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The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.
In today’s news from the Capitals:
As one of its promises to Europe’s youth, the European Commission said it would follow up on demands that arose from the Council on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) for a seat at the table while shaping the bloc’s future.
Yet, the European executive’s move to water down the calls for measuring the impact bloc proposals could have on young people, despite branding 2022 as the year of European Youth, leave many disappointed. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Leading MEPs tackle obligations for high-risk AI systems in new compromise. Lawmakers spearheading discussions on the AI Act pitched a compromise on the obligations for high-risk AI systems and a consolidation of the past text, according to documents obtained by EURACTIV. Read more.
Berlin, Brussels join calls for ‘fundamental reform’ of EU power market. The German government on Friday (26 August) said it was looking at decoupling gas and electricity markets as a way to curb rising power prices in Europe, a call later joined on Sunday by Brussels and Vienna. Read more.
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PARIS
Poland’s Morawiecki pushes for nuclear future in Paris. French and Polish companies must work together to reinvest massively in the nuclear sector, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told France’s largest employer trade union conference, MEDEF, on Monday. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
Dutch cities struggle to ditch Russian gas. High gas prices mean city councils in the Netherlands are struggling to find alternatives to Russian supplies and meet an EU deadline for governments and public bodies to quit existing contracts with Russian companies. Read more.
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BERLIN
Berlin government goes on retreat in effort to patch up cracks. In its scramble for unity on tackling the ongoing cost of living and energy crises, as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine, Germany’s three-party government has come together for a two-day closed-door meeting outside of Berlin. Read more.
Berlin to trade tanks with Prague in latest Ukraine swap deal. In the most recent of Berlin’s now regular arms swap deals, struck by Chancellor Scholz and Czech Prime Minister Fiala, the Czech Republic is to get 15 German tanks in exchange for delivering tanks to Ukraine. Read more.
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VIENNA
Austria’s largest energy supplier urgently needs government help. Energy supplier Wien Energie is asking the federal government for a €6 billion bailout to prevent risking two million customers’ contracts, though it assures its supply is secure and no losses have to be compensated. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finland’s ‘very pricy’ nuclear reactor in trouble again. Finland’s fifth and largest nuclear power reactor, Olkiluoto 3, saw its output drop to zero due to a turbine failure on Monday, yet another setback for the reactor still in the trial phase but already supplying the country’s grid. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Swedish PM promises new Ukraine package. Sweden will send Ukraine a new €93 million aid package, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a press conference on Monday. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Draghi rejects upping budget deficit to address soaring energy prices. New aid packages, including those already planned, will not be adjusted to face rising energy prices, but an aid package could be looked into to help those struggling with sky-rising energy bills, Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Economy Minister Daniele Franco said on Monday. Read more.
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ATHENS
Greek parliament sets up inquiry commission to probe phone tapping scandal. Greek lawmakers on Monday voted in favour of setting up an inquiry commission to probe the phone tapping of an opposition leader that led Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to sack the head of the country’s intelligence service (EYP), Reuters reported. Read more.
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MADRID
Sanchez and Scholz to defend Midcat pipeline. In face of French opposition, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are set to defend their joint position favouring an increase in energy interconnections in the EU, particularly the Midcat pipeline, which if constructed, would link Spain and France. Read more.
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LISBON
EU complacent, responds poorly in key areas, says Portuguese minister. The EU is complacent in key areas like climate change and foreign policy and often fails to think strategically, Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said on Monday. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BRATISLAVA
Slovak schools could close this winter over rising energy prices. Schools may be forced to shut down in winter due to the dramatic increase in electricity and heating prices, schools and municipalities representatives have warned. Read more.
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WARSAW
Controversial textbook hits Polish schools. The textbook for the subject ‘History and the Present’, considered right-wing and biased, was approved for the school curriculum starting from 1 September, causing outrage, while publishers have created an alternative available from the same date. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czechs call for energy prices decoupling. Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Síkela called for Europe to decouple gas and electricity prices to deal with the current crisis and announced an extraordinary Energy Council on 9 September. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BELGRADE
EU Commission ‘regrets’ Serbian EuroPride ban, tries to blame Kosovo. The European Union expressed regret at Serbia’s decision to cancel or postpone ‘EuroPride’, noting that the EU bloc supports equality and opposes any form of discrimination as Prime Minister Ana Brnabic met with Greens/EFA MEPs. Read more.
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SOFIA
Russia’s Lukoil to pay high price for oil port in Bulgaria. The only oil port in Bulgaria has been given a concession to the Russian company “Lukoil Neftochim” for 35 years for €500,000 per year, said the co-chairman of the “Change Continues” party, Asen Vassilev. Read more.
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LJUBLJANA
Slovenia backs Croatia’s entry into Schengen. Slovenia is very much in favour of Croatia’s entry into the Schengen zone, said Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar, who met her Croatian counterpart Davor Božinović on Monday. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albanian PM: EU’s vaccine policy, ‘shameful mistake’. Prime Minister Edi Rama levied criticism at the European Union over its management of COVID-19 vaccine distribution during a panel where he spoke at the Bled Conference in Slovenia on Monday. Read more.
Open Balkan initiative could negatively impact region, study says. The ‘Open Balkan’ initiative pioneered by Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia, could have negative implications symbolically and in terms of genuine cooperation across the region, an analysis by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has found. Read more.
Agenda
- EU: Informal meeting EU defence ministers, EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell chairs.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosts Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
- European Parliament committee meetings.
- Germany: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends German government seminar.
- Switzerland: UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination presents findings after a number of country reviews, including of the US.
- Denmark: International meeting on independence from Russian energy.
- WHO Europe press conference.
- Russia: Russian holds ‘Vostok-2022’ military exercises in the country’s east.
- Israel: Israel Defence Minister Benny Gantz visits Japan.
- World: International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Maksimov, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Eleonora Vasques]
Source: euractiv.com
