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In today’s news from the Capitals:
EU-level action is needed to fight the mistreatment of intra-bloc migrant workers, experts warn after police raids revealed workers, primarily from eastern and southeastern Europe, employed in the Netherlands were forced to live in unacceptable conditions across the border in Germany. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Commission President: EU Sovereignty Fund will be proposed in summer. Ahead of Thursday’s meeting of EU leaders, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that a proposal for a European Sovereignty Fund to support European industry’s green and digital transition would be presented next summer. Read more.
Deal struck on EU plan to finance Russian fossil fuel exit. The European Union reached an agreement early Wednesday morning on a new law that makes energy projects eligible for financing under the EU’s €800 billion recovery fund, agreed two years ago in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.
EU institutions prepare to close on pay transparency negotiations. The pay transparency directive is ‘a crucial tool’ to narrow the EU gender pay gap, co-rapporteur Kira Marie Peter-Hansen told EURACTIV in an interview ahead of the final negotiations on the EU law aimed at ensuring greater salary transparency across member states. Read more.
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PARIS
France sees significant drop in energy consumption. Electricity and gas consumption has decreased by 9% and 10.5%, respectively compared to last month, according to the latest data from electricity and gas network operators, with the government praising the citizens collective action. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austria to use €500 million in windfall taxes to help struggling households. Some €500 million in taxes energy companies have to pay on excess profits will be used to help citizens struggling to pay their heating bills and housing costs, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner announced in Vienna on Wednesday. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
LONDON
UK ministers hail progress on Gibraltar deal. Britain and Spain have made “significant progress” in talks over an agreement to secure Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relationship with the European Union, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Wednesday. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Swedish PM presents key EU presidency points amid far-right influence concerns. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson presented Sweden’s priorities for the upcoming EU Council presidency to Rijksdag lawmakers on Wednesday as concerns that the supporting far-right Sweden Democrats could influence the presidency on key issues like climate change continue to grow. Read more.
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COPENHAGEN
New Danish government plans to boost labour force, overhaul welfare model. Denmark’s new coalition government plans to cut tax to incentivise work, abolish a public holiday and reform its generous welfare model, Social Democratic leader Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Spanish government dashes hopes of ‘Montenegro-style’ referendum for Catalonia. The government on Wednesday strongly dashed all hopes of allowing for a “Montenegro-style” referendum on Catalonia’s self-determination, despite the repeated calls from all Catalan pro-independence forces sitting in parliament. Read more.
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LISBON
People left homeless as heavy rains hit Portugal. Tuesday’s heavy rains which flooded streets and swept away cars have also left 83 people homeless, the country’s civil protection authority said on Wednesday. Read more.
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VALETTA
Frontex, Malta accused of facilitating migrant human rights violations. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has implicated a drone registered and operated out of Malta by a private company on behalf of the EU border guard agency Frontex in human rights violations, according to an analysis published this week. Read more.
VISEGRAD
PRAGUE
Czech EU presidency ready to outvote Germany on gas price caps. The Czech EU Council Presidency wants to reach a deal on gas price caps during the upcoming energy council on Monday, saying it will likely forego consensus and favour qualified majority voting as countries like Germany are not fully on board with the idea. Read more.
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WARSAW
Polish parliament receives judicial reform bill to unblock EU funds. Poland is getting closer to unblocking the EU recovery funds worth almost €35 billion, of which €23 billion are grants, as parliament has just received a bill that aims to depoliticise the Supreme Court, one of the European Commission’s conditions. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Energy crisis hits Slovak industry hardest most in V4. Energy price hikes and a shortage in energy supplies have hit Slovakia’s industry harder than those of other Visegrad Four countries despite it recording a slight production spike while significant month-to-month decreases were observed in other V4 states. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Bulgaria revives forgotten pro-Russian oil pipeline to reduce Russian dependence. A plan to build the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, revived by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has been backed by Russian oil company Lukoil following discussions at the partnership council between the Lukoil oil refinery and the local authorities in Burgas. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romania will not challenge Austria’s Schengen veto in EU court. President Klaus Iohannis responded to Romanian voices calling for a boycott of Austrian goods and companies after Vienna voted against Romania’s Schengen accession, saying he preferred a diplomatic solution that would not involve the EU court. Read more.
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BELGRADE
EU, US in Belgrade over tensions in north Kosovo. The special representative of the European Union for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, met in Belgrade with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, to discuss the ongoing tensions with Kosovo. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA | ROME
Joint patrols resume at Italian-Slovenian border. Slovenia and Italy will resume joint border patrols at their common border and carry out checks on buses, trains and cars travelling from Slovenia to Italy to respond to the spike in illegal migration flows, Slovenian police said on Wednesday. Read more.
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PRISTINA
Kosovo progresses on visa liberalisation by 2024 path. Representatives of the European Parliament, Commission and Council on Wednesday reached an agreement on visa liberalisation for Kosovo with implementation no later than 1 January 2024. Read more.
Kosovo signs, files EU membership application with Czech presidency. Kosovo held a signing ceremony between President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca on Wednesday to put ink to paper on the country’s EU membership application which was then filed to the European Council under the Czech Presidency. Read more.
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TIRANA
Strasbourg court favours Albanian prosecutor dismissed in EU-backed vetting. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled in favour of a former prosecutor who was dismissed during the EU-backed vetting process in Albania, but the ruling noted it does not reflect on the process as a whole in the country. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: Member states leaders meet to discuss energy, economy, defence, southern neighbourhood and more at the European Council, in Brussels Belgium;
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola attend the European Council;
- EU Presidency: Kosovo PM Albin Kurti submits EU membership application in Prague, Czech Republic;
- Vice President Maroš Šefčovič receives Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of UK James Cleverly
- Vice President Dubravka Šuica, Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel participate in the EPP Summit, in Brussels;
- Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on official visit in NATO Headquarters; Delivers keynote speech at the ‘Route 35’ meeting with high-level representatives from all relevant stakeholders of the digital mobility ecosystem;
- International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen visits the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats
- European Parliament Plenary votes on suspicions of corruption from Qatar and the broader need for transparency and accountability in the European institutions and more;
- Belgium: Expiry of current EU authorisation for herbicide glyphosate;
- Denmark: PM Mette Frederiksen announces composition of government;
- Spain: MEPs vote on the creation of ‘menstrual leave’ and access to abortion;
- ECB: Governing Council holds monetary policy meeting and press conference in Frankfurt;
- ECJ: Opinion on visa waiver for US citizens, opinion on complaint by European Super League against FIFA and UEFA;
- ESA: Press conference following the European Space Agency Council;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Source: euractiv.com
