| National and EU-level support goes a long way towards supporting research into gene therapies against rare diseases, according to German researchers, but Europe still lags behind North American countries in innovation. Russia accused Bulgaria of malice and stupidity on Thursday for refusing to allow Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s plane to fly through its airspace to attend a meeting in Skopje, North Macedonia. The Spanish EU presidency aims to conclude negotiation on the migration reform package, a series of laws on migration management, before the end of the year, multiple sources from the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament confirmed to Euractiv. Achieving the EU’s ambitions for a more sustainable, resilient and competitive economy requires actions across many sectors. Europe’s bioeconomy, which converts renewable resources from agriculture, forests, and seas – including residues and waste – into food, feed, materials, and energy, contributes to this effort. Whole grains must be integrated into children’s diets early in life to create healthy lifelong habits and curb life-threatening diseases, according to experts, who called for the inclusion of grains into the EU School Scheme and public procurement of food. Lawmakers in the European Parliament’s transport committee voted on Wednesday to make it easier to enforce penalties on motorists visiting from other EU countries for traffic violations – though local authorities say the measures do not go far enough. Europe and the world face many technical and societal challenges when it comes to climate change and conservation efforts. While there has been a recent push to increase awareness of these issues, these efforts often fall short of their goals in generating actionable change. China did the world “a big favour” by bringing down the cost of clean technologies like solar panels, said Fatih Birol, the chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA). But with increased economic clout also comes responsibility, he told Euractiv ahead of the COP28 international climate summit in Dubai. The EU should take Ukraine’s military needs into account as it designs Europe’s future defence industry strategy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. EU member states’ position on the long-term residents directive is ‘far less ambitious’ than the European Parliament’s position, indicating tough negotiations ahead, MEP Damian Boeselager, who will be Parliament’s lead negotiator on the proposal, warned in an interview with Euractiv. Green chief Terry Reintke (Germany), Groene Links MEP Bas Eickhout (Netherlands), former Latvian presidential candidate Elīna Pinto, and the spokesperson for the Young European Greens, Benedetta Scuderi, are running to be one of the two European Greens’ lead candidates in EU elections. The German government must present emergency programmes to improve its climate policy in the transport and buildings sector, a Berlin court ruled on Thursday after the country repeatedly failed to meet emission reduction targets. Last but not least, don’t miss this week’s EU Politics Decoded: Losing Sunak’s marbles. Look out for… Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates in COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in United Arab Emirates Friday-Saturday. Parliament President Roberta Metsola discusses with young people in the debate “It’s not that simple. Youth and Politics” in Lisbon Friday. Views are the author’s | 