Good morning from Brussels, Serbia is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, whose country is Belgrade's second-largest trading partner. At a time of increasing Russian aggression and influence in Europe’s east, EU-hopeful Serbia has been under pressure to align its foreign policy with the West. With this visit, China wants to highlight its “new role in the world order”, an analyst told Euractiv. However, there is much more at stake. Presenting economic data and the public opinion pulse, Laurent Geslin digs deeper. On Monday, Xi was in Paris and had a “frank” discussion with French President Emmanuel Macron, but divisions remained. Macron says the most noticeable win is China’s commitment to “refrain from selling any weapons” to Russia. But despite its mounting anti-Russia rhetoric, France will send its ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fifth inauguration ceremony. |
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What will happen to the EU’s 119 pending legislative files?
After the European Parliament elections in June, the fate of 119 legislative files unfinished in this mandate will hang in the balance. Listen here. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA/WAEL HAMZE] |
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| The European Socialists, Greens, and Liberals have all ruled out supporting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection if she decides to cooperate with the hard-right ECR party after June’s EU elections. Max Griera has more. On the agricultural front, a World Bank study published on Tuesday suggested that money invested in cutting agrifood emissions should increase 18-fold and reach around €240 billion per year if we want to halve emissions and put the world on track for net zero emissions by 2050. Last but not least, a shortage of transformers puts Europe’s grid build-out at risk, stretching project lead times and adding to a price surge that will be felt on consumers’ bills, researchers and experts have warned. |
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Regional Revitalization: The Transformative Power of Investment in Rural and Post-Industrial Areas Across Europe
The event will feature insights from experts on a variety of topics, such as the current status of post-industrial regions in Europe, the EU's perspective on job creation and economic impact that results from re-industrialization, and shared experiences of revitalizing rural and post-industrial regions.
Find out more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER] |
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| BERLIN Friedrich Merz was re-elected as leader of Germany’s conservative CDU on Monday, but the party’s annual conference showed that it remains uncertain whether Merz will ultimately win the chancellorship. Read more. Germany woos Poland to give up veto power in foreign affairs. German State Minister for Europe Anna Lührmann (Greens) on Monday stressed the need to move to qualified majority voting to prepare for EU enlargement, citing lessons to be learned from Polish history. Read more. Right-wing extremist involved in attack on German MEP. At least one of the four suspects involved in Saturday’s attack on Matthias Ecke, the lead candidate from Saxony for the German Social Democrats in the European elections, is believed to be associated with the extreme right, zeit.de reports. Read more. /// PARIS China, France discuss Ukraine, trade tensions. China’s Xi Jinping and France’s Emmanuel Macron had “frank” discussions over all things trade tensions and war in Ukraine in Paris on Monday, but beneath a veneer of politeness and respect, significant divisions lie. Read more. |
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| STOCKHOLM Sweden to grant Ukrainians fast-track registration, better benefits. Ukrainian refugees under temporary protection in Sweden will be able to register much faster and receive a higher settlement allowance, the Swedish government announced on Monday, much to the dismay of the far right. Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/IGOR KUPLJENIK] |
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| MADRID Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez should take the historic and ambitious step of recognising the Palestinian state at Tuesday’s Council of Ministers meeting, said Deputy Prime Minister and Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz, reiterating one of her party’s conditions for striking a government pact with Sanchez’s PSOE party. Read more. /// ROME Italian public TV journalists strike against government’s tightening grip. Journalists at Italy’s public broadcaster RAI went on strike on Monday to protest against staff shortages, budget cuts and the denial of fair contracts for those working on the network’s news programmes – or what they called “suffocating control” by the government. Read more. /// VALLETTA Malta’s ex-PM attacks judiciary as charges filed against him in hospitals probe. Malta’s former prime minister Joseph Muscat and current Prime Minister Robert Abela have been called out for attacking the judiciary with the former now facing criminal charges in the latest instalment of a money laundering scandal that has sent shockwaves through the country and the socialist Malta Labour Party (PES). Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [© European Union 2015 - source : EP] |
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| PRAGUE Petr Mach, leader of the Czech far-right coalition for the upcoming European elections, is ready to support Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission president – but only if she is ready to accept a revote on the Green Deal and the Migration and Asylum Pact, Mach told Euractiv Czechia in an interview. Read more. /// WARSAW Commission closes Poland’s rule of law inquiry. The European Commission announced on Tuesday its decision to close Article 7 against Poland, arguing commitments from the new Donald Tusk government have now addressed previously identified risks to the country’s rule of law. Read more. Polish judge seeks political asylum in Belarus. High-level Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt, loyal to the previous PiS (ECR) government, has requested political asylum in Belarus on Monday, calling it an act of “protest against Poland’s unjust and harmful policy” towards Moscow and Minsk. Read more. |
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| EU: Foreign Affairs Council, in its development configuration, convenes to discuss Ukraine, humanitarian and reconstruction aspects of the situation in Palestine, and more; Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council expected to equal treatment directive, women in public, and more; Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas delivers opening remarks at 15th EU-Israel high level seminar on combatin racism, xenophobia and antisemitism; Vice President Margrethe Vestager meets with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry Ken Saito; Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson participates in “Europe – transforming the future” panel of 16th European Economic Congress, in Katowice, Poland; Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson participates in ministerial meeting of European countries coalition against serious and organised crime, in Hamburg, Germany; Jacques Delors Institute President Enrico Letta, following presentation on single market future, participates in dialogue with Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel, in Frankfurt, Germany; |
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| *** [Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Liene Lūsīte, Alice Taylor] |
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| The Capitals is brought to you by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Alice Taylor, Liene Lūsīte, Daniel Eck and Charles Szumski. |
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