Author: staff

“This voluntary demand for SAF basically has not materialized,” said Malinen. When the Finnish company started investing in SAF, “We made estimates of what the demand could be, both mandated and voluntary,” Malinen said. But the only demand comes from the EU mandate; airlines aren’t buying any extra. SAFs are seen as the easiest way to make flying greener. | Arthur Gekiere and Belga Mag/Getty Images “The market for SAF last year was less than 1 million tons, and the kerosene jet fuel market over 350 million tons, so it’s a drop in the bucket,” Malinen said. The company —…

This article was originally published in German A provision would exempt defence spending above 1% of GDP from debt brake rules, enabling Germany to increase military spending without limit. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has revealed plans for a new €500 billion special fund aimed at boosting infrastructure and defence spending.Just over a week after his victory in the federal elections, Merz announced that his Christian Democratic Union (CDU), together with its Bavarian sister party (CSU) and likely coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), will present a joint bill in parliament next week to ease the country’s debt brake.”I want to say…

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a plan to send loans of up to €150 billion to EU governments to help them boost military spending as they grapple with the need to rethink their defense infrastructures without U.S. support. Macron has sought to lead European efforts toward increased unity in response to Trump’s moves, organizing two consecutive meetings in Paris with allied nations. For its part, Hungary has repeatedly attempted to derail joint European efforts to bolster Ukraine — and Budapest was notably not included in either of the Paris meetings. Unlike most European leaders, Orbán sided with Trump…

“The political developments in Europe and the world are evolving faster than we anticipated just a week ago,” Merz said. “Germany and Europe must now undertake extraordinary efforts to ensure our defense capabilities.” Merz proposed that defense spending above 1 percent of gross domestic product be exempted from the restrictions of Germany’s constitutional debt brake, which limits the structural budget deficit to 0.35 percent of gross domestic product, except in emergencies. Merz announced the deal to unlock defense spending alongside the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with whom his conservatives are currently in talks to form a governing…

Dans un discours prononcé mardi, quarante-huit heures avant que les 27 dirigeants européens ne tiennent un sommet de crise à Bruxelles, la présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, a déclaré que les gouvernements devraient pouvoir bénéficier de 150 milliards d’euros de prêts au cours des cinq prochaines années. Il ne s’agit pas d’argent qui existe déjà dans un budget : la Commission utiliserait son poids financier pour emprunter de l’argent qu’elle prêterait ensuite aux gouvernements, qui devraient ensuite la rembourser. Les prêts pourraient être utilisés pour acheter de l’artillerie, des missiles, des munitions, des drones et des…

So far, the official line taken by center-right parties has been to keep their distance from the far right in line with Europe’s cordon sanitaire.  But NGOs and left-leaning groups within the European Parliament, such as The Left and the Greens, fear that Germany’s domestic battle could play out at the level of EU institutions by creating a pathway for conservatives and the far right to connect.  The center-right European People’s Party has already kickstarted a campaign — backed by the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the far-right Patriots for Europe — to examine whether European Commission funding…

Ringing this doorbell helps fish migrate through a lock in the Netherlands. The world’s first fish doorbell has just gone live in the Dutch city of Utrecht.‘Fish doorbell season’ officially began, on 3 March for the fifth year in a row. A camera showing live footage allows viewers to let the lock keeper at the Weerdsluis lock know when fish are waiting to swim upstream so they can open the gate. Linda Voortman, alderwoman for Utrecht, says each year the fish doorbell is received with enthusiasm by the people of the city and far beyond. “In fact, last year there…

“We don’t want to see tariffs,” Reeves told delegates from across Britain’s manufacturing sector at industry body MakeUK’s National Manufacturing Conference in central London. There’s “every reason to be hopeful” about a U.K.-U.S. trade deal, she added. Following Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meetings with Trump at the White House last week, Reeves said Britain is “searching now for some sort of trade deal” with the U.S. to allow it to dodge the direct threat of Trump’s tariffs. Trump told reporters the two sides “could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary.” Duties…

The Ukrainian president expressed regret Tuesday over his exchange with his US counterpart Donald Trump and urged for a return to cooperation after Washington paused its military support to Ukraine. The terse exchange with Donald Trump at the White House was “regrettable,” and “it is time to make things right”, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, just hours after Washington announced a pause on military support to Ukraine.”Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X. “It is regrettable that it happened this…

A new report warns Ireland needs to “act now” or it could be in line to pay significant compliance costs. Ireland could face a “staggering” bill of between €8 billion and €26 billion to other EU member states if it doesn’t act now to reduce emissions. This stark warning about the cost of missing its goals comes via a joint report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) and Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC). It says the country’s government needs to “act now” or it could be in line to pay significant compliance costs further down the line. Plans to cut emissions…