Latest news with #Environment&Transport
Euractiv
4 days ago
- Climate
- Euractiv
Greece calls on EU aid to fight wildfires
Energy, Environment & Transport Athens has requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, but not all countries have made use of it AFP Aug 12, 2025 17:52 2 min. read News Service Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to journalistic standards. Greece has requested EU assistance to battle more than 100 wildfires stoked by fierce winds and dry conditions, the fire service said on Tuesday, as blazes flared across southern Europe. The most dangerous new fronts are burning on the popular tourist island of Zante and parts of western Greece, including the Achaia region in the Peloponnese where around 20 villages were evacuated, the service said. Faced with the escalating situation, Greece has requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told a press briefing. Given the severity of the fires across Europe's southern flank one might expect the EU mechanism to be overwhelmed with demand, but so far neither Spain, nor Portugal, nor France, have submitted a request. Police are investigating the causes of the blazes on suspicion of arson due to the large number of outbreaks in western Greece. Ferocious winds reaching up to 88 kilometres per hour have lashed the country since last week, fanning a wildfire south of Athens in which one person died, and are due to continue until Thursday. More than 22,000 hectares have burned in Greece this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Spain, Portugal and the Balkans were also battling wildfires as a heatwave struck southern Europe, extreme weather that scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying. (cp)
Euractiv
5 days ago
- Politics
- Euractiv
Finland charges ship captain over Baltic cable sabotage
Energy, Environment & Transport The Eagle S is believed to belong to the Russian shadow fleet – old tankers used to skirt restrictions on Russian oil exports AFP Euractiv Aug 11, 2025 15:45 2 min. read News Service Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to journalistic standards. The captain and two officers of a ship believed to belong to Russia's so-called shadow fleet have been charged with sabotage for cutting five Baltic Sea cables in December, Finnish prosecutors said on Monday. The captain and first and second officers of the Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S are alleged to have dragged the ship's anchor on the seabed for around 90 kilometres, damaging five undersea cables in the Gulf of have been charged with "aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications", the office of Finland's Deputy Prosecutor General said in a statement. The office did not disclose the nationalities of the suspects. The criminal investigation was launched after the EstLink 2 submarine power cable and four telecommunications cables connecting Finland to Estonia were damaged on December 25. "The owners of the cables have suffered a total of at least 60 million euros in immediate damage in the form of repair costs alone," the statement said. The Eagle S is believed to belong to the Russian shadow fleet – old tankers used to skirt restrictions on Russian oil exports. As a result of the disrupted electricity transmission and telecommunications, the event "is also suspected to have caused a serious risk to energy supply and telecommunications in Finland," the statement said. Denying the offences in a preliminary investigation, the defendants have argued that Finland has no jurisdiction in the case, because the cuts took place outside Finnish territorial waters. Several undersea Baltic cables were damaged last year, with many experts calling it part of a "hybrid war" carried out by Russia against Western countries. Sweden and Finland joined NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the military alliance has increased its surveillance in the Baltic Sea. (vib)
Euractiv
6 days ago
- Climate
- Euractiv
Firefighters bring huge blaze in France under control
Energy, Environment & Transport Authorities said that hot, dry winds on Sunday and a heatwave would make the work of firefighters more difficult AFP / Euractiv Aug 11, 2025 10:50 3 min. read News Service Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to journalistic standards. Firefighters have contained a massive wildfire in southern France but still face a "complicated" struggle, but officials warned on Sunday that scorching heat and dry winds could reignite the blaze. The fire, which has ravaged a vast area of France's southern Aude department, killing one person and injuring several others, comes as parts of the Mediterranean region face a heatwave. "The fire is now under control. This still requires continued mobilisation. We must hold on and not weaken," Amelie Trioux, chief of staff of the Aude prefect, told a press briefing. Authorities said that hot, dry winds on Sunday – similar to those on the day the blaze began – and a heatwave would make the work of firefighters more difficult. Temperatures in the coming days are expected to hit 42C in some areas, according to national weather service Meteo France. Some 1,300 firefighters were drafted in to stop the blaze from flaring up amid fears that winds blowing around 50 kilometres per hour could fan lingering hot spots. The blaze – France's largest since 1949 – has torn through 16,000 hectares of vegetation, disaster officials said. For livestock farmers in Fontjoncouse, the fire has ravaged grazing land and wiped out much of their flocks, fuelling outrage among those who said they did not have time to evacuate their animals. Emmanuelle Bernier said she was "extremely angry" when she returned to a devastating scene, finding the pen that had housed her herd of goats in ruins, with 17 animals – some close to giving birth – lost in the fire. "I will definitely change jobs. This will change my whole life," she said. Bernier's property now holds only a few geese and two sick goats after she entrusted her surviving sheep to a local winegrower, as the farm was too damaged for them to stay. But as she surveyed the scorched landscape, Bernier voiced some hope for the future. "There's still a little life left," she said. 'Hard to bear' Experts warn that European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to such disasters due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming. Residents of southern France said the high temperatures are becoming unbearable, especially for the most vulnerable, including the elderly or children. "I've never experienced a heatwave as hard to bear as this year, said Monique Beluy, 81, in the southern city of Marseille, who worries about living alone. The heatwave is forecast to peak between Monday and Tuesday, but high temperatures are likely to persist through the end of the week, according to Meteo France. (cp)
Euractiv
03-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
Berlin reneges on promise to cut record-high electricity tax
Energy, Environment & Transport Euractiv is part of the Trust Project Nikolaus J. Kurmayer Euractiv Jul 3, 2025 11:21 1 min. read News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The German government is set to maintain one of the Europe's highest electricity taxation rates, despite an electoral promise to slash it to the minimum allowed under EU law. European rules set the minimum tax rate on power at €1 per megawatt hour. Germany charges 20 times as much, with the levy on electricity bills bringing in more than €5 billion in 2024. The new coalition government had initially promised to slash the tax to reduce the burden on German households. Most businesses were already exempted in 2023. However, following a political back-and-forth between the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, the government said tax cuts were off the table until 'fiscal leeway exists.' But with the coalition already committed taking on an extra €500 billion of government debt, a fifth of which is earmarked for the green transition, it is unclear when that moment is to be expected. Michaela Engelmeier, head of social association SoVD, described the cancellation of the tax cut as a 'fatal signal'. Consumers needed 'tangible relief,' she told German press agency dpa . (rh) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project
