The European news you deserve to read. welcome to The capitals by EURACTIV.
Today’s edition is powered by Amazon Web Services
Digital Sovereignty at AWS: Control Without Compromise
We are committed to helping our customers meet digital sovereignty requirements and providing all AWS customers with the most advanced set of sovereignty controls and features available in the cloud.
Learn more about digital sovereignty at AWS.
In today’s Capitals news:
PARIS
France will ban the sale of single-use electronic cigarettes by 2025, announced Tuesday the French Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, during a presentation of the National Tobacco Control Program (PNLT), while increasing taxation on the tobacco. Learn more.
///
BERLIN
Shortage of nurseries: study warns of childcare “emergency” in Germany. Urgent action to address the country’s childcare “emergency” is needed as Germany falls short of more than 400,000 childcare places to meet demand, according to a new study released Tuesday. Learn more.
UNITED KINGDOM
Sunak faces British public backlash over Athens marbles row. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel a last-minute meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the latter’s comments on the Parthenon marbles currently housed at the British Museum has damaged his public image, a published investigation finds Tuesday. Learn more.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
MADRID
Spain denies that Next Generation funds are threatened by the amnesty law. The idea that the Partido Popular (PP) and its European family party (European People’s Party – EPP) launched on Monday about the alleged danger that Next Generation funds could run if the planned amnesty law is finally passed in Parliament is false , the Spanish government said on Tuesday. Learn more.
///
ROME
No budget agreement between the Meloni government and the unions. No agreement was reached on Tuesday between the Italian government and the main unions – CGIL, CISL, UIL and UGL – regarding the year 2024 at Palazzo Chigi, meaning that the general strike on December 15 will continue. Learn more.
///
LISBON
Portugal’s hydrogen project gets EU green light. The Portuguese hydrogen project in Sines has been selected among cross-border energy initiatives eligible for EU financial support because they are in line with the Green Deal, according to a list published on Tuesday by the European Commission. Learn more.
EASTERN EUROPE
WARSAW
Poland denies interrupting humanitarian deliveries to Ukraine. Polish truckers demonstrating on the Ukrainian border are not blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, according to the national tax administration, which has rejected the accusations of Ukraine’s top politicians. Learn more.
///
PRAGUE
Central European countries form working groups to combat migration. Interior ministers from Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary agreed to create a joint working group to combat illegal immigration in the region at a meeting on Monday in Hungary. Learn more.
///
BRATISLAVA
Slovakia must compensate children deprived of education during the COVID pandemic. Slovakia must pay €3,000 to a girl who was unable to attend distance learning due to insufficient internet access, according to a judgment handed down Tuesday by the Prešov court in what the student’s lawyers considered the first verdict of digital divide in Europe. Learn more.
Young Slovaks face mental health problems after the war and pandemic in Ukraine. Worsening mental health problems and increasing rates of suicide attempts among young people, combined with inaccessibility, lack of psychiatric beds and lack of timely care, are taking a toll on Slovak youth. Learn more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
The Bulgarian Socialist Party will form a broad coalition with pro-Russian nationalist parties. In a bid to increase its political influence in the EU’s poorest country, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), part of the Party of European Socialists (PES), this week announced a formal decision to form a broad coalition with pro-Russian and nationalist supporters. evenings. Learn more.
Bulgaria plans to fully digitalize prescriptions by the end of 2024. Bulgaria plans to digitalize prescriptions for all medicines by the end of 2024, the Health Ministry announced after the first success of electronic prescriptions, which helped reduce the use of antibiotics by almost 30% in just a short time. of time. Learn more.
///
BUCHAREST
Romania’s accession to Schengen will not be voted on at the December JHA meeting. Romania’s accession to Schengen will not be put to a vote at the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) meeting on December 5, according to political sources cited by News.ro. Learn more.
AGENDA:
- EU: The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, chairs the College of Commissioners; Welcomes Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden;
- Commission Vice-President Vĕra Jourová receives Secretary General of the European Pride Business Network, Czeslaw Walek;
- Vice President Margaritis Schinas participates in a roundtable discussion with Australia’s Director General of the Office of National Intelligence to discuss hybrid threats, information manipulation, cyberterrorism and counter-terrorism, Nina Davidson, at Canberra; Meets Australian Parliament Speaker Milton Dick, Senate President Sue Lines;
- The Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, met with the Minister of European Affairs of Montenegro, Maida Gorčević;
- Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides delivers a speech at the ‘Building political momentum: towards ending HIV in Europe’ event, organized by HIV Outcomes, held at the European Parliament; Spoke at the event “Entering the pharma research arena, Where Hope Radiates” at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK CEN;
- Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, addresses the Committee of the Regions plenary debate on the future of cohesion policy;
- Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski receives Executive Director of the European Intellectual Property Office João Negrão;
- Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Iliana Ivanova delivers a speech at the conference “Academic Freedom – The State of a Fundamental Value for Europe » organized by the European Parliament’s evaluation of scientific and technological options;
- Parliament President Roberta Metsola delivers a speech at a high-level conference on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, organized by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), Subcommittee on Rights of man (RIGHT);
- UN: The Security Council meets on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
***
(Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara)