The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by Euractiv’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by Euractiv.
Today’s edition is powered by the Party of the European Left
Watch Spitzenkandidat Walter Baier’s speech at the EU Elections Kick-off Event in Ljubljana.
In today’s news from The Capitals:
LISBON
A victory for the right-wing bloc in Sunday’s general elections in Portugal is the most likely scenari o, but there is uncertainty whether there will be a need for an agreement with the far-right Chega party, according to two political analysts who spoke to Euractiv’s partner Lusa, adding that there could be surprises ahead. Read more.
///
EU INSTITUTIONS
EPP eyes socialists, liberals for pro-EU coaltion. The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) eyes a pro-EU, pro-centrist coalition with the socialists and liberals after the EU elections in June, an EPP source told Euractiv, adding that the Greens are not on their radar, while cooperation with some parties on the right who want to distance themselves from extreme rhetoric, is not ruled out. Read more.
Estonia’s Kallas, Luxembourg’s Bettel rule out EU liberals lead candidate job. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas confirmed on Thursday she will not be ALDE’s spitzenkandidat for the EU elections as the party scrambles to find the perfect match ahead of their electoral congress. Read more.
///
PARIS
French health agency report challenges proposed EU rules on gene-edited plants. France’s national health and food safety agency published a report on Wednesday recommending that gene-edited plants be assessed “on a case-by-case basis”, calling into question a legal text currently being negotiated in the EU institutions. Read more.
French banks keep financing tobacco industry, despite promises. Since 2018, French banks have granted more than five billion dollars in loans to the tobacco industry, according to a report by the investigative organisation Profundo, commissioned by the French Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) and published on Wednesday. Read more.
///
BERLIN
German-British Strategic Dialogue: Taurus discussion impossible to ignore. UK’s Foreign Minister David Cameron visited his counterpart, Annalena Bearbock, in Berlin on Thursday to discuss, among other things, support for Ukraine, including the provision of long-range missile systems. Read more.
NORDICS & BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Sweden officially joins NATO, ends 200 years of military non-alignment. Sweden on Thursday became NATO’s 32nd member after Prime Minister Kristersson handed over the accession documents to the US State Department, ending more than two centuries of military non-alignment. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Italy on the right track despite record-breaking public debt, says OECD expert. Italy’s record public debt – one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world – is not a cause for concern as the country is still on the right track, the OECD’s Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, Carmine di Niola, told Euractiv in an interview. Read more.
///
MADRID
Spain strikes Catalan amnesty deal, paves way for full Sánchez term. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party, which leads a minority left-wing coalition government with the progressive Sumar platform, reached a final deal with Catalan pro-independence parties to pardon separatist leaders in exchange for their parliamentary support to keep Sánchez in power until the end of his second term in 2027. Read more.
Brazil, Spain ‘ready’ to sign EU-Mercosur trade deal despite France’s opposition. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reaffirmed his readiness to seal a long-stalled trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc during a meeting with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Brasilia on Wednesday. Read more.
EASTERN EUROPE
WARSAW
EU Commission denounces Wojciechowski’s announcement on Green Deal changes. Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski’s announcement of major changes to the European Green Deal is his own view and does not reflect the position of the EU executive, a Commission spokesman said on Thursday. Read more.
///
PRAGUE
Czech government reveals plans for new gigafactory, investor name withheld. Plans for constructing a gigafactory for the production of batteries for electric cars worth €7.9 billion by a foreign investor – whose name is being withheld – in the Karviná region were disclosed by the Czech government on Thursday. Read more.
///
BRATISLAVA
Slovakia summons Dutch ambassador over embassy event in Prague. The Slovak Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Slovakia, claiming that the Dutch had interfered in Slovakia’s internal affairs by offering the premises of their embassy in Prague for a discussion on the political situation in Slovakia. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BUCHAREST
Romanian European funds minister displeased with 3% deficit obligation. Romania must escape the poverty paradigm if it wants to be a prosperous country, Investment and European Projects Minister Adrian Câciu said on Thursday in reference to the Maastricht Treaty, which states that a nation’s debt cannot exceed 3% of GDP. Read more.
///
SARAJEVO
Sarajevo works on approving key reforms to join EU as deadline approaches. The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina unanimously adopted and sent to parliament the draft law on the prevention of conflicts of interest in the state institutions, one of the key reform laws the EU insists on so the European Council can decide on opening accession negotiations by the end of this month, they announced on Wednesday. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides; Visits Larnaca port and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Larnaca, Cyprus;
- Commission Vices Presidents Vĕra Jourová, Margaritis Schinas deliver keynote speeches at Legal Service of the Commission II annual conference;
- Vice President Dubravka Suica delivers keynote speech at 12th Annual Conference of Europe’s Sciences and Arts Leaders and Scholars “It’s About People 2024”, organized by Alma Mater Europaea – ECM, in Maribor, Slovenia;
- Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, delivers online keynote speech at European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) conference on “Green Deal and Gender Equality”;
- Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton delivers keynote speech at “Women in Digital” high level meeting, in Brussels;
- Lithuania: French Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne visits;
- USA: Hungarian PM Viktor Orban meets ex-president Donald Trump;
- Chile: Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez on official visit;
***
[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
