Ricardo Borges de Castro makes the case that the European election is von der Leyen's to lose, ahead of Monday's (29 April) Spitzenkandidaten debate

In the US and France, 1968 was a year of iconic student protests. In light of this historic legacy, what is the 2024 wave of student protests, from Columbia University to Sciences Po, telling us?

The European Commission has approved a €300 million State aid grant for Nuward, a French developer of small modular nuclear reactors (SMR), to test its technology with more support expected before the project starts in 2030. 

Warsaw, April 29, 2024 (AFP) - Polish farmers have lifted blockades at border crossings with Ukraine, officials said Monday, ending a two-month protest over farm imports from the war-torn neighbouring country.

Farmers had blocked border crossings with Ukraine since February to protest at what they said was unfair competition from goods that undercut local market prices.

Disputes over farm imports have strained ties between the neighbours, even as Poland has shown staunch support for Ukraine over Russia's invasion.

"The traffic through all the border crossings (with Ukraine) is possible," Michal Derus, a spokesman for the tax administration chamber in Poland's Lublin region told AFP after farmers ended the last blockade at the Hrebenne border crossing.

The crossing reopened after local authorities in Hrebenne declined to extend permission for protests at the checkpoint.

"All trucks are allowed to pass as long as they are not carrying sanctioned goods," Derus added, referring to the grain imports from Ukraine that Poland imposed a temporary embargo on.

Ukraine has seen its agriculture sector crippled by Russia's 2022 invasion. Many of its major export routes through the Black Sea have been blocked and much farmland left unusable by warfare.

In a bid to help Kyiv economically, the European Union in 2022 scrapped tariffs on Ukrainian goods transiting the 27-nation bloc by road.

But many Ukrainian cereal exports destined for non-EU countries have accumulated in Poland and elsewhere, undercutting local producers.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf announced Monday (29 April) that he will leave office following his decision to dissolve the governing coalition between his Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and the Scottish Greens last week.

The European Commission designated Apple iPadOS as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on Monday (29 April).

The EU should develop an 'equivalent' version of the World War Two-era US Marshall Plan to fund development projects in Moldova and war-torn Ukraine, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Monday (29 April).

The Spanish energy minister, Teresa Ribera, says the French have been blocking projects to better connect the Iberian Peninsula to the European grid for years, calling it a disgrace. 

Our world is changing rapidly – and looking into the future becomes more important than ever. But the path towards Europe in 2050 requires careful examination of challenges along the way to lead us into a future shaped by liberal values and aspirations.

Noyb, the Austrian non-profit founded by activist Max Schrems, has filed a complaint with the local privacy authority, alleging that OpenAI has violated the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and has not done enough to correct inaccurate personal information provided by ChatGPT.

According to French government sources, nine EU countries will meet in Brussels at the start of the week to discuss the impact of the UK's decision to ban bottom fishing in 13 marine protected areas, a measure London says applies equally to its own fishermen and those from the EU.

Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D), announced on Monday that he will not resign from his post after announcing last week he would consider the possibility as a Madrid judge opened an investigation against his wife, Begoña Gómez, for alleged corruption and influence peddling.

A new report by the European Environment Agency finds that almost all European cities are turning to nature-based solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Poland's PiS proposing an EU Commissioner depite it no longer being in power, Meloni announcing that she will run in the EU elections, and so much more.

Nine men go on trial in Germany on Monday (29 April) charged with high treason, attempted murder and plotting a violent coup d'état aimed at installing an aristocrat as national leader and imposing martial law.

Bulgarian state-owned gas company Bulgargaz, a major player in the region's gas market, is accumulating large losses due to an agreement with Turkish state-owned gas company BOTASH.

Romanian companies should explore global opportunities, especially in Africa, where cooperation with Turkish companies could be fruitful, according to  Ion Sterian, General Director of Transgaz, Romania's national gas transport company.

As China's big banks pull back from financing Russia-related transactions, some Chinese companies are turning to small banks on the border and underground financing channels such as money brokers - even banned cryptocurrency.

Each day, 21 people die while awaiting a transplant in Europe. With the European Parliament Elections approaching, the European Society for Organ Transplantation presents an actionable roadmap for fair and sustainable transformations in the field over the next five years.

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the conservative PiS, has nominated Jacek Saryusz-Wolski  - a long-serving MEP and rival to now-Prime Minister Donald Tusk for the European Council spot in 2017 - as the party's candidate for EU commissioner, even though the party has lost its right to nominate commissioners since it is now in opposition.