Romanian PM vows ‘extended’ plan to lift Austria’s Schengen veto

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

BRUSSELS

Romania’s new government will launch an extended plan in the coming months to get Austria to remove its veto on the country’s long-desired Schengen accession, social democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive and one of the first interviews he gave since taking his new role.

Romanian PM Marcel Ciolacu spoke to EURACTIV’s senior network editor Sarantis Michalopoulos. Read more.

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EDITOR’S TAKE

Protect EU borders, but I don’t want to know how. Strengthening and protecting the EU’s external borders has been Europe’s narrative to tackle migration for several years now. But what Europe has never explained is what it actually means by that. In the meantime, the body count in the Mediterranean continues to rise, turning it into a cemetery of innocent people, awash with Brussel’s crocodile tears. Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

Tsipras calls on EU to end migration hypocrisy, focus on legal routes. Some in Europe should stop being “hypocrites” about migration, considering the international law as “obsolete” and should instead focus on how much money should be granted to those countries that will host refugees, Greece’s leftist main opposition leader and former prime minister Alexis Tsipras told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive statement. Read more.

LEAK: Commission dismissive of food security fears in new pesticide study. The EU plan to cut pesticide use and risk in half by 2030 will have its largest impact on crops having ‘little or no impact on food security’, the European Commission predicted in its additional impact assessment requested by EU ministers. Read more.

EU’s embattled nature restoration law survives Parliament rejection. The EU’s Nature Restoration Law survived a vote to reject it in the European Parliament’s environment committee, but lawmakers ran out of time due to the thousands of amendments tabled, meaning the committee vote has been postponed until 27 June. Read more.

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PARIS

Macron under fire for ‘working lunch’ with Saudi Arabia’s bin Salman. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday for a working lunch, while NGOs accuse Macron of being the main architect of bin Salman’s rehabilitation on the international scene. Read more.

Le Pen slams Meloni’s migration ‘concessions’ to the EU. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen criticised on Thursday the EU’s immigration policy and that of Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who she accused of making “concessions” to Brussels in exchange for post-COVID recovery funds. Read more.

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BERLIN

German and Russian economy will shrink in 2023, exerts say. The German economy is expected to shrink this year, falling behind other major economies, with only Russia doing worse, according to the forecast reports of two major economic research institutes on Thursday. Read more.

German finance minister gathers fiscal hawks ahead of debt rules debate. Germany’s finance minister Christian Lindner (FDP), has teamed up with 10 colleagues from Central, Eastern and Northern EU countries to call for strict fiscal rules ahead of a debate among EU finance ministers. Read more.

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VIENNA

Regional centre-left chief quits over SPÖ’s ‘far-left newcomers’. The shake-up in Austria’s SPÖ over its new leadership continues, with Innsbruck chief Helmut Buchacher announcing his resignation over a party take-over of what he deems to be far-left newcomers. Read more.

NORDICS AND BALTICS

HELSINKI

Amnesty International: Finland’s public healthcare system not keeping promise. According to a report published by Amnesty International, people relying on public healthcare in Finland do not get value for their tax payments, causing trust in the welfare society to erode. Read more.

UK & IRELAND

LONDON

Brits cannot keep citizenship rights, EU top court confirms. UK nationals cannot automatically retain rights as EU citizens after Brexit, the EU’s top court confirmed on Thursday (15 June). Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

MADRID

Spanish socialist party accuses media of meddling with election poll data. The socialist party PSOE has denounced media companies ABC, El Mundo and El Español, and poll-making companies Sigma2, GAD3, and SOCIOMETRA before the Central Electoral Board (JEC) for publishing polls omitting information and giving Partido Popular (PP) a far superior result. Read more.

Spain to push for ambitious migration pact during EU Council presidency. Spain wants to seal an ambitious pact on migration and asylum during the upcoming EU Council presidency, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Thursday, adding that European countries cannot be divided on the matter because ‘we are all victims of irregular immigration’. Read more.

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LISBON

Portugal must improve economic policy, boost employment, says OECD. Watching the quality of bank credit, directing support to the most vulnerable and ending support measures for energy are some of the recommendations the OECD made on Thursday to Portugal to improve its economic situation. Read more.

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ATHENS

Greece scours shipwreck site; hundreds feared drowned in boat’s hold. Rescuers scoured the seas off Greece on Thursday (15 June) following a shipwreck that killed at least 78 migrants, as hopes of survivors dwindled and fears grew that hundreds more, including children, may have drowned inside the crowded vessel’s hold. Read more.

VISEGRAD

WARSAW

Poland ‘rejects masses of migrants’ to EU, cites human trafficking. Warsaw does not support allowing huge masses of migrants to move into the EU, nor does it agree to what it calls fees for rejecting migrants after receiving practically no help from the EU in dealing with the incoming migration from Ukraine. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Fiala defends EU migration deal in lower house. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) had to defend agreeing to the new deal on migration solidarity to MPs on Thursday after opposition parties said the Czech government had betrayed national interests. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak caretaker government trudges on with no confidence. Wednesday’s vote of no confidence – where only 34 out of 136 Slovak MPs expressed confidence in the technocratic government of Ľudovít Ódor – means less oversight and power for a government already reluctant to vote in Council on controversial topics. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgaria edges closer to building US nuclear reactor. Bulgaria is getting closer to making a US nuclear reactor after the Bulgarian nuclear power plant Kozloduy signed an official engineering contract for Front-End Engineering and Design of a nuclear reactor using the AP-1000 technology with Westinghouse on Wednesday. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania unveils new government after unprecedented PM switch. A new government has been voted into power by the Romanian Parliament on Thursday, following an unprecedented rotation of prime ministers, wherein Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), took on the role in a cabinet that has retained certain key positions while rotating others. Read more.

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LJUBLJANA

Slovenian president asks Belgrade, Pristina to continue dialogue. Serbia and Kosovo must continue the EU-backed dialogue process as it is the only real way to resolve the tensions in Kosovo and calm the situation, said President Nataša Pirc Musaras after meeting with Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade on Thursday. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Serbian IT sector hit with massive layoffs amid worldwide crisis. The effects of a worldwide crisis have hit Serbia and the whole region, and layoffs were a necessary answer to unfavourable macroeconomic circumstances, HTEC group corporate communications director Katarina Urošević told EURACTIV. Read more.

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PRISTINA

US demands release of Kosovo police from Serbia, MEP blames it on Vucic’s domestic issues. The US State Department has called on Serbia to immediately release the three Kosovo policemen Pristina said were kidnapped on Wednesday, also asking that both sides move to de-escalate tensions. Read more.

AGENDA:

EU: Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) convenes to discuss VAT in digital age, economic governance review, and more;
Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis participates in the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) annual meeting;
Vice President Dubravka Šuica participates in “Women and Political Influence: Building Successful Advocacy Campaigns” event, organized by Robert Schuman Institute in Dubrovnik, Croatia;
Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Alexis Goosdeel present the EU Drugs Report 2023;
International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen receives Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva; Attends high level dialogue on development with IMF;
Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli gives online keynote speech for Sofia Pride;
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski participates in G20 Agricultural ministers in Hyderabad, India; Meets American Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Liana Torres Small, Brazilian Minister for Agriculture Carlos Fávaro, Indian Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar;
Parliament President Roberta Metsola on official visit in Portugal meets Speaker of the National Parliament Augusto Santos Silva; Addresses the National Parliament “Assembleia da República”; Participates as a guest at the Council of States; Gives virtual speech at the Prespa Forum Dialogue 2023;
Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro;
France: President Emmanuel Macron hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman;
Russia: President Vladimir Putin speaks at Saint Petersburg Economic Forum;
Japan: G7 Transport Ministers Meeting;