EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will visit Moscow in the first week of February, attending a long-lasting invitation from Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov.

In a press statement delivered Monday evening on vaccine deliveries and on the vaccine export transparency scheme, Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said that AstraZeneca's vaccine is currently in the final stages of the approval process with the European Medicines Agency. If all requirements are met, the EMA could recommend market authorisation by the end of this week.

Greece signed a 2.3bn-euro ($2.8bn) deal with France on Monday to purchase 18 Rafale fighter jets, as tensions remain high with neighbour Turkey.

Before the pandemic, the average carbon footprint of a consumer in the EU was 7 tonnes of CO2 per year. The Commission launched on Monday the pilot phase of its new Green Consumption Pledge, the first initiative delivered under the New Consumer Agenda. 

The Commission proposed on Monday update to the common colour code, among other measures to coordinated approach on free movement restrictions adding to Council Recommendation of last October.

The EU foreign ministers were expected on Monday to discuss and impose new sanctions on Russian individuals after more than 3,000 people were arrested across Russia on Saturday during peaceful demonstrations  demanding the release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, news wires reported.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is close to resigning, but then hopes to form a new government that can count on a broader majority, national dailies reported on Monday.

The European Central Bank is in the process of setting up a climate change centre to coordinate the bank’s thinking on how to best incorporate climate issues into monetary policy and banking supervision, ECB President Christine Lagarde announced today.

Rioters set fires in the center of the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven and pelted police with rocks on Sunday at a banned demonstration against coronavirus lockdown measures, while officers responded with tear gas and water cannons, arresting at least 55 people, news wires reported.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has been re-elected for a second five-year term in Portugal's presidential election in the first round, according to official results from the electoral commission, news wires reported.