EURACTIV News
Last chance for Spanish government to amend controversial amnesty law
The controversial amnesty law to pardon separatist leaders and their supporters for unlawful actions that took place between 2012 and 2023 will be facing its final amendment debate in the Spanish parliament on Tuesday.
Categories: EurActiv
EU’s Lacjak on mission to placate Belgrade after Kosovo’s euro-only announcement
EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has embarked on a mission to defuse tensions between Serbia and Kosovo following Kosovo’s announcement that it will only accept the euro within its borders, which began in Belgrade on Monday and will continue in Pristina on Tuesday, EU spokesperson Peter Stano has confirmed.
Categories: EurActiv
Croatian courts flooded with human trafficking cases, local media report
Croatia’s criminal justice system is swamped with human trafficking cases, representing nearly 15% of the cases that went through the country’s entire prison system in 2022, justice ministry data shows, Večernji List daily reported on Monday.
Categories: EurActiv
Former Romanian intelligence director accuses far-right leader of serving Putin’s Interests
AUR Senator Claudiu Târziu deliberately chooses topics in line with Hungarian far-right politicians while serving the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Romanian Intelligence Service Director Eduard Hellvig wrote on social media on Monday.
Categories: EurActiv
Journalistic research points at ‘Russian spy’ among MEPs
Tatjana Ždanoka, a long-serving member of the European Parliament from Latvia, is allegedly an agent working with Russian intelligence services, according to a collaborative investigation released by the independent Russian media outlet The Insider on Monday (29 January).
Categories: EurActiv
Meloni’s government pledges to prioritise African development during mandate
The Italian G7 Presidency kicked off with an Italy-Africa summit in Rome, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR) pledging to make African development a central theme of its mandate through the Mattei Plan.
Categories: EurActiv
European steelmarkers urge haste on US-EU green steel club talks
While the EU and US are locked in a stalemate regarding the creation of the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium (GASSA), European steelmakers have urged Brussels to resume talks.
Categories: EurActiv
AfD dismisses mass protests as ‘last-ditch effort’ to keep them from power
The recent large-scale protests against right-wing extremism are being dismissed by the AfD party, which remains unfazed and sees this as a desperate “last-ditch effort” to sway public opinion ahead of crucial elections.
Categories: EurActiv
Far-right asks French government to ‘giving up the Green Deal’
In an interview on RMC on Monday, Jordan Bardella, head of the Rassemblement National list for the European elections, said he expected Gabriel Attal’s government to give “up the Green Deal”, proof for the opposition, the party is climate sceptical.
Categories: EurActiv
Commission removes Holocaust remembrance video following Polish backlash
The video released by the European Commission to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday has sparked a backlash in Poland, prompting the EU executive to remove the social media post, which Warsaw said was misleading.
Categories: EurActiv
Green hydrogen is the only viable route for aviation and shipping
Given its limited supply, green hydrogen must be reserved for hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as aviation and shipping, rather than directed towards sectors that can be electrified, writes Aoife O’Leary.
Categories: EurActiv
EU clarifies proposed new rules for future Ukraine weapons fund
Stricter reimbursement rules for joint procurement of European-made defence equipment, and a way to work around vetoes would make deliveries to Kyiv faster and long-term, according to a document seen by Euractiv.
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Cutro: Italian authorities deemed migrant boat ‘not of interest’ before shipwreck
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EU backs setting aside frozen Russian assets profits for Ukraine
EU member states on Monday (29 January) agreed unanimously to a plan to set aside billions of euros of windfall profits from Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe, in a first step of a plan towards their possible use for Ukraine’s future reconstruction.
Categories: EurActiv
EU unlikely to follow through on Hungary funding threat
The EU is unlikely to follow through on its threat to cut funding to Hungary if Budapest fails to approve a €50 billion Ukraine aid package later this week, experts told Euractiv.
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Agriculture ‘core area’ for EU’s 2040 climate targets – Commission report
By 2040, the EU's agricultural sector should be able to cut non-CO2 emissions by at least 30% compared to 2015 levels, with livestock and fertiliser use key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a draft communication on the 2040 EU climate target states.
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Amazon shuts down iRobot acquisition following EU regulators’ concerns
E-commerce giant Amazon has given up on its bid to acquire the smart vacuum cleaner manufacturer iRobot, following EU regulators' concerns about it possibly restricting competition in the product’s market.
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The Brief – Herding EU cats
You can herd sheep, but you cannot herd cats. ‘Herding cats’ is an idiom denoting an attempt – futile by default - to control or organise a class of entities that are inherently uncontrollable.
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France reaffirms opposition to EU-Mercosur deal as farmers’ protests mount
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and MPs from all sides of the political spectrum have reaffirmed France's opposition to the EU-Mercosur deal in a timely political move as farmers fiercely opposing the deal have stepped up protests and plan to march on Paris.
Categories: EurActiv
Kazakhstan offers port, airport management to EU investors
Kazakhstan on Monday (29 January) offered its Caspian Sea ports of Aktau and Kuryk, as well as 22 airports to European investors for management, with the aim of building a strong transit hub between Asia and Europe.
Categories: EurActiv