Brussels must solve turbine rattle
1. French wind farm worse Belgium
In the recent election debate, radical right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen accused incumbent head of state Emmanuel Macron that he would “prefer to place offshore windmills everywhere, next to Le Touquet.” The Macrontjes have a holiday home in that seaside resort.
Last year, Minister of Justice and North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne already announced legal action against the French plans. The windmills spoil the view at the West Flemish coast, and will form part of the shipping route between Ostend and the United Kingdom. Flemish coastal municipalities grumbled that the French the windmills Please keep away from their own beaches†
Consultations with France in recent years have come to naught, and an objection procedure of developer EMD’s plans lies with the French council of developer’s plans. Belgium is still knocking on the door of the European Commission, in the hope that it can provide resources. But that also had no effect.
Now Belgium has a real complaint against France, due to ‘insufficient will to take into account the rights of Belgian coastal residents, the port of Ostend and others improved’, Belgian media quoted from the complaint.
The European Commission must now consider the complaint. eventually Belgium can go to the Court of Justice of the EU.
2. needs billions
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was a sugar daddy to all Hungarians before the April 3 parliamentary elections. Retirees received extra monthly benefits, youths received tax cuts, and Orbán froze food and fuel prices to lower temperatures until July. The police and military received a bonus amounting to six months’ salary.
The consequences are intended. In February, gross monthly wages in Hungary came in according to the statistical office KSH 31.7% higher than a year earlier. The central bank saw itself on Tuesday . 9.1% compared to March 2021 raise the base rate by 100 basis points to 5.4%.
Analysts are counting on the Hungarian government to announce advance payments to put its budget in order. For example, ING is taking into account that sweeping changes in public investment, or the Orbán government even taxing companies active in the telecoms, retail and banking sectors, are a reality.
Subsidizing gas prices, among other things, costs the state gold. Hungary as now six times as much for gas as some households calculated research institute G7 last week.
What does not help is that Hungary still has a view of €7.
3. Slavery in Europe is difficult to eradicate
It is well known that migrants, for example in Italy, sometimes have to work undeclared in degrading conditions (read this old episode of Europamania). In 2020, the European Commission came up with a new strategy against human smuggling and exploitation Wednesday with crosses for legal labor migration). And the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) spoke about intensification in November of the anti-smuggling policy.
But there seems to be no cure against this practice. On Friday, Eurojust and . reported the Europol police organization having broken up a criminal network in Romania recruited people for work near Corby, in central England.
Once in England the workers hand in their passports and families and sixteen hours a day, seven days, seven days. The commoners also took their wages and fed the workers badly.
The international investigation into the arrest of five suspects, and 25 house searches in England and Romania. The police seize, among other things, €230,000 in cash and cars.
It is not clear how many people have fallen into the hands of the gang, but there are certainly dozens, the investigative authorities think. According to Eurojust, the family of the products threatened in Romania. They did not dare to go to the police.
In September last year, the European judicial organizations up a gang in southern Italy who exploited dozens of Moldovans.
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What should we watch out for this week?
• The EU energy ministers are coming Monday meeting to talk about uncertain levers by Gazprom. Last week, the Russian state-owned company turned off the tap to Bulgaria and Poland.
• How can citizens make themselves heard in the EU, apart from a representative of the people? There is also no possibility of the European Citizens’ Initiative.Tuesday is there a webinar about.
† Tuesday speak the EU finance ministers each other online about the banking unionwith which the EU wants to make the European financial sector more robust.
• Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland and her Swedish colleague Magdalena Andersson are Tuesday visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at Meseberg Castle near Berlin. The word ‘Nato’ will probably be mentioned at the meeting (read the article by FD correspondent Ria Cats).
• Think tank CEPS highlights Wednesday in a webinar the consequences of the war in Ukraine for Russia†
• The Court of Justice of the EU gets Thursday an opinion in an interested, French case on air quality. Which revolves around a resident of the Val d’Oise region, north of Paris, who compensation because the government would act too little against air pollution.
• Chief Economist Philip Lane of the European Central Bank shares Thursday at think tank Bruegel his expectations on the growth of the eurozone economy.
• Northern Ireland goes Thursday to the ballot box. Read the story of FD correspondent Joost Dobber.
† Monday May 9 is the Europe Day† The Amsterdam debate center De Balie will extensively reflect on this that day (here the program† Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs gives at Studio Maastricht his vision on European cooperation. Also read this story by FD correspondent Ria Cats.
Read (and listen) more?
Damage I How is British trade actually doing after Brexit? Read this analysis.
Damage II The Belgian Egmont Institute bent over the geopolitical implications of the war in Ukraine for the EU.
Featured Emmanuel Macron has won the second round of the French presidential election. Le Grand Continent plunged into water eleven congregations have happened.
Across Libya has many problems. Water is of it. Listen this podcast† Also visit Listn, the podcast platform of the FD.
For later The last meetings before the conference on the future of Europe were over the weekend. What now? Keep a close eye on FD-Brusselaar Mathijs Schiffers because he follows this theme. Here’s a contribution from the think tank ÖFZ met the perspective from the Balkans.
FD Europamania is written by Han Dirk Hekking† Also follow the FD-Brussels Ria Cats and Mathijs Schiffers† Do you have any comments about news? Let us know via [email protected].