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00:00 Europe's farmers continue to protest as discontent with green policies grows.
00:07 Albania's constitutional court has given the go-ahead to a migration deal with Italy that's been widely criticized by human rights groups.
00:19 The EU awaits an investigation into UNRWA but has not suspended aid to the UN Agency for Palestinians.
00:28 The UK's King Charles and his daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales leave hospital in London after undergoing surgery.
00:38 Europe's farmers continue to mobilize. Around 15 countries have seen large-scale protests over the past 18 months.
00:55 It started in the Netherlands with rallies against the government's plan to reduce nitrogen emissions by cutting livestock numbers.
01:02 Similar complaints were heard in Ireland and Belgium.
01:06 In Poland and Romania, farmers are denouncing tariff-free imports on Ukrainian cereal, which are destabilizing local markets.
01:19 In Germany, farmers are rallying against the phase-out of a tax break on diesel fuel by 2026, as well as the EU's environmental standards.
01:27 The complaints are much the same in France. While the catalyst varies from one country to another, all are calling for better incomes and simpler standards.
01:38 There is a growing demand for the environment and public support has dropped.
01:46 If we do a simple calculation, between 2003 and 2023, direct aid value has dropped by 37%.
01:55 This aid represents more than half of the average agricultural income in Europe.
02:02 The European Commission's Green Deal crystallizes the tensions in the agricultural sector, and particularly the Farm to Fork program to move towards more sustainable agriculture.
02:12 At the beginning, Farm to Fork was designed as a strategy that would impose standards to force changes,
02:19 by saying that the rise in the scale would make consumers pay, and that bankers with cheap money would finance the farmers' investments.
02:30 We have to say that this equation is not possible today.
02:35 Consumers are now deserting the most expensive products, and the organic sector is in great difficulty.
02:43 The period of easy money that would have allowed investments is no longer there. It belongs to the past.
02:51 In the immediate future, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is preparing a review of the current Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP.
03:00 We will do a comparative analysis of how things were put in place last year, and of course, based on this comparative analysis,
03:10 we will take the good practices that are effective, and also correct, and in any case, start the process of correction at the European level.
03:20 The CAP remains the Union's biggest budget envelope. Farmers know what they owe to this policy.
03:27 The challenge for Member States is to strike a balance between climate ambitions and the sector's economic future.
03:35 Albania's Constitutional Court has given the green light to a migrant deal with Italy.
03:47 The deal was passed in November, following an attempt at blocking its ratification by 30 Albanian lawmakers.
03:52 The deal can now be voted on in Parliament, and with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's left-wing Socialist Party holding 74 of Parliament's 140 seats, the deal is expected to pass.
04:04 The agreement was signed in November between Rama and Italian Premier Giorgio Maloney.
04:10 In it, Albania agreed to give temporary shelter to thousands of migrants who reach Italy until Italian authorities can process their asylum bids.
04:18 Two centres will also be set up in Albania to process asylum applications by people rescued by Italian authorities in international waters.
04:26 The agreement, endorsed by the European Commission President but widely criticised by human rights groups, is part of Maloney's efforts to share the work of addressing migration with other European countries.
04:38 The European Commission will review funding for UNRWA following the results of an investigation, but it has not suspended support as no transfers are planned until the end of February.
04:48 At issue is UNRWA's statement that it fired several employees of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees who were allegedly involved in the Hamas terror attack against Israel on October 7.
04:58 It suspected that 12 were involved, in total 13,000 people work for UNRWA.
05:04 We are asking first of all the organisation to carry out the investigation which it has itself announced.
05:11 And secondly we are asking them to agree to an audit to be carried out by independent experts that would be selected by the Commission.
05:21 The UN Secretary General has pleaded with the states.
05:26 To understand their concerns I was myself horrified by these accusations, he said. I strongly appeal to governments that have suspended their contributions to at least guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's operations.
05:36 The US, the UK, Canada and seven EU countries have suspended the aid, including France and Germany.
05:42 Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg are some of the countries that will keep helping Palestinians through UNRWA.
05:48 The UN Secretary General says that UNRWA's current funding will not allow it to meet all requirements to help the 2 million civilians in Gaza that depend on the Agency for daily survival.
05:57 International crisis group analyst says this humanitarian catastrophe may rise to an even more unpredictable scale.
06:05 You know the UN Refugee and Works Agency is one of the UN agencies that doesn't have a reserve fund.
06:11 They basically live from month to month and even before October 7th the UN Refugee and Works Agency was sounding the alarm about shortages of funds on a month to month basis.
06:23 Now with the crisis after October 7th the demands have skyrocketed because of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
06:34 So at this point to say that there is no money available until all of this is sorted out could be fatal.
06:41 It could be fatal for the UN Refugee and Works Agency, it could be fatal for a lot of people in Gaza.
06:47 The current government of Israel has for a long time criticised UNRWA's work which has operated in the region since 1949, helping Palestinians forced to flee their homes as refugees.
06:56 Israel alleges UNRWA perpetuates anti-Semitism in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring countries.
07:02 The Foreign Minister Israel Katz said it would do his utmost to stop UNRWA from operating after the ongoing war.
07:08 Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
07:11 Japan and Austria are to suspend their funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
07:19 The announcement comes after the US, UK, Germany and Italy also suspended funding for the organisation.
07:25 UNRWA says it will be forced to halt operations within weeks if funding isn't restored.
07:31 Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shataye condemned Israel's claims that UNRWA staff were directly involved in Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7th.
07:40 In response, the agency sacked several staff members.
07:44 Shataye urged the international community to keep funding the agency.
07:48 He highlighted the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza and said the action was dangerous and must be reversed.
07:56 Meanwhile, activists and family members of Israeli hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas protested next to Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing as the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip continued.
08:08 One protester described it as "not humanitarian aid, but ammunition."
08:13 The UK's King Charles has left hospital after spending three nights there following treatment for an enlarged prostate.
08:25 Charles was seen leaving the private London clinic with Queen Camilla by his side.
08:29 The King decided to announce the surgery in order to encourage other men to have their prostates checked.
08:35 His daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, also left the same hospital on Monday after almost two weeks, during which she underwent abdominal surgery.
08:43 She is now recovering at her home in Windsor and will not undertake any official duties until after Easter.
08:49 I don't know when the next European elections will take place.
09:02 Next year? No? In a few months? Maybe.
09:07 If it's this summer, no? I don't know.
09:10 In June, it will be time for citizens of the European Union member states to cast their vote and elect representatives to the European Parliament.
09:19 In the last elections in 2019, there was a remarkable 50% surge in youth participation compared to the 2014 polls.
09:30 However, in France, people aged 18 to 39 seem to have held back, with voter turnout ranging from 32 to 37%,
09:40 significantly lower than participation recorded in other European countries like Denmark, Germany and Belgium,
09:48 where 60 to 90% of younger voters cast their ballot.
09:53 But where do things stand today? Are young French voters feeling engaged?
09:59 Do you think young French voters are engaged?
10:00 No, I don't think so.
10:02 Why?
10:04 Because I didn't even know when it was, and I wasn't really interested in the candidates and the parties.
10:09 I'm just turning 18 and I don't know much about this kind of thing, so I'm sure we should do more.
10:17 I'm 19, I'm turning 20 soon, and I've never really heard about what it was like.
10:24 We only know about the elections, but we don't know anything else.
10:28 The organisation Young European Movement is trying to fix this apparent lack of interest.
10:34 Here, around 100 high school students and young people have been taking part in a simulation of the European Parliament.
10:43 Do you think it's time to talk about Europe?
10:46 I don't think young French people are the best informed about European issues and the functioning of the European Parliament.
10:53 I think the last Eurobarometer showed that only 14% of French people knew the date of the European elections.
10:59 So it's a real challenge for us to be able to get them involved and to raise awareness and information about these issues.
11:06 What we asked the students to do is to study a text, a resolution of the European Parliament on the Convention on the Future of Europe.
11:19 They are in a political group, so their goal is to look at what they can amend in the text.
11:24 We have the possibility to see the negotiations between different parties.
11:30 Through this simulation, we can put ourselves in the shoes of these deputies,
11:35 which teaches us more than a master's course in an amphitheatre.
11:40 Theatre.
11:40 [SWOOSH]