EURACTIV News
Bulgarian National Bank considers tightening loans amid eurozone preparations
Household loans may need to be tightened based on this year’s first-quarter results, Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev said on Sunday as his country tries to curb inflation to meet its last remaining condition to join the eurozone in 2025.
Categories: EurActiv
Polish opposition leader likens Tusk to Hitler at PiS rally
The leader of the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS, ECR) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, compared the actions of Donald Tusk’s new government to those of Hitler at a party rally in the central Polish city of Lublin.
Categories: EurActiv
Finnish elections head to second round as EU commissioner crashes in the results
The two favourites in the Finnish presidential elections, former centre-right prime minister Alexander Stubbs and former Green foreign minister Pekka Haavisto will go to a second round on 11 February, while EU commissioner Jutta Urpilainen crashed out with just 4.4%, blaming her defeat in part on the European Commission's rules on the candidacy of commissioners.
Categories: EurActiv
Time to step up our game on animal welfare
The EU and its member states can and must jointly do more for animal welfare. This is the clear message the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council wants to convey by organising a one-day conference dedicated to our treatment of animals, write Stella Kyriakides, Ben Weyt, Celine Tellie and Bernard Clerfay.
Categories: EurActiv
Debate intensifies in Czechia over controversial medicine distribution channel
A fierce debate is raging in Czechia about whether the country should retain or end the so-called protected distribution channel, which obliges pharmaceutical manufacturers to supply selected suppliers with medicines.
Categories: EurActiv
EU Commission wants captured CO2 to become ‘tradeable commodity’
A leaked European Commission paper on “industrial carbon management”, to be published on 6 February, lays the groundwork for captured carbon dioxide to be “recycled” in chemical processes or used as maritime and jet fuel, while accounting for non-emitted CO2 in the bloc’s carbon market.
Categories: EurActiv
Italy’s PD announces protest against Meloni’s use of state TV ahead of EU elections
Italian left-wing opposition party PD will hold a ‘pro-press freedom’ sit-in outside the headquarters of national public broadcaster RAI, announced party leader Elly Schlein, over Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s alleged monopolisation of state TV for campaigning ahead of June’s EU elections.
Categories: EurActiv
Farmers’ protests slowly spread to Belgium
German, Polish, Romanian, and French farmers were joined in their protests by Belgian farmers on Friday and throughout the weekend, with demands similar to those of their European peers.
Categories: EurActiv
Vienna appoints third-ranked candidate as president of top court
The Austrian government has appointed the president of the country’s federal administrative court, a candidate ranked third by an expert selection committee, following 400 days of political back-and-forth.
Categories: EurActiv
Farmers plan ‘siege of Paris’
France’s main farming unions called to blockade the capital and strategic points in the region on Monday, following the prime minister’s latest proposals, which they deemed insufficient, leading to an emergency meeting at the Interior Ministry on Sunday evening to prevent a possible ‘siege of Paris’.
Categories: EurActiv
Armenia PM proposes non-aggression pact to Azerbaijan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday (28 January) that he has proposed the signing of a non-aggression pact to Azerbaijan, pending a comprehensive peace treaty between the arch-foe Caucasus neighbours.
Categories: EurActiv
France suspends UNRWA funding over Hamas allegations
France will freeze all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for at least the first half of 2024 after Israel accused some of the organisation’s members of being involved in the 7 October Hamas terrorist attacks, the French Foreign Ministry announced in a press release.
Categories: EurActiv
Patience wears thin with Hungary as EU leaders look towards tough Ukraine summit
EU leaders are gearing up to push ahead with a €50 billion support package this week, with or without Hungary. But many in Brussels realise the step could come at a higher cost than money and time.
Categories: EurActiv
German FDP, SPD kick off EU election campaigns amid declining ratings
The German liberal FDP and social democrat SPD gathered on Sunday to pass their programmes for the upcoming EU election, as both parties try to mobilise voters against declining poll ratings.
Categories: EurActiv
India pivots away from Russian arms, but will retain strong ties
India is seeking to distance itself from its largest arms supplier after Russia's ability to supply munitions and spares was hobbled by the war in Ukraine, but must step carefully to avoid pushing Moscow closer to China, Indian sources said.
Categories: EurActiv
Intense fighting in south Gaza as Israel vows to shut out UN agency
Intense fighting raged Saturday (27 January) in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis, sending Palestinians fleeing further south as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his vow to "eliminate Hamas".
Categories: EurActiv
Ukraine uncovers $40 million defence embezzlement scheme
Ukrainian defence officials and corporate leaders sought to steal about $40 million through a fraudulent arms
procurement scheme, the country's main intelligence and security agency said Saturday (27 January).
Categories: EurActiv
France drops plan to decrease farmers’ diesel discount but protests to continue
The French government dropped plans to gradually reduce state subsidies on agricultural diesel but that seems not enough for angry farmers surrounding Paris and still threatening to converge on the capital in their tractors.
Categories: EurActiv
Meloni, von der Leyen walk tightrope ahead of EU elections
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will visit Italy again this weekend for an Italy-Africa summit, just a few weeks after her trip to flood-hit Forlì in Emilia-Romagna together with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Categories: EurActiv