Europe quietly works on Huawei-treatment for Chinese wind turbines

Good morning from Brussels,

The European Union is looking to ban foreign wind turbines on the grounds of cybersecurity concerns, echoing similar recommendations that saw EU countries bar China’s Huawei from 5G networks.

Brussels is busy putting measures in place to shield Europe’s wind turbine producers from Chinese competitors. Amid talk of “made in Europe” requirements and considerations of anti-dumping tariffs, one consideration is quietly gaining traction: cybersecurity.

Euractiv’s Nikolaus Kurmayer has all the details.

During a three-day official visit to Brazil, French President Emmanuel Macron floated the idea of a new EU-Mercosur deal which could go beyond just trade while critics and supporters await the finer details, writes Paul Messad.

Meanwhile in Stockholm, Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements that F-16 fighter jets are legitimate targets for Moscow – even on third-country airfields – is an escalation of Russian rhetoric that could potentially lead to a war, writes Charles Szumski.

A tight race for third place in the European Parliament elections continues with the liberal Renew Europe group recovering the lead over far-right ID and nationalist-conservative ECR group, according to Europe Elect’s latest projection for Euractiv.

Meanwhile, Max Griera reports that frustration with mainstream politics is fuelling the rise of Europe’s joke parties, which are likely to gain a few seats in the European Parliament in June.

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PARIS

During a three-day official visit to Brazil, French President Emmanuel Macron floated the idea of a new EU-Mercosur deal which could go beyond just trade while critics and supporters await the finer details. Read more.

French minister: Agriculture will be national ‘major general interest’. At the annual congress of the main French farmers’ union, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau outlined in broad strokes the upcoming law on agriculture and took stock of the current and forthcoming national and EU measures in response to farmers’ protests. Read more.

France must not cave to Brussels on renewables, says ex-energy minister Pannier-Runacher. France should continue refusing to include renewable targets in its energy-climate plan, which will be submitted to the European Commission in June, the country’s former energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said this week. Read more.

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BERLIN

German coalition considers social media rules for parliamentary groups. Following criticism from the Federal Audit Office over the alleged misuse of taxpayers’ money for online activities by parliamentary groups, Germany’s governing parties are calling for clear legal guidelines. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Belgian EU presidency presents new risk assessment methodology for child sexual abuse law. A new document written by the Belgian EU Council presidency and seen by Euractiv outlines key details for the risk assessment that will form the backbone of a draft law to detect and remove online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Read more.

STOCKHOLM

Putin’s F-16 threats could start a war with NATO, Swedish military official warns. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements that F-16 fighter jets are legitimate targets for Moscow – even on third-country airfields – is an escalation of Russian rhetoric that could potentially lead to a war, according to Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi. Read more.

ATHENS

With 159 votes in favour, Greece’s ruling New Democracy party (EPP) survived on Thursday a no-confidence vote pushed forward by the left opposition parties amid tensions over a deadly train accident that killed 57 people. Read more.

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ROME

Meloni, Lebanon commit to increased trade, reducing Israel tensions. Italy is committed to avoiding escalation in the Middle East while trying to find ways to increase trade and coordinate on migration issues, according to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who visited her Lebanese counterpart Najib ‘Azmi Miqãti. Read more.

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MADRID

Puigdemont presents his pro-independence candidacy for the Catalan elections. Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, of the right-wing separatist party Junts per Catalunya (JxCat, Together for Catalonia), will run in the snap regional elections on 12 May on a multi-formation platform which combines his name with that of his pro-independence formation: “Junts + Puigdemont per Catalunya”. Read more.

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LISBON

MEP Paulo Rangel appointed minister of State and Foreign Affairs. EU lawmaker (Partido Social Democrata – EPP) Paulo Rangel will be the number two in the government led by Luís Montenegro, assuming the position of Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, his first experience as a minister. Read more.

LONDON

Migrant crossings to UK hit new record, heaping pressure on Sunak. More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2024, a record total for the first three months of the year and giving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a fresh political headache. Read more.

DUBLIN

Ireland to intervene in South Africa genocide case against Israel. Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin’s concern about Israeli operations in Gaza since 7 October. Read more.

WARSAW

Poland pledges further solidarity with Ukraine as PMs meet in Warsaw. The prime ministers of Poland and Ukraine set the terms of Warsaw’s additional support for Kyiv and discussed solving the current dispute over food imports during intergovernmental consultations in Warsaw on Thursday. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovaks take to streets following sudden shake-up of cultural institutions. Slovaks took to the streets this week to protest against the abrupt dismissal of the management of several cultural institutions, with workers at the national broadcaster RTVS saying they were ready to strike if the government put the media under state control. Read more.

SOFIA

Constitutional, cabinet crisis looms in Bulgaria. On top of the Bulgarian cabinet crisis following the failure of the rotation of prime ministers, a constitutional crisis is looming as appointing a caretaker premier appears to be increasingly difficult. Read more.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Liene Lūsīte, Alice Taylor]