Good morning from Brussels, Faced with fierce competition from Chinese solar panel manufacturers flooding the market with cheaper alternatives, European competitors are “poised to shut down manufacturing lines” unless the EU takes emergency measures to save the sector, such as buying up their piling stocks. In her State of the Union address last September, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had already condemned the unfair trade practices affecting the sector, which is essential as it is part of the EU’s ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’. With the Commission expected to make a statement on 'The State of the EU Solar Industry in the Face of Unfair Competition' during today's plenary session of the European Parliament, Jonathan Packroff provides you with all the details you need to navigate this critical policy issue. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA/Mohammed Badra] |
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| The European Green Party has renewed its pledge to cater for farmers and agreed to try to bring forward the EU's climate neutrality and fossil fuel phase-out targets at this weekend's congress in Lyon, Max Griera reports. This pledge is an attempt to fend off right-wing 'attacks' on the party and the Green Deal after a week marked by a resurgence of anger among farmers, which they expressed all the way to the European Parliament in Brussels during last Thursday's European Council. The European Greens also played it safe and elected two heavyweights as EU elections lead candidates, German Terry Reintke and Dutch Bas Eickhout, despite some delegations pushing to include southern and eastern candidates in the leadership. Meanwhile, following the failure of inter-institutional negotiations on the Platform Work Directive last week, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union has circulated a new draft text which significantly weakens the file's flagship chapter on the legal presumption of employment. Théo Bourgery-Gonse has the story. |
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| BERLIN German conservative leader confident about future coalition possibilities. The leader of Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, is convinced his party will lead the next federal government, he said in his weekly newsletter on Saturday, outlining potential coalition partners. Read more. /// PARIS Parisians vote against SUVs heavy vehicles. On Sunday, Parisians voted to increase parking charges for sport utility vehicles (SUVs), but the opposition jumped to call it a democratic, ecological and social farce. Read more. |
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| MADRID Spain announces minimum wage to ‘improve’ lives of millions. Spain’s minimum wage will rise from the current €1,050 to €1,134 gross per month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) announced at a rally on Saturday. Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [Shutterstock/Aprilphoto] |
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| WARSAW Poland has introduced stricter controls on agri-food products at the Ukrainian border to protect its domestic market from an uncontrolled influx of products, Deputy Agriculture Minister Michał Kołodziejczak said over the weekend. Read more. /// BRATISLAVA Slovak farmers ready to join protests, call EU policy ‘green fanaticism’. Slovak farmers are prepared to join their European counterparts in the week-long protests that have rocked many countries in recent weeks, the Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food (SPPK) said, adding that the EU’s “green fanaticism” was to blame. Read more. |
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| BUCHAREST | CHISINAU Moldova renews 5-year ban on Romanian far-right leader George Simion. The ban on far-right AUR party President George Simion from entering the Republic of Moldova has been extended for another five years, representatives of the General Inspectorate for Migration of the Ministry in Chisinau told NewsMaker.md. Read more. |
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| EU: Informal meeting of ministers responsible for cohesion policy expected to discuss opportunities of growth, social inclusion, and more, in Mons, Belgium; Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets with Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola; Hosts Chair of the Renew Europe Group Valérie Hayer; Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis participates in the Recovery and Resilience Dialogue with Parliament’s BUDG and ECON Committees; Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi participates in trilogue on Ukraine Facility; Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič meets European Investment Bank (EIB) President Nadia Calviño; Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: holds meeting with Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs & Social Development of the African Union Minata Samaté Cessouma, Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control Jean Kaseya; Meets with Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission Monique Nsanzabaganwa; |
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| *** [Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson] |
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| The Capitals is brought to you by Senior Network Editor, Sarantis Michalopoulos (@SarantisMich), Editor & Reporter, Alice Taylor (@Aliceinalbania) and Sofia Leeson (@sofia_leeson), Network Coordinator, Daniel Eck and Network Reporter Charles Szumski (@charles_szumski) |
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