European Union

The sale of the 100-hectare former Rákosrendező freight yard by the Hungarian state to the Emirati Eagle Hills Group has led to a conflict between the opposition-led capital and the national government. Also because a company belonging to the municipal authorities has a purchase option on the site - and the city council now wants to exercise it. The national press is also at odds over the megaproject.

The EU's lending arm is facing pressure from governments to bankroll more military projects.

The post EIB to up defence investment to €2bn this year appeared first on Euractiv.

The ECR are willing to work with "those who share our concerns about the economic and social implications of the Green Deal" – including the far-right Patriots for Europe, according to a letter seen by Euractiv.

The post ECR accepts Bardella’s plea to jointly take down the Green Deal appeared first on Euractiv.

Written by Elena Lazarou with Panagiotis Politis Lamprou.

The Strategic Compass, adopted by the 27 EU Member States in March 2022 – only weeks after the onset of Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression on Ukraine –emphasised the need for robust partnerships, for the EU to be able to achieve its objectives in the area of security and defence. Alongside ‘acting’ (operations), ‘securing’ (resilience) and ‘investing’, ‘partnering’ is one of the four main pillars of the Compass. The document itself outlines specific targets and deadlines to measure progress in this area.

While the EU has partnered with other security and defence actors (essentially states and international organisations) in the past, a new model of tailored security and defence partnership was launched shortly after the adoption of the Compass, as a reinforced framework for enhanced partnership. To date, the EU has signed six such partnerships – with (by date of signature) Norway, Moldova, South Korea, Japan, Albania and North Macedonia, and more are envisaged. While the partnerships vary in content, depending on the assessed mutual interests of the EU and each individual partner, some ten areas of cooperation are common to all six.

The European Parliament has highlighted the significance of the Strategic Compass’s partnership dimension and, in particular, the value of security and defence dialogues with partners from the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership, as well as with key partners in strategic maritime areas such as the Southern Neighbourhood and the Indo-Pacific. Parliament has underlined that cooperation with countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Ukraine, Georgia, the Western Balkans, Japan, Australia and certain African countries serves as a key element of the common security and defence policy. In 2023, it called for deeper military and defence cooperation with Japan and South Korea, and for closer cooperation with partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The EU’s new bilateral security and defence partnerships‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Slovak NGOs condemning Fico’s government, the Romanian Central Bank confident the country will meet all eurozone requirements this month, and so much more.   

The post Greeks fume at France over alleged sale of missiles to Turkey appeared first on Euractiv.

The European Trade Union Confederation says the Competitiveness Compass is full of proposals for businesses, but not for ordinary citizens.

The post Unions reject EU competitiveness plan appeared first on Euractiv.

The report comes after the government said it was postponing the request a final report for Eurozone accession from EU institutions last week.

The post Bulgaria could meet all eurozone criteria this month appeared first on Euractiv.

The talks were aimed at ensuring that a pro-European candidate would make it through to the second round of the election.

The post Romania’s pro-Europeans in talks to block isolationists from presidential run-off appeared first on Euractiv.

The gathering in Berlin, held just a few hundred metres away from the German parliament, was attended by several prominent CDU/CSU and FDP politicians.

The post German businesses fed up with outgoing government appeared first on Euractiv.

Insiders say the series of meetings will be the spiritual successor to the abandoned 2023 heat pump action plan.

The post Brussels kicks off ‘too late’ meetings to boost flagging heat pump industry appeared first on Euractiv.

Europe’s largest industry should be at the heart of the Clean Industrial Deal promised by a new college of European Commissioners, three senior industry officials explain.

The post Building a Clean EU Industry appeared first on Euractiv.

Poland accuses Russia of election interference via the dark web, and the European Commission seems to be slow-announcing a space regulation.

The post AI Liability Directive today, Virkkunen’s sovereign cloud tomorrow appeared first on Euractiv.

For Greece, it is contradictory for a manufacturing country to sell weapons systems to two countries that have differences between them.

The post Greeks fume at France over alleged sale of missiles to Turkey appeared first on Euractiv.

The NGOs join psychiatrists who condemned Fico in an open letter earlier this month.

The post Hundreds of Slovak NGOs condemn Fico’s government appeared first on Euractiv.

If the MEP's immunity is lifted, the High Court could resume the case against her before the parliamentary elections in the autumn.

The post Czech MEP’s immunity under review in alleged EU fraud case appeared first on Euractiv.