Secret vote clouds 2040 climate target
Parliament takes up another crucial green file today – a plan to cut EU emissions by 90% from 1990 levels by 2040 – under a cloud of secrecy.
A Polish-led faction of the EPP, joined by MEPs from Hungary, Italy, France and even Germany, wants to water the target down to 83% and delay the EU-wide CO₂ price on fuels until 2030. The move would openly defy party boss Manfred Weber, who endorsed the original deal on Tuesday.
At the request of the hard-right ECR and far-right PfE, the vote will be held in secret – the second such procedure this month. The rule is meant to allow MEPs to vote in line with their conscience, but the provision is now being used to sow division, progressive lawmakers said.
Russian assets row could cost the EU
EU capitals will shoulder a “substantial financial burden” if the Commission’s plan to use €140 billion worth of immobilised Russian assets to support Ukraine falls through, EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis warned late on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, Dombrovskis said the EU executive was still pressing Belgium to drop its veto on the so-called reparation loan, while also examining fallback options. He cautioned that these alternatives would place a “heavy fiscal burden on member states.”
Options under discussion include issuing joint EU debt or providing bilateral national grants.
Commission’s review lead triggers staff backlash
Renouveau & Démocratie, the Commission’s progressive civil-service union, has sounded the alarm over remarks from Catherine Day, a former top EU civil servant now leading a high-level staff review under Commissioner Piotr Serafin.
Last month, Day floated ending “lifetime” EU civil service jobs, saying Brussels should hire more engineers and tech experts instead of lawyers and economists.
The union said her remarks “strike at the heart” of the service’s independence and contradict the Commission’s assurances that the Staff Regulations will remain untouched. It has demanded urgent talks with staff and a clear roadmap for the review, warning reforms must follow defined goals, “not ad hoc declarations.”
Mercosur deal faces court referral vote
The European Parliament could vote later this month on whether to refer the EU-Mercosur trade agreement to the bloc’s top court, if a cross-party initiative secures the support of at least 72 MEPs, parliamentary sources told my colleague Alice Bergoënd.
The motion for a resolution – expected to be tabled today – seeks a legal opinion from the EU Court of Justice on whether the draft deal complies with EU law, a move that would effectively freeze ratification until a ruling is issued.
The initiative has already attracted broad backing and is likely to surpass the threshold, said liberal lawmaker Pascal Canfin, one of the MEPs behind the effort. A vote is expected at Parliament’s late-November plenary.
Science Great Wall rising on China
The Commission might extend existing restrictions on Chinese participation in its €93.5 billion Horizon Europe research programme, according to a draft work plan.
As first reported by Science Business, Chinese companies and institutions could be excluded from projects in health, security, technology, and climate research. Chinese entities such as Huawei and ZTE are already barred from sensitive telecoms research.
“Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons,” the draft reads, citing “substantive concerns” about the transfer of intellectual property to China. The Commission has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Belgium-USAID stockpile standoff nears end
A large share of US-funded contraceptives that Belgium had desperately sought to save from destruction now appears bound for the incinerator, Flemish Minister Jo Brouns confirmed this week.
Twenty of the 24 truckloads of birth control supplies – part of a €10 million stock owned by the US Agency for International Development – were moved to a warehouse that failed to meet medical storage standards, rendering them unusable.
Belgium has spent months in quiet talks with Washington to salvage the shipment, but the mishandling may have sealed its fate. While intrauterine devices and syringes stored in Kallo could still be rescued, most of the stockpile will go up in smoke, my colleague Thomas Mangin reports.
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