The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.
In today’s news from the Capitals:
BRUSSELS
Ideological divisions between the French National Rally (Rassemblement National) and the Italian League Party (Lega) over the ‘normalisation’ of the latter’s politics are undermining far-right unity, sources told EURACTIV. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
EU Commission fails to assuage MEPs’ concerns over alleged biofuels fraud. The European Commission has rebuffed a request by Parliament lawmakers to turn over information related to used cooking oil (UCO) imports, maintaining that it is not in possession of the documents requested. However, the EU executive admitted that the risk of “false claims” surrounding UCO from abroad represents “a particular concern”. Read more.
Georgians rally en masse for EU, urge government to quit. Georgians staged a new mass rally on Sunday (3 July) demanding that the government resign over its failure to formally secure candidacy for membership of the European Union. Read more.
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PARIS
France on the cusp of new government. Following parliamentary elections, which saw President Emmanuel Macron lose an absolute majority in the French legislative and after consultations with the opposition, the new government is expected to emerge on Monday or Tuesday. Read more.
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BERLIN
High inflation ‘social dynamite’, Scholz says. Ahead of a crucial meeting with social partners, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called high inflation “social dynamite” and promised his government would continue taking measures to alleviate the burden of energy and food price spikes. Read more.
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VIENNA
Far-right calls for security council meeting as Austria’s gas situation worsens. The far-right FPÖ has called for the National Security Council to be convened as the gas storage fill rate is near zero amid reduced gas flows from Russia ahead of a government statement set for Tuesday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Renewables’ role in Dutch energy mix decreases. The share of renewable energy in the Netherlands’ energy consumption decreased by 2% in 2021, meaning the Hague is no longer on track to hit its EU green goals, new data from the government’s statistical office shows. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finland to update transgender rights law in autumn. Finland will update its transgender legislation in autumn, Prime Minister Sanna Marin promised at the Helsinki Pride parade on Saturday, where she said the reform carries personal significance because she had been raised in a “rainbow family.” Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Italian summer kicks off with COVID wave. Infection numbers are rising again as 71,947 new cases were registered in Italy in 24 hours, according to data from the health ministry released on Sunday. Read more.
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MADRID
Spanish Ryanair staff strikes disrupt air traffic as summer starts. Ryanair cabin crew in Spain announced fresh strikes for the entire month of July as the summer travel period kicked off last weekend in Spain’s most popular tourist destinations and across Europe. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA
Slovak academia increases cooperation with Chinese counterparts. About 28 Slovak academic institutions, including public universities, the Slovak Academy of Science, and its various research institutes, have at least 136 connections to China, a study by the Bratislava-based Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) has found. Read more.
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WARSAW
Morawiecki resists calls to reject EU recovery money. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki dismissed Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro’s calls for Poland to turn down EU COVID recovery fund money if the European Commission insists on justice system conditions. Read more.
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PRAGUE
European defence suffers from bad reputation, Czech industry says. Strict regulations, lack of raw materials and inability to apply research outcomes in practice are to blame for the European defence industry’s limitations, Czech arms industry representative Jiří Hynek said. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SKOPJE
Macedonians split over French proposal and path to unlocking Bulgaria’s EU veto. Following protests in Skopje over the ‘French proposal’ aimed at unlocking the Bulgarian veto over their EU accession, amid calls from civil society over “ethnocide” and comparing Bulgaria to Russia’s stance towards Ukraine, the Macedonian president has convened the security council and given the text his stamp of approval. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgarian secret services: Russia pays public figures to spread propaganda. The Bulgarian secret services have data showing that Russia pays about €2000 (BGN 4,000) per month to public figures, journalists, and politicians to spread its propaganda in the country, a government spokesperson and head of the prime minister’s office, Lena Borislavova told Darik radio over the weekend. Read more.
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ZAGREB
Adopting euro will make harsh winter even harder, warns ex-Croatia PM. Croatia should not have rushed to join the eurozone from 1 January 2023, which promises to be very hard, with rising prices and falling living standards, former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor warned in an interview with the Nacional weekly, published on Sunday. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenian state to buy all wheat produced domestically. The Slovenian Agency for Commodity Reserves will buy all the wheat Slovenian farmers produce this year to protect food supplies and stabilise prices. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania’s draft cannabis law raises opposition ire. The Albanian government has processed its draft law for legalising the production of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes which will now be subject to public consultation, days after the country was ranked seventh globally for illegal cannabis and narcotic activity and amid opposition outrage. Read more.
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WESTERN BALKANS
Albanian PM: EU outdated and needs to be changed. Prime Minister Edi Rama has once again poked fun at Brussels and the EU accession process, this time during an interview in Amsterdam. Read more.
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Agenda
- EU: Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson holds a call with High Commissioner for UNHCR Filippo Grandi.
- Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton meets French Minister for Economy, Finance and Recovery Bruno Le Maire.
- Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson addresses the European Parliament on events at the Spanish-Moroccan border.
- ECB to give a press briefing on the climate action plan.
- European Court of Auditors publishes a report on fraud in the Common Agricultural Policy.
- European Parliament plenary session starts.
- European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen meets chairs of EPP, S&D and Renew groups at European Parliament.
- Germany: Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir and French counterpart Marc Fesneau hold a press conference.
- Central Bank chief Joachim Nagel speech on the future of monetary policy.
- France: President Emmanuel Macron hosts German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
- Switzerland: International conference on reconstruction of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen delivers a speech.
- Human Rights Council press conference on the situation in Libya.
- Russia: FM Sergei Lavrov hosts Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Carlos Faria.
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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
