EurActiv
Belgium praises Hungary’s strong commitment to EU competitiveness agenda
“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,” Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday (18 April).
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UN’s Summit of the Future, EU regions and cities preparing for SDG upgrade [Advocacy Lab Content]
The UN’s Summit of the Future takes place on 22-23 September in New York, hosted by the UN General Assembly. It provides a high-level forum to determine the next steps in achieving all 17 sustainable development goals.
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Kazakhstan president enacts new laws protecting women and children [Advocacy Lab Content]
Kazakhstan will guarantee better protection of women’s rights and children’s safety. Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has endorsed significant amendments to new laws envisaging harsh penalties for perpetrators of abuse.
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Romania’s six billion euro bet to accelerate digital public services [Advocacy Lab Content]
Despite boasting IT specialisation, Romania struggles with one of the most underdeveloped digital public bureaucracies in the region. A new €6 billion injection from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan could revitalise the sector.
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Spain will include ‘work-related mental health’ in disease surveillance
Spain's Ministry of Health is to include in its national epidemiological surveillance system a state register in which any suspicion of work-related mental suffering will be reported, because “work is breaking workers”, Belén González, the coordinator of this pioneering initiative, told Euractiv's partner EFE in an interview.
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EU leaders lack Draghi and Letta’s ‘fire of urgency’, says Greens chief
European leaders lack the “fire of urgency” of Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta - authors of two strategic reports on the EU's future - and are being driven by “political expediency”, the co-president of the Greens/EFA European Parliamentary group, Philippe Lamberts, warned on Thursday.
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Stopping banned pesticides in the EU to be exported to 3rd countries would have little economic impact, NGOs report says
A report published on Thursday (18 April) by several European NGOs shows that stopping the export of banned pesticides to Europe would have minimal economic effects, and calls on the EU to put a stop to it.
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More actions needed to make organic farming competitive, say stakeholders
Amid fears that the EU will miss its target of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, stakeholders are calling for a more favourable policy framework to boost demand for organic products.
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France questions latest EU cloud certification scheme
Even though the latest cloud scheme allows for sovereignty requirements, France appears to be pushing back on the grounds that it will lead to market fragmentation.
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The Brief – What to expect from Russia at D-Day anniversary?
France has invited Russia to the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, an event that changed the course of World War Two. “Given the circumstances,” the organisers said, President Vladimir Putin is not invited but another figure, to be announced later, will represent Russia on 6 June.
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The EU need not be scared by aviation climate action
While debates about farming and heat pumps have brought some climate policy debates to a standstill in Brussels, new public opinion research shows how action on aviation could represent a new way forward for climate and the EU, writes Ed Hodgson
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Evidence-based actions to reduce alcohol harms are crucial now [Promoted content]
The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) calls on the EU to accelerate public health policies to reduce liver diseases, improve quality of life, and save significant costs.
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EU’s hard right scrambling to stay relevant in election campaign
With less than two months before June’s EU elections, the hard right ECR party - possibly seeing the electoral train passing them by - has woken up and is edging closer towards appointing their own Spitzenkandidat, a concept they previously rejected.
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After TikTok Lite launch in Spain, France, EU Commission wants details
The EU Commission has given 24 hours for TikTok to provide a risk evaluation of the lighter version of its app, which the executive says should have been conducted prior to the app's launch in France and Spain in April
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EU to world: Don’t depend solely on China to hit renewable goals
The world should ensure diverse supply chains and implement a framework to track the progress made towards tripling global renewable capacity by 2030, the EU's Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (17 April).
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South Africa challenges EU at WTO over restrictions on citrus fruit trade
South Africa, the world’s second-largest citrus exporter in the world after Spain, has launched a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the EU’s phytosanitary trade rules, which it said were not justified or appropriate.
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France unveils 55 ‘turnkey’ sites for clean industry
On Tuesday, the French government unveiled the list of the first 55 sites available in France to host decarbonization industries.
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Georgia ruling party presses on with ‘foreign agents’ bill opposed by EU
Georgia's parliament gave initial approval on Wednesday (17 April) to a bill on "foreign agents" that the European Union said risked blocking the country's path to membership and triggered protests for a third straight night.
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US expected to veto Palestinian request for full UN membership
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote Friday (19 April) on a Palestinian request for full UN membership, said diplomats, a move that the US is expected to block because it would effectively recognize a Palestinian state.
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Portugal’s president hints Costa for EU council chief, as corruption case flounders
In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Sweden's new gender identity law that has left the majority divided, the astonishing Duda-Trump meeting in Poland, and so much more.
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