Good morning from Berlin.

By reputation, Germans are said to be a hard-working people.

But with low productivity growth dragging down the performance of Europe's largest economy, business leaders have been sounding the alarm over the relatively few weekly hours logged by German workers and the climbing number of sick days.

Have the Germans become lazy?

Reporting from Berlin, Jonathan Packroff has the answer.

EXCLUSIVE: Euractiv’s Nicoletta Ionta has obtained a draft list of all the initiatives in the European Commission work programme for 2025, set for release next week. 

Read more about the upcoming initiatives on defence and on tech.

The steak-tofu rift. An “unusual coalition” of MEPs rallied behind protein diversification and urged the Commission to take action. 

INTERVIEW. Thomas Mangin sat down with Stine Bosse, the vice-president of the EU Parliament’s Health Committee, who said taking money away from health was ‘nonsense’. 

Lastly, Frans Timmermans has come out to defend the EU's Green Deal and fight right-wing efforts to replace it with a competitiveness agenda.

BERLIN

Two year review exposes Germany’s climate policy fog. Government scientific advisors struggle to say whether Germany's climate policy is effective, given its multiple different objectives. But they are sure that the progress of the past two years is not enough. Read more.

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PARIS

France’s Bayrou wins budget battle, not the war. The 2025 budget adoption is a significant win for Prime Minister François Bayrou, who has outmanoeuvred a deeply divided parliament and opposition from both the left and the far right. Read more.

NGOs cry foul as Paris seeks to dilute penalties for polluting farmers. The French government is proposing to decriminalise "unintentional" environmental damage by farmers, while environmentalists denounce a breach of EU rules. Read more.

ROME

Italian government puts on poor show as it tries to defend deportation of ICC-indictee. The Italian government presented its version of events in the deportation case of Osama Njeem Almasri, the alleged Libyan war criminal whom Italy deported despite an ICC arrest warrant issued against him. However, the absence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni did not go unnoticed. Read more.

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LISBON

Portuguese President criticizes Trump for undermining international legal order. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Wednesday rejected the normalisation of repeated violations of international law in Europe, arguing that there must be a permanent dialogue with the Trump administration. Read more.

STOCKHOLM

Relatives and classmates open up about Örebro killings suspect. The suspect in the mass murder at Risbergska School in Örebro, which sent shockwaves through Sweden, has been identified as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson. According to relatives and former classmates, he was raised in a relatively affluent neighbourhood but had recently struggled with mental health issues. Read more.

WARSAW

The EU's General Court confirmed on Wednesday the European Commission's €320 million fine against Poland, ruling that the daily penalties imposed by the Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber -which enables judges to be sanctioned for their rulings- were justified. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech farmers fight back against fake food origin labels. Major Czech farming groups, including the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic and the Czech Agricultural Association, have joined a Europe-wide initiative calling for stricter rules on food origin labelling. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Poll: Slovaks back Russian victory in Ukraine more than neighbours. A recent poll shows that 17% of Slovak citizens want Russia to win the ongoing war in Ukraine, a figure far higher than in neighbouring countries. Read more.

SOFIA

A Bulgarian judge, member of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), made disturbing revelations at a conference in Sofia on Tuesday, suggesting that the administration was putting obstacles in the way of investigations. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania's 2025 austerity plan puts presidential candidate at risk. Romania's 2025 budget is expected to pass easily through parliament, but deficit-reducing spending cuts have already drawn opposition criticism and protests, threatening the chances of the ruling coalition's candidate in May's presidential election. Read more.

• EU: Visit of the College of Commissioners for the opening of the Polish Presidency in Gdańsk;
• High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte; Hosts International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akana;
• Commission Vice President Roxana Mînzatu participates in opening trilogue on European Works Councils;
• International Partnerships Commissioner Jozef Síkela participates in “The EU as a Global Actor and a Partner of Choice” panel, at the 2025 EU Ambassadors Conference;
• Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi participates in European Healthcare Distribution Association (GIRP) board meeting;
• Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath meets with European Economic & Social Committee (EESC) President Olivier Ropke, and Civil Society Organisations’ Group President Seamus Boland;
• Economy and Productivity Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis delivers keynote speech at Simplification Roundtable, organised by the Commission
• Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen hosts European Chamber Industry in China President Jens Eskelund.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Vas Panagiotopoulos]