EU migration pact centre-stage for Macron’s camp in bid to counter far-right

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In today’s news from The Capitals:

PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron’s Besoin d’Europe coalition has upped support for a new pact on migration and asylum, emphasising a desire to tackle illegal immigration and fend off the far-right narrative ahead of June’s EU elections. Read more.

Think tank estimates French climate adaptation to cost €5-20 billion per annum. Adapting the French economy to climate change could cost between €5 billion and €20 billion a year by 2050, impacting buildings, road and rail transport and crop farming, according to estimates revealed by government-funded think tank I4CE, on Friday. Read more.

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EU INSTITUTIONS

EU Parliament and Council seal last-minute deal to extend Ukraine’s trade benefits. EU lawmakers reached an agreement on the renewal of trade liberalisation measures with Ukraine on Monday (8 April), after member states managed to reopen negotiations and agreed to reinforce some safeguards against market distortions. Read more.

EU’s Red Sea mission successfully repels attacks, but lacks ships. The EU’s operation in the Red Sea to protect commercial ships from attacks by Houthi rebels is showing results but remains stuck in a small area of operation due to a lack of ships and other assets, officials said on Monday. Read more.

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BERLIN

German far-right demands proof of alleged Russian bribes. German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came out in support of Petr Bystron on Monday, one of their top candidates for the European elections, who allegedly received cash from a pro-Russian news site for his election campaign. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

MADRID

Spain to scrap ‘golden visas’ for foreign real estate investors. Spain will scrap its so-called “golden visa” programme granting residency rights to foreigners who make large investments in real estate in the country, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters on Monday. Read more.

Spanish People’s Party would win snap elections against Socialists, poll predicts. The Spanish People’s Party (PP/EPP) would outperform ruling Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D) if general elections were held in Spain today, according to a poll by private research agency 40dB. Read more.

Catalan president Aragonès warns a ‘referendum on independence’ will be unavoidable. A future referendum on Catalonia’s possible independence from the rest of Spain “will cease to be unconstitutional and impossible,” similar to the imminent amnesty law for those involved in the 2017 secessionist attempt, Catalan President Pere Aragonès, of the separatist Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) party, said on Monday. Read more.

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ROME

Italian farmers rally against fake ‘Made in Italy’ products at Brenner Pass. Ten thousand farmers converged at the Brenner Pass on Monday, voicing their opposition to and collecting signatures for a petition against imported foods masquerading as authentic Italian products. Read more.

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LISBON

Azores ‘critically important’ to NATO, US ambassador says. The American ambassador to Portugal, Randi Charno Levine, said the Azores are of “critical importance” to NATO on Monday. Read more.

Portugal latest EU country to adopt Nutriscore food traffic-light labelling system. Portugal became the eighth European country to adopt the front-of-pack labelling Nutriscore on Friday after the European Commission failed to unveil a proposal for an EU-wide model. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

WARSAW

Farmers’ protests contributed to Poland’s election result, data suggest. Ongoing farmers protests have influenced the results of the local elections in Poland, and may contribute to the outcome of June’s European elections, according to politicians and election data. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

PRISTINA

Dominant Kosovo Serb party again boycotts local elections, census in north. A Kosovo Serb political party, which until recently counted Milan Radoicic, who led the EU-dubbed ‘terrorist attack’ in the country on 24 September, has announced it will not take part in the process towards new elections in four Serb-majority regions or the population census, provoking disappointment from the EU. Read more.

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SOFIA

Bulgaria will stick to conditions for North Macedonia’s EU membership talks. Bulgaria has no intention of changing the negotiation framework and conditions for North Macedonia’s membership in the EU, Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, said during his visit to Sofia on Monday. Read more.

AGENDA:

• EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers opening speech at second New European Bauhaus Festival; Meets with Presidium of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) in Berlin, Germany; Receives Sustainability Scientist Maja Göpel;
• Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager meets with CEO of the UK Competition & Markets Authority Sarah Cardell, in Washington D.C., United States; Meets with President of the Spanish National Commission for Markets & Competition Cani Fernandez;
• Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis participates in “RRF Transforms” panel within “Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and European Strategic Investments and Reforms: state of play and way forward” event; Delivers speech at “Standing with Ukraine: European Parliament’s legacy for the sanctions regime” conference;
• Vice President Vĕra Jourová hosts Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Aleksa Bečić;
• Vice President Maroš Šefčovič delivers keynote speech at “The future of EU industry: value chain resilience or dependence” event, organised by EUROFER;
• Vice President Dubravka Suica hosts members of Platform’s Advisory Board (children) followed by a discussion with key children’s rights stakeholders; Delivers keynote speech at European Seniors Union Congress on “Holding Generations Together”, organized by European Seniors Union (ESU), in Leuven, Belgium;
• Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli is joining online conference on “The Future of Roma, Sinti and Travellers in Europe”, organised by ERGO, as part of the Romani Week 2024;
• Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi participates in Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) III high level political dialogue; Participates in Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) geopolitical dialogue;
• Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni delivers opening speech at “Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and European Strategic Investments and Reforms: state of play and way forward” event, organised by the Belgian Presidency;
• Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides hosts Under Secretary General for National Society Development and Operations Coordination, International Federation of Red Cross, and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Xavier Castellanos Mosquera; Delivers opening speech at event “Advancing the provision of Mental health and Psychosocial Support for people displaced from Ukraine”, organised with the IFRC and the Red Cross EU Office;
• Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra speaks via videoconference with Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen;
• Joint meeting of Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and Committee on International Trade vote on vote on withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty;
• Joint meeting of Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs vote on European Health Data Space;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Olivia Gyapong, Liene Lūsīte, and Sofia Mandilara]

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