THIS WEEK: EU parents’ rights, US trade war, and a Western Balkans summit

A new EU law on the “recognition of parenthood” will top the agenda of home affairs’ ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday (5 June) — while an EU court ruling on Thursday will test the status quo on cross-border families’ rights.

The new regulation is to “ensure continuity of parenthood in cross-border situations and thereby protect all children, regardless of how they were conceived”, the EU Council said.

And the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg will show, one day earlier, in its verdict, what happens if a Spanish mother who wants to live with her Dutch-national child in the Netherlands is ordered to return to Spain, as happened in the so-called ‘Safi’ case.

On the US front, MEPs in the international trade committee will vote on the Turnberry deal on tariffs in the transatlantic market, worth €1.68 trillion, on Tuesday, setting the framework for a final agreement.

The deal was originally brokered as a ceasefire in a trade war started by US president Donald Trump, but has been destabilised by his late-night social media posts, announcing new figures, anti-EU jibes, and U-turns.

At the same time, MEPs and EU judges will join swords with two US-Big Tech leviathans: Amazon and Meta.