Euractiv.com

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about German farmers halting protests to negotiate with the government, a leak about Catalan leaders being unlawfully investigated by the former government, and so much more.

Bulgaria will invest in infrastructure that will help, if necessary, deploy NATO forces on the eastern flank but can also be used for civilian needs, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev announced on Monday.

In a bid to maintain the security of supply for medical products, the Netherlands set its eyes on extending its partnership with India to increase the availability of high-quality medicines and health products for Dutch patients.

An agreement was reached between the Agriculture Ministry and representatives of major agricultural organisations on Monday, with the former addressing several demands by farmers who have been protesting for six days.

Feminist NGOs have criticised France, Germany and the Netherlands for blocking the inclusion of consent-based definition of rape in the EU's directive to combat violence against women as December's negotiations on the law once again stalled.

UK company Newcleo and French company NAAREA are set to form a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of their fourth-generation nuclear technologies, the two announced in an exclusive interview for Euractiv France, AFP and Le Figaro on Tuesday (16 January).

The government should stop violating the law on several issues, President Andrzej Duda told Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a meeting at the Presidential Palace, commenting on the actions of Justice Minister Adam Bodnar and other members of Tusk's government.

While the government works on further controversial Criminal Code reforms, more and more people join the anti-government protests across the country, arguing that the reforms would eliminate the anti-corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office and curtail the rights of whistleblowers.

As farmers' protests in Germany came to a temporary halt after weeks of rocking the country over planned subsidy cuts, Farmers' Association President Joachim Rukwied said he is pushing for negotiations with the federal government but stressed he wanted results by Thursday evening.

French far right National Rally (Rassemblement National) chief Jordan Bardella has vowed to work together with other anti-EU forces to create a blocking majority and essentially kill what he described as a “federalist coup d'état” pushed forward by Europhiles.

A new Delegated Regulation jeopardises the fish processing industry. To avert risks to food safety, quality, and industry competitiveness, Polish and Danish fish processing associations urge European policymakers to reject it, calling for prior consultation with EFSA.

Members of the former government of Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy (PP/EPP) used the national police to illegally investigate the political activities of several leaders of Catalan separatist forces for at least five years, using public funds, the newspapers La Vanguardia and Eldiario.es revealed on Monday.

The Israeli leadership is not united on how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Czech President Petr Pavel said on Monday after he meets with Israeli authorities.

Yemen's Houthi movement will expand its targets in the Red Sea region to include US ships, an official from the Iran-allied group said on Monday (15 January), as it vowed to keep up attacks after US and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.

Portugal has made limited progress in preventing corruption among MPs, judges and prosecutors, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO wrote in a report released Monday.

Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein has come under fire from within her own party for considering standing as the party’s lead candidate in all constituencies in the EU elections, with several leading party figures asking her to reconsider a strategy they say would disadvantage her female colleagues.

The import of Norwegian oil-laden wastewater is contrary to EU law, according to the Danish environmental authorities, contradicting earlier claims by Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke, backed up by a document from the Norwegian Environment Agency.

The European Parliament president on Monday (15 January) denounced Iran's jailing of Mahsa Amini's lawyer, after he accepted the EU's top rights award on behalf of her and the protest movement her death sparked.

The EU on Monday (15 January) condemned a North Korea ballistic missile launch, the first such firing by Pyongyang this year, and its first-ever test of a solid-fuel hypersonic intermediate-range projectile.

Switzerland agreed Monday (15 January) to a request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to host a peace summit of world leaders on ending Russia's full-scale invasion -- but without inviting Moscow.