Good morning from Warsaw,

Poland has invested €86 billion in the European Union project and gained €261 billion in the 20 years since it joined the regional club, according to data presented by Funds and Regional Policy Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęczit on Tuesday. 

Today, the EU commemorates 20 years since the last large round of enlargement when ten countries – Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia – joined the bloc.

“To all those who say that we pay extra for the European Union: it is actually exactly the opposite,” the minister said.

Looking at the future, the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote in an op-ed that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine made EU’s expansion a “geopolitical necessity”. 

“Political and geographical ‘grey zones’ in the Balkans or the east of the EU are highly dangerous. We cannot afford such grey zones as for Putin, they are an invitation to interfere and destabilise”, she said. 

Moreover, European affairs ministers and their counterparts from EU candidate countries started informal talks on Tuesday on strengthening the rule of law within the bloc and in countries seeking to join it.

Also read an analysis published earlier this week regarding the progress “new” members have made since they joined in several fields, from economy to corruption and press freedom. 

However, in health, inequalities persist 20 years after the 2004 enlargement. 

Later in the morning, Euractiv’s health team will publish an analysis focusing on the current state of play in healthcare. 

On Tuesday, the European Commission initiated investigations to evaluate whether Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, might have violated the Digital Services Act (DSA). Julia Tar has the story.

Moreover, in Italy on Tuesday, Nikolaus Kurmayer reported that the G7 ministers agreed to phase out coal in the first half of the 2030s, set their first-ever energy storage target, began difficult negotiations on climate finance past 2025, and started a water coalition. Read also Donagh Cagney's Brief on Europe's debate over its Green Industrial Strategy.

Last but not least, the European Commission told Euractiv’s Catherine Feore that it is well prepared in the face of the US bird flu outbreak, which has raised concerns among those working in disease control.

BERLIN | PARIS

The eurozone beat analyst expectations to emerge comfortably from a recession in the first quarter of this year, new EU data published on Tuesday showed, while inflation figures boosted hopes of long-awaited rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB) in June. Read more.

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PARIS

French Greens’ top candidate not for ‘giving up hope’ in EU elections race. With the European elections just a month away and the Greens struggling to take off in the polls, Marie Toussaint, head of the Green party list, called on Tuesday in Paris for “a great leap forward” in the face of the “dangers” threatening Europe. Read more.

COPENHAGEN

Denmark pushes ahead with agri-carbon tax plans despite nearing the 2030 climate target. The Danish government is pressing ahead with plans to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture despite the Danish Climate Ministry’s annual report showing that the country is on track to meet its 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70% compared to 1990 levels. Read more.

MADRID

Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera, the lead candidate of Spain’s left-wing PSOE in the upcoming EU elections, urged EU citizens on Tuesday to mobilise to prevent a possible alliance between the European People’s Party (EPP) candidate, current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and far-right forces in the European Parliament. Read more.

Sánchez ready to run in next elections after resignation scare. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is determined to fight to regain his post and defend his leadership, after several nerve-wracking days where he said he was seriously considering resigning. Read more.

Spain, Portugal take home most of €720m EU hydrogen award. The European Commission announced on Tuesday (30 April) the winners of its first auction to allocate subsidies for hydrogen production, with most of the €720 million awarded going to projects in the Iberian peninsula. Read more.

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ROME

Kremlin nationalisation move aims to sway G7 sanctions, says Italian businesses in Russia boss. The Kremlin’s move to nationalise the Italian company’s Ariston subsidiary is an attempt to influence the G7’s decision to seize Russian assets in Europe, says Vittorio Torrembini, president of the association of Italian entrepreneurs in Russia, Gim-Unimpresa, calling on the Italian Foreign Ministry to intervene. Read more.

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LISBON

Lack of access to justice for trafficking victims in Portugal worries Council of Europe. Delays in regularising the status of migrants in Portugal are hampering access to justice and criminal proceedings against traffickers, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) warned on Tuesday. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgaria compensates farmers, caves into protest threats over Ukraine imports. Bulgaria’s caretaker government has disbursed much-anticipated funds worth €150 million to compensate farmers for the negative effects of the import of Ukrainian agricultural products. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian PM threatens gambling companies with licence loss to tackle addiction rates. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu warned gambling companies on Tuesday that their licences would be revoked if they failed to comply with a law banning slot machines in smaller towns, in a bid to tackle the country’s alarming gambling addiction rates. Read more.

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