Author: staff
A new security pact with Brussels is a key plank of Keir Starmer’s foreign policy strategy in light of moves by Donald Trump to distance himself from European security. Brussels has proposed a €150 billion loan program for EU governments to spend on re-arming. The funds should be invested on a “buy more European” basis, according to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president. But without a formal defense agreement with Brussels, the U.K. will be locked out of the scheme. Let down before Asked whether he had seen comments by Brexit minister Nick Thomas-Symonds hinting that he favored a…
Opening the three-hour debate, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said Ireland couldn’t afford the squabbling in the Dáil Éireann chamber at a time when incoming U.S. tariffs on EU goods imperil Ireland’s export-driven economy. “Our country is facing enormous threats,” Martin said, referencing the tariffs expected to be announced Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump. “We simply do not have time to waste on cynical strategies of aggression and disruption.” Led by the main opposition Sinn Féin, several parties on the left of Irish politics called for Murphy’s head following last week’s struggle to agree new rules determining who gets to…
Jusqu’à présent, Bruxelles a respecté les règles du jeu traditionnelles en matière commerciale, en alignant ses droits de douane sur des marques américaines emblématiques, telles que Harley-Davidson, sur ceux imposés par Trump sur ses métaux industriels. En rendant coup pour coup, la Commission a cherché à reproduire les mesures prises par l’administration américaine, et non l’escalade. Aujourd’hui, alors que Washington menace de punir davantage l’UE, non seulement pour ses droits de douane existants, mais aussi pour ce qu’il considère comme des barrières non tarifaires, notamment ses réglementations sur le numérique, Bruxelles se prépare à faire monter les enchères. “Nous aborderons…
While aware of the economic impact of US tariffs on EU goods, a YouGov study finds that a vast majority of European citizens support retaliatory measures in the escalating trade dispute between Brussels and Washington. As Washington prepares to unleash a further swathe of trade measures on 2 April with reciprocal tariffs, a majority of EU citizens across Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden support imposing retaliatory measures on US imports, according to a YouGov survey published on Tuesday.More than two-thirds, 69% of citizens across these six major EU economies said they back such countermeasures, Danish respondents showing the…
Away from tariffs, the Brussels veteran has enthusiastically embraced the European Commission’s efforts to mobilize more funds for European defense, in the face of what he called an “existential threat” from Russia. He supported a Commission proposal to borrow €150 billion to lend to EU governments under a rearmament plan. This would amount to repackaging bonds from different countries in the form of a European “safe asset,” structured in a way to limit overall risk. “We need to find a combination of national and European solutions,” Rehn said. He applauded as “extremely important” the recent announcement by Germany — one country that…
Ten years after the Dieselgate scandal over cheating in exhaust emissions tests, European carmakers are in the frame again, this time for market skulduggery in the form of a clandestine agreement not to compete on grounds of environmental friendliness on the basis of their support for recycling. The European Commission has dished out whopping fines to 15 carmakers and their main Brussels-based lobby group, on the same day that the EU executive delivered a proposal to water down CO2 emissions standards following months of alarmist campaigning by the automotive industry. “These car manufacturers coordinated for over 15 years to avoid…
French President Emmanuel Macron convened France’s Ecological Planning Council meeting yesterday (31 March), for the first time in over a year and a half.Macron is a man with many competing priorities, but between hosting the “Coalition of the Willing” summit for Ukraine last week, and wrapping up the SOS Ocean Summit, he signalled that climate action is still high on the agenda for France. Greenhouse gas emissions fell by just 1.8 per cent last year, according to preliminary estimates from Citepa, the state’s official pollution monitor. As the Élysée Palace acknowledged on Friday, that is a “slowdown” that risks France’s goal…
“Government requests to restrict speech online alongside threats to shut down online services are severe and have a chilling effect on people’s ability to express themselves,” the spokesperson said. Elon Musk’s social media platform X has suspended several accounts belonging to journalists and opposition figures since the outbreak of the civil unrest, despite the tech billionaire’s claim to be a “free speech absolutist.” In 2024 Meta received 5,677 requests from Turkish authorities to remove content, 4,199 of which came from Turkey’s communications authority, Meta’s transparency report said. Meta heeded 40 percent of the requests, the report said. The Turkish government has been…
The government said the new programme will be a key tool for the “detection and disruption of harmful activity against our country.” The British government is placing Russia on the top tier of a security programme aimed at protecting the UK from malign foreign influence, the Minister of State Security has said.Dan Jarvis told lawmakers that any person or company “carrying out activity as part of any arrangement” with Russian authorities, including government agencies, armed forces, intelligence services and the parliament, will need to register with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme from 1 July.Anyone who doesn’t sign up faces five…
PARIS — The Paris Court of Appeals said it would hear Marine Le Pen’s case and render a decision by summer 2026. Were the court to overturn Monday’s verdict, Le Pen would be eligible to run for president in 2027. This developing story is being updated.