Author: staff

Updated: 12/12/2025 – 7:00 GMT+1 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this December 12th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More

Europa muss sich sicherheitspolitisch neu sortieren. Gordon Repinski spricht mit der Politikwissenschaftlerin Florence Gaub darüber, warum die Debatten über europäische Eigenständigkeit seit Jahrzehnten immer wiederkehren und weshalb der aktuelle Moment dennoch eine andere Qualität hat. Gaub erklärt, wie sehr die Reaktionen Europas weniger von amerikanischen Entscheidungen als von einem eigenen Gefühl der Schwäche geprägt sind und warum dieser Kontinent lernen muss, strategisch zu denken und langfristig zu planen. Im Zentrum stehen grundlegende Fragen: Warum gelingt es Europa trotz wachsender Bedrohungen so schwer, den entscheidenden Schritt zu mehr Handlungsfähigkeit zu gehen. Welche politischen Entscheidungen fehlen und was braucht es, damit Gesellschaften…

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He’s not even European — yet Donald Trump has topped POLITICO’s annual P28 ranking of the most powerful people who will shape Europe in 2026. EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton takes you inside the gala in Brussels — where commissioners, MEPs, diplomats, lobbyists and journalists packed into a glittering room, even as the mood underneath the sparkle felt unusually tense. At the event, Ursula von der Leyen sat down with Carrie Budoff Brown, POLITICO’s executive editor, for an exclusive on-stage conversation — offering one of her first public reactions to Trump’s sharp criticism of EU leaders as “weak,” and Washington’s…

Puzder’s remarks come as the Trump administration launched a series of blistering attacks on Europe in recent days. Washington’s National Security Strategy warned of the continent’s “civilizational erasure” and Trump himself blasted European leaders as “weak” and misguided on migration policy in an interview with POLITICO. Those broadsides have sparked concerns in Europe that Trump could seek to jettison the transatlantic relationship. But Puzder downplayed the strategy’s criticism and struck a more conciliatory note, saying the document was “more ‘make Europe great again’ than it was ‘let’s desert Europe’” and highlighted Europe’s potential as a partner.

SAFE is designed to help countries jointly buy arms and ammunition from European industry, financed by low-interest loans. Countries had to file national procurement plans this fall, and demand has exceeded available funds, the Commission president said. The Commission chief used the appearance to argue that the past year has reshaped the EU’s defense role at unprecedented speed.  “If you look at the last year, when it comes to defense, more has happened than during the last decades in the European Union,” she said, pointing to the creation of the EU’s first full-time defense commissioner and the publication of its…

Beijing has wielded its dominance of the sector through export restrictions intended to hit back against the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policy on Chinese imports. The declaration also reflects U.S. concern about China’s massive investment in artificial intelligence and quantum computing that could give it a competitive edge in the 21st century economy. “It’s an industrial policy for an economic security coalition and it’s a game changer because there is no grouping today where we can get together to talk about the AI economy and how we compete with China in AI,” Helberg said. “By aligning our economic security approaches, we can…

But there is hope — both for the pharmaceutical industry and beyond. Per Franzén, CEO and managing partner at EQT, a global investment organization, said he is seeing “an unprecedented interest to invest into Europe.” “It’s a real window of opportunity, a unique moment in time for Europe,” he said. “In order to make the most out of that opportunity, what we need to do is really to drive a more business-friendly, more innovation-friendly agenda,” he said. But with the pace of change, driven by artificial intelligence, “time is of the essence,” he added. Over-regulation isn’t holding Europe back in…

Navalnaya, who lives in exile, has become a prominent voice for anti-Kremlin Russians since the sudden and mysterious death of her husband in a prison camp north of the Arctic Circle in February 2024.  Even after Navalny’s death, Russian authorities have continued to crack down on associates of the late politician. In November, a Russian court designated Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation a “terrorist organization,” exposing anyone associated with the group to a potential life sentence. Navalnaya said Russians who opposed the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine or the country’s President Vladimir Putin were “living in fear.”  Invoking her husband’s legacy, however,…

Critics of the tax warned about the risk of scaring investors out of the EU and that tech entrepreneurs could leave the bloc as they would be forced to pay a tax based on the market value of shares they own in their companies without necessarily having the liquidity to do so. But Zucman rejected “the notion that someone […] would be discouraged to create a start-up, to innovate in AI because of the possibility that once that person is a billionaire, he or she will have to pay a tiny amount of tax” “Who can believe in that?” he scoffed.…