Euobserver.com

The EU Commission has sent a letter to the European Banking Authority (EBA) calling for an EU investigation into the regulatory failures that led to a multi-billion euro money-laundering scandal at Danske Bank's Estonia branch, reported the Financial Times. The commission called for investigators to establish any possible "breach or non-application of Union law both by the Estonian as well as the Danish supervisors".

An exclusive analysis of over 100 million meteorological data points shows that every major city in Europe is warmer in the 21s​t​ century than it was in the 20t​h​. Northern regions, Andalusia and southern Romania are most affected.

Following the 2030 renewable target of 32 percent, chair of the European Parliament's environment committee Adina Valean argues in order to reach our climate and energy goals, we need both public and private investment over the next decade and beyond.

The EU will be watching closely how the political dynamics of Theresa May's Conservative party conference starting next week will influence Brexit negotiations. MEPs might also be forced to release their office expenses.

British prime minister Theresa May made an emergency public statement from Downing Street on Friday, following the stalemate on Brexit at this week's Salzburg summit of EU leaders. "We now need to hear from the EU what the real alternative is and we can discuss them," she demanded. She also appeared to dismiss calls for a second referendum, or allowing Northern Ireland to remain in the EU customs union.

On European Day Against Islamophobia, EU decision-makers need to get serious about tackling Islamophobia, which has become a major society issue impacting all of us.

Decisions in the EU are a complicated process of intense negotiations, quid pro quos and horse-trading, until an agreement can finally be reached. But that didn't happen in Salzburg.

Issues of sovereignty remain entrenched following a proposal by the European Commission to expand the EU's border and coast guard, also known as Frontex, to 10,000. But EU leaders maintain a "basic consensus" of support had been reached.

UK prime minister Theresa May's Brexit plans are opposed by a "rock-solid" core of 40 Conservative MPs, former Brexit minister David Davis has told Huffington Post. The group sticks together in the European Research Group (ERG) and wants a sharper break with the EU. If 40 of May's 315 lawmakers, plus the opposition parties voted against, May would fall short of the number needed to pass the legislation.

At least 22 seats in 17 local Swedish city councils will be empty following 9 September elections, a SVT review of results showed. The empty chairs belong to the far-right Swedish Democrats, which won more votes than they had candidates to fill. Prime minister Stefan Lofven still hopes to form a new national government with smaller parties or a grand coalition to avoid relying on the Sweden Democrats.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been ordered by a French court to undergo a psychiatric test for tweeting pictures of atrocities committed by the Islamic State group in 2015. Le Pen published the court order, dated 11 September, on Twitter on Thursday and said she would refuse to undergo such tests. "I'd like to see how the judge would try and force me do it," she said.

Ministers from Romania and Portugal hold the EU record in appearing at EU council meetings, being present in over 90 percent of the meetings, according to research from Danish think tank Europa. The figures - based on minutes from council meetings in the period 2015-2018 - also showed that ministers from Slovakia and Poland appeared the least, leaving their chairs to diplomats in almost every other meeting.

Electricity generated from renewable sources contributed more than 30 percent to the total electricity consumption in the EU in 2016, Eurostat figures show. Hydro power is the most important source, followed closely by wind power and then solar power. In five countries, more than half of electricity consumed was from renewable sources: Austria (73 percent), Sweden (65 percent), Portugal and Denmark (both 54 percent) and Latvia (51 percent).

EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova has closed her Facebook account, describing it to press in Brussels as a "channel of dirt." The commissioner also wants Facebook to inform users better on how the company uses their data. "Not many people know that Facebook has made available their data to third parties, or that for instance it holds full copyright about any picture or content you put on it," she tweeted.

British prime minister May said the UK will come forward with new proposals on the Irish border issue, as a November EU summit on Brexit now looks likely.

The justice commissioner says the accommodation-rental website will better inform users about prices, and about the legal status of their 'hosts'. Facebook, however, could face sanctions if it doesn't comply with EU rules.

EU Council president Donald Tusk said Thursday after the EU's Salzburg summit that the UK plan for an economic framework with the EU after Brexit "will not work" because it risked undermining the EU's single market. Tusk added that leaders accepted "some positive elements" in the so-called Chequers plan. He also said EU leaders will decide in October whether to call an extra meeting on Brexit for November.

EU vetting procedures for Libyan coast guard training could pose a security threat, among disagreement on how to handle unfit applicants.

Austrian former chancellor Christian Kern, head of the opposition Social Democrat party, said on Wednesday he may run to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as EU Commission president next year. Kern told journalists asking about the post in Salzburg: "Yes, that is correct. I am available." The 52-year old, who lost to chancellor Sebastian Kurz last year, added: "There are other candidates, too, that's clear. But we'll find the very best candidate."

Leaders ate Wiener schnitzel and discussed EU fragmentation on migrants, Brexit, and rule of law in the Salzburg theatre in Austria.