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In today’s news from the Capitals:
Norwegian and world business should not make themselves vulnerable by becoming too dependent on trade with China, warned NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, referencing Europe’s “mistake” of relying heavily on Russian gas. Read more.
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EU INSTITUTIONS
Croatia to join Schengen but EU ministers block Bulgaria and Romania. Croatia will join the EU’s passport-free Schengen area in January after EU home affairs ministers approved their application on Thursday but again blocked applications by Bulgaria and Romania. Read more.
EU to introduce targets for raw materials self-sufficiency. The European Commission is considering objectives to increase the EU’s self-sufficiency on key raw materials needed for the green and digital transitions, with targets of up to 30% for some of them, a senior EU official has said. Read more.
Unsustainable soy-fed meat imports get free pass under new EU law. Livestock fed with deforestation-linked soy products will still be found on European supermarket shelves under the new EU deforestation law, prompting outrage among EU agrifood stakeholders who warn this harms the environment to the detriment of EU producers. Read more.
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PARIS
Renewable energy delay is costing France billions: report. France is losing €6-9 billion a year in gas imports because the country fails to meet its renewable energy goals agreed upon at the European level, according to a new think-tank study unveiled on Thursday. Read more.
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BERLIN
US offers Germany anti-extremism help after failed far-right coup. Washington is ready to lend support to Berlin in fighting extremism, the White House said after German investigators discovered a group of right-wing conspiracy theorists were planning a coup. Read more.
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BRUSSELS
NGOs ask Belgian Council of State to suspend authorisation of two insecticides. PAN Europe and Nature&Progrès Belgium took legal action against the systematic authorisation of two cypermethrin-based insecticides, a substance linked to health and environmental damages, the NGOs argued. Read more.
NORDICS AND BALTICS
HELSINKI
Finnish export companies abandon Russia. Only 4% of Finnish businesses are still doing business in Russia, according to a survey commissioned by the Finland Chamber of Commerce, a significant decline since the invasion of Ukraine. Read more.
Finnish Finance Ministry calls for expenditure cuts, tax increases. The recipe to balance general government finances, stop the growth of the debt ratio, and close the long-term sustainability gap was published by the Finance Ministry on Thursday afternoon. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
ROME
Italy bets on LNG for energy independence, more regasifiers needed. The Meloni government must bank on regasifiers for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be energy independent as soon as possible, senior executive of energy giant Eni said. Read more.
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MADRID
Over 100 migrants reach Spanish island of Lanzarote on rafts. Eleven women and four minors were among the 103 migrants who arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands aboard two inflatable rafts on Wednesday evening. Read more.
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LISBON
Portuguese cabin crew strike after failed negotiations. TAP airline cabin crew are on a two-day strike called by the National Civil Aviation Flight Staff Union (SNPVAC) due to a lack of agreement in negotiations on the new company agreement. Read more.
VISEGRAD
BUDAPEST
Hungarian inflation hits record 22.5% in November. Inflation in Hungary reached 22.5% year-on-year in November, marking a new twenty-year high, with food and energy remaining the items with the biggest surges, while analysts warn that the recent removal of the fuel price cap could accelerate inflation in the coming months. Read more.
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WARSAW
Alleged Russia spy believed to have accessed Polish intelligence data. Tomasz L., who was detained in the spring, was a member of the commission for the liquidation of the Military Information Services in 2006, which was overseen by then-deputy minister of national defence Antoni Macierewicz – one of the most influential people in the Law and Justice Party –, journalists at TVN24 discovered. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czechia to have ‘national security advisor’. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala says he will nominate his current emissary, Tomáš Pojar, for the soon-to-be-established national security advisor position, which comes with the task of coordinating intelligence and security forces. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
BUCHAREST
Romania vexed by yet another Schengen refusal. Romanian politicians deplored Vienna’s “unjustified” decision to block the country’s access to Schengen, with many voices calling for a boycott of Austrian goods or companies. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria revokes 12 golden passports. Bulgaria has revoked 12 golden passports, and the procedure for five others is underway, Justice Minister Krum Zarkov told Bulgarian Telegraph Agency after a closed meeting of the European Parliament’s Democracy, Rule of Law, and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group in Brussels on Thursday. Read more.
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SKOPJE
Skopje, Sofia pledge to combat hate speech through collaboration. North Macedonia and Bulgaria are working to avoid tensions, including hate speech and discrimination that is nurtured by third parties through cooperation in various cultural and business sectors. Read more.
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PRISTINA
Kosovo president: Progress made in lobbying non-recognisers. After Kosovo unveiled plans to apply for EU membership before the end of the year, its president told EURACTIV in an interview that progress is being made in lobbying the five EU member states that currently do not recognise the country. Read more.
Kosovo police increase presence in north of country, Serbia reacts. Kosovo Police has announced an increased presence in the country’s north, predominantly inhabited by ethnic Serbs, as Belgrade says it will send in its own security forces. Read more.
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TIRANA
Albania has highest rates of administrative corruption in region. Over half of Albanians said they have been asked for a bribe, while half of those admitted they have given it, the highest rates in the region according to a new report on corruption by the Southeast European Leadership for Development and Integration. Read more.
AGENDA
- EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council discusses strategic lawsuits against public participation, digitalisation of justice, environmental crime and more;
- Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council holds health session with focus on the fight against cancer and vaccination;
- President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen participates in the Summit of Southern European Union countries;
- Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel participates via videoconference in the World Science Forum (WSF);
- Justice Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen participates virtually in the Sustainable Development Goals 4 high level Steering Committee meeting;
- Germany: Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Estonia’s PM Kaja Kallas;
- Spain: Europe’s strategic independence in energy matters and economic governance, and the establishment of new fiscal rules, main topics of the 9th EU-MED9 Euro-Mediterranean Summit to be held Friday in the Spanish city of Alicante (east).
- Portugal: Parliament votes on decriminalization of euthanasia;
- Bulgaria: Bulgarian president Rumen Radev will visit Istanbul at the invitation of the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- China: PM Li Keqiang holds press conference with heads of major international economic organisations;
- Russia: Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu meets counterparts from allied countries;
- Kyrgyzstan: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends Supreme Eurasian Economic Council;
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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Vlad Makszimov, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]
Source: euractiv.com
