Author: staff

The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) has been most impacted of all European Parliament groups by the vote of no-confidence tabled against von der Leyen’s European Commission, and is fundamentally divided over the issue.The Conservatives are split between those voting in favour and against the motion of censure, while all the other groups of the Parliament are more or less following a common line.Within ECR, Romanians from ultra-nationalist party AUR and Polish from Law and Justice (PiS) are among the signatories of the motion of censure, consistent with their custom of being strongly critical of von der Leyen and her college.The…

On top of rifts over electric vehicles, medical devices, spirits and pork, China has imposed — as part of its retaliation against Washington — additional controls on exports of rare earths. Those are inevitably hitting EU countries as well. Although EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič has managed to negotiate faster permitting procedures for European companies, industry continues to sound the alarm over threats to supply chains for the manufacture of everything from smartphones to car engines. China provides almost 99 percent of the EU’s supply of the 17 rare earths. In a reflection of the frosty relations between Brussels and…

“You have to take the farmers with you on this journey. And that’s one lesson, I think, that the Welsh government has learned the hard way,” said Llyr Gruffydd, Senedd member for North Wales and Plaid’s agriculture and rural affairs spokesperson. Plaid will “reassess” the SFS when more details are published, Gruffydd said. His party is not about to announce plans to “plow a different furrow,” he said, but he didn’t rule out ditching the unpopular scheme either. When Plaid sees the plans, Gruffydd argued, it can decide “whether this is something that we can pursue, whether we feel we…

In France, punishments are usually temporarily lifted if the defendant appeals, but the judges in Le Pen’s case took the unusual but not unprecedented decision to immediately enact her sentence regardless of an appeal due to what they considered to be the gravity of the case and the risk of recidivism. In her statement, Le Pen argued she’s been left without proper legal recourse to challenge her election ban given that French President Emmanuel Macron once again has the ability to dissolve parliament. Were he to do so, Le Pen would be unable to run for reelection. Le Pen also…

Donald Trump erhöht den Druck: Neue Strafzölle stehen im Raum. Die EU sucht eine Linie zwischen Gegenwehr und Deal. Romanus Otte analysiert, wie Trump mit Zollpaketen droht, warum die Sektorabgaben gefährlicher sind als Basiszölle. Und in Berlin läuft die Haushaltswoche mit einem „Wohlfühlauftritt“ von Finanzminister Lars Klingbeil. Investitionen, Verteidigung, sozialer Zusammenhalt – alles soll möglich sein, sagt der Plan. Doch wie realistisch ist das? Rasmus Buchsteiner erklärt, wie viel Zinsen der Bund bald zahlen muss und warum in der Sommerpause das Sparen neu verhandelt wird. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es morgens um 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das…

Following a meeting of EU finance and economy ministers, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said Bucharest’s measures represented an “important and positive step toward complying with the new excessive deficit recommendation, provided all measures are swiftly legislated and implemented.” The Commission will produce a follow-up assessment by autumn, he added. In a speech given to parliament earlier this week Dan said he wanted to stop Romania’s debt falling to “junk” status, which would make the country essentially uninvestable. The move also marks a shift in the EU’s attitude to Romania after the country came close to electing anti-establishment candidate George Simion…

“In his role, he will work with leaders across the firm to advise our clients globally on a range of important topics, sharing his unique perspectives and insights on the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape. He will also spend time with our people around the world, contributing to our culture of ongoing learning and development.” An adviser to Sunak’s office said he would be donating his earnings to the Richmond Project, a numeracy charity the ex-PM and his wife have set up. Sunak, who is still the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, served as prime minister between October 2022 and last…

While more than half of Canadian respondents to the survey still consider the U.S. to be their most important ally, the poll — which surveyed 28,333 people in 25 nations around the world — provides a striking look at changing perceptions of America in the Trump era. In Mexico, a frequent political target for Trump dating back to the early days of his first run for president in 2015, a whopping 68 percent of respondents consider the U.S. to be their primary threat. Israel leads the list of the countries most in favor of the U.S, with 95 percent of its…

The French president has long called on Europe to seek more “strategic autonomy” and become less reliant on the United States, especially when it comes to European defense — a push has times excluded the U.K.  But Macron’s call for Europe to “derisk” may have fallen on deaf ears in Westminster, with the U.K. still firmly attached to the special relationship with Washington. “We need to derisk our society and economies … We need to derisk excessive dependencies towards the U.S. and China,” he told lawmakers. Macron, however, added that he didn’t put China and the United States in the…

Libyan officials on Tuesday ordered EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner and several senior European ministers to leave the country. Brunner, on a diplomatic mission with government ministers from Italy, Greece and Malta, was accused of “violations” and declared “persona non grata” upon arrival in Benghazi, according to an official statement published by Libyan officials. Benghazi is run by the eastern-based House of Representatives, one of two warring administrations that emerged in Libya after the downfall of ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The region is also the stronghold of warlord Khalifa Haftar, who is seen as being close to Russian President…