Euobserver.com

German environment group Nabu filed on Tuesday a lawsuit with Germany's constitutional court in Karlsruhe to block construction of a 1,200km pipeline through the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian gas to Germany. The Gazprom-built pipeline would harm underwater sea life and is not needed to meet German natural gas demand, the group said. Denmark is still considering its approval of the project, greenlighted by other affected countries.

Google has spent over €31m on lobbying against article 13 of a new EU copyright law to be voted in the European parliament on Thursday. It also lobbied MEPs through membership of 24 other organisations, according UK Music, defending the collective interests of British music industry. "MEPs should ignore the big money lobbying from big tech and back fair rewards for creators," said UK Music head Michael Dugher.

Wikipedia will be 'dark' in Italy until Thursday, when the European parliament votes on a new EU online copyright law. Deputy prime minister and leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), Luigi Di Maio, supported the protest, while European Newspapers Publishers Association (ENPA), accused Wikipedia of tunnel vision. "A vote against intellectual property rights is a vote against press freedom," said ENPA president Carlo Perrone.

Right-wing websites and radio stations pumping out stories about migrants and refugees have mushroomed in recent years in Slovakia - despite a fightback from the mainstream media.

The former PM of Slovakia sets out why he has changed his mind on a federal Europe. "This would mean the central, federal level would manage all competences related to foreign and security policy, the single market and single currency."

MEPs voted Tuesday to support a deal negotiated with member states on the setting up of a €500m EU fund to increase cooperation within Europe's military industry, with 478 votes in favour, and 179 votes against. An attempt to reintroduce an amendment that would specifically bar 'killer robot' projects – previously supported by a majority but given up in the negotiations – received support from only 207 MEPs.

In the document they approved last Thursday on the composition of the European Parliament after next year's elections, EU leaders added a reference to the possibility that the UK would still be a member at that time, the Daily Telegraph has revealed. The text says that "in the event that the United Kingdom is still a member state", the current composition will apply until Brexit happens.

"Irreparable" harm threatens Polish courts if the government gets its way, EU authorities have warned, while opening a new front against Warsaw.

EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has urged Austria's ruling coalition party to break relations with right-wing partners, Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen. "I wish that the FPO would leave this negative association [the ENF group]. For me it does not belong in this category," he said in Strasbourg on Monday. Austria's OVP conservative chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks in parliament on Tuesday, as Austria takes over the rotating EU presidency.

Every year, MEPs spend some €40m of taxpayer money on things like restaurants and hotels amid public pressure for accountability, given numerous scandals. On Monday, EU parliament leaders decided to keep the public in the dark.

"The populists are not popular. It's 14 percent of the vote in Germany and smaller percentages in other countries," says global campaigner Ricken Patel, considering to use his organisation, Avaaz, to raise turnout in next year's European parliament elections.

"International regulation has to be agreed before the development gets completely out of hand," says one MEP as the European Parliament is due to vote on an EU defence fund that could see taxpayer-funded development of the controversial weapons systems.

Quite a few of the Commission's proposals deserve endorsement. Others warrant adjustment and refining.

French president Emmanuel Macron has fired his ambassador to Hungary, Eric Fournier, after he wrote a memo to the Elysee praising the harsh migration policies of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. The document was published by French investigative site Mediapart. Macron was alerted to the publication at an EU summit in Brussels last week and nominated a new ambassador, Pascale Andreani, over the weekend.

German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Monday to build border camps for asylum seekers and to tighten the border with Austria in a political deal with her Bavarian sister party, the CSU, to save her government. She also accepted to keep the CSU's leader, Horst Seehofer, as minister of the interior. The new policy is subject to the approval by the Social Democrats, the third party in Merkel's coalition.

Unemployment in the euro area dropped to 8.4 percent in May 2018 and to 7.0 percent in the whole EU, the lowest rates since 2008, according to Eurostat. The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment (2.3 percent) followed by Germany (3.4 percent). The highest rates were observed in Greece (20.1 percent) and Spain (15.8 percent). In comparison the unemployment rate in the US was 3.8 percent in May.

US president Donald Trump has sent letters to the leaders of Nato countries, including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, demanding that they increase their defence spending. The letters were sent in June and revealed by the New York Times ahead of the upcoming Nato summit in Brussels on 11-12 July. Trump wrote the US may otherwise consider a response, including adjusting the United States' military presence around the world.

The European Commission has opened an infringement procedure against Poland on Monday over the member state's judicial reform, due to go into force on Tuesday. It sent a letter of formal notice saying that the law is incompatible with the EU treaty. "The Commission is of the opinion that these measures undermine the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges," it said in a press statement.

Hard security realities and Russia continue to govern Armenia's destiny despite its recent revolution.

Merkel's interior minister Horst Seehofer has threatened to resign over asylum. The bitter dispute risks tipping the historic balance between the centre-right CDU party and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU.