Euractiv.com

In an attempt to calm farmers' protests, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday promised to strengthen the national food chain law, introduce reciprocity in the conditions for agricultural imports, the so-called "mirror clauses", and simplify the processing of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies, among other relief measures to avoid what the far-right Vox party described as "the rebellion of the tractors".

The European Parliament gave the final approval on Wednesday (7 February) to the new rules that will limit workers’ exposure to lead and diisocyanates and step up health protection. 

Small modular reactors (SMRs) will be partly relied upon to meet the EU's 2040 climate objectives, with an industrial alliance to be launched shortly and the first reactors deployed "by 2030", the European Commission announced on Tuesday (6 February).

The Reconquête! party of French far-right leader Eric Zemmour has joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament in a bid to strengthen the right-wing camp after the EU elections in June.

The Council of EU member states and the European Parliament agreed on Tuesday (6 February) to label nuclear power as a strategic technology for the EU's decarbonisation, following months of intense negotiations in Brussels over the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA).

Russia plans to nearly triple its LNG export capacity by 2030, with four new terminals in the Arctic due to bring more revenues for Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Yet, Ukraine’s allies have a strong leverage on Russian LNG exports, writes Andrii Zhupanyn.

The industry sells itself on producing clothes from 'recycled materials', but these are mostly made from recycled plastics that cannot be recycled a second time. NGOs explain that the only solution is to buy less clothing.

Both the cuts to the EU4Health programme and delays on tobacco control action have left many unanswered questions about the EU health priorities over the past week.

EU member countries and lawmakers reached an agreement on Tuesday (6 February) on the bloc's first rules to tackle violence against women, the European Parliament and officials said.

The European Parliament inaugurated on Tuesday (7 February) an exhibition dedicated to the WikiLeaks founder, journalist Julian Assange, ahead of the UK High Court's decision on his extradition to the US, expected on 20-21 February. 

Georgia's acting prime minister accused Ukraine on Tuesday (6 February) of trying to spread war to his country, after authorities seized what they said was a truck loaded with explosives bound for Russia.

This week marks the beginning of what many in Brussels consider to be the next phase of the European Green Deal – a new era focused on actually meeting the EU’s objective of reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Dutch government formation talks were thrown in disarray on Tuesday (6 February) as centrist party NSC unexpectedly stepped away, complicating the task for far-right politician Geert Wilders to assemble a working coalition.

Chinese state-backed cyber spies gained access to a Dutch military network last year, Dutch intelligence agencies said on Tuesday (6 February), calling it part of a trend of Chinese political espionage against the Netherlands and its allies.

The United States accused Russia on Tuesday (6 February) of firing at least nine North Korean-supplied missiles at Ukraine, while Moscow labeled Washington a "direct accomplice" in the downing of a Russian military transport plane last month.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday (6 February) that the bipartisan immigration bill, which also includes aid for Israel and Ukraine as it fights a Russian invasion, is falling apart under political pressure from Republican rival Donald Trump.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Czech conservatives pushing back against the idea of Orban joining the ECR, the Swedish Nord Stream investigation coming to an end soon, and so much more.

Serbia got its new parliament on Tuesday after the mandates of all 250 MPs were approved at a constitutive session in which opposition members walked out in front of the podium with banners and whistles in protest before leaving the parliamentary chamber.

Croatian farmers – getting increasingly frustrated with the ‘demands’ of the Green Deal and trade liberalisation negotiations with Mercosur – could soon join their colleagues across the EU who have been protesting for weeks.

Moldova has found itself at the forefront of a hybrid war orchestrated by the Kremlin, Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Luminița Odobescu said on Tuesday following a meeting with the new Moldovan Foreign Affairs Minister Mihai Popșoi, who was in Bucharest for his inaugural foreign visit.