The recent collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States and the crisis at Credit Suisse in Switzerland over the weekend set off concerns regarding contagion across the international financial sector. While European governments and financial institutions closely monitor the situation, it is not all bleak.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre expects the energy cooperation with Germany to be stepped-up even further, as the countries are in talks about wind energy, hydrogen and more. French President Emmanuel Macron backs Moldova in the face of “Russian attempts to destabilize” the country. Spain adopts a pension reform along the lines of demands from the European Commission.
The president of France’s far-right National Rally, Jordan Bardella, claimed on January 16 that EU border agency Frontex reported in a January 13 press release that 330,000 people had entered the European Union illegally in 2022. In reality, the agency did not detect 330,000 people, but 330,000 irregular entries into the EU that year. As Frontex explained to AFP, “one person can illegally cross the external border of the European Union several times” and thus be counted several times. Multiple experts interviewed by AFP mentioned the limitations of this figure. They also cautioned against reading too much into the 64 percent year-on-year increase reported by Frontex. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that nearly 188,000 people had entered Europe illegally in 2022, or an increase of 24 percent compared to 2021. A figure that is “much more reliable in terms of actual arrivals,” according to specialists.
Finance politicians from the German Green Party push for rapid reform of the EU’s fiscal rules on government deficits and debts. European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton visits a Bulgarian military-industrial complex in the context of Ukraine’s growing ammunition needs. The Slovak Republic increases its military representation to NATO and EU bodies.
This week, the European Commission unveils its plans to reform the electricity market and boost Europe’s competitiveness with a clean tech plan. The European Newsroom spoke with Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the proposal presentation.