Albania to speed up EU accession using ChatGPT

The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EURACTIV.

Today’s edition is powered by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

In today’s news from the Capitals:

TIRANA

The Albanian government will use ChatGPT to translate thousands of pages of EU legal measures and provisions into shqip (Albanian language) and then integrate them into existing legal structures, following an agreement with the CEO of the parent company, OpenAI, Mira Murati, who was born in Albania.

Albania is Europe’s most pro-EU country, with more than 97% favouring membership despite being in the waiting room for 14 years. The idea is to use AI to speed up much of the paperwork in a bid to facilitate quicker bloc accession for the country, which has grown increasingly frustrated with the EU’s perceived enlargement fatigue. Read more.

///

EU INSTITUTIONS

EU watchdogs announce audit scheme for next two years amid budget scrutiny. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) announced about 73 audit auctions for the upcoming two years on Tuesday to double-down scrutiny on the EU’s budget following increased spending. Read more. 

NGOs cry foul after Commission proposes new law for interest groups. The European Commission has unveiled a new law designed to force interest and lobbying groups working for non-EU actors to register on a transparency register as part of its plans to protect against malign influence in EU politics. Read more.

EU looks to appease Hungary’s Orbán with funds payout before Ukraine summit. Brussels is expected to unlock €10 billion in EU funding for Hungary on Wednesday, on the eve of a decisive summit on support for Ukraine that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has threatened to derail. Read more.

///

BERLIN

Germany goes frugal ahead of EU leaders’ summit. Germany opposes any increase in the EU’s long-term budget beyond the €50 billion in aid planned for Ukraine, government officials said ahead of the EU leaders’ summit on Thursday and Friday, citing the country’s domestic budget crisis. Read more.

/// 

PARIS

‘Dry Harder’: French government urged to openly back booze-free January.  The government should openly support an alcohol-free January campaign, better known as ‘Dry January’, 48 addiction specialists wrote in a letter to Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau, published by Le Parisien and Franceinfo on Tuesday. Read more.

France ramps up debt rules fight as file enters last leg of negotiations. French political heavyweights are raising their voices to warn against the risks of an unbalanced and counterproductive debt rules reform as negotiations look to wrap up before year-end and austere German criteria appear to be here to stay. Read more.

NORDICS & BALTICS

STOCKHOLM

Stockholm looks for perfect balance in EU pharma package. Sweden’s government wants to strike a balance between ensuring access to medicines for all patients and creating the best conditions for the research and development of new drugs, according to statements made during a recent public hearing. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

VALLETTA

Malta among EU states lobbying to allow spyware use against journalists. Seven European Union member states, including Malta, are pushing for governments to have the right to use spyware against journalists under the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which was supposed to create a framework that protects them. Read more.

///

ROME

Meloni: Brussels should leave certain issues to member states. The EU should cede control over issues “closer to the lives of citizens” and leave the bigger questions to be dealt with collectively, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s European Council. Read more.

///

MADRID

Spanish opposition derails EU language path for Catalan, says separatist leader. Spain’s main opposition party, the Partido Popular, has “derailed” Madrid’s proposal to make Catalan an official EU language while it holds the EU presidency until the end of the year, separatist JxCat leader and former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said on Tuesday. Read more.

///

LISBON

Portuguese companies doing four-day week cut hours by 13.7%. Companies in Portugal that introduced the four-day week reported a 13.7% average drop in weekly working hours, according to the results of a pilot project presented by the study’s coordinators on Tuesday. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

BRATISLAVA

Fico government to tighten grip on whistleblowers amid EU infringement fears. Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government wants to strip Smer investigators of their legal protection, but a legal expert warns that the EU Commission could launch an infringement procedure. Read more. 

///

WARSAW

Tusk’s anti-xenophobia speech was overshadowed by the anti-Semitic incident. As new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke out against xenophobia in his policy programme speech, a right-wing lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the corridor of the building, an incident condemned by almost the entire chamber. Read more.

///

PRAGUE

Russia, China most active in spreading disinformation in Czechia. Russia and China are the most active states in spreading disinformation in Czechia, the head of the country’s counterintelligence service, BIS chief Michal Koudelka, said at a conference focused on hybrid threats in Prague on Tuesday. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

BELGRADE 

Serbia makes ‘green criterion’ mandatory for public procurement. Governments and state-owned enterprises in Serbia will have to consider environmental matters when purchasing goods, services and works from 1 January, meaning that purchasers in certain categories will no longer be able to use price as the sole criterion for awarding contracts. Read more.

///

SOFIA

Bulgaria rejects “migrants for Schengen” offer. Bulgaria has categorically rejected the request to accept more migrants on its territory in exchange for Austria lifting its veto on Schengen accession, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov announced on Tuesday while answering questions from citizens on Facebook. Read more.

///

BUCHAREST

Romania sees spike in domestic violence. Romania recorded a rise in the number of reported cases of violence against women, as well as concerning statistics such as three in four solved rape cases ending in miscarriages of justice in 2022, according to a report published on Tuesday by the non-governmental organisation Centrul Filia. Read more.

AGENDA:

• EU: EU-Western Balkans Summit takes place in Brussels; Agenda highlights include advancing gradual integration, reinforcing security, building resilience, and more; Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Parliament President Roberta Metsola attend;
• Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas hosts President of the Organising Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Tony Estanguet;
• Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni participates in Eurostat General Assembly, in Luxembourg;
• Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Iliana Ivanova participates in trilogue on Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA); Hosts Government Representative of Wales for Europe Derek Vaughan;
• Parliament’s plenary votes on European Health Data Space, non-communicable diseases, and more;
• Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addresses the European Parliament; Holds meeting with President Roberta Metsola;

***

[Edited by Charles Szumski, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson, Sofia Mandilara]

Read more with Euractiv