The European Union is unlikely to confiscate Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe, despite G7 plans to discuss the legality of such a move at a meeting in February, senior EU officials said, Reuters reported. The EU, United States, Japan and Canada froze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Some $200 billion of that is held in Europe, mainly in the Belgian clearing house Euroclear. The discussion comes as U.S. President Joe Biden faces Republican opposition to his request for another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Capital buffers for banks in the European Union have reached historic highs, with rises in interest rates boosting profitability to support record payouts to shareholders, the bloc's banking watchdog said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Since taxpayers bailed out lenders in the 2007-09 global financial crisis, tougher rules have forced banks to build up their capital buffers, with further rises in the pipeline.

Days after EU countries and lawmakers agreed on a provisional deal on artificial intelligence rules, experts from both sides are meeting on Tuesday to hammer out details, Reuters reported. Over 11 scheduled technical meetings beginning on Tuesday, government officials and aides of lawmakers will hash out specific details such as the scope of the laws and how they will work. They will clarify the legal basis on how governments can use of AI in biometric surveillance, copyright issues posed by foundation models and how to regulate major AI systems such as ChatGPT will be on the agenda.

France, Germany and the EU executive expressed hope on Friday that EU governments will reach an agreement on the bloc's fiscal rules by the end of the year, with Spain floating the idea of convening an extraordinary meeting to achieve that goal, Reuters reported. France and Germany still differ on how to sustain investment when budget deficits are above EU limits, and other countries, roughly in two camps behind Paris and Berlin, are wrangling over other issues, including the minimum pace of debt reduction.

Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino expressed hope an agreement on the reform of EU fiscal rules could be clinched as soon as Thursday evening, while her German counterpart said he thought a deal was possible this week, Reuters reported. EU finance ministers are discussing changes to the rules on Thursday and Friday, aiming to agree on a joint position that would then be negotiated with the European Parliament early in 2024. Spain holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Hungary has not made sufficient progress on the European Union's concerns about its respect for the rule of law for the EU to release frozen funds, the EU's budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The EU has frozen billions of euros that Hungary could receive from the EU's budget over concerns about corruption and the country's lack of respect for the independence of the judiciary and non-governmental organisations.

The European Commission on Monday said it would extend a loosening of state aid rules by three more months than initially planned, to end June 2024, to allow EU countries to compensate companies for high energy prices resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East, Reuters reported. The EU executive relaxed its state aid rules in March last year after thousands of companies were hit by the war in Ukraine, saying the easier regime would end in December this year.

The European Union is trying to speed up efforts to deepen its relationship with Egypt and help the country address the growing fallout from the Israel-Hamas conflict on its border, Bloomberg News reported. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is planning to visit Cairo soon to advance efforts to support Egypt’s economic development and cushion the impact of the ongoing crisis, people familiar with the matter said.

EU rules to protect the financial system from risks stemming from cryptocurrencies contain a loophole that allows banks to circumvent some safeguards and should be fixed urgently, the European Central Bank's chief supervisor Andrea Enria said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The cryptocurrency market is starting to bounce back a year after the collapse of exchange FTX and other big players in 2022 crushed prices, tarnished the industry and prompted a regulatory crackdown.

The European Union’s executive arm recommended on Wednesday that the bloc open membership talks with Ukraine, an encouraging step for the government in Kyiv in what remains a long and arduous joining process, the New York Times reported. The recommendation comes with the caveat that Ukraine must take steps to address corruption, protect minorities and limit the power of oligarchs. “Ukraine continues to face tremendous hardship and tragedy provoked by Russia’s war of aggression,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the body’s executive branch.