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In today’s news from The Capitals:
LONDON | BRUSSELS
The EU and UK will frame their strategic partnership around free trade, multilateralism and support for Ukraine in a clear swipe at Donald Trump’s turbulent early months back in the White House, according to a preparatory document seen by Euractiv. Read more.
WESTERN EUROPE
BERLIN
Meet Merz’s top minister picks. The Christian Democrats’ ministerial roster is finally out, including key offices that could reshape Germany’s EU politics – and Brussels should take note. Read more.
New German health minister appointed despite limited healthcare experience. Nina Warken will become Germany’s new health minister, CDU leader and Germany’s incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Monday. Despite lacking health experience, she will face several national and European challenges when she takes office in May. Read more.
Germany’s new agriculture minister: a trained butcher with meaty problems ahead. The conservatives in Berlin have picked Alois Rainer, a butcher by training, to head Germany’s food and agriculture ministry, a surprising choice as the coalition programme promotes ‘alternative proteins’. Read more.
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PARIS
France delays energy plan as far-right National Rally raises objections. French Prime Minister François Bayrou pushed forward the adoption of the new French energy policy plan during a parliamentary address today, in an effort to avoid a major clash with the far-right National Rally. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
The Netherlands’ plan to break free of its nitrogen ‘lock’. The Hague is proposing risky solutions to end the stalemate over nature permits and nitrogen emissions, which have the farming and construction sectors on edge. Read more.
NORDICS & BALTICS
STOCKHOLM
Sweden’s Liberal Party leader and education minister to step down from both posts. Johan Pehrson, leader of Sweden’s Liberal Party and current minister of education, announced today that he is stepping down from both positions, saying he wants to give a new leader enough time to revive the party ahead of the 2026 general election. Read more.
EUROPE’S SOUTH
MADRID
Madrid says more cables to France would boost energy grid security. French efforts to block construction of power cables between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe is hurting the security of electricity supply on both sides, said Spain’s energy secretary Joan Groizard in an interview. Read more.
EASTERN EUROPE
BRATISLAVA
Fico and Orbán display bromance, dodging thorny issues. The Slovak and Hungarian prime ministers showcased their unity in Bratislava, criticising the EU together while steering clear of sensitive topics that could spark friction. Read more.
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WARSAW
Poland and US firms move ahead with first nuclear plant deal. Poland’s state-owned Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) on Monday signed a bridging agreement (EDA) with the US consortium Westinghouse-Bechtel for the country’s first nuclear power plant.
The signing, witnessed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, outlines the next phase of engineering, permitting and geological studies for the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in northern Poland.
The EDA became necessary after the previous contract for engineering services expired earlier this month. The project will use Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor technology and marks a major step in Poland’s efforts to diversify its energy sources and move away from coal.
(Charles Szumski | Euractiv)
Three Seas Summit welcomes new members, partners. Montenegro and Albania will officially join the Three Seas Initiative as associated states, President Andrzej Duda announced during the Three Seas Summit’s opening in Warsaw on Monday.
The main plenary session, featuring heads of state and government from the Three Seas Initiative countries, will take place at the Royal Castle on Tuesday.
As part of the summit – the 10th in the initiative’s history – Duda, alongside Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, took part in a high-level business event on Monday at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw.
“I believe that with new members, cooperation within the Initiative will become even more significant and fruitful, and the Summit taking place in Poland will contribute to strengthening ties between all member countries and Initiative partners,” Duda said.
The Three Seas Initiative, founded in 2015 by President Duda and his then Croatian counterpart, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, brings together 13 EU member states: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia 2023.
Additionally, two associated participating states—Ukraine and Moldova—are part of the Initiative. Its strategic partners include the United States, Japan, the European Commission, and Germany.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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PRAGUE
Czech construction faces raw materials crisis, government plans to open new quarries. Supplies of aggregates and sand-gravel mixtures, essential for highways, railways, and high-speed lines, are running dangerously low in Czechia and new quarries aren’t opening fast enough, warns a new study. Read more.
NEWS FROM THE BALKANS
SOFIA
Bulgarian government expects positive conclusions on eurozone accession. Bulgaria expects positive conclusions from the reports on the introduction of the euro currently being prepared by the European Commission and the European Central Bank, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said at a forum organised by the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Read more.
AGENDA:
- EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers speech at 2025 EPP Congress, in Valencia, Spain;
- Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera participates in Clean Industrial Deal roundtable, organised by European Climate Foundation; Delivers speech at Innovation for Place-Based Transformation event;
- Vice President Raffeale Fitto participates in European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Plenary Session;
- Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maros Šefčovič co-chairs, alongside British Minister for the Constitution and EU Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds, EU-UK Joint Committee on Withdrawal Agreement;
- Economy and Productivity Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis meets with European-American Chamber of Commerce delegation;
- Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen receives European Federation of Local Energy Companies (CEDEC) representatives;
- Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen holds video call with African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE) Moses Vilakati;
- Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib meets with Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard;
- Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius delivers speech at “Strengthening Europe’s Position in Global Trade and Security” panel of SME Europe Economic Leadership Forum;
- Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica meets with OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Demography and Security Gudrun Kugler;
- Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi participates in “Building a Research and Innovation Ecosystem for Rare Diseases” event; Meets with World Organisation for Animal Health Director General Emmanuelle Souberyan;
- Parliament President Roberta Metsola meets with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, in Valencia, Spain.
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[Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Charles Szumski, Daniel Eck, Sofia Mandilara]
