Author: staff

Diplomatic credentials? Optional. Deep pockets and loyalty to Trump? Essential. As Donald Trump rolls out his picks for U.S. ambassador posts in Europe — think fast-food executives, Broadway producers, billionaire donors and family insiders — one thing is clear: this isn’t traditional statecraft. Take Andrew Puzder, the former fast-food CEO and future U.S. ambassador to the EU (pending Senate confirmation). Like many of Trump’s nominees, he has no diplomatic experience but only strong political and business ties. Of course, Trump isn’t the first president to favor political appointees over career diplomats — Democrats do it too. But is this just…

While Donald Trump’s interest in Greenland provoked reactions from EU leaders, residents seem less worried, according to interviews conducted on the ground by Euronews. Many Greenlanders feel that the world around them is more worried about Greenland than they are, Euronews’ Shona Murray tells Radio Schuman today from Greenland’s capital Nuuk.Shona has been on the ground in Greenland gauging reaction to US President Donald Trump’s bid to acquire the territory for the US.Trump’s interest in Greenland has unsettled European leaders, despite their efforts to remain silent. Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, sought support from three European capitals and announced a…

It’s also bad economics, Beale contested, at a time when the government is trying to plug its “£22 billion black hole.” “Rishi originally wrote this up as being good economics. But we’ve told them that demand is already suffering. They keep putting taxes up and actually, every time they freeze [alcohol] duty they get a bit more in terms of revenue.”  ‘Modernized and simplified’ system The Labour government, meanwhile, stands by the view that the changes are positive. A Treasury spokesperson said: “The alcohol duty reforms have modernised and simplified the duty system, prioritising public health and incentivising consumption of…

Mafia informants directed police to specific sites where toxic rubbish was dumped. A top European court has come down hard on Italy, ruling that it has violated the right to life of 2.9 million citizens living in a toxic waste-polluted area around Naples.The area is known as the Land of Fires (‘Terra dei Fuochi’), due to the dumping and burning of rubbish and toxic waste which has taken place there for decades. Authorities say the Italian mafia gangs known as the Camorra are behind the burning and dumping as they control waste disposal in the area.Camorra informants have revealed how…

“[We need to] accelerate the implementation of the current programs,” Fitto said in a speech in Krakow, Poland on Thursday. Since taking office in December he has been touring EU capitals to negotiate midterm changes to their cohesion plans, due before March 31. “[The midterm review] is a golden opportunity to ensure that funding is absorbed more rapidly, to take the next step in adapting the policy to emerging needs.” Fitto added. But Brussels’ offer of greater flexibility comes with strings attached. According to the EU’s freshly published Competitiveness Compass — which contains several proposals to reboot the bloc’s economy…

The EU, however, sees buying U.S. gas as a convenient way to fully end Russian LNG imports by 2027. The bloc bought record levels of the fuel from Moscow last year. Despite that, Brussels chose not to crack down on Russian LNG in its latest sanctions proposal this week, prompting disappointment from the bloc’s hawks.  France is currently the bloc’s biggest direct buyer of Russian LNG. Last month the country bought 660,000 tons of the fuel, according to the Kpler commodities platform, accounting for 43 percent of the EU’s total imports. That’s partly because French energy giant TotalEnergies holds a…

In dieser Extra-Ausgabe spricht Gordon Repinski mit dem Chefredakteur von Table Briefings, Michael Bröcker, über die zurückliegende Woche, die von den kontroversen Diskussionen um Friedrich Merz’ Vorgehen in der Migrationspolitik geprägt war. Was hat Friedrich Merz – und was hat die Union – damit wirklich gewonnen? Wie sehr hat die Partei nicht nur der AfD in die Hände gespielt, sondern auch der politischen Konkurrenz von SPD und Grünen? Darüber sprechen und streiten Bröcker und Repinski. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es morgens um 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team bringen euch jeden Morgen auf den neuesten Stand in…

All bark, no bite? EU farmers have already taken to the streets over rising costs and tough new green rules. Another spike in fertilizer prices could spark fresh rounds of protests — think tractors blocking roads and paralyzing capitals. That’s a political nightmare Brussels wants to avoid. At the same time, the slow rollout frustrates European fertilizer producers, who say Moscow is being given more time to keep on flooding the market. Last year, the EU imported 6.17 million metric tons of Russian fertilizer worth €2.12 billion — the highest volume since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to Eurostat…

In response, Europe could just roll over and do Trump’s bidding. But it would then have to endure without demur his disorienting goading and needling, likely followed by ever bigger demands. It would certainly have to follow through on the admittedly justified U.S. demand to dramatically boost defense expenditure and shoulder a much fairer burden for the West’s defense. In this scenario, the bloc should also probably copy Saudi Arabia and purchase more weapons systems rather than focus on developing its own defense industries. Taking this route, Europe would have to fully choose between Trump and China — no more…

Moreover, it says the risks to its outlook are still skewed negatively, not least due to the new administration in the U.S. and President Donald Trump’s threats of trade tariffs.  Confidence sapped The political environment, both external and domestic, has sapped confidence over the past year, diminishing the impact of four previous cuts that had brought official rates down by a full percentage point. The Bank noted that even though household incomes are more than keeping pace with inflation, people “have not yet drawn sufficient encouragement … to significantly increase their spending.”  “The ECB is clinging on to the optimism…