Protests by Polish farmers sparked anger in neighbouring Ukraine on Tuesday (20 February), as Kyiv called on the European Commission to take robust action after demonstrators blockaded the border and opened railway carriages to let grain spill out.

Sweden is preparing a national strategy to improve healthcare for people with a rare disease. The long-called-for plan will tackle major care inequalities amongst the estimated half a million people in Sweden living with a rare disease.

Polish schools expect to introduce a long-awaited health education programme, aimed at addressing public health concerns and promoting healthy lifestyles among children.

Agricultural practices that store CO2 and those reducing emissions from soil are among the activities for which farmers might be remunerated for their contribution to combat climate change, according to a regulation agreed by the EU institutions.

Members of the European Parliament's agriculture committee sent a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski on Tuesday (20 February), seen by Euractiv, setting out six demands to ease farmers' discontent. 

A high-level industrial competitiveness declaration attended by EU heavyweights has kicked off a public debate about how far Europe should go in supporting domestic industries, and how green goals and industry can be meshed together.

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.