Euractiv.com

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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. 

Armenia’s recent attempts to diversify its security partnerships have left it with increased narratives of the country's “Ukrainisation”.

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. 

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.

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.

Six European NGOs and five in France announced on Thursday they had filed two separate 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.

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.

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.  

Oil giant BP Europe is pushing for a revision of the EU’s rules for biofuels, fossil fuel alternatives made from crops, animal fats, and waste, to allow more crops into the EU’s definition of ‘advanced’ biofuels that can be used for aviation.

Russia's attempts to push narratives that Ukraine's EU membership prospects are doubtful or will simply make the country the EU's "agricultural appendage" have largely fallen on deaf ears as Ukrainians remain firmly in favour of EU accession.

Following his hostile rhetoric towards Ukraine this week, Prime Minister Robert Fico showed his tamer side abroad as he reassured German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of his support for the country ahead of a meeting on Wednesday (24 January).

US President Joe Biden sent a letter to leaders of key Capitol Hill committees on Wednesday (24 January) informing them of his intention to begin the formal notification process for the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey once Ankara completes Sweden’s NATO accession process.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out about centre-right Kokoomus' Alexander Stubb and the Greens' Pekka Haavisto face off in Finland's presidential election on Sunday, Polish farmers rally against the EU Green Deal, and so much more.