Author: staff

“The pharmaceutical industry in the U.K. has now gained planning security. Such an agreement is still pending for the EU. …The risk of customs duties remains high and uncertainty persists,” he said in a statement. Trump has repeatedly blamed European pharmaceutical companies for higher U.S. drug prices, threatened a 100 percent tariff on pharmaceutical products and demanded drugmakers implement “most favored nation pricing,” which would bring U.S. prices in line with those paid in other wealthy nations. The threats have triggered British and European drugmakers to bolster their defenses on K Street, Washington’s lobbying corridor. Lobbying spending from July to…

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte brushed off fresh concerns about the United States’ commitment to the military organisation on Tuesday on the eve of a meeting of allied foreign ministers focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend Wednesday’s meeting, which will take place during high-stakes negotiations in Moscow and elsewhere in Europe on Ukraine’s future. Rubio’s rare absence at the US-led alliance comes after President Donald Trump’s 28-point proposal to end the almost four-year war dismayed European allies and Canada last month. Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Rutte underlined that…

Chloé Ridel, a Socialist lawmaker working on the file, said the law also includes specific definitions for many corruption offenses that all EU countries now will share, such as “bribery in the public and private sector, misappropriation in the public and private sector, trading and influence, enrichment from corruption offenses, of obstruction of justice, concealment, and incitement.” Center-right European People’s Party negotiator David Casa highlighted that the common definitions will facilitate cross-border cooperation and praised the new reporting requirements for EU countries to the Commission as helping Brussels improve monitoring of how member countries tackle corruption. Not enough However, critics…

Farmers across Greece are tightening road blockades as protests over unpaid subsidies and rising production costs gather pace. Major routes, including the E65 and the Athens–Thessaloniki highway, remain disrupted as tractors line key junctions. In Larissa, livestock farmers drove into the city and threw milk and wheat to show their frustration with government policy. Protesters demand immediate payments from ELGA and OPEKEPE and full compensation for lost crops and livestock. More blockades are planned this week as the movement spreads to ports and border stations.

Three major French unions launched a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations on Tuesday to protest government austerity policies, wage stagnation and looming cuts to public services. But despite weeks of preparation, mobilisation remained weak with turnout being far less than the large rallies seen earlier this autumn. The CGT, FSU and Solidaires called for the action as the National Assembly debates the 2026 Social Security budget, which union leaders describe as carrying “numerous and serious regressions” for workers, pensioners and the public sector. What is driving the anger? At the heart of Tuesday’s mobilisation are demands for wage increases,…

Published on 02/12/2025 – 20:33 GMT+1 Indonesia and the Netherlands agreed to repatriate two Dutch nationals on Tuesday convicted of drug offences in Indonesia, including one facing the death penalty and another serving a life sentence. The agreement was signed by officials in both Jakarta and Amsterdam following a request by the Dutch king and foreign ministry for the release of the men, both of whom are in poor health, according to Indonesia’s senior law minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra. Mahendra, who signed the agreement at a ceremony in Jakarta, said the request was approved by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and…

Belgium’s ultimate fear is that the €140 billion could be lent to Ukraine and then a single pro-Russian EU country, such as Hungary or Slovakia, could veto the renewal of the EU sanctions regime against Moscow. That would mean Belgium immediately having to send the missing billions back to Russia. The Commission’s fix to keep Belgium happy is to avoid one EU country being able to overturn sanctions. Currently Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has the power to do exactly that, as sanctions require unanimity and must be renewed every six months. The Commission now sees a way round this.…

The National Union of Journalists (SNJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have filed a complaint with France’s national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office (Pnat), accusing Israeli authorities of “obstructions to press freedoms” in the Palestinian territories. The two organisations — the largest journalist union in France and the largest journalist union worldwide — announced the move on Tuesday. Their complaint denounces what they describe as “an organised, systematic and prolonged” effort to prevent journalists, including French reporters, from accessing Gaza and carrying out their work safely. According to the complaint, no foreign journalist has been allowed to enter Gaza freely…

“There’s a very practical issue of the enormity of the reconstruction of Ukraine and the cost of that, and who’s going to pay for that,” Martin said. “It cannot only be the European taxpayer. Europe did not start this war.” But Ireland — a militarily neutral nation that will hold the EU’s rotating presidency in the second half of 2026 — did use Zelenskyy’s visit to boost its own financial support to Ukraine. Martin signed an agreement with Ukraine pledging a further €100 million in nonlethal military equipment, including for minefield clearance, and €25 million to help rebuild Ukraine’s besieged…

Croatia and Bulgaria are the only EU nations in the top 10 of countries most connected with nature worldwide, according to a first-of-its-kind global study on how people relate to the natural world. By contrast, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands are the EU countries that are the least nature-connected, putting them towards the end of the list. The research article published in the peer-reviewed environment journal Ambio analysed more than 56,000 people across 61 countries on how attitudes towards nature are shaped by social, economic, geographical, and cultural factors. Nature connectedness is a well-established construct that reflects an individual’s cognitive…