EURACTIV News
China presses Iran to rein in Houthi attacks in Red Sea
Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.
Categories: EurActiv
Polish ruling parties divided over abortion law
Poland’s ruling parties have presented separate bills to liberalise the country’s abortion laws, proposing to make abortion legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy, but some MPs remain sceptical.
Categories: EurActiv
Macron to visit Sweden to talk EU defence amid Hungarian NATO block
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Sweden from 30 to 31 January at the invitation of Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf to discuss European defence issues, as Hungary remains reluctant to vote on Sweden’s NATO bid and EU states hold differing views on defence policy.
Categories: EurActiv
French farmers call for Paris blockade, eagerly await PM’s announcements
French farmers have called for the blockade of Paris on Friday afternoon, a week after they began protesting across the country, as new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is due to announce concrete measures.
Categories: EurActiv
Le Pen questions EU-level alliance with AfD, spelling trouble for ID unity
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen questioned the collaboration with the German AfD over allegations that some members were involved in discussions about deporting German citizens with migration backgrounds, prompting her French competitor Eric Zemmour to rush to the German far-right’s defence.
Categories: EurActiv
Gravitational wave, Venus missions get European green light
The European Space Agency gave the green light to two missions on Thursday (25 January), one to detect ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves and another to probe the secrets of Earth's closest neighbouring planet Venus.
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Italian police disrupt massive Italo-Chinese fraud scheme
Italian police said on Thursday (25 January) they had dismantled a tax fraud network worth €1.7 billion involving Italian and Chinese suspects using over 100 shell companies in the country's north.
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EU Greens’ manifesto: A ‘Social’ Green Deal and embrace of NATO
The European Greens are pushing for “massive” investments to simultaneously boost the green transition and protect living conditions under what they are calling the “Green Social Deal”, according to a draft electoral manifesto seen by Euractiv.
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Von der Leyen kickstarts strategic dialogue on future of EU food systems
With tractors continuing to parade through the streets of Europe, on Thursday (25 January) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with food chain stakeholders and NGOs to launch a ‘strategic dialogue’ between agriculture groups and EU decision-makers.
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French Supreme Court finds almost half of controversial immigration bill illegal
France’s highest constitutional body ruled that 32 of the 86 articles in the French government's controversial immigration bill are unconstitutional, in a much-awaited judicial ruling on Thursday (25 January).
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A ‘battle of narratives’ behind Georgia’s EU future
As Georgia gears up for a crucial general election this autumn, some worry the country could be at risk of going down the same road into authoritarianism, as its big neighbour Russia.
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The Brief – Fortress Europe
Fortress Europe (German: Festung Europa) was a military propaganda term used by both sides during World War II, which referred to the areas of continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany, as opposed to the United Kingdom across the Channel.
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EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding state of play
The EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding is in its early stage of implementation, for instance, when it comes to the €105 million for migration announced in July 2023, a European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv.
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Armenia stuck between ‘strategic ally’ and ‘another Ukraine’
Armenia’s recent attempts to diversify its security partnerships have left it with increased narratives of the country's “Ukrainisation”.
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EU electricity prices: Will 2024 mark the end of national tariff shields?
Electricity prices on the EU wholesale market have been on a downward trend in recent months, a development some governments see as an opportunity to remove subsidies introduced in response to the energy crisis, while others see as a bad signal for the energy transition.
Categories: EurActiv
Ethanol stakeholder: EU needs more pragmatic approach to biofuels
The EU will be able to reach its energy goals and reduce CO2 emissions as long as policy makers take a “more pragmatic” and science-based approach when it comes to biofuels, Valérie Corre, President of the European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE), told Euractiv in an interview.
“I believe that we need to have much more pragmatism in our decision making process, looking at facts and science and not let dogmatism in the way. Because when you take a dogmatic approach, you are missing the pointn […] you are killing opportunities that are really at our disposal to act today as we speak”, she said.
Categories: EurActiv
French ‘farmfluencer’ slams attempts to politicise farmers’ protests
French 'farmerfluencer' Étienne Fourmont, who is using his YouTube and social media to make farmers' voices heard at a time when they are protesting heavily in France and the rest of Europe, told Euractiv about the urgent need to change the way farming is viewed.
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NGOs take legal action against Commission over reauthorisation of glyphosate
Six European NGOs and five in France announced on Thursday they had filed two requests to the European Commission for an “internal review”, the first step of a legal challenge, over the recent reapproval of the contentious but widely used weedkiller glyphosate.
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EU bolsters Tunisian navy’s border control, migrant interception capabilities
The EU is already implementing projects together with Italian, French and German state apparatus development partners to strengthen the Tunisian navy and coast guard's capacities to intercept migrants at sea, several documents and a European Commission spokesperson confirmed to Euractiv.
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EU liberals’ new chief Hayer rallies farmers, opposes reopening Green Deal files next term
Freshly-elected Renew Europe president Valérie Hayer is looking to address farmers’ concerns ahead of the EU election campaign while ensuring a “balanced view” on agricultural policy and refusing to reopen Green Deal files as right-wing political forces urge, she told Euractiv in an exclusive interview.
Categories: EurActiv