Czech PM Andrej Babis said on Wednesday that Central European countries asked European Council President Charles Michel to help ease controls imposed by Germany on the Czech and Austrian borders to free up the flow of goods and industrial components, Reuters reported.

EU will make pharmaceutical companies respect contracts they have signed for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, European Council President Charles Michel said, quoted by Reuters.

European Union’s top officials on Wednesday formally signed the long and tough fought-over post-Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom. The formal sealing of the document paves the way for normal trade relations between Britain and the European Union, AP reported. British House of Commons also approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union on Wednesday, as both sides looked to begin a new chapter of relations just days before their divorce becomes a reality.

Montenegro's new prime minister predicted in Brussels on Tuesday that his country would be the next to join the European Union and vowed to fight the political corruption that has tarnished its reputation, AFP reported.

At an urgent video conference held in the evening on 29 October, EU leaders discussed the need to strengthen the collective effort to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, with a focus on testing and tracing policies, and on vaccines distribution, the EU press service reported. “We very much agreed, it was repeated around the video conference table, to guarantee a fair distribution between Member States in the case of contracts signed by the Commission, and those we hope will be signed in the coming weeks,” Council President Charles Michel told a news conference after the summit.

European Council President Charles Michel postponed a summit of European Union leaders on Thursday and Friday until the start of October after going into coronavirus quarantine due to contact with an infected security guard, news wires reported.

Greece is ready to sit down for exploratory talks with Turkey on the delimitation of maritime zones, on the condition that it sees “tangible evidence” of de-escalation from Ankara, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a press conference on Tuesday during a visit to Athens by Council President Charles Michel.

EU leaders will talk on trade and investment with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, despite tensions over Hong Kong's freedoms and Beijing's treatment of its Uighur minority, news wires reported. Chinese officials, EU chiefs Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a video-conference to replace a full summit with all 27 EU leaders cancelled because of coronavirus.

On Europe Day, leaders of the three main EU institutions - David Sassoli (European Parliament), Charles Michel (European Council) and Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission) -  share their views on Covid-19 and the future of the Union.

One day before the EU budget summit, Italian PM Guiseppe Conte has rejected the budget proposal unveiled last week by European Council President Charles Michel, news wires reported. Rome won't approve the proposed draft, which covers the European Union's spending framework for 2021-27, Conte said in a speech in front of the Senate in Rome on Wednesday.