Good morning from Brussels, Belgian Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder told Euractiv’s Aurélie Pugnet that the country is on track to join France, Germany, and Spain in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
The FCAS is a flagship programme aiming to build the next generation of European fighter jets, replacing French Rafales and Eurofighters.
The development is crucial in light of the EU push to boost the region’s defence industry production and collaboration between countries.
Aurélie has all the details and more on the tricky challenges lying ahead. |
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| Von der Leyen starts dialogue with farmers – Not the case in Berlin. The EU Commission’s chief aims to approach farmers ahead of the European elections through a “structured” dialogue, writes Angelo di Mambro. However, such a dialogue is still considered impossible in Berlin, writes Kjeld Neubert, with farmers vowing to escalate protests following a new deadlock with the federal government. LEAK: R&D in dual-use technologies. Euractiv’s Luca Bertuzzi has obtained a document suggesting that the EU executive is looking at options to boost research and development (R&D) related to technologies with dual-use potential, namely, those that can be used for civil and military purposes, such as drones and satellites. Germany’s last solar panel producer moves to US. In a move that sparked another discussion over the industry’s request for state support, Meyer Burger, the last producer of solar modules in Germany, has announced plans to close down and relocate to the US. Euractiv’s Nikolaus Kurmayer has all the details. |
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BERLIN New wave of farmer protests loom as German government refuses to budge. Germany’s ruling coalition refused to back down in its political showdown with protesting farmers, deciding late on Thursday to stick to its plans to cut farm subsidies, opening the floodgates to an unprecedented “eruption” of new protests. Read more. EU election: German liberals to compete with conservatives on anti-bureaucracy platform. The German liberal party, the FDP, is pushing to cut red tape at the EU level in its campaign for the European elections, rivalling the conservative CDU/CSU (EPP), which wants to move Europe “from the Green Deal to an Economic Deal”. Read more. |
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| VILNIUS Need to move to ‘whatever it takes’ to deter Russia, Lithuania’s FM says. The West must change its message on supporting Ukraine from “as long as it takes” to “whatever it takes” if it wants to deter Russia from attacking the Baltic states, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. Read more. |
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| DUBLIN Removing countries from EU could be option to resolve blockade, Ireland says. As EU decision-making remains plagued by disunity, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin (Fianna Fáil, Renew) suggested that the threat to exclude countries from the EU as well as “constructive abstention” could be “creative ways” for the bloc to avoid deadlock. Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/ACHILLEAS CHIRAS] |
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| ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that Europe will have to work with whoever president US voters choose in the upcoming elections, warning simultaneously against telling people what they should do. Read more. /// MADRID Spanish parliament OKs reform to scrap language discriminating against the disabled. Spain will soon reform its Constitution to remove all forms of discriminatory language against disabled people, currently referred to as “handicapped”, after parliament approved the measure on Thursday, with only the far-right VOX party voting against it. Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [Shutterstock/Cristian Storto] |
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| PRAGUE Czechia not prepared for EU’s Digital Services Act. The Czech Telecommunications Office, which has just one month before it must start ensuring compliance with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), currently needs more staff and the necessary legislation to ensure it fulfils its tasks. Read more. /// BRATISLAVA Pellegrini to announce presidential candidacy, solidify Fico’s government. Slovak Parliament Speaker and former prime minister Peter Pellegrini will announce his presidential candidacy on Friday, which, if successful, would tighten the grip on power of the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico, with whom he has been politically linked for almost 20 years. Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [Shutterstock/nitpicker] |
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| SOFIA The EU Court of Justice lifted the restrictions EU citizens face when purchasing agricultural land in Bulgaria in a ruling published on Thursday, more than 17 years after the country joined the bloc. Read more. /// BUCHAREST Protests in Romania rage on despite the government adopting brokered measures. The Romanian government adopted measures on Thursday, transposing into law the solutions reached in negotiations with protesting transporters and farmers during the week, although protesters remain on the streets and have extended their blockade to a second border crossing with Ukraine. Read more. /// BELGRADE Vučić in Davos: Western Balkans need a stronger Germany. Serbia and other Western Balkan countries need a stronger Germany, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said at a World Economic Forum debate in Davos, where he said Serbia had doubled its GDP in the past 10 years. Read more. /// SARAJEVO US’ Blinken wants Bosnia to end dependence on Russian gas. In a letter sent to the heads of diplomacy of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordan Grlić Radman and Elmedin Konaković, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on them to influence the head of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, to urgently adopt the Law on the Southern Gas Interconnection, which would connect Bosnia and Croatia and reduce Bosnia’s dependence on Russian gas. Read more. |
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- EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson and Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo, in Stockholm, Sweden; Visits Stora Enso Innovation Centre;
- Commission Vice President Dubravka Šuica delivers keynote speech at 3rd demographics summit on “Handling the demographic emergency: The role of science, governments and citizens”, in Athens, Greece; Meets Minister of State Stavros Papastavrou;
- Vice President Margaritis Schinas participates in Brussels Cybersecurity Summit;
- Vice President Maroš Šefčovič participates in WEF’s event on “Is geopolitical ‘coopetition’ possible?”; Participates in WEF’s event on “Global risks: What’s in the mail?”;
- Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides holds videoconference with Spanish Coalition of Experts on metastatic triple negative breast cancer; Participates in signing of Montenegro’s association agreement to EU4Health with Minister for Health Vojislav Šimun; Delivers remarks via videoconference at Centenary event for the World Organisation for Animal Health, organised by the Belgian Presidency;
- Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson participates in ministerial meeting of high level group on Central and South Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity (CESEC);
- Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders in Warsaw, Poland: holds meetings with Chairman of the EU Affairs Committee of the Senate Bogdan Klich, Chairman of the EU Affairs Committee of the Sejm Michał Kobosko, Minister for Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, Minister for EU Affairs Adam Szłapka; Meets with associations of Polish judges, prosecutors and NGOs;
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| *** [Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson] |
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