Good morning from Paris, 

Some 218 candidates – mainly from the left and Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble - who came third in the first round of France’s legislative elections have decided to withdraw their candidacy in the second round.

This means that voters will have the choice between the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) candidate of their constituency and one other contender.

Politically, their objective is to prevent an absolute majority for far-right RN in the next parliament. However, 88 candidates who came third, remain. 

Reporting from Paris, Laurent Geslin explains how this development could impact France’s political landscape. 

Meanwhile, in an interview with Euractiv’s Alice Taylor, the president of the Council of Europe’s Social Rights Committee thoroughly analysed why voters increasingly turn to the right.  

Citing EU data, Aoife Nolan said EU citizens face worsening standards of living: “If we don’t get social rights right, we’re going to see more shifts, I fear, towards undemocratic, authoritarian governance that undermines all human rights”. 

Read the full interview.

The next European Commission should have a “vice-president for agriculture” to cover the entire food supply chain, the president of the largest European farmers’ association, told Euractiv’s Angelo Di Mambro in an interview.

Meanwhile, centre-right MEP Peter Liese said the EU Parliament’s ENVI committee is on track to be split up so that it no longer handles health and food safety. 

In economy, Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis quelled business fears of heightened economic protectionism, while ECB chief Christine Lagarde warned about respect for the EU budgetary rules.  

In the digital world, an EU Commission report found that the EU is falling short of meeting its 2030 digital targets, particularly in connectivity and digital skills. 

Last but not least, the EU executive plans to allow the providers of ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence (AI) models to write codes of practice that will determine their compliance in the short to medium term, with civil society in a consultation role. Eliza Gkritsi has the details.

BERLIN

Germany should take more responsibility for the security of the EU’s eastern border, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told his German counterpart Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday as the two leaders met for the first intergovernmental talks in six years. Read more.

ROME

Italy’s Meloni tells her party there is no room for fascism in its ranks. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her Brothers of Italy party on Tuesday that it should expunge from its ranks anyone who idolises Italy’s fascist past. Read more.

Italia Viva, Azione MPs aim to reforge Italian centrist alliance. Two MEPs from Italia Viva and Azione have called on their respective parties to revive the old centrist Third Pole alliance, though well-informed sources told Euractiv that their efforts are futile. Read more.

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MADRID

Spanish right-wing leader calls out Sanchez’s amnesty promises to separatists. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the right-wing Partido Popular (EPP), criticised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez following the Supreme Court’s decision not to apply the new amnesty law to former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, saying he had betrayed the separatists despite their agreement to support him in parliament. Read more.

PRAGUE

Former Czech prime minister and leader of the opposition ANO party, Andrej Babiš, has come under fire for recent political manoeuvres that critics say align him with pro-Russian interests. Read more.

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WARSAW

Polish president slams Tusk for saying Poland will drop German reparations claims.  President Andrzej Duda took aim at Prime Minister Donald Tusk for saying Poland had given up on war reparations claims against Germany launched by the previous conservative PiS government during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Warsaw on Tuesday. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

EU approves fourth recovery payment to Slovakia amid rule of law concerns.  The European Commission has approved the fourth instalment of Slovakia’s recovery plan in a preliminary decision, in which it also gave the green light to an outdated calculation of the spending limit that did not account for inflation and failed to use one of its options to pressure the Slovak government to uphold the rule of law. Read more.

SOFIA

New Bulgarian government looking to hinge on collapse of pro-Russian party. The rapid collapse of the pro-Russian radical party Greatness will likely determine the successful formation of a regular Bulgarian government after the country headed to polls for its sixth parliamentary election in three years earlier last month. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

EU Commission clears Romania’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors. The European Commission has issued a positive opinion on the technical and nuclear safety aspects of the project for units 3 and 4 of Romania’s only nuclear power plant, the Romanian Energy Ministry announced on Tuesday. Read more.

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BELGRADE

Serbian president hosts high-level Russian diplomat. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Tuesday lauded the two countries’ “bilateral relations” during a rare high-level visit to Belgrade by top Russian diplomat Alexander Grushko. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Energy Community ministers meet in Bosnia and Herzegovina as EU tariffs loom. EU candidate countries from the continent’s South and East are meeting in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday to reinforce efforts to integrate with the bloc’s energy markets to avoid potential tariffs on power exports to the EU. Read more.

• EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates in EPP Group Study Days, in Cascais, Portugal;
• Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič delivers keynote speech at European Initiative for Energy Security event on “Implementing a whole-system European energy and supply chain security strategy”;
• Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson delivers keynote speech at Energy Transition and Green Hydrogen Dialogue meeting, in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Meets with Minister of Economy of Argentina Luis Caputo; Participates in EU-Argentina high level Energy Dialogue meeting;
• International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen hosts EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala;
• Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson attends signing of Working Arrangement between EU Drugs Agency and Ecuador, in Lisbon, Portugal; Gives address at European Union Drugs Agency launch;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor]