Good morning from Brussels, Paris

All eyes are on a meeting in Paris on Monday between Chinese leader Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

Amid rising instability worldwide, Von der Leyen is expected to have harsher messaging on Beijing’s unfair trade practices and Macron warning Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Alexandra Brzozowski and Thomas Moller-Nielsen dig deeper. 

Moreover, France will seek to balance attracting more Chinese investment in cutting-edge sectors, notably the automotive industry, although the Elysée has described the visit as “very political”.

On another development from the EU capitals, most member states are preparing a letter urging the EU to externalise migration procedures to third countries, similar to the recent Italy-Albania deal. Read the full story.

Often regarded as the weaker link in EU policymaking, subdued to the EU countries’ will and the Commission’s agenda, the Parliament battles tooth and nail to reassert its power and scrutinising role. Euractiv’s newsroom analysed the ten moments the European Parliament managed to assert its power.

Ahead of June’s EU elections, the EPP’s official thinktank and the ECR have set out their positions. The alignment between the centre and hard right parties on the contentious issue of climate shows that a post-election deal is a real possibility, writes Nathan Canas. 

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, EU ambassadors are expected to discuss another compromise text on the use of windfall profits from Russian frozen assets, with the clock ticking before a June G7 summit.

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PARIS

The leader of the far-right Rassemblement National’s list for the European elections, Jordan Bardella, came under fire in the first French debate he took part in with all other leaders of EU election lists on Sunday, with candidates focusing mainly on his alleged links to the Kremlin. Read more.

EU elections: France’s presidential majority unveils the first 30 names on its list. Outgoing members of the parliament who distinguished themselves during the last term are given priority on Besoin d’Europe’s list unveiled on Friday and while several regional representatives complete the list of eligible candidates, few are known. Read more.

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BERLIN

German CDU to break with Merkel era on party congress. The German conservative CDU will come together for a three-day party congress on Monday to lay the foundation for their new policy positions in a post-Merkel era and kick off their European election campaign. Read more.

German centre-left MEP candidate attacked in Dresden. On Saturday, the lead candidate of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD, S&D) in Saxony, Matthias Ecke, was beaten by a group of people in Dresden, leaving him with broken bones and unresponsive. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgium’s far right struggles to break through media ban. While polling suggests far-right politicians in several European countries will do well in European Union elections next month, in the French-speaking part of Belgium they face a regional media boycott. Read more.

STOCKHOLM

Swedish pro-EU parties risk losing seats in new European Parliament. Several of Sweden’s centre and centre-right parties from the pro-EU ruling coalition are on course to lose their seats in the European Parliament ahead of June’s European elections, a new poll shows. Read more. 

ROME

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has firmly rejected the idea of sending troops to Ukraine, stating that such a move would only increase tensions. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain’s PP nominates ‘hardliner’ as lead EU candidate. Dolors Montserrat, recently a vocal opponent of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s ruling Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D), will lead the conservative Partido Popular’s (PP/EPP) EU election list amid a new polls suggesting that the centre-right has a lead. Read more.

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VALLETTA

Malta’s nominee for European Commissioner could face charges following money laundering probe. Maltese Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of European Funds and Labour Party (S&D) candidate for European Commissioner following June elections Chris Fearne could face charges related to the controversial hospitals deal, which has also implicated former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his former chief of staff Keith Schembri, and former tourism minister Konrad Mizzi. Read more.

PRAGUE

A group of EU member states, led by Czechia and Denmark, are preparing a letter to the European Commission calling for migrants trying to reach the EU to be transferred to selected third countries before reaching the bloc’s shores – a procedure experts say is likely to be difficult to enforce under current EU migration law. Read more.

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WARSAW

Polish foreign minister does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine. Poland is not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine, but it will not “show its hand” to leave Putin wondering what NATO’s next steps will be, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told the media. Read more.

SOFIA

Youth unemployment in Bulgaria up by nearly a third in one year. Youth unemployment in Bulgaria has increased by nearly 30% over the last year, according to the latest Eurostat data. Read more.

• EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates in trilateral meeting with President of France Emmanuel Macron, and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, in Paris, France;
• Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager speaks at the Global Solutions Summit, in Berlin, Germany;
• Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson participates in International Energy Advisory Council meeting, in Kyiv, Ukraine; Participates in high level energy dialogue;
• International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen hosts Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina Diana Mondino;
• Belgium: EU-Ukraine Defence Industrial Forum;
• Norway: Moldovan President Maia Sandu on official visit;

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