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On 20 October, the European Council (Article 50), in an EU 27 format, reviewed the state of Brexit negotiations and adopted conclusions. EU27 leaders called for more progress regarding citizens' rights, the Irish border, and financial obligations and agreed to start internal preparations for the second phase of the Brexit talks.

The Commission adopted on 16 October 2017 guidelines to facilitate food donation in the EU. The aim is to clarify relevant EU legislation and help lift barriers to food donation. The EU guidelines will help donors and recipients of surplus food to make sure that they respect relevant requirements such as food hygiene and food information to consumers. The guidelines also promote common interpretation of EU rules applicable to food donation, including those related to VAT.

Today and tomorrow (19-20 October), EU Heads of State or Government are meeting in Brussels for the European Council. Leaders will discuss a number of priorities, including migration, where leaders will take stock of progress made under the EU's comprehensive strategy on migration; the Digital Single Market, following on from discussions held during the informal Summit in Tallinn last month. On Friday, the 27 EU leaders will discuss the state of play concerning Article 50 negotiations with the UK.

Today member states represented in the Special Committee on Agriculture endorsed the deal on the so-called Omnibus regulation. The Omnibus regulation amends the financial regulation governing the implementation of the EU budget as well as 15 sectorial legislative acts, including in the field of agriculture.

The European Commission has today issued guidance to help Member States protect agricultural land from threats such as excessive price speculation and ownership concentration. Today's Communication responds to a call in March by the European Parliament, which asked the Commission to set a clear and comprehensive set of criteria for land market regulations to ensure a level playing field in compliance with EU law. Read more.