Good morning from Brussels,

Despite earlier statements by EU Commission officials and Chinese automakers claiming that “progress” had been made in talks, member states are expected on Friday to approve the EU's proposed duties on China-made electric vehicles (EVs). 

To prevent the tariffs from being imposed for five years, a 'qualified majority' of 15 member states, representing 65% of the EU’s population, would need to vote against them.

Under pressure from the domestic industry, Germany is set to vote against it while Spain may abstain.  

According to experts, Beijing’s diplomacy throughout this period, focusing on larger countries to prevent tariffs, was insufficient, and the Chinese should have talked more to smaller EU players to reach a qualified majority.

Euractiv’s Thomas Moller-Nielsen analyses the EU countries’ vote intentions and the next day of EU-China trade.

With support from far-right forces, the European Parliament’s centre-right EPP group has barred environmental lawmakers from grilling the new agriculture and fisheries commissioners, leaving progressives furious. Also, read EU lawmakers’ “knives in” approach before the upcoming hearings.

Moreover, listen to today’s podcast, which focuses on the JURI Committee, which is currently scrutinising financial declarations to identify potential conflicts of interest of candidate commissioners.

On foreign matters, look at an interview with Georgia’s President Salome Zourabishvili, who said the EU should keep its options open to respond to a possible deterioration of Georgia's domestic situation but expressed her confidence that pro-European forces will prevail.

Last but not least, the COP16, due to take place in Colombia later this month, will focus on biodiversity financing.

BERLIN | PARIS

French and German interior ministers are expected to push their British counterparts to open negotiations for a new UK-EU deal on irregular migration and explore legal routes for migrants reaching Britain. Read more.

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BERLIN

Migration concerns drove Germans to vote in EU election ballots. Germany's border restrictions have recently dominated political discussions within the country, triggering similar debates across the EU, however, a newly published Eurobarometer survey reveals that this issue has been on the public's mind for some time. Read more.

STOCKHOLM  

Iran may be involved in Nordic Israeli embassies attacks, Swedish Security services say. Iran's involvement in the attacks on the Israeli embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen earlier this week is an "objective hypothesis", the head of operations for the Swedish Security Service, Fredrik Hallström, has said. Read more.

ROME

Italian industry lobby group Confindustria wants to step up pressure on European Union policymakers to reverse the bloc’s emission trading scheme (ETS), which it says will put crucial sectors at risk of extinction by 2030. Read more.

Italy warns G7 summit of rising terror risk threat due to global conflicts. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi opened the G7 Interior Ministers' Summit by warning his G7 counterparts that international conflicts, particularly in the Middle East and Ukraine, are increasing the risk of terrorist attacks. Read more.

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MADRID

Basque separatist party joins Spanish government to reform security law for citizens. Spain's progressive government on Tuesday reached an agreement with left-wing forces to reform a controversial law on the security of citizens with changes expected to be approved in the coming months. Read more.

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LISBON

Portuguese president urges Israel to reconsider declaring UN’s Guterres 'persona non grata'. Israel should reconsider its decision to declare the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, "persona non grata" in agreement with the position taken on Wednesday by the Portuguese government, Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Thursday. Read more.

European Commission sues Portugal over failure to combat industrial pollution. The European Commission is taking Portugal to the EU Court of Justice over failures to combat pollution from industrial activities, the European Commission announced in a statement published on Thursday. Read more.

WARSAW 

Poland will block Ukraine's European Union accession until Kyiv solves the issue of exhuming the victims of the Volhynia massacre, which has been a contentious issue between the two countries, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Thursday. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Fico sues Aktuality.sk's editor-in-chief outlet over bestselling book about him. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has filed a lawsuit against Peter Bárdy, editor-in-chief of Aktuality.sk, over his bestselling book about him, prompting Reporters Without Borders to strongly condemn Fico's move in the biggest case against a journalist in modern Slovak history. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Brussels pressures Czechia over Roma children discrimination. The European Commission has issued a formal notice to Czechia for failing to comply with EU anti-discrimination laws, citing the continued segregation of Roma children in schools. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Hungary’s ‘Defence of Sovereignty’ law challenged in EU’s top court. A Hungarian "Defence of Sovereignty" law allowing the state to investigate foreign-funded organisations is being challenged in the European Union's top court by the European Commission, the EU executive announced on Thursday. Read more.    

SOFIA 

Two houses belonging to commissioner-designate Ekaterina Zaharieva and her husband Angel Zahariev in Bulgaria and Greece have aroused interest among MEPs, Euractiv Bulgaria learned from European Parliament sources. Read more.

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BUCHAREST 

Romanian former top NATO official linked to election scandal attacks journalist. Mircea Geoană, the former deputy secretary general of NATO, has resorted to disinformation as part of his response to a journalistic investigation exposing links between a former key figure in his informal campaign and a Russian businessman. Read more.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Martina Monti, Alice Taylor-Braçe]