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Member states have agreed today (26 September) to consider appointing a single food safety officer to improve communications in the case of food contamination. The ministers adopted a declaration, which said the commission should develop a "management plan for food and feed incidents" and to define "the criteria when the coordination at EU level should be triggered by member states". Read more.

As announced by President Juncker in this year's State of the Union speech, the Commission issued today (September 26) a set of guidelines on the application of EU food and consumer laws to dual quality products. The guidelines should help national authorities to determine whether a company is breaking EU laws when selling products of dual quality in different countries. More information on the Commission's website here.

Brexit Secretary David Davis will lead the UK team of negotiators into their fourth round of talks with EU officials in Brussels today (25 September). EU negotiators will be expecting more detail on, for example, what payments the UK is prepared to make as it departs.

France reaffirmed today (25 September) its opposition to plans by the European Commission to extend its approval for the weed killer product glyphosate. “The European Commission has proposed renewing its approval for glyphosate for another ten years. This is far too long, given the concerns that remain over this product, and France will vote against the proposal, as clearly laid out previously in July,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in a statement. Read the original post.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term while nationalists have made a historic surge in federal elections. Her conservative CDU/CSU bloc has seen its worst result in almost 70 years but will remain the largest in parliament.