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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12902

3 March 2022
Contents Publication in full By article 10 / 39
Russian invasion of Ukraine / Justice
Malta suspends “golden passports”
Brussels, 02/03/2022 (Agence Europe)

On Wednesday 2 March the Maltese government announced the suspension of “golden passports” for Russian and Belarusian nationals. 

A few days earlier, Malta resisted calls to stop these procedures, despite the European Commission’s appeals (see EUROPE B12900A7). The Prime Minister, Robert Abela, indicated that the verification procedures were strict and prevented abuse. In a reversal of the previous situation, the government explained in its statement on Wednesday that “recent...

Contents

Russian invasion of Ukraine
FINANCE: EU seeks to avoid circumvention of exclusion of seven Russian banks from Swift system
BANKS: Sberbank withdraws from EU market
AGRICULTURE: EU ministers agree on market measures and measures to free up production in context of war in Ukraine
MIGRATION: EU interior ministers urged to activate Thursday 2001 directive on immediate temporary protection for people fleeing Ukraine
HUMANITARIAN AID/CIVIL PROTECTION: EU announces more than €500 million in aid for Ukraine and neighbouring countries and continues to coordinate delivery of goods
HEALTH: WHO wants safe corridors to deliver aid to Ukraine and urges Kremlin to respect international humanitarian law
ENLARGEMENT: Ukrainian application for EU membership to be discussed at informal meeting of European Affairs Ministers on 3 and 4 March
BELARUS: EU sanctions 22 military personnel for their role in invasion of Ukraine and adopts new sectoral sanctions
MEDIA: EU formalises ban on Russian state media ‘RT’ and ‘Sputnik’
JUSTICE: Malta suspends “golden passports”
ENERGY: Moscow blasts Nord Stream 2 suspension and warns of consequences for gas prices
ENERGY: Baltic countries call for Ukraine’s electricity system to be synchronised with EU as soon as possible
COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Council of Europe clarifies terms of Russia’s suspension
COUNCIL OF EUROPE: war of Ukraine/Russia Inter-State cases at European Court of Human Rights
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Mr Borrell calls extraordinary council and invites Mr Kuleba and Mr Blinken
SANCTIONS: Mr Michel favours implementation of agreed sanctions before adopting new ones
PATENTS: European Patent Office freezes its activities with Russia and Belarus
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECONOMY: Russian invasion of Ukraine could delay restoration of EU fiscal rules
COMPANIES: Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive narrowly passed in European Parliament committee
STATE AID: green light for €2 billion in Hungarian investment support to foster sustainable recovery
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET/RULE OF LAW: European Commission presents guidelines on application of Conditionality Regulation
RULE OF LAW: EU Ministers for European Affairs to discuss Ukraine and tools for enforcing Rule of law in EU27
SECTORAL POLICIES
HOME AFFAIRS: French Presidency of EU Council will try to make progress on governance of Schengen and Asylum Pact despite current situation in Ukraine
JUSTICE: ministers will not adopt conclusions on hate speech and hate crime on 4 March
ENVIRONMENT: EU Council draft compromise on tightening limits on persistent organic pollutants in waste
ENVIRONMENT: Virginijus Sinkevičius welcomes agreement at UN to negotiate a binding Treaty on plastic pollution
ENERGY: around 40 civil society organisations call for action on energy poverty
EXTERNAL ACTION
TRADE: European Parliament and Council negotiators close to agreement on public procurement instrument
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL: European Commission opens contribution period to prepare EU care strategy
NEWS BRIEFS
AGRICULTURE: European Commission approves two new geographical indications from Lithuania and Spain
COHESION: absorption rate of structural and cohesion funds 2014-2021 increases significantly
ECONOMY: February euro area inflation estimated at 5.8%
FINANCE: European Securities and Markets Authority updates transparency data for shares and similar securities
GEORGIA: EU wants to strengthen ties with country
INTERNAL MARKET: European Commission opens input period on detergent review
DIGITAL: DMA-DSA, some 40 NGOs call for more transparency in inter-institutional negotiations
DIGITAL: ‘dark patterns’ and targeted advertising, 72 organisations call for better protection of human rights in DSA
DIGITAL: European Ombudsman calls on EU Council to make available documents relating to interinstitutional negotiations over DMA
HEALTH: European Commission welcomes EMA scientific opinion on antimicrobials for human treatment