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In today’s news from the Capitals:
The United States has “fortunately” managed to establish a moderate approach toward Russia within NATO despite calls for the opposite, a NATO source told EURACTIV. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Workers’ deaths in Qatar’s World Cup split EU Parliament. The European Parliament’s leftist GUE-NGL group’s success in having a last-minute resolution and not just a discussion over the FIFA World Cup in Qatar has opened Pandora’s Box in the EU House. Read more.
EU proposes long-awaited gas price cap. The European Commission tabled its long-awaited proposal for a measure to limit excessive gas prices on Tuesday following months of pressure from EU countries. Read more.
EU countries divided over funding aid to struggling farmers. European farming ministers are still torn on whether is more appropriate to use the EU budget or state aid to bail out farmers facing increased prices of inputs such as fertilisers. Read more.
EU Parliament passes directive on gender quotas for corporate boards. The European Parliament gave its final approval on Tuesday to a law that will implement quotas to boost gender balance on corporate boards across the bloc. Read more.
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PARIS
France, Germany make up for sake of EU industry, counter US protectionism. Reviving European industrial policy to counter rising energy prices, the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and negative effects of protectionist measures taken by third countries, including the US, was called for by French and German governments on Tuesday. Read more.
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BERLIN
German government to start slow withdrawal from Mali. German troops will stay in Mali until 2024 as part of the UN mission in the country but a controlled withdrawal will be prepared in the meantime, the government decided. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian chancellor reneges Schengen veto threat before Zagreb visit. Chancellor Karl Nehammer rowed back Interior Minister Gerhard Karner’s threat to veto Croatia’s entry into Schengen, adding the framework is defunct, ahead of a key visit to Zagreb on Wednesday. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
European democracy must be strengthened says Belgian PM. To face current major challenges, democracy must be strengthened at a European level, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said during the ceremony of the Parliament’s 70-year anniversary on Tuesday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Citizens call to remove abortion from the Dutch criminal code. Nearly 94,000 citizens signed a citizens’ initiative to remove abortion from criminal law, more than double those needed for it to be placed on the agenda of the House of Representatives. Read more.
UK & IRELAND
LONDON
UK plans to scrap thousands of EU laws ‘unfit for purpose’. The UK government’s plans to give ministers the ability to tear up around 2400 pieces of EU law on the UK statute have been dismissed as ‘unfit for purpose’ by the government’s own regulation watchdog. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Two Finnish nuclear reactors to receive fuel from US. An agreement with Westinghouse Electric Company for the design, licensing, and supply of a new fuel type was signed by Finland’s state-owned (51%) energy company Fortum. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Spanish government, banks to ease mortgage conditions for vulnerable citizens. An agreement to help one million vulnerable citizens mitigate the negative impact of inflation on their monthly mortgages was announced by the government and representatives of the banking sector on Tuesday. Read more.
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ROME
European price caps essential, says Meloni. The European cap on gas prices is essential, otherwise, the funds invested will only feed speculation, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who hopes common solutions will soon arrive from the EU. Read more.
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LISBON
Brussels concerned over Portugal’s ‘overvalued’ house prices. Concerns over Portugal’s rising house prices, which showed signs of overvaluation were raised by the European Commission on Tuesday. Read more.
Brussels warns Lisbon to be ‘coherent’ with budget prudence. The Portuguese government needs to take the necessary measures so that the 2023 budget is consistent with fiscal prudence, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Poland rejects Ukraine’s help with missile explosion probe. The Polish Prosecutor’s Office will not allow the Ukrainian side to join the investigation of last week’s incident in Przewodów near the Ukrainian border, where a likely-Ukrainian air defence missile hit and killed two people. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czech FM calls Orbán’s scarf as ‘unacceptable provocation’. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s scarf with a historical map of Greater Hungary was called an unacceptable provocation by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský on Tuesday. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Hungarian central bank, economy minister clash on interest rates. While the Hungarian central bank pledged to maintain tight monetary conditions and high-interest rates, the economic development ministry capped interest rates for larger institutional investors, with some experts worrying the move may impede the efficiency of monetary transmission and hamper efforts to shore up Central Europe’s worst-performing currency. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovaks among EU’s most financially vulnerable. Almost 6% of Slovaks are threatened by inflation to the point they may not be able to pay their debts, which, according to the European Central Bank, is the third highest number among the EU member states. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
PRISTINA
Pristina delays license plate rule by 48 hours, says Borrell made ‘mistakes’. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday morning postponed for another 48 hours its plan to fine drivers who continue using Serbian-issued car license plates, while calling out EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borell for making mistakes. Read more.
EU agrees to liberalise Kosovo visas by 2024. Representatives of EU member states have agreed with a proposal to liberalise visas for Kosovo citizens as of 1 January 2024. Read more.
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SOFIA
High-level resignations in Bulgaria following migrant-police clashes. Chief Secretary of the Internal Affairs Ministry Petar Todorov announced that he and his deputy, Stanimir Stanev, would leave their posts following a clash between police officers and migrants. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Commission lifts CVM monitoring on Romania. Romania has made enough progress on judicial reform and the fight against corruption, the European Commission said on Tuesday, adding it would stop monitoring the country under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM). Read more.
Enel confirms Romania exit plan. Italian utility group Enel will sell its Romanian assets by the end of next year, as part of a larger plan to cut debt and focus on six main markets, the group said on Tuesday. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenia to implement windfall tax on energy companies. The government unveiled a draft law that would impose a windfall tax on energy companies in 2022 and 2023 to subsidise renewables and finance measures to reduce electricity demand during peak times. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: European Economic Area (EEA) Council discusses energy transition and energy security in Brussels, Belgium; Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič attends; An informal political dialogue with the EEA EFTA states is expected to precede with focus on Ukraine and the security policy situation in Europe;
- High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell chairs the 4th EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting and co-chairs the 7th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, Spain;
- Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi attends the Israeli Ambassadors’ Conference;
- European Parliament President Roberta Metsola attends plenary session in Strasbourg, France; Holds press conference on new initiatives to assist Ukraine;
- EU Parliament plenary session debates the need for a European solution on asylum and migration, including search and rescue; Votes on additional measures to address the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine, recognising the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism, new EU strategy for enlargement and more;
- Press conference regarding the Turkish military aggression in Syria and Iraq and the risk of destabilization of the region expected to be held by MEPs;
- Heads of Medicines Agencies of the National Competent Authorities (NCA) meet, along with representatives of the European Agency of Medicines (EMA), the European Commission and the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines (EDQM) to discuss the governance of medicines for human and veterinary use and address key strategic issues of planning, actual legislative and exchange of information on the development of European medicines regulatory system, in Prague, Czech Republic;
- Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis;
- United Kingdom: Supreme Court rules on legality of holding Scottish independence referendum without UK government consent;
- Sweden: French Secretary of State for Europe Laurence Boone on official visit;
- Spain: Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hosts Romanian counterpart Nicolae Ciuca and members of his government;
- Romania: President Klaus Iohannis on official visit in Latvia and Lithuania;
- Armenia: Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) leaders Meeting;
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Hearing in the trial of suspects in the assassination of the Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio in 2021 begins;
- Russia: Trial begins of jailed opposition figure Ilya Yashin;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Source: euractiv.com
