Good morning from Brussels,

The conclusions on foreign policy matters were not a big deal for EU leaders to negotiate on the first day of the special summit on 17-18 April. 

But on the second day, “profound” discussions took place over harmonising corporate tax rules and centralising the supervision of financial sector firms, with both of them ending up scrapped from the final conclusions, writes Euractiv’s Thomas Moller-Nielsen. 

Meanwhile, Belgium and senior EU officials praised the Hungarian Prime Minister’s “positivity” toward the much-discussed Enrico Letta report during the summit. 

“What I am very pleased to hear is that the Hungarian presidency was very clear in the fact that they take this as one of the key elements of their presidency [in July],” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo commented.

Pending another crucial report due out at the end of June by the former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, the Co-President of the Greens/EFA European Parliamentary group Philippe Lamberts told Euractiv that EU leaders lack Draghi and Letta’s “fire of urgency”.

Fearing new migration waves toward Europe, European Union leaders are looking at ways to support Lebanon with an economic aid package expected to be delivered by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the coming days. Meanwhile, people smugglers are taking advantage of the instability in the region. Read the full story.

On the agricultural front, as stakeholders stress the need for more actions to reach target of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, NGOs warn that stopping banned pesticides in the EU from being exported to third countries would have little economic impact.

Last but not least, the European Commission asked on Wednesday TikTok to provide information on how it evaluated the risks associated with the launch of its Lite app under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

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BERLIN

Federal prosecutors arrested two suspected Russian spies in Bavaria on Thursday on suspicion of espionage and planning attacks on military targets to undermine support for Ukraine. Read more.

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PARIS

Macron to give ‘Sorbonne II’ speech, hopes to give campaign momentum. French President Emmanuel Macron will next week deliver a speech similar to the one he gave seven years ago at the Sorbonne University, where he laid out a detailed reform agenda for the bloc and revealed his Europhile credentials, a move he and his party hope will pull his party out of the polling slump it is currently in ahead of the European elections. Read more.

France questions latest EU cloud certification scheme. France has questioned the latest draft of the EU Cloud Certification Scheme (EUCS) that would allow member states to set national sovereignty requirements at the highest cybersecurity level of the scheme, according to a leaked letter sent to the European Council of the EU’s Legal Service. Read more.

France unveils 55 ‘turnkey’ sites for clean industry. On Tuesday, the French government unveiled the list of the first 55 new sites it is making to host green industries. Read more.

STOCKHOLM

EU Commission OKs Stockholm’s new petrol, diesel car-free zone. The European Commission has approved the creation of an environmental zone in the city centre of Stockholm, where petrol and diesel cars will be banned entirely from 2025. Read more. 

MADRID

Spain could unilaterally recognise Palestinian statehood ‘within weeks’. Spain’s government, led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D), will decide in the coming weeks whether to recognise Palestine as a state, regardless of whether other EU countries join Madrid in this decision, official sources told Euractiv’s partner EFE on Thursday. Read more.

Spain will include ‘work-related mental health’ in disease surveillance. Spain’s Ministry of Health will include work-related mental health in its national epidemiological surveillance system. Belén González, the coordinator of the initiative, told Euractiv’s partner EFE in an interview that “work is breaking workers”. Read more.

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LISBON

Eucalyptus: Portugal’s sustainability dilemma. Portuguese eucalyptus forests are helping to replace plastics, but as the country’s climate warms up, this highly flammable tree is a growing threat to people and biodiversity. Read more.

BRATISLAVA

Slovak Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč is keeping quiet about his meeting with European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski over the delayed release of EU farm subsidies, known as direct payments, which the Slovak government has still not paid to all eligible Slovak farmers, putting them at risk of not receiving them. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech lawmakers’ debate on EU migration gets heated, draws attention of Commissioner. A debate on the EU’s Migration Pact in the Czech parliament on Thursday caught the eye of EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and turned heated as MPs argued over the reception of refugees in the Czech Republic. Read more.

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WARSAW

Two Polish ex-ministers sentenced for abuse of power to run for MEP seats. Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, two former ministers sentenced for the abuse of power and pardoned by current President Andrzej Duda, will run in the European elections, the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party announced Thursday. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgaria likely won’t join eurozone in January 2025 despite government goal. Bulgaria may join the eurozone at the end of 2025, Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev said on Thursday, missing the previous 1 January 2025 goal of the government and the main political parties in Sofia. Read more.

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SARAJEVO

Bosnian Serb MPs adopt a report denying the Srebrenica genocide. Bosnian Serb lawmakers on Thursday adopted a report denying that the killing of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war constituted genocide, and thousands of Serbs later protested against a United Nation’s resolution to commemorate the atrocity. Read more.

• EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen together with Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo visits Lappeenranta and a border crossing;
• Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager speaks at the European Environmental Agency, in Copenhagen, Denmark;
• Vice President Margaritis Schinas visits Europol-Frontex Joint Operation Centre, in Alexandroupoli, Greece;
• Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit attends statement signing by European Transport Workers’ Federation and IRU to improve working conditions for non-EU drivers;
• Financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union Commissioner Mairead McGuinness meets with Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, in Washington, United States;
• Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra meets with Senior Advisor to the President of the United States for International Climate Policy John Podesta, in Washington, United States; Participates in IMF and World Bank spring meetings; Attends”Implementing the global climate finance framework: making climate finance available, accessible, and affordable” event, organised by the COP28 UAE Presidency and Brookings Institution;

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