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In today’s news from the Capitals:
Good morning from ROME,
Two different faces of Europe are clashing ahead of the crucial Italian elections on 25 September, with far-right candidate Giorgia Meloni telling Brussels that if she wins, the “fun is over”. Her rival centre-left Enrico Letta replied that such a scenario would mean “Italy is over”. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Parliament faces nepotism row over top job appointee. The European Parliament will face its own charges of nepotism after Alessandro Chiocchetti, currently the Head of Cabinet for Parliament President Roberta Metsola, was appointed as its next Secretary General, making him the top civil servant in the Parliament. Read more.
EU auditors urge Commission to draw lessons from COVID vaccine procurement. Most COVID-19 vaccine contracts signed by the European Commission lacked specific provisions to address supply disruptions, and procurement processes could have been more scrutinised, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) found in a new report released Monday. Read more.
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PARIS
Macron-Mitsotakis dinner stays clear of Predator wiretapping scandal. The Predator wire-tapping and spyware scandal that is currently shaking the Greek political scene was not on the menu during Monday’s dinner between French President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Read more.
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BERLIN
Germany could loosen arms export rules, still hesitant on tanks for Ukraine. Germany should loosen its restrictive arms exports rules, said Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht, though she remains reluctant to supply Ukraine with the Western battle tanks it requested. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austria urges citizens to ‘make small changes’ to reduce energy consumption. Austria is calling on its citizens to make small behavioural changes as it aims to reduce the nation’s electricity consumption by 11%, a new campaign presented by Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler on Monday stated. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
Belgium made no gains against political corruption this year. Belgium made no improvements in preventing corruption among lawmakers within the past year, a report published Monday by the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO reads. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch cabinet plans to pay citizens’ energy debts. The cabinet is finalising a plan to help people who cannot afford to pay their energy bills as prices continue to rise, Dutch media NOS reported. Read more.
UK AND IRELAND
DUBLIN
Many young Irish fear future, consider leaving due to rising living costs. More than seven in ten people aged 18-24 in Ireland are considering emigrating, while eight in ten say they are worried about the future, a new poll released on Monday has found. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Swedish far-right vying for PM position ahead of elections results. As Sweden still awaits the final results of Sunday’s elections, the far-right Sweden Democrats are already eyeing ministerial positions despite other right-wing parties refusing to include them in government. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Spanish lawmakers discuss controversial tax on banks, energy companies. Lawmakers are set to discuss a bill on Tuesday regarding a temporary tax on banks and energy companies’ profits that could lead to the collection of about €7 billion in 2022 and 2023, which experts have said could be “unconstitutional”. Read more.
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LISBON
Portugal’s socialists back EU tax on excessive energy profits. More taxes to address excessive energy profits are crucial but need to be agreed upon at EU level, Eurico Brilhante Dias, the parliamentary leader of the Portuguese Socialist Party, said. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greeks face annual electricity bills worth two monthly minimum wages. Greek workers are being burdened with yearly electricity prices equivalent of two months of minimum wage, according to figures released by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Read more.
VISEGRAD
WARSAW
Poland mulls borrowing from Asia if EU does not send recovery money. Poland could look into borrowing money from Asia should the European Commission not decide to finally send Poland funds from the recovery and resilience facility, Culture Minister Piotr Gliński told the pro-government Sieci weekly. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czech farmers plan massive protests against new CAP, Green Deal. Czech farmers’ organisations plan to hold massive protests against the new Common Agricultural Policy on Thursday, the day Prague will host an informal meeting of EU agricultural ministers. Read more.
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BRATISLAVA
Slovakia has enough gas for winter if Russia puts total halt on supplies. Gas reserves in Slovakia are large enough to last the whole winter, said executive director of major Slovak gas supplier SPP Richard Prokypčák. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SKOPJE
Skopje asks Hungary to extradite former PM, again. The Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia announced on Monday that it is seeking the extradition from Hungary of the former prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, who left for the country in 2018. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria reopens its embassy in Kyiv. The Bulgarian Embassy in Ukraine reopened Monday and is resuming work step by step, the foreign ministry announced. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
EU approves €1.5 billion aid scheme for large electricity consumers in Romania. The European Commission approved a scheme to partially compensate energy-intensive companies in the context of increased electricity prices. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Western Balkans leaders in Slovenia call to speed up EU enlargement. The heads of state of Western Balkans countries called for an acceleration of the EU enlargement process at a meeting in Slovenia on Monday as they urged the EU to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate country status and introduce visa-free travel for all countries in the region by the end of the year. Read more.
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BELGRADE
Pride week opens in Belgrade after lengthy back-and-forth. The LGBTI+ event Pride Week opened on Monday in Belgrade, though it remains unclear whether Serbian authorities will proceed to ban the event as announced by President Aleksandar Vučić. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanians up in arms over oil burning power plants off coast of tourist hotspot. Albanians are protesting against proposed plans to burn some 600 tonnes of oil per day on two floating power plants in one of the country’s most sought-after tourist regions, surrounded by protected areas. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: The College of Commissioners meets in Strasbourg during European Parliament Plenary session
- Commissioner Nicolas Schmit participates in a conference organised by the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations on the topic “How will the economic future of Europe remain social?”
- Commissioner Nicolas Schmit participates in the debate in the European Parliament plenary session on the Directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU
- Commissioner Ylva Johansson hosts a videoconference call with Ms Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children for the United Nations
- European Parliament President Roberta Metsola meets with the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Laurence Boone and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Tiny Kox
- Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin gives a speech on her vision for Europe in the European Parliament
- Germany:Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Yemen’s Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Rashad al-Alimi
- Spain: Parliament discuss controversial tax on banks and energy companies.
- Greece: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mtsotakis will meet with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski.
- United States: 77th Session of the UN General Assembly
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Maksimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]
Source: euractiv.com
