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The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.
PRAGUE | SKOPJE
European Council President Charles Michel was in Skopje on Tuesday to convince Macedonians to accept a deal that could kick-start their EU accession talks, which would mean a new boost for the EU’s enlargement in the Balkans.
While the politically hard-to-swallow deal presents the latest in a series of hard choices imposed on EU hopefuls in the region, the bloc faces the challenge of not repeating its past mistakes in its new promise to expand eastwards to Ukraine and Moldova.
Czechia, now holding the six-month rotating EU Council Presidency, will have to balance between countries pushing for speedy accession of Ukraine to the EU and countries who have been waiting for many years, like those in the Western Balkans, on the other. Read more.
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Editor’s take: Free theatre, Westminster-style
Every week seems to bring new turmoil for the ever-beleaguered Boris Johnson. This time, the turmoil will probably be terminal.
On Tuesday evening (5 July), he faced the biggest and possibly decisive challenge to his premiership when Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, two of his most senior ministers, resigned. Read more.
In today’s news from the Capitals:
EU INSTITUTIONS
Commissioner hints at enforcement details as EU Parliament adopts DSA and DMA. The European Parliament adopted voted to adopt the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) with a broad majority on Tuesday (5 July). On the same day, internal market Commissioner Thierry Breton provided a ‘sneak peek’ into how the new rules will be enforced. Read more.
Gaps in CAP monitoring leave it open to fraud, illegal land grabbing, say auditors. Gaps in monitoring mean the EU’s farming subsidy programme remains vulnerable to fraudulent practices such as illegal land grabbing, according to a new report from the EU auditors, who call on the European Commission to invest in digital technologies to prevent and detect fraud. Read more.
EU lawmakers fear unrest after Council dashes ‘social’ Fit for 55 hopes. EU and French lawmakers expressed fears of ‘brewing social unrest’ akin to that of the Yellow Vests movement after the Council further reduced Parliament’s ‘already watered down’ measures aimed at balancing the social impacts of the EU’s Fit for 55 package. Read more.
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PARIS
French government lacks ‘real’ gender equality, say experts. Despite appointing a female prime minister in May for only the second time in modern political history, the new French government’s gender parity is only a facade, according to the High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCE). Read more.
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BERLIN
Berlin plans to limit claims of ‘force majeure’ in bid to stabilise energy markets. Following reduced gas flows from Russia, German energy companies are struggling under the strain of record energy prices, prompting the government to tighten its hold on the market. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austrian crisis committee meets as gas storage rates fall. After gas storage rates have fallen recently, a government crisis committee met on Tuesday to discuss the matter but has not raised alarm levels. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Belgian ministers to decide next steps for COVID vaccine strategy. Belgian federal and regional health ministers will discuss the next steps for the country’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy on Wednesday and will likely recommend that elderly citizens and at-risk groups get the second booster shot as a priority, as proposed by the Superior Health Council. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch prepare for next round of COVID vaccinations. Health Minister Ernst Kuipers has asked the municipal health service (GGD) and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) to prepare for another booster shot after the summer. Read more.
NORDICS
STOCKHOLM HELSINKI
NATO signs accession protocols with Finland and Sweden, ratification process starts. NATO ambassadors on Tuesday (5 July) signed the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden, opening the ratification process in the 30-member alliance. But the Turkish parliament approval could still pose a hurdle for the countries’ official membership. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Draghi makes up with Erdogan at Ankara summit. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi spoke about Italy and Turkey becoming allies and strengthening bilateral cooperation at an intergovernmental summit in Ankara after a year of diplomatic tensions. Read more.
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MADRID
Spanish government approves €1 billion for defence, clashes with coalition partner. The government has approved an extra boost of €1 billion for defence to cover extra expenses facing the national army as part of Spain’s commitments to NATO following the Ukraine war, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more.
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LISBON
Portugal aims to strengthen role in NATO. Portugal’s Minister of Defence, Helena Carreiras, said on Tuesday that in the current framework of global security and with the war in Ukraine the role of Portugal in NATO must be strengthened. Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Jourová’s disapproval of Polish judicial reform ‘staggering’, says president. Polish President Andrzej Duda admitted he was surprised by European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová’s remark that his judicial reform project was insufficient to unblock Poland’s Recovery Fund money. Read more.
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BUDAPEST
Foreigners look to invest in Hungarian real estate as national currency weakens. Foreign investors are increasingly interested in purchasing Hungarian property after the country’s national currency, the forint, rapidly depreciated, Telex reported. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Future Bulgarian government wants 6-month horizon. The new coalition and possible future government with potential prime minister Asen Vassilev is being negotiated for only six months because the idea is that, after that, a vote of confidence will be requested. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romania ill-prepared for austerity, president says. Romania has not prepared and does not want austerity measures to cope with a potential economic crisis, President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday, after the government published plans to increase taxes to fight the budget squeeze. Read more.
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ZAGREB
Croatia’s finance minister to quit government. Finance Minister Zdravko Marić will leave the Croatian government for personal reasons, several Croatian media reported on Tuesday, though the news was not publicly confirmed. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenian state budget deficit sees dramatic drop from last year. Slovenia recorded a budget deficit of just €128 million in the first half of 2022 compared to nearly €2 billion in the same period last year, as surging tax receipts were coupled with significant expenditure cuts. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Serbia leads region with gold reserves. Serbia is the leading country in the region in terms of gold deposited in the central bank’s treasury, the latest figures show.
Meanwhile, Chinese mining giant Zijin, which operates the biggest copper mine and smelting plant in Serbia, has sold 5.74 tons of gold to the National Bank of Serbia in the last three and a half years the company announced. Read more.
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TIRANA
Shell on cusp of Albanian discovery that could change Europe’s energy future, Rama says. Dutch energy giant Shell is on the verge of discovering major gas and oil reserves in Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama told Dutch journalists on Monday, in a development that has the potential to change the energy future of Europe. Read more.
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Agenda
- EU: European Parliament votes on the motion to block Commission’s ‘green label’ plans for gas and nuclear investments.
- European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen participates in the EP plenary debate on the presentation of the programme of activities of the Czech Presidency, press conference follows.
- EU Court rules on complaints by Catalan politicians against acts of the European Parliament.
- EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell participates in G20 Foreign Minister’s meeting in Indonesia.
- Germany: Chancellor Scholz answers MPs questions during a Q+A session in parliament.
- Greece: Appeal trial resumes of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
- Czech Republic: Czech PM Fiala will present the Czech EU Presidency priorities at plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
- United Nations: Online press conference to present UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 in the US.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Eleonora Vasques, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
