Bulgarian PM: Positive engagement with Austria for Schengen works

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

SOFIA

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told Euractiv Bulgaria in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that the approach of positive engagement with Austria for removing obstacles to the enlargement of Schengen with Bulgaria and Romania is working. The Bulgarian approach contrasts with Romania’s, which has hardened its tone with Vienna. Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

EU agrees to call for ‘pauses for humanitarian needs’ in Gaza, proposes peace conference. After days of discussions on how to call for a pause in the conflict to get urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, EU leaders on Thursday agreed on a call for “humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs” in Israel’s war with Hamas. Read more.

EU Parliament resurrects spyware discussion with second inquiry committee on the horizon. As espionage cases pile up, members of the European Parliament have expressed anger at the lack of follow-up to their spyware recommendations, with some of them supporting a second inquiry committee – ‘PEGA2’ – to scrutinise emerging cases and to keep pressuring the EU Commission into legislating. Read more.

76 MEPs call for Gaza ‘immediate ceasefire’ in letter to EU chiefs. Seventy-six Members of the European Parliament sent a letter to EU Commission and Council leaders on Thursday to push for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza to allow humanitarian access, ahead of the EU countries’ stance agreement. Read more.

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THE HAGUE

Dutch PM lashes out at EU budget increase. Brussels should tighten its belt instead of asking EU countries for additional contributions to its multi-annual budget, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD/Renew) told the EU Council on Thursday, pointing to his country needing to be more fiscally conservative in the future. Read more.

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BERLIN

Scholz has ‘no doubt’ Israel will abide by humanitarian law. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday stressed the need to “advance” humanitarian aid for people in Gaza but doubled down on Germany’s unconditional support for Israel as EU leaders were wrangling over the wording of their EU summit communiqué. Read more.

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PARIS

French PM unveils anti-riot plan after June unrest. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented the government’s anti-riot plan in Paris on Thursday to mayors whose cities have been hardest hit by rioting following the police killing that sparked widespread unrest across the country in June. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ROME

Italian parties on collision course as minimum wage debate returns to parliament. Italian lawmakers will have another go at debating the minimum wage bill at the end of next month, it was decided on Thursday, even though the bill, tabled by the left-wing opposition and now postponed several times, is likely to reignite a clash between the left and the ruling right-wing majority. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain sees record employment rates although unemployment rises. Spain ended this year’s third quarter with a new record employment rate of 21.3 million people despite the overall rise in unemployment as figures for youth remained well above an “acceptable ceiling” by EU standards, a report from the National Statistics Institute (INE) reads. Read more.

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LISBON

Portuguese construction sector points to worst-ever labour situation. Portugal’s construction industry is facing its worst-ever labour situation, as 70% of foreigners entering the country to join the sector have no experience, the country’s Construction Union said on Thursday. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

WARSAW

Polish president names two candidates for prime minister. President Andrzej Duda has named two serious candidates for the position of prime minister and two political forces declaring readiness to form a new government, despite the ruling PiS party not having secured a parliamentary majority in elections on 15 October, on Thursday. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech expert: EU agenda to expand but fewer EU Commissioners unlikely. The topic of EU reform is being discussed since as many as nine new countries, including Ukraine and Albania, want to join and the EU will need to be ready to accommodate them, while some say it is unsustainable for each country to have its own EU Commissioner. Czech expert Markéta Pitrová argues that such a move could mean some countries would lose influence. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

European Centre-Right LGBT+ Alliance accuses Slovak Christian Democrats of homophobia The Slovak Christian Democrats party (KDH) was the only party to vote against the association of the European Centre-Right LGBT+ Alliance to the EPP, and its president, Fredrik Saweståhl, is planning on raising the issue of its leader’s homophobic statements during the next Political Assembly. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgarian dispute with Lukoil could turn into regional oil crisis. The rapid withdrawal of the derogation for the import of Russian crude oil for Russian company Lukoil’s Bulgarian refinery has the potential to lead to a crisis in the fuel market in the Balkan region, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov warned in an exclusive interview for Euractiv Bulgaria. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian president says Schengen ‘no longer functions’. Romania continues to participate in ongoing negotiations for Schengen accession, but the reality is that the area of free movement no longer functions, President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday ahead of the European Council. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA

Slovenian PM in centre of controversy over arrest of Russian spies. The arrest of two alleged Russian spies in Slovenia in November last year was hailed a success for intelligence and security services at the time, but now it has become the subject of serious accusations against Prime Minister Robert Golob, who was accused of having intervened to postpone the date of the arrest of the suspects. Read more.

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BELGRADE | PRISTINA

EU pressure fails to break Kosovo-Serbia deadlock. A group of EU leaders on Thursday failed to convince Kosovo and Serbia to make a breakthrough in the protracted push to normalise ties. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: Euro Summit to be held in the margins of the European Council meeting; Agenda highlights include evaluation of current situation, economic governance and policy coordination, digital euro, and more;
Commission Vice President Vĕra Jourová speaks at Balkan Constitutional Courts Forum, in Sofia, Bulgaria; Meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel, Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov, President of the Constitutional Court Pavlina Panova;
Vice President Margaritis Schinas meets with Brazilian Regional Superintendent of the Federal Police Rogério Giampaoli, National Secretary of Higher Education Denise Pires de Carvalho, in in Sao Paulo;
Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra delivers opening speech in high level panel at European Climate Stocktake;
Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson delivers keynote speech at EU-Morocco event “Common green horizon: Exploiting the full potential of the EU-Morocco Green Partnership”; Attends Oil Coordination Group meeting with representatives from EU Member States; Receives CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov;
Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius participates at Three Basin Summit in Brazzaville, Congo;
Russia: Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers speech at meeting of Interministerial Commission for Eurasian Cooperation;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]