Europe's South Archives

The Five Star Movement (the Left) will urge EU countries to reject Italian Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso's plan to bring forward the review of the EU's 2026 deadline for electric vehicles to 2025, which he will present in Brussels on Wednesday, the party told Euractiv Italy on Tuesday.

Portugal’s public debt as a percentage of GDP is estimated to have fallen to 97.9%, a revision from the 99.1% calculated in April, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Monday.

If the centre-right Partido Popular rejects the draft 2025 budget, the country could lose €12 billion for regions and local councils, Digital Transformation and Civil Service Minister Óscar López warned on Monday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was presented with the Global Citizen Award by billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk at her request on Monday, a decision widely interpreted by Italian media as a possible step towards rekindling ties with the Republican candidate.

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and representatives of the ruling Socialist Party met in Geneva on Friday in an attempt to smooth relations after the separatist leader's party voted against the ruling Socialists despite having previously agreed to back each other in parliament.

Italy will formally present a proposal at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to bring forward to the first half of 2025 the review of the EU's 2035 ban on combustion engine vehicles, currently scheduled for 2026, announced Italy’s Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso.

Greece and Cyprus have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to press ahead with a subsea electric cable linking continental Europe to the East Mediterranean, the energy ministries of the two countries said on Saturday (21 September).

The Portuguese Farmers' Confederation (CAP) has high expectations of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's choice for the new agriculture commissioner, Christophe Hansen, and is confident that he will pay attention to the sector, the group said on Thursday.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Thursday strongly denied that Madrid had forced Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia to sign a document recognising the victory of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the recent elections, as a leading member of Spain's Partido Popular had previously claimed. 

Partido Popular leader Alberto Nùnez Feijòo met the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome and praised her migration policy, which focuses on stopping boats leaving Tunisia and Libya and setting up asylum application processing centres in Albania.

 The area burned in mainland Portugal since Sunday now exceeds 106,000 hectares, with the government declaring a state of emergency and neighbouring Spain even sending its army to help fight the fires.

The European Commission will soon make an additional €14 million package of financial assistance available to Spain to improve the Canary Islands reception capacity for irregular migrants, especially minors, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas announced during an official visit to the region on Wednesday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has pledged to push for the review of the European Green Deal, criticising its "ideological approach" and warning that it risks leading to deindustrialisation.

Partido Popular (PP/EPP) leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo on Wednesday (18 September) compared Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to the late dictator Francisco Franco over a controversial media transparency plan presented on Tuesday (17 September).

Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro expressed satisfaction with former finance minister Maria Luís Albuquerque being appointed to the 'crucial' financial services portfolio in the new von der Leyen Commission.

The wildfires that have been raging in mainland Portugal since Sunday, particularly in the central and northern regions, have left seven dead and at least 40 injured, affected dozens of properties and forced the closure of roads and motorways.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's nomination of Italy's European Affairs Minister Rafaele Fitto for the coveted post of executive vice-president has been welcomed by Italy's ruling parties, although opposition parties voiced mixed reactions.

The hard-right Vox party is allegedly violating Spanish law by hiding a €9.2 million bank loan used to finance its 2023 election campaigns, El País reported on Monday (16 September), while the party says it wants to protect lenders from 'stigma'. 

The European Parliament's largest group, the European People's Party (EPP) have filed a resolution calling on EU countries to recognise opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate president of Venezuela and to do all they can to ensure he takes office in January 2025.

The Spanish government has categorically rejected Venezuela’s claims that two of its citizens arrested by the country’s secret services on Saturday were part of Spanish intelligence and planned to carry out attacks, including an attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Lega leader Matteo Salvini risks six years in prison as he has been charged with kidnapping and neglect of duty by preventing the NGO vessel Open Arms from docking in Lampedusa in 2019. 

The EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell described Nicolás Maduro's regime in Venezuela as “dictatorial” and “authoritarian” on Sunday, alluding to those forced to flee the country, including the opposition leader whom Madrid granted asylum last week.

Venezuela has recalled its Spanish ambassador to Caracas for consultations this Friday (13 September) following Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles's (PSOE/S&D) declarations of “persecution” and “limitation of fundamental rights” against political opponents in the Maduro regime. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday pledged his full support to Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who has been in exile in Spain since Sunday, as he tries to find a way out of the South American country's political crisis.