Good morning from Brussels,

Despite several challenges member states such as Poland face in implementing projects on time under the EU Recovery Fund, the European Commission insists on the agreed 2026 deadline, stressing the fund’s “temporary” nature.

However, centre-right EU lawmaker Siegfried Mureşan (EPP) told Euractiv that after the EU elections, a discussion over a potential extension is “open” as many projects won’t have been finalised. 

Euractiv’s Charles Szumski and Jonathan Packroff have the story.

But a parallel political debate is heating up in Brussels over whether there is a need to create a “Recovery Fund 2.0” after the expiration of the ongoing one.

Some see an investment gap after 2026 that needs to be filled, while others insist there is no money for such an initiative, which could also have political implications. Read the full story.

Faced with fading influence ahead of the EU elections, the EU socialists kick off their EU election campaign in Rome on Saturday. Euractiv analysed the ongoing debates within the party over its future identity and the role of Germany and Spain – the last heavyweights.  

INTERVIEW: Poland’s former deputy minister of agriculture and director general at the European Commission, Jerzy Plewa, told Euractiv’s Angelo di Mambro that the way out of the ongoing crisis of food imports is through the EU and its safeguards and not via the “populist” game of blaming it on Ukraine or Brussels. 

On the energy field, when Austria was forced to admit in mid-February that Russian gas made up 98% of its recent gas supply  – two years after the Kremlin attacked Ukraine – it triggered a political pile-on. Will Austria be able to rid itself of its dependence?

Today's edition is powered by European Round Table for Industry (ERT)

PARIS

French far right vows to re-write EU treaties, fight ‘Vonderleyenism’. Jordan Bardella, the head of French far-right Rassemblement National’s list for the European elections, wants to re-write EU treaties and fight ‘Vonderleyenism’, according to a statement given to journalists in Paris on Thursday. Read more.

US money propping up France’s investment allure, but will it last? Foreign investment projects in France are on the rise for the third year in a row, confirming the country as global business’ favourite within the EU, new data released on Thursday showed – although managers from its largest investor, the US, voiced growing concerns over its labour costs and administrative complexity. Read more.

LISBON

After Portugal’s snap elections on 10 March, the nation may be at a crossroads in forming a government, given the exponential growth of the far right, from which all other parties promise to keep their distance. Read more.

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ROME

Rome clashes with Budapest over punishment of Italian prisoner. Tensions were high after a meeting between Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and his Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó after the latter accused Italy of ‘interfering’ with Hungarian justice in the case of Italian prisoner Ilaria Salis. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain’s Supreme Court initiates terrorism investigation against Puigdemont. Spain’s Supreme Court is investigating former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who has been on the run since Catalonia’s 2017 secession attempt, about terrorism, a move that puts extra pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who relies on the separatist’s support to stay in power. Read more.

WARSAW

Poland will study Latvia’s decision to ban agricultural imports from Russia and Belarus and will look at imposing embargoes for grain to prevent it from destabilising the Polish market, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced at a press conference with his Latvian counterpart, Evika Siliņa. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak court halts criminal code reforms amid EU fund suspension threat. Several parts of the criminal code reform were suspended by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday after the EU Commission criticised it and warned that Bratislava could face a fine or the complete suspension of European funds if it goes ahead. Read more.

ZAGREB

Macron’s troops to Ukraine message fuels conflict between Plenković, Milanović. The rift between Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and President Zoran Milanović continued to widen after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that a future deployment of Western troops in Ukraine should not be ultimately “ruled out”. Read more.

• EU: Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič hosts Secretary General at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Chris Lockyear;
• Parliament President Roberta Metsola on official visit to Madrid, Spain; Meets Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez; Delivers keynote speech at event of El Mundo entitled “Europa, el momento decisivo”; Holds meetings with Senate President Pedro Rollán, Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation José Manuel Albares Bueno;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]