Friday

29th Mar 2024

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Merkel to visit Brussels this WEEK

  • Merkel (l) and Juncker have known each other for years, but this week is the first time she visits the European Commission with Juncker at its head (Photo: EPP)

German chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Brussels on Wednesday (4 March) to visit the European Commission for the first time since Jean-Claude Juncker took over from Jose Manuel Barroso last November.

She will meet with the full college of commissioners to discuss Greece and Ukraine and is due to give a press conference afterwards.

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Her visit comes on the heels of weeks of disagreement between Athens and its creditors over extending Greece's bailout, with Germany taking a harder approach on the issue than the European Commission.

It also comes shortly after Brussels agreed to give France an extra two years to bring its budget deficit into line with EU rules, sparking criticism from several centre-right German politicians.

Greek debt is also expected to be part of discussions by the European Central Bank's meeting on Thursday, with Greek finance minister Varoufakis saying that his country will prioritise paying back the IMF first, and that ECB debts are in a "different league".

The bank is also expected to reveal details on its bond-buying programme which is set to start later this month. It is also set to publish growth and inflation forecasts for the eurozone.

The European Union will take stock of the Ebola outbreak at an international conference in Brussels on Tuesday (3 March), which the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo will also attend.

The outbreak that started in 2013 cost almost 10,000 deaths in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, with between 300 and 500 confirmed new cases a week at the height of the outbreak.

In Liberia, there are now one to two new cases each week.

Environment, Ukraine imports, fish and Easter this WEEK

This week, expect no more than talks on environment, agriculture and fisheries, including discussions between the Polish and Ukrainian governments over angry protests by Polish farmers objecting to cheap grain imports from Ukraine.

EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK

This week, EU leaders come together in Brussels for their usual two-day summit to discuss defence, enlargement, migration and foreign affairs. EU ministers for foreign affairs and EU affairs will meet earlier in the week to prepare the European Council.

EU summit prep work and von der Leyen's Egypt visit This WEEK

MEPs will hold a debate with EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen about the next European Council on Tuesday. Later this week, on Sunday, von der Leyen will be in Egypt for talks regarding a potential 'cash-for-migrant-control' deal.

Defence, von der Leyen, women's rights, in focus This WEEK

Ursula von der Leyen is expected to be confirmed as the EPP candidate for president of the next EU Commission. A new defence strategy will be unveiled this week, while the ECB is expected to maintain interest rates.

More farmers, Ukraine aid, Yulia Navalnaya in focus This WEEK

EU agriculture ministers meet in Brussels amid new farmers' protests. MEPs will hear from Alexei Navalny's widow and give the final green light to the €50bn Ukraine facility, while the CBAM proposal faces a formal challenge at a WTO meeting.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

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