.com

The UK could stay in the EU's customs union indefinitely to avoid crashing out of the EU as hopes for a new UK proposal on the Irish border issue grow in Brussels in the final phase of Brexit talks.

"Russia must stop its reckless pattern of behaviour, including the use of force against its neighbours, attempted interference in election processes, and widespread disinformation campaigns," Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday following revelations, by Dutch and British intelligence, that Russian spies had plotted a cyber attack against the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. "We deplore such actions," top EU officials said in a joint statement.

US authorities have opened a criminal investigation into Danske Bank, Denmark's largest lender, after revelations its Estonian branch handled €200bn of suspicious and mostly Russian money. The bank's shares fell a further 3% on the news, amid speculation that a US fine could run into billions of dollars. The bank "received requests for information from the US Department of Justice in connection with a criminal investigation" Danske Bank said.

The US wants to create a massive trade bloc with Europe to curb Chinese expansionism, its EU ambassador has said.

MPs in the Czech parliament on Tuesday voted against launching the punitive process of the EU treaty's article 7 against Hungary. The vote, which took place during a debate on the EU's multinational financial framework for 2021-2027, was initiated by a Czech Civic Democrat MP, Jan Skopecek, who considers the vote against Hungary in the European parliament a mistake. Skopecek's motion was supported by 97 MPs, against 24.

Ireland's data protection authority announced on Wednesday an investigation into whether Facebook had "appropriate technical and organisational measures" in place to protect its users' personal data. The move follows a security breach announced last week that affected 50 million accounts, of which five million belong to EU users. Companies can be fined up to four per cent of total worldwide annual sales for breaching the EU's new GDPR data rules.

EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova has announced binding demands on Malta, forcing for the first time an EU member state to improve its anti-money laundering efforts. "We will react because the EBA's [European Banking Authority] report has concrete proposals for improving the functions of [Malta's] financial intelligence unit," she told the Financial Times. The EBA report was published in July.

The estimated level of 'irregularities' in EU spending continued to decrease in 2017 to 2.4 percent, down from 3.1 percent in 2016 and 3.8 percent in 2015, the European Court of Auditors said in its annual report published on Wednesday. Problems remained in particular in rural development and cohesion, it said. The European Union spent €137.4bn in 2017, or around €270 for every citizen.

Italy's budget deficit will be 2.4 percent in 2019, dropping to 2.1 percent in 2020 and 1.8 percent in 2021, prime minister Giuseppe Conte said after a government budget summit on Wednesday. The announcement appeared to ease concerns that Italy would break EU budget deficit rules with the major stock exchanges in Europe closing up 0.9 percent. The jobless rate would fall to as low as seven percent, Conte promised.

Banks in Cyprus, known for their Russian clients and lax supervision, handled €3.4 trillion of cross-border transactions including by non-resident clients between 2008 and 2015, Bloomberg reports. Latvian banks handled €2.8 trillion and Estonian ones €900bn. The figures came out after a scandal in which the Estonian branch of Danske Bank handled €200bn of mostly "suspicious" Russian money, prompting EU action on money-laundering and leading to criminal investigations.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday welcomed Austria's support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Meeting Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz in St Petersburg - their fourth meeting this year - a deal to extend long-term contracts of gas supplies to Austria by 2040 was signed. Austrian oil giant OMV recently signed a deal to take part in development of the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field, Tass reported.

One year ago this month, the European Parliament promised to take measures to tackle sexual harassment. Some of its staff are unconvinced change is coming.

The European Parliament voted on Wednesday on draft legislation that will determine the CO2 emission reductions required by 2030. Where the EU commission had proposed a 30 percent cut, MEPs opted for a 40 percent reduction.

The next week will be decisive in Brexit talks in Brussels as the deadline for a deal rapidly approaches. At her party conference in Birmingham, the British PM promised not to hold a second Brexit referendum.

From MEPs expenses, to denial of Freedom of Information requests, to the backroom deal to appoint Martin Selmayr - the EU's institutions are failing to live up to their own standards.

The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted its position on the climate action required from the automotive sector up until 2030. A majority of MEPs supported a 40% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030 using 2021 as a baseline. The European Commission had proposed a less ambitious 30% target. Next week, EU environment ministers will determine their position, following which negotiations on the bill's final text can begin. Read more.

After Poland and Hungary, Brussels is watching rule of law in Romania with growing concern. Meanwhile a same-sex marriage referendum fuels anti-EU rhetoric.

A senior US diplomat has threatened to "take out" a Russian nuclear weapons system, raising tension as Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels.

Russia has threatened to use its UN veto to block Macedonia's name change in a deal with Greece, after a Macedonian referendum on the accord failed due to low turnout. "Macedonian voters opted for boycotting the decisions" and Russia "as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is closely following the developments", its foreign ministry said. The name deal was meant to see Macedonia join Nato next year.

France has accused Iran of plotting a bomb attack against an anti-Iranian group in Paris, the NCRI. Danish police, last Friday, also sealed bridges and ferries on suspicion Iranian intelligence was planning a strike against another anti-Iranian group, the ASMLA, in Denmark, which Iran blames for a recent terrorist attack in Tehran. The news threatens EU-Iranian solidarity against a US plan to scrap the Iran nuclear arms treaty.