European Union

The Spanish government has submitted a bill on "democratic memory" to parliament. It provides for a ban on the glorification of the military coup of 1936, the subsequent civil war and the forty-year Franco dictatorship, which, among other things, could mean the closure of the Valle de los Caídos memorial. In addition, the topic of democratic memory is to become a fixed part of the school curriculum.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took his own spaceship on an eleven-minute trip into space on Tuesday, just a week and a half after entrepreneur Richard Branson's space flight. Both billionaires plan to offer commercial space travel in the future, and Elon Musk also runs a space company. The space race is drawing a lot of criticism - but some observers say the accusations are oversimplified.

For those who have been following EU energy and climate policy over the past five years, the European Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ package has a distinct whiff of déjà vu.

The European Commission proposed on Tuesday rules that would see companies transferring cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, collect details of senders and recipients, in order to help authorities detect money laundering or terrorism financing, Reuters reported. This will ensure "full traceability of crypto-asset transfers," the commission said. Anonymous crypto-asset wallets will be banned since anonymous bank accounts are already forbidden under EU anti-money laundering rules.

Moroccan intelligence agencies targeted French president Emmanuel Macron with the Israeli-made spyware software Pegasus, according to Le Monde newspaper. Although targeted, it remains unclear if his phone was compromised by the software. They also reportedly went after EU Council president Charles Michel, when he was prime minister of Belgium.

The UK will pay France €62.7m to prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel, in a deal hammered out on Tuesday. The plan includes doubling the number of French officers deployed along the coast. The deal comes a day after a record 430 people crossed the Channel on small boats.

Greece has launched an investigation into four NGOs, accusing them of facilitating illegal entry of foreigners and espionage. Among those targeted is Aegean Boat Report, which details pushbacks of migrants and refugees. Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi last December accused it of helping migrant smugglers, a charge denied by the NGO.

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a new set of anti-money laundering and countering terrorism-financing rules. The legislative package includes the creation of a new EU-level Anti-Money Laundering Authority, which will seek to coordinate with national authorities to ensure the rules are applied consistently throughout the private sector. The package has been described a major step forward by the Greens.

A recent study shows that gun homicide has increased in Sweden - as opposed to the rest of Europe, where it's been in decline for years.

The concern of Germany's Constitutional Court was that the European Court of Justice did not sufficiently check the action of other EU branches of power. The Polish situation is the exact reverse: the government is taking control of the courts.

The rule of law report comes in a crucial moment as Brussels is currently approving member states' recovery plans, conditional to having a robust justice system and anti-corruption framework.

European industries covered by the EU's future carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) have expressed doubts about the proposal, tabled last week. In addition to border measures, they are calling for an export rebate scheme to help green EU products compete on global markets.

Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya appealed on Monday (19 July) for more help from the United States as she began a visit to Washington for meetings with top Biden administration officials this week.

In today's edition of The Capitals, find out more about France mulling new COVID-19 restrictions, the European Commission givingPoland an August deadline comply with the CJEU’s decisions, and so much more.

North Macedonia’s government has approved the text of the bill on Control of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which is harmonised with several international acts. One of the standout points is the establishment of the Agency for Control of Cultivation...