With artificial intelligence, focus on enforcing competition laws is vital and goes hand in hand with the preservation of democracy, industry experts said at a panel discussion in the European Parliament.

The EU’s cohesion policy must be urgently restructured to stem the rise of Eurosceptic parties that threaten the “survival” of the European project, according to an independent study set up by the European Commission.

The current loosening of EU state aid rules should not be prolonged further, Danish Industry Minister Morten Bødskov warned on Tuesday (20 February) while in Berlin to meet his German counterpart, Robert Habeck.

In a bold move, Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen told the Munich Security Conference her country will donate its entire stock of artillery to Ukraine, emptying its stockpile as a consequence.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the EU has relied on emergency law to pursue its economic and political ambitions at a scale rarely seen before. As we move towards the EU elections, it is a good time to start a discussion on the EU’s competences during a crisis, writes Ditte Brasso Sørensen.

European forests are vital for preserving native wildlife and for fighting against climate change. Currently, the EU lacks some knowledge about its forests that would help to restore and protect them. The EU Framework for Forest Monitoring and Strategic Plans proposal aims to develop “an EU-wide forest observation framework” (European Commission) providing open access to the condition and management of the EU's forests. The framework will use remote sensing technologies and geospatial data together with monitoring on the ground. The monitoring will focus on parameters connected to EU policy priorities, such as climate change, biodiversity, health, invasive alien species and forest management. In addition to monitoring the EU's progress towards its goals, the collected data would enable better forest management and take timely action in case of forest disturbances and disasters. The legislative proposal could also introduce strategic plans for forests, developed by competent national authorities, and lay out Member States’ strategic vision for their forests and the forest-based sector for the upcoming decades. The proposal is expected before the end of 2023. Join this Euractiv Virtual Conference to discuss the proposed new EU Framework for Forest Monitoring and Strategic Plans. Some questions to be discussed include: - Does the proposal do enough to protect the EU's forests, and to fight climate change? - What are the key strengths and weaknesses of this proposal? - Will the proposal help to identify primary forests? - What is the impact on foresters and Member States with large forestry industries?

Before officially joining the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN), former Frontex head Fabrice Leggeri had been in contact with the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party "for several months", a person close to the delegation in the EU Parliament has said.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will travel to Budapest on Friday (23 February) to meet his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán before Hungary's parliament takes a long-delayed vote on Sweden's bid for NATO membership next Monday.

In 2022 the area under organic agriculture and the number of producers increased, but the bloc faced a decline in organic food retail sales in 2022, according to the new report of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture.

France's conservative party Les Républicains (LR, EPP) will not support Ursula von der Leyen's bid to get a second term as European Commission president, François Xavier-Bellamy, head of the LR list for the EU elections, told France Inter radio on Tuesday (20 February).

Transport Brief

Ghent began its year-long reign as the European Youth Capital this past weekend, a title cities earn by demonstrating a genuine effort to enrich the lives of young people and include them in making important political decisions.

European Union legislators reached a political agreement in the early hours of Tuesday (20 February) on a proposal to set up the world’s first registry for certified carbon dioxide removals obtained from eco-farming practices and industrial processes.

The High Court in London Tuesday (20 February) will begin hearing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's final UK appeal against extradition to the United States to face trial over publishing secret military and diplomatic files.

All European Union countries except Hungary warned Israel on Monday (19 February) against launching an offensive in Rafah that they said would deepen the catastrophe of some 1.5 million refugees crammed into the city on the southern edge of Gaza.

Ukraine's military said on Monday (19 February) its troops had taken up new defensive positions in the east after retreating from the captured town of Avdiivka and were repelling Russian attempts to develop the offensive thrust.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about pro-Russia forces highjacking farmers' protets in Czechia, the liberal FDP being increasingly more vocal about not agreeing with the government's economic policies, and so much more.

A US threat to hit financial firms doing business with Russia with sanctions has chilled Turkish-Russian trade, disrupting or slowing some payments for both imported oil and Turkish exports, according to seven sources familiar with the matter.

European and US oil majors have made record profits totalling more than €260 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, according to NGO Global Witness.

EU Parliament chief Roberta Metsola will discuss the issue of Greece’s rule of law at a visit in Athens on Tuesday following a recent resolution which sparked intense debate in the Mediterranean country, an EU official told Euractiv.