Poland-Ukraine ‘grain war’ escalates dangerously

Good morning from Warsaw,

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has decided to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons in its war against Russia in reaction to escalating tensions between the two countries over grain imports. Read more.

BERLIN

German businesses have invested proportionately more in China this year than ever, despite government pledges to reduce dependence on trade with Beijing. Read more.

///

PARIS

France must triple renewable energy capacities by 2035, says network operator. To meet its EU targets, France will need to triple its use of renewable energy and reduce its energy consumption by a third by 2035, France’s electricity grid operator RTE said in its outlook for the energy mix in 2030 and 2035. Read more.

///

BRUSSELS

Diamonds are not forever, as Belgium ready to ban Russian stones. Global diamond hub Belgium is prepared to extend sanctions on Russian diamonds, as Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told jewellery industry in New York on Tuesday evening that these ‘war symbols’ should be banned from the G7 market from January 2024. Read more.

Today's edition is powered by META

Vestager pitches EIB candidacy to Le Maire during Paris visit. Margrethe Vestager, a top candidate to lead the European Investment Bank (EIB), came to Paris on Wednesday to speak at a flagship start-up conference – and pitch her candidacy for the EIB job with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire. Read more.

HELSINKI

Finnish opposition in uproar as government delays important law for disabled people. The Finnish Parliament’s Health and Safety Committee was up in arms as opposition members boycotted a meeting after it was announced that the Finnish government intended to delay the implementation of the long-awaited Disability Services Act. Read more.

///

COPENHAGEN

Denmark to encourage NATO ammunition production. The Danish government is looking to increase ammunition production and already has its eyes set on purchasing back land with an old weapons factory in a bid to help Ukraine and boost NATO’s military production. Read more.

ROME

The Italian government will take Austria before the EU court over its blocking of the Brenner crossing at the Italo-Austria border, said League leader and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, calling Austria’s move an ‘act of violence and political arrogance’. Read more.

///

MADRID

Catalan separatist leader takes for granted that Spanish government will pass amnesty law. The Spanish government passing an amnesty law for those implicated in the 2017 secessionist attempt, to clear the way to reinstate the acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, was taken for granted by Catalan separatist leader Oriol Junqueras, president of the pro-independence formation Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). Read more.

BRATISLAVA

The Slovak agricultural sector achieved its highest-ever profit of €346.5 million in 2022, but farmers still worry about a ‘definitive end’ of their business unless the government keeps Ukrainian grain off its territory. Read more.

///

PRAGUE

Czech government pushes for lithium mining despite regional scepticism. The Czech government is making every effort to facilitate lithium mining in the country as it is a strategic raw material for the recovery of the Czech economy, Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS, ECR) said on Wednesday while visiting potential mining areas. Read more.

BUCHAREST

Each member state will establish an anti-corruption directorate, but it is also important to have integrity agencies to handle the prevention and conflicts of interest, the EP rapporteur on the new anti-corruption directive Ramona Strugariu told Euractiv Romania. Read more.

///

SOFIA

Bulgarian government promised protesting miners a secure civil service. A protest in Sofia, organised by the two unions of Bulgarian miners and energy workers from the Maritsa basin, led to an agreement with the government to guarantee the preservation of jobs for those employed in the sector. Read more.

///

PRISTINA

Kosovo’s parliamentary speaker reiterates accusations against Lajcak. The speaker of Kosovo’s parliament, Glauk Konjufca, has become the latest in a line of politicians to accuse the EU’s Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajcak, of bias in the ongoing Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process. Read more.

***

[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]