Euobserver.com

Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizz Air and IAG, the owner of BA and Iberia have filed a complaint with the European Commission against a strike in France they say is restricting the freedom of movement of European citizens and residents. The complaint follows French air traffic control strikes, which have disrupted flights. "The right to strike needs to be balanced against freedom of movement," said IAG chief executive Willie Walsh.

The UK Home Office has come forward with a "toolkit" to help British employers register EU citizens with a new immigrant status following Brexit. Sajid Javid, the home secretary, said the toolkit would "offer security and certainty to EU citizens living in the UK". Up to 3.8m EU citizens are thought to be living in the UK.

EU commission chief and trade commissioner in Washington to avert a trade clash on cars, but Trump's tweets bode ill for the talks.

The EU and the UK Tuesday formally filed to split at the World Trade Organisation ahead of Brexit, reports Reuters. The draft membership agreements seek to remove the UK rights and obligations in merchandise trade from the EU. Another split of services trade will follow. The updated membership "seeks to replicate the concessions and commitments applicable to the UK as part of the EU today," said the UK's WTO ambassador.

The Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday reported that the European Commission has uncovered evidence that car producers are manipulating CO2 emissions for new climate rules that take effect in 2020. The EC's Joint Research Centre, or JRC, says it found evidence some "were configuring their test vehicles in such a way that the measured Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) are inflated".

The European Commission unveiled concept papers on centres in the EU and platforms in north African states where disembarked migrants would be screened for protection or sent home. The plans build on EU summit conclusions but still remain vague.

EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly closed Tuesday her inquiry into the European Commission's handling of the new job of former president Jose Manuel Barroso and said that she stood by her finding of maladministration, detailed in an earlier report. She said the commission should have taken a "formal reasoned decision" over whether Barroso's job at Goldman Sachs violated its rules and should refer the case to the ethics committee.

UK prime minister Theresa May announced Tuesday that she is taking charge of Brexit negotiations. "I will lead the negotiations with the European Union, with the secretary of state for exiting the European Union deputising on my behalf," she said in a statement, referring to Dominic Raab who replaced David Davis two weeks ago. Talks will take all summer, as the EU is preparing for a 'no-deal' scenario.

The French president is seeing his authority weakened by revelations over one of his bodyguards - and this could affect his capacity to reform.

The European Commission opened an investigation on Tuesday on the plan by French defence company Thales to buy the Dutch firm Gemalto, a world leader in digital security products. The commission said the operation would create "by far the largest player" in the market for hardware security modules, which are used for encryption software, and "lead to higher prices or less choice in hardware security modules for customers."

The European Commission on Tuesday imposed a total of €111m fines on four consumer electronics manufacturers, for fixing online resale prices. Netherlands' Philipps, Japan's Pioneer and Denon & Marantz, and Taiwan's Asus prevented online retailers proposing to lower prices by threatening or blocking supplies, and thus influenced pricing algorithms used by the retailers, the commission said. The four companies saw their fines reduced after they cooperated with the commission.

Italy has announced a U-turn on migrants, at least temporarily - amid other clashing noises on fiscal and foreign policy.

Western Europe is estimated to have 5,904 nationals affiliated with the Islamic State inside Iraq and Syria. Of those, around 1,765 have returned of which 47 percent are minors and eight percent are women, says a new report.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker will try to "de-dramatise" the trade clash with the US when he meets president Donald Trump in Washington Wednesday, but will not bring a new offer on tariffs, his spokesman said Monday. "This is an occasion to de-dramatise any potential tensions around trade and engage in an open and constructive dialogue," the spokesman said. "There are no offers ... it's an opportunity to talk."

The EU is trying to bypass president Donald Trump in dealings with the US, Irish EU commissioner Phil Hogan has said. "We have to go in at the lower level of the administrative system and the federal system, directly to the federal states, rather than having to rely ... on the White House," he said at an event in Ireland Monday, the Irish Times reports.

Irish leader Leo Varadkar has said "we cannot contemplate" a hard border with Northern Ireland if Britain left the EU with no deal. He spoke in Croatia on a short EU tour pressing Dublin's position on Brexit. Andrej Plenkovic, his Croatian counterpart, said "populists, such as "Mr Farage" (a British MEP), had tried to "meddle" in his country's EU-entry referendum. "I deeply disagree with everything they stand for," he said.

No surprise that in the last decade at least one third of top staff at the EU Commission's financial unit have either came from the financial industry or went there after their time at the commission.

Mesut Ozil resigned from the German national squad after months of fierce criticism, as critics questioned his loyalty for posing with Turkey's Erdogan. His departure exposes a deeply divisive European debate.

The UK's new foreign secretary introduced himself in Berlin by telling his German counterpart that if the EU does not change its attitude, Brussels will be blamed for a 'no-deal' Brexit divorce. The blame game begins.

US far-right strategist Steve Bannon is to open a Brussels office to help nationalist-populist parties in EU elections.