The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting from the Euractiv media network. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by Euractiv.
Today's edition is brought to you by CEN-CENELEC
EVENT! Swappable batteries: a clean revolution for European urban mobility?
How could battery-swappable systems revolutionise urban mobility in Europe? On 9 April, join experts, policymakers and industry leaders at the European Parliament for this high-level debate exploring solutions for cleaner, more efficient transport. Register now!
Find out more.
In today's news from The Capitals :
BERLIN
Germany's outgoing lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, voted Tuesday to amend the country's constitution and clear the way for a historic debt-financed investment package that could amount to €1 trillion or more in higher military spending and investment in the country's aging infrastructure. Read more.
WESTERN EUROPE
PARIS
France debates requiring supermarkets to maintain minimum 10% markup on food products. The French National Assembly voted on Monday to extend a requirement for supermarkets to charge a minimum 10% markup on food products, a measure designed to protect farmers' incomes. Read more.
NORTHERN COUNTRIES AND THE BALTIC
COPENHAGEN
Scandinavian Airlines accused of greenwashing. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), the national airline of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, has come under fire after Danish consumer watchdog group Forbrugerrådet Tænk accused it of greenwashing and reported it to the country's consumer ombudsman for violating the country's marketing laws, Jyllands-Posten reports.
On the verge of satire. The airline's “Conscious Traveller” initiative, in which passengers earn bonus points and a shiny eco-label by watching a video about the future of aviation, buying a dynamo torch from the SAS online shop or choosing biofuel, has been described as “on the verge of satire” by Tænk director Winnie Gråsbøll.
“Flying is not environmentally friendly and a power bank will not change that,” she told public broadcaster DR , arguing that it misleads customers into thinking that small purchases will offset aviation's huge CO2 emissions.
SAS has doubled down and rejected the criticism. In a statement to DR, the airline insisted its programme reflected a “commitment to transformation” towards sustainability, highlighting investment in cutting-edge technology.
(Charles Shumsky | Euractiv)
///
VILNIUS | TALLINN | RIGA
The Baltics and Poland will withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines. The defence ministers of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have backed a recommendation to withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, signalling a dramatic shift in NATO strategy on its eastern flank. Read more.
SOUTH OF EUROPE
ROME
Draghi: Europe's security at risk due to US. Europe's security is at risk due to “the change in the foreign policy of our main ally towards Russia, which with the invasion of Ukraine has become a concrete threat to the European Union,” warned Mario Draghi, special adviser to the president of the European Commission, presenting his report to the Italian parliament on Tuesday.
Higher chain of command: In response, “Europe must act as one state,” as transcending national defense models and adopting a continental approach “is becoming a necessary step.” This requires “a higher chain of command to coordinate heterogeneous armies” that “can act as a continental defense system, regardless of national priorities,” Draghi said.
The former ECB chief and Italian prime minister reiterated that the “only way” to finance European defence is through shared debt, as national budget constraints prevent deficits from increasing significantly. This approach, he said, is crucial to avoid cuts to health and social spending that would amount to “denying Europe’s identity.”
(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)
///
MADRID
Spanish government agrees with Puigdemont's party on “solidarity distribution” of immigrant minors. The coalition government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) and the left-wing platform Sumar approved on Tuesday a reform of the Foreigners' Law (Ley de Extranjería) that will allow the distribution of almost 6,000 unaccompanied minors in 17 regions of Spain, after reaching an agreement with the Catalan separatist party JxCat. Read more.
///
LISBON
Portugal's President: Europe must be part of Ukraine's security solution. The Portuguese president said on Tuesday that Europe must be part of the security solution created for Ukraine in a post-war scenario, indicating that Portugal's participation would be determined jointly with allies.
At a joint press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Nataša Pirc Musar at the Presidential Palace in Ljubljana on the occasion of a state visit to Slovenia, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said the two countries “agree that it is impossible to exclude Ukraine from the issue in which Ukraine is at the center of this three-year war,” stressing that this would be “absurd.”
“It is also impossible to exclude Europe, since this is a global war involving world powers, but taking place in the European theatre of war and where European security is at stake,” he continued.
Likewise, he said, “Portugal believes that it makes no sense to exclude Europe from the security solution that will be created now, at the moment of discussing a ceasefire, but above all for the sake of a lasting peace.”
(André Campos | Lusa.pt)
EAST EUROPE
WARSAW
The “fire extinguisher MEP” has taken to spray paint this time. Polish MEP Grzegorz Braun (NI), who gained international notoriety for using a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament in protest at the country's celebration of the Jewish holiday, has now lashed out at the LGBTQ+ community by spray-painting a Pride exhibition in Opole, southwest Poland.
Braun, who is running for president as the candidate of his movement Civic Union of the Polish Crown (KKP) and was expelled from the Civic Union (ESN/PfE) party for putting forward his candidacy despite the fact that the group had already nominated the younger and more moderate Sławomir Męcen as its candidate, visited the city of Opole on 18 March.
After viewing an exhibition by the NGO Rainbow Opole called “We have grown. Provoke equality with us,” which opened less than 24 hours earlier and consisted of photographs taken during Pride marches in Opole, Braun grabbed a can of spray paint and smashed it, which was documented in a video posted on social media. When the person behind the camera asked him to stop, he replied that he “already started.”
Unacceptable behaviour: A spokesman for Opole City Hall told the media that the city considered the behaviour “unacceptable” and would seek compensation from the MEP. He added that the damage was estimated at around 35,000 zlotys (8,400 euros).
Earlier this month, Brown announced he had been punished for an incident in the European Parliament in January in which he repeatedly disrupted the chamber's work, including during a minute's silence for the victims of the Holocaust. He showed a letter he had received from President Roberta Metsola (EPP).
The MEP was banned from plenary sessions for six months and fined 30 per diem. The daily rate is more than €300, meaning Brown will lose €9,000.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
///
PRAGUE
The European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs has backed lifting the immunity of Czech MEP Nagyová. The European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) has recommended lifting the immunity of Czech MEP Jana Nagyová of the far-right group Patriots of Europe, who is facing charges in the Čapí hnízdo subsidy fraud case.
The case concerns allegations that former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Nagyová misused €2 million in EU subsidies by falsely representing the company as a small business. Nagyová has already been acquitted twice by Czech courts, but the convictions have been appealed.
The trial was suspended after she was elected to the European Parliament in June 2024, bringing with her parliamentary immunity. She insists the case is politically motivated and expects to be acquitted again.
(Aneta Zahova | Euractiv.cz)
///
BUDAPEST
Hungarian minister suggests Orban may not back EU defence fund. In a Facebook post on Monday, EU parliamentary secretary Barna Pal Zsigmond expressed Hungary's objections to the €150 billion defence plan tentatively agreed by EU leaders at a summit earlier this month.
He criticized the EU for queuing for “a little sovereignty” and condemned Brussels itself for seeking “new resources to escalate the conflict.” Any plan that supplies weapons to Ukraine or requires joint borrowing among member states will not win Hungary’s support, Zsigmond said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán backed the conclusions of an EU summit on a defence spending package earlier this month. Legal texts are due to be presented by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow before EU leaders debate them on Thursday.
(Telex.hu)
///
BRATISLAVA
Fico announces deal with rebel MPs, re-asserting more comfortable majority After weeks of uncertainty about the strength of support for Slovakia's ruling coalition in parliament, Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that he had reached an agreement with three rebel MPs.
With their support, Fico's government will again receive 79 votes out of the 150 members of parliament, whereas until now it had the minimum possible majority of 76 votes.
Neither Fico nor members of parliament provided any further details about the content of the agreement, but Fico promised that they would emerge in the next few days.
Meet the team . The two MPs in question, Samuel Migal and Radomir Šalitros, were elected on the list of Hlas-SD – Fico’s junior coalition partner – but later left the party after criticising its leadership and some of the government’s actions. As a result, they were expelled from the party.
The third MP, Jan Ferencsák, was not officially expelled from Hlas-SD, but nevertheless joined the rebel group, abstained from voting as part of the coalition, but continued to participate in the ongoing negotiations within the coalition.
(Zuzana Gabrižová | Euractiv.sk)
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Bulgaria risks losing €2.5 billion in EU Social Climate Fund grants. Bulgaria risks losing €2.5 billion in EU grants from the Social Climate Fund because it is late in preparing its national plan, influential NGOs such as WWF, Za Zemyata (For the Earth) and Habitat Bulgaria have warned. Read more.
///
BUCHAREST
Romanian beekeepers ask for government support amid rising costs and market challenges. Romanian beekeepers are calling on the government to provide financial support to maintain bee colonies and introduce import licenses for honey and other bee products in the hope of protecting domestic production from non-EU imports.
They report that honey prices have remained consistently low over the past two years, despite a 40% increase in production costs.
The Ukraine factor: Beekeepers also say EU export licences issued to Ukraine after the Russian invasion have further impacted their livelihoods.
The President of the Romanian Beekeepers Association (ACA), Ioan Fetea, warned about the penetration of counterfeit honey both on the Romanian market and on EU markets in general.
In 2024, ACA requested minimal assistance from the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture to support the survival of bee colonies and the creation of winter reserves, but the promised assistance was never provided, despite being included in the budget.
Without government assistance, beekeepers had to rely on personal funds for supplemental food to keep their colonies alive. However, some counties reported losses of more than 30-35% of their bee colonies.
Despite the difficulties of recent years, Romania remains one of the largest honey producers in the European Union.
(Catalina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)
AGENDAS:
- EU : The trilateral social summit is expected to focus on the theme of “Getting Europe back on track in a challenging geopolitical environment as an attractive, competitive and investment-friendly destination that protects and creates quality jobs”;
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen receives UN Secretary-General António Guterres;
- High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas participates in the Conference on Manipulation and Interference with Foreign Information (FIMI);
- Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen holds an exchange of views with the Parliamentary Committee on Security and Defence and the Select Committee on the European Democratic Shield;
- Vice-President Raffaele Fitto delivers an opening speech at the inaugural congress “Cooperatives: a driving force for competitiveness and social cohesion in Europe”; meets with the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Oliver Röpke;
- Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu meets with representatives of EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries); takes part in the first meeting of the Commissioners' Project Group on Artificial Intelligence;
- Speaker of the Parliament Roberta Metsola meets with UN Secretary-General António Guterres; receives courtesy calls from Cyprus President Nicos Christodoulides and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo; holds a meeting with the President of the Foundation for Analysis and Social Research (FAES) José María Aznar;
- The Parliamentary Committee on Regional Development discusses the role of cohesion policy investment in solving the current housing crisis and more;
- Parliamentary Development Committee discusses implementation of EU/UNOPS Global Portal and more;
- The Parliamentary Committees on Budgetary Control and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs hold a joint meeting on the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) annual report for 2024
- Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee votes to create EU talent pool and more;
***
[Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Daniel Ek, Sofia Mandilar]
Source: Source
