Good morning from Brussels, In a last-minute deal, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU found common ground on the renewal of trade liberalisation measures with Ukraine after member states managed to reopen negotiations and agreed to reinforce some safeguards against market distortions. The so-called Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs), initially introduced in 2022 after the Russian invasion and due to expire in June, aim to facilitate Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU by removing all remaining tariffs and trade barriers. Maria Simon Arboleas and Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro have all the details of Monday’s meeting. One of the countries that raised concerns over Ukraine’s trade benefits was Poland, as the country’s farmers had complained about cheaper agricultural products “flooding” the EU market. The issue seems to have impacted the result of Polish local elections last weekend, in which the conservative Eurosceptic PiS party (ECR) overall prevailed against centre-right Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s alliance. According to politicians and election data, rural areas gave PiS the victory. Aleksandra Krzysztoszek from Warsaw digs deeper into the elections’ mapping. |
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German far-right AfD scandal reignites fears of Russian interference in EU institutions In today's episode of Today in the EU, Evi Kiorri examines the latest scandal to affect Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party. Listen here. |
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Photo by [European Parliament] |
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All European political parties are convening on Tuesday in the Berlaymont to sign a code of conduct for the EU elections campaign, brokered by Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, to prevent foreign interference and fight disinformation. The rules will only apply to national member parties if they individually sign up, after pressure from the signatories. Despite joining the agreement, thefar-right ID party will not attend the ceremonyto avoid the handshake. More from Max Griera later this morning. Meanwhile, political negotiations for a lobby register for foreign-funded organisations, the Commission's flagship proposal to shield European democracy from third-country interference, will have to wait for the next parliamentary term after June's EU elections, its rapporteur, liberal MEP Guy Lavocat, said on Monday. Last but not least, read the analysis of Théophane Hartmann on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which will elect a new leader later this month tasked with navigating the troubled relationship between the body and the EU Commission. |
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Conference: Mandatory Due Diligence in the supply chain - leveraging EU legislation to make a positive impact for small scale producers. Join us in Düsseldorf for our discussion on navigating EU legislation to support small-scale producers in supply chains, addressing the challenges faced by companies in complying with EU laws. Find out more → |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [Shutterstock/Frederic Legrand - COMEO] |
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PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron’s Besoin d’Europe coalition has upped support for a new pact on migration and asylum, emphasising a desire to tackle illegal immigration and fend off the far-right narrative ahead of June’s EU elections. Read more. Think tank estimates French climate adaptation to cost €5-20 billion per annum. Adapting the French economy to climate change could cost between €5 billion and €20 billion a year by 2050, impacting buildings, road and rail transport and crop farming, according to estimates revealed by government-funded think tank I4CE, on Friday. Read more. /// BERLIN German far-right demands proof of alleged Russian bribes. German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came out in support of Petr Bystron on Monday, one of their top candidates for the European elections, who allegedly received cash from a pro-Russian news site for his election campaign. Read more. |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [Shutterstock/OSCAR GONZALEZ FUENTES] |
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MADRID The Spanish People’s Party (PP/EPP) would outperform ruling Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D) if general elections were held in Spain today, according to a poll by private research agency 40dB. Read more. Spain to scrap ‘golden visas’ for foreign real estate investors. Spain will scrap its so-called “golden visa” programme granting residency rights to foreigners who make large investments in real estate in the country, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters on Monday. Read more. Catalan president Aragonès warns a ‘referendum on independence’ will be unavoidable. A future referendum on Catalonia’s possible independence from the rest of Spain “will cease to be unconstitutional and impossible,” similar to the imminent amnesty law for those involved in the 2017 secessionist attempt, Catalan President Pere Aragonès, of the separatist Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) party, said on Monday. Read more. /// ROME Italian farmers rally against fake ‘Made in Italy’ products at Brenner Pass. Ten thousand farmers converged at the Brenner Pass on Monday, voicing their opposition to and collecting signatures for a petition against imported foods masquerading as authentic Italian products. Read more. /// LISBON Azores ‘critically important’ to NATO, US ambassador says. The American ambassador to Portugal, Randi Charno Levine, said the Azores are of “critical importance” to NATO on Monday. Read more. Portugal latest EU country to adopt Nutriscore food traffic-light labelling system. Portugal became the eighth European country to adopt the front-of-pack labelling Nutriscore on Friday after the European Commission failed to unveil a proposal for an EU-wide model. Read more. |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/WOJTEK JARGILO] |
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WARSAW Ongoing farmers protests have influenced the results of the local elections in Poland, and may contribute to the outcome of June’s European elections, according to politicians and election data. Read more. |
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PRISTINA Dominant Kosovo Serb party again boycotts local elections, census in north. A Kosovo Serb political party, which until recently counted Milan Radoicic, who led the EU-dubbed ‘terrorist attack’ in the country on 24 September, has announced it will not take part in the process towards new elections in four Serb-majority regions or the population census, provoking disappointment from the EU. Read more. /// SOFIA Bulgaria will stick to conditions for North Macedonia’s EU membership talks. Bulgaria has no intention of changing the negotiation framework and conditions for North Macedonia’s membership in the EU, Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, said during his visit to Sofia on Monday. Read more. |
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EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers opening speech at second New European Bauhaus Festival; Meets with Presidium of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) in Berlin, Germany; Receives Sustainability Scientist Maja Göpel; Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager meets with CEO of the UK Competition & Markets Authority Sarah Cardell, in Washington D.C., United States; Meets with President of the Spanish National Commission for Markets & Competition Cani Fernandez; Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis participates in “RRF Transforms” panel within “Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and European Strategic Investments and Reforms: state of play and way forward” event; Delivers speech at “Standing with Ukraine: European Parliament’s legacy for the sanctions regime” conference; Vice President Vĕra Jourová hosts Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Aleksa Bečić; Vice President Maroš Šefčovič delivers keynote speech at “The future of EU industry: value chain resilience or dependence” event, organised by EUROFER; Vice President Dubravka Suica hosts members of Platform’s Advisory Board (children) followed by a discussion with key children’s rights stakeholders; Delivers keynote speech at European Seniors Union Congress on “Holding Generations Together”, organized by European Seniors Union (ESU), in Leuven, Belgium; Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli is joining online conference on “The Future of Roma, Sinti and Travellers in Europe”, organised by ERGO, as part of the Romani Week 2024; Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi participates in Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) III high level political dialogue; Participates in Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) geopolitical dialogue; Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni delivers opening speech at “Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and European Strategic Investments and Reforms: state of play and way forward” event, organised by the Belgian Presidency; Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides hosts Under Secretary General for National Society Development and Operations Coordination, International Federation of Red Cross, and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Xavier Castellanos Mosquera; Delivers opening speech at event “Advancing the provision of Mental health and Psychosocial Support for people displaced from Ukraine”, organised with the IFRC and the Red Cross EU Office; Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra speaks via videoconference with Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen; Joint meeting of Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and Committee on International Trade vote on vote on withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty; Joint meeting of Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs vote on European Health Data Space; |
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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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