Euobserver.com

Without reciprocal arrangements, British citizens in the EU after Brexit won't know what they will get back from their social contributions if they have worked in more than one country.

A man is seeking EU support to release his parents from Egyptian prisons, where both have been detained without charge for over 450 days, the mother in solitary confinement. The pressure comes amid EU plans to increase cooperation with Cairo.

France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire warned Italy on Monday that all eurozone countries must respect the EU's budget rules - as Rome pledged to boost spending despite warnings from Brussels. "I just want to make very clear that there are rules, and the rules are the same for every state, because our futures are linked," he told reporters ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg.

Snap elections are likely to decide Macedonia's EU future - after most people did not vote in a referendum on changing the country's name.

A court in Slovakia on Sunday ordered four people charged with the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, to be held in jail until their trial. The couple were shot dead in their home near the capital, Bratislava, in February, when Kuciak was investigating political corruption. The murder sparked massive protests and forced prime minister Robert Fico to resign.

Neither the British parliament nor the European Union will accept UK prime minister Theresa May's Brexit plan, 'hard-Brexit' supporting MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told supporters at the British Conservative party's annual conference in Birmingham on Sunday. A second referendum will also not happen, he predicted - adding that a 'people's vote' was a call by "the elite" to make the electorate "change our minds" after the 2016 Brexit result.

Canada and the US agreed on Sunday a trade deal that will replace the previous Nafta deal. The new deal, called USMCA, also includes Mexico and will be signed by leaders of the three north American countries before the end of November, a Trump administration official said. US dairy farmers would get more access to the Canadian market and Canadian automobile exports to the US would be capped.

Deep divisions over Brexit overshadowed the first day of the UK Conservative party conference in Birmingham on Sunday. British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, won a standing ovation for attacking the EU, comparing it to a prison. The EU seemed to want to "punish" a member for leaving, he said, and likened Brussels' tactics to the Soviet Union. "Europe prospers when we both succeed and it's time to change your approach".

A year after the EU abolished sugar quotas, the market price is at a historically-low level. And the EU commission has no plans to intervene.

Former Israeli diplomats have accused NGO Monitor, a right-wing pressure group, of sowing misinformation that undermines EU efforts on conflict resolution.

MEPs in Strasbourg this week will vote on a law to cut carbon dioxide emissions for new cars and punish Turkey for its to rule of law crackdown. Meanwhile, ministers in Luxembourg will be discussing euro-area reforms.

Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexit negotiator, on Friday ruled himself out from becoming the next European Commission president. Barnier announced he would not run to be the European People's Party's 'Spitzenkandidat'. In a tweet, Barnier said "It is my duty and responsibility to continue the Brexit negotiations right to the end." The UK is scheduled to leave the EU next year - a month before the European Parliament elections.

The Alliance of European National Movements (AEMN) and Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF) have been struck off the registered list of European political parties. The ultra-nationalist parties will now not be allowed access to any EU funding.

Journalists covering future EU summits will not be required to pay a proposed €50 fee for Belgian security screenings. According to the International Press Association (API-IPA) and Belgian journalist unions, the Belgian authorities agreed to review the fee and signalled an exemption for journalists to the law passed in February 2018 which proposed the fee. "This is great news," said API-IPA president Tom Weingaertner.

Macedonia's conservative president has urged people to boycott a referendum, on Sunday, on a name deal with Greece, that would unlock the country's EU and Nato bids. He called the vote a "violation of sovereignty" and "historical suicide" in his UN speech Thursday. He spoke as Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who also opposes EU and Nato expansion, prepares to meet Bosnian Serb and Serb leaders in Russia in early October.

The European Commission said it is taking measures following criticism from the European Ombudsman - but was short on details.

Howard Wilkinson, a Briton who blew the whistle on Danske Bank's Estonian money-laundering practices has asked Danish and Estonian authorities to protect him, complaining that his identity had been leaked without his consent by Estonian media, according to a statement from his American law firm. Berlingske, the Danish newspaper breaking the scandal originally, on Friday listed 72 Danish customers responsible for one percent of the total amount laundered.

The former British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has re-entered the Brexit battle by proposing Theresa May negotiate a 'Super Canada' free-trade deal with the EU instead of the current 'Chequers' plan. In an article for the Telegraph titled "A better plan for Brexit", Johnson suggests a Brexit deal with the EU similar to the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) to be signed in 2020.

A slim majority of voters in the UK - 52 to 48 percent - would vote in favour of remaining in the European Union if another Brexit referendum were held today, a study of the six most recent surveys by major polling institutes showed, reported Reuters. A grassroots campaign is underway for a second so-called "People's Vote" referendum on any deal premier Theresa May achieves with the EU.

When Turkish president Erdogan lands (after a day's delay) in Berlin on Friday, he will face a big challenge in softening a hostile German mood, after he accused German politicians of behaving like Nazis, and his jailing of German citizens in Turkey. Berlin's mayor Michael Mueller joined a growing list of people boycotting the official dinner on Friday while a "Not Welcome" demonstration against Erdogan is planned on Potsdamer Platz.