Germany, Italy highlight growing European nuclear divide

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.

Today’s edition is powered by Equinor

The winds of change blow strongest offshore

The world’s largest floating offshore wind farm has opened! Hywind Tampen – 11 turbines with a 88MW capacity – is also the world’s first offshore wind power for offshore oil and gas and an important step forward in industrialising solutions and reducing costs for future floating wind projects.

Find out more >>

In today’s news from the Capitals:

BERLIN | ROME

Germany’s place as the leader of Europe’s anti-nuclear lobby has been further solidified as Chancellor Olaf Sholz doubled down on his view that nuclear has no place in the country’s energy mix, while Italy has vowed to speed up its integration of nuclear energy in a bid to cut costs, save the economy, and power the Green Transition. Read more.

///

PARIS

French senate president wants constitutional reform, referendum on immigration. Real immigration policy cannot be achieved without reform of the French Constitution, President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher (Les Républicains) told Le Parisien on Saturday. Read more.

///

THE HAGUE

Dutch grant more fossil fuel subsidies than previously thought. The government currently provides larger subsidies than previously thought despite its promise to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, a recent study by several climate action groups shows. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

STOCKHOLM

Swedish Sami minister refuses to meet with the indigenous group this year. One of the country’s largest Sami – an indigenous ethnic group – organisations have been trying to arrange a meeting with the Swedish Minister for Culture and Sami Affairs, Parisa Liljestrand, since she took office last year, only to receive a negative reply from the minister’s office. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

MADRID

Catalan separatist leader: amnesty ‘necessary’ but not enough to solve Madrid conflict. An amnesty for those involved in Catalonia’s secessionist attempts in 2017 is needed but is not enough to solve the political conflict between the region and Spain’s central government, Catalan Separatist Leader Oriol Junqueras said on Sunday. Read more.

Spanish ministers to present priorities for EU Council Presidency. Six ministers will make their first round of appearances at the EU Parliament on Thursday to present Spain’s EU Council Presidency, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to do the same in October, official sources reported. Read more.

VISEGRAD

WARSAW

Poland to establish energy transition ministry. The Polish government will set up a new Ministry of Energy Transition if the ruling camp secures its third consecutive term in power following October’s elections, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Sunday. Read more.

///

PRAGUE

Former Czech PM Babiš exits media sector, sells publishing house. Andrej Babiš, the current leader of the Czech opposition and former prime minister, is stepping away from the media world by selling Mafra, known for its popular daily newspapers Mf Dnes, Lidové noviny, and Metro, to the Kaprain group, led by Czech entrepreneur Karel Pražák. Read more.

///

BRATISLAVA

Most profitable Slovak farm investigated for EU fund fraud. Authorities uncovered irregularities in the Danish-owned Donau farm’s purchase of machinery using EU money, which could cost Slovakia €100 million in fines. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

LJUBLJANA

Slovenia close to signing gas pipeline deal with Hungary. Slovenia and Hungary are expected to sign a memorandum on constructing a pipeline linking their natural gas networks in October, less than a year after the proposed project was first made public by the countries’ prime ministers. Read more.

///

SOFIA

Russian, who refused to fight against Ukraine, wins Bulgarian asylum bid. Russian citizen Alexander Stotzky, who participated in many protests against President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was finally granted refugee status in Bulgaria on Friday after being repeatedly refused asylum under the ruling that there was no real danger waiting for him in Russia. Read more.

///

BUCHAREST

Romanian beekeepers struggle to market honey, ask EU for help. Romanian beekeepers are encountering difficulties in marketing their honey, especially because of the very low prices of products imported from non-EU countries, and are advocating for EU-level measures. Read more.

///

BELGRADE

Serbian opposition considers blocking parliament as protests continue. The eighteenth ‘Serbia against violence’ anti-government protest was held in downtown Belgrade on Saturday with organisers and member of the National Assembly of the Republic Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta asking the opposition to block the parliament’s work, a proposition he says they’ve put ‘on the table’. Read more.

///

TIRANA

Albania’s mandatory earthquake insurance law divides opinion. The government has submitted a draft law for public consultation that will foresee mandatory insurance payments from all citizens to cover the cost of rebuilding in the event of another large earthquake, such as the one that killed 51 people in 2019. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: Development ministers hold 2-day informal meeting in Spain;
Agriculture ministers informal meeting continues; Agenda highlights include gene editing techniques for making production more resilient to climate change;
Commission Vice President Vĕra Jourová receives Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel;
ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta addresses the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) on the digital euro;
Germany: Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock and Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu hold meeting;
Cyprus: President Nikos Christodoulides hosts Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis for trilateral summit;
Russia: President Vladimir Putin hosts Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan;

***

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