Tusk-ruled Poland not the pro-EU paradise Brussels is hoping for

Tusk-ruled Poland not the pro-EU paradise Brussels is hoping for | INFBusiness.com

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

WARSAW

Poland’s exit poll results may have been well received in several European capitals, with many hailing it as a possible end to the tug-of-war with Brussels should the current opposition form a government, but the charm of former European Council president Donald Tusk may not be all that it seems. Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

Party pushing ‘self-determination’ in EU election stint fields two top candidates. The European Free Alliance (EFA) party, while low on seats and waning in voting intentions, aims to bring the voices of national minorities and stateless nations into the EU debate by fielding two top candidates who will campaign across the continent to “spread the ideas” of self-determination, the party’s newly elected top candidates told Euractiv. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Brussels residents advised to stay indoors after Brussels terrorist shooting. The Belgian federal prosecutor investigating the terrorist shooting on Monday (16 October) called on Brussels’ residents to stay indoors until the threat was over, while France tightened its border with Belgium. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germany to start checks at border with Switzerland. Germany will introduce controls at its border with Switzerland following pressure to reduce irregular migration flows. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD/S&D) also promised to introduce stationary border controls at the border with Poland and the Czech Republic on Monday. Read more.

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PARIS

Six months after pension reform, French cabinet woos unions with wage hike talks. The French government convened trade unions and business organisation leaders for a high-level ‘social conference’ focusing on wage increases on Monday, months after a much-decried pension reform brought government-union dialogue to a standstill. Read more.

French government risks protest vote over EU power market reform. French opposition members have hit out at the government’s efforts to rein in electricity prices as part of EU talks to reform the bloc’s power market, saying the executive will be judged during the 2024 European elections. Read more.

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VIENNA

Austria rejects new compromise on EU debt reform. Austria has hit out at the latest compromise proposal to reform the EU’s fiscal rules, with Finance Minister Magnus Brunner arguing that it lacks ambition. Read more.

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THE HAGUE | COPENHAGEN

Dutch, Danish to intensify cooperation on carbon capture, storage. Denmark and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday on the sidelines of the EU Environment Council in Luxembourg, pledging to cooperate on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and CO2 transport. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

COPENHAGEN

Denmark steps up crackdown on foreign illegal workers. Denmark’s Immigration and Integration Ministry unveiled a stricter regime for monitoring illegal work by people not legally resident in Denmark but not subject to deportation on Monday. Read more.

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OSLO

Norwegian FM removed from office amid stock market scandal. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has dismissed Anniken Huitfeldt as foreign minister amid stock market scandals, saying it was necessary to restore confidence and calm controversy over her husband’s transactions and resulting potential conflicts of interest. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

MADRID

Sumar presents Palestine’s recognition as condition to join the next Sánchez government. Recognition of the Palestinian state is one of the conditions for the left-wing Sumar platform to sign a coalition agreement with acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the group’s spokesman Ernest Urtasun said on Monday, noting that there should be no need to wait for a common EU position. Read more.

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LISBON

Portugal’s Costa urges Israel to respect Gaza civilians amid military action. Israel has the right to defend itself by acting militarily while respecting the civilian populations of Gaza, Prime Minister António Costa said In Alvor, Portimão on Sunday. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

PRAGUE | STOCKHOLM

EPPO could expand as Czech deputy head hints at Sweden’s potential inclusion. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) could soon be expanded to include a new member state, Sweden, the Czech deputy head of the body, Petr Klement, told Euractiv.cz in an interview. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Smer signs coalition agreement to end ‘foreign NGO rule’. Slovakia’s new government wants to crack down on foreign-funded NGOs in a move reminiscent of laws labelling NGOs as foreign agents introduced in Russia and Hungary, with the latter seeing its laws struck down by the EU Court of Justice. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

BELGRADE

Serbia snubs Berlin Process Summit to sign trade deal with China. Serbia will sign a free trade agreement with China on Tuesday – covering 10,412 Serbian tariff lines or products and 8,930 on the Chinese side, as President Aleksander Vučić snubbed the Berlin Process Summit meeting in Tirana to head east. Read more.

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SOFIA

Bulgarian Constitutional Court to hear case against agrophotovoltaic use. Building agrophotovoltaics on arable land – which is when the same area of land is used to obtain both solar energy and agricultural products – could lead to the transformation of agricultural areas into energy production plants, President Rumen Radev said before the Constitutional Court on Monday. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian parliament readopts special pensions reform after constitutional check. Romania’s Chamber of Deputies quickly passed the law on special pensions in line with the EU Commission’s request to unblock a third recovery fund instalment on Monday after the Constitutional Court ruled the previous proposal unconstitutional in August. Read more.

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PRISTINA | TIRANA | BERLIN

German representative to Western Balkans: No need for new approach to Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. Germany does not support the idea of a regional conference or a new approach to Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, according to Manuel Sarrazin, special representative for the countries of the Western Balkans to the German government, who spoke to Euractiv on the sidelines of the Berlin Process Summit in Tirana on Monday. Read more.

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PRISTINA

Serbia refuses to sign EU-backed dialogue agreements at Berlin Process Summit. Serbia had the chance to sign the EU-facilitated basic agreement and Ohrid agreement at the Tirana-hosted Berlin Process summit, but they refused, according to Kosovo‘s Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Read more.

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TIRANA

Divisions over Kosovo-Serbia, enlargement, funding, ‘class’, laid bare at Berlin Process Summit. TIRANA, ALBANIA – Leaders of the European Commission and Council as well as key EU member states are adamant that dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade must continue, despite uncertainty over the recent attack on 24 September in north Kosovo, just one of many divergences on display at the Berlin Process Summit in Tirana on Monday. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: Extraordinary European Council meeting via video conference to focus on unfolding situation in the Middle East;
Economic and Financial Affairs Council convenes to discuss implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), climate finance in view of COP28, non-cooperative jurisdictions regarding taxation, and more;
Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council expected to discuss Electricity market design, national energy and climate plans (NECPs), winter preparedness, and more;
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen chairs the College of Commissioners meeting;
Financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union Commissioner Mairead McGuinness meets with President of Eurogroup Paschal Donohoe;
Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit gives Commission statement in Parliament on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty;
Parliament President Roberta Metsola hosts Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan;
Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Jordan’s King Abdullah II;
United Kingdom: Energy Intelligence Forum 2023 takes place;