Category Archives: European commission

EU brushes aside risk of China trade war over electric vehicle tariffs

Posted on by

Higher levies on Chinese EV imports to come into force despite carmakers’ fears of retaliation

The EU’s top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, has brushed aside concerns of trade-war retaliation from Beijing against European business, after the European Commission imposed duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, told Bloomberg Television that talks with China were ongoing, adding: “We are not seeing the basis for retaliation as what we are conducting is indeed in line with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.”

Continue reading...

Zelenskiy says Russia’s recent offensive shows pressure on Kremlin ‘not enough’

Posted on by

Ukrainian president signs military agreement with EU and says ‘fulfilment of every promise’ of support is important

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has told EU leaders that Russia’s spring offensive in Kharkiv showed that international pressure on the Kremlin was “not enough”, as he signed a military agreement with the bloc.

Vladimir Putin had tried to “expand the war” in May with a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, Zelenskiy said on Thursday, referring to relentless attacks on the Kharkiv region.

Continue reading...

Giorgia Meloni rails against pro-Europe parties’ deal on top commission jobs

Posted on by

Italian PM says deal that cut out her Eurosceptic block ignores EU’s rightward shift

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has condemned a deal to divide the EU’s top jobs between mainstream pro-European parties, saying it ignored the bloc’s rightward shift.

In an angry speech to the Italian parliament, Meloni said the top jobs deal reflected a view that “citizens are not mature enough to make certain decisions” and had been taken by those who believe “that oligarchy is basically the only acceptable form of democracy”.

Continue reading...

EU centrists’ deal paves way for von der Leyen to return as commission president

Posted on by

Agreement between three pro-European blocks would make Estonian PM top diplomat and former Portuguese PM council president

Ursula von der Leyen looks likely to clinch the nomination for a second term as European Commission president under a deal by EU leaders from the three pro-European political groups that sews up the bloc’s top jobs.

According to the agreement made by the centre-right European People’s party (EPP), the Socialists and the Liberals, von der Leyen will be nominated for a second five-year mandate at the head of the EU executive at a Brussels summit on Thursday.

Continue reading...

European Commission warns France over fiscal rules as election looms

Posted on by

Decision to launch ‘excessive deficit procedure’ sets up collision course with post-election government

The European Commission has issued a reprimand to France for breaking EU fiscal rules before an election where the frontrunners are making lavish spending promises.

The EU executive’s decision to launch the “excessive deficit procedure” against France is a blow to Emmanuel Macron – with a deficit well above the EU threshold – and also sets up a collision course with a post-election government potentially dominated by the far-right or the left coalition.

Continue reading...

EU leaders move closer towards giving second term to Ursula von der Leyen

Posted on by

European Commission president appears likely to keep her job as meetings continue to decide who gets top EU roles

EU leaders are converging on a second term for Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission but have failed to reach a quick agreement.

Meeting for the first time since elections shifted the European parliament to the right, with big gains for nationalist and far-right parties in France and Germany, EU leaders discussed how to fill the bloc’s top jobs on Monday.

Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen on track to keep job after EU elections boost

Posted on by

Macron’s move to call snap elections also seen as helping commission president’s bid for second term

Ursula von der Leyen is on track to remain for a second term as president of the European Commission, as EU leaders meet on Monday for a first discussion on divvying up the bloc’s top jobs.

The EU’s 27 heads of state and government will gather for dinner in Brussels in their first group meeting since European elections last week boosted nationalist and far-right parties and triggered Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections in France.

Continue reading...

ECJ to fine Hungary €1m a day until it complies with EU refugee laws

Posted on by

European court also orders Budapest to pay €200m for ‘unprecedented’ breach of rules

Hungary has been ordered to pay a €200m (£169m) fine for its refusal to uphold the rights of asylum seekers in what was described as an “unprecedented” breach of EU law by the bloc’s highest court.

The European court of justice in Luxembourg also ordered Budapest to pay €1m a day until it complies with EU laws guaranteeing refugees the right to claim asylum inside Hungarian borders.

Continue reading...

‘Mostly, they don’t vote’: Dutch far-right support in European elections depends on turnout

Posted on by

Geert Wilders’ PVV party is predicted to go from one seat to eight in European parliament nonetheless

Elections to the world’s only transnational assembly get under way in earnest on Thursday as Dutch voters go to the polls in a four-day, 27-country ballot that will return 720 MEPs to the next European parliament.

The results of the elections, which will shape the makeup of the next European Commission and could have a major impact on the bloc’s political direction in key areas including immigration and climate action, are expected on Sunday evening.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk does not grasp EU fears about disinformation on X, official says

Posted on by

EU commissioner Vera Jourová says tech firms must hire staff versed in legal and historical context of free speech in Europe

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, lacks understanding of European concerns over the hatred and division that can result from the spread of disinformation, a senior EU commissioner has said.

Speaking just days before the European parliamentary elections, in which disinformation, particularly Russian-backed propaganda, has been a key issue, Věra Jourová criticised what she said was a clear deterioration in content moderation on X since Musk bought the platform in 2022.

Continue reading...

Reveal party funding before elections, says European anti-corruption chief

Posted on by

Marin Mrčela also calls on EU to join Group of States Against Corruption to show it is serious about tackling misconduct

Political parties across Europe, including the UK, should be forced to publish the names of their private funders before elections, not after, the president of the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body has said.

Unveiling the annual report of the Group of States Against Corruption (Greco), Marin Mrčela, who is the justice of the supreme court of Croatia, also called on the European Union to stop using “excuses” not to join the body.

Continue reading...

Post-Brexit deal on border between Gibraltar and Spain remains unresolved

Posted on by

European Commission vice president, Maroš Šefčovič, cites progress on trade and economy for territory but not border checks

Talks on a post-Brexit deal to govern the border between Gibraltar and Spain have broken up without an agreement, although both sides insisted a deal was “getting closer”.

David Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, met the European Commission vice president, Maroš Šefčovič, in Brussels to discuss the British overseas territory on the Iberian peninsula, which has been in limbo since Britain left the EU.

Continue reading...

Xi Jinping to visit France, Hungary and Serbia amid EU trade tariff row

Posted on by

China’s president arrives as EU anti-subsidy investigations and tensions over espionage, Ukraine and Taiwan continue

China’s president, Xi Jinping, is to visit Europe next week for the first time in five years, in a tour that will take in the unlikely trifecta of France, Hungary and Serbia.

The visit comes as China pushes to avoid a trade war with the EU, while attitudes towards Beijing in the bloc are hardening after multiple spying scandals and China’s ongoing support for Russia in the war in Ukraine.

Continue reading...

Von der Leyen criticises European far right for being ‘Putin’s proxies’

Posted on by

Commission president, who is seeking another term, took aim at group that includes AfD and National Rally in pre-election debate

The European Commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, has criticised the far right as “Putin’s proxies”, while refusing to rule out working with other rightwing nationalists, as campaigning began ahead of June’s European elections.

Von der Leyen is seeking a second five-year term leading the commission, in the looming reshuffle of EU top jobs that follows the European elections.

Continue reading...

Europe live: Ursula von der Leyen accused of watering down green deal for farmers in European Commission presidential debate

Posted on by

Ursula von der Leyen takes part alongside representatives from seven other parties as EU gears up for European parliament elections

The far-right Identity and Democracy’s representative, Anders Vistisen, wrote on social media ahead of the debate:

“The entire EU system has tried to prevent me and the right wing from participating in the EU top candidate debate tonight. They want to exclude right wing votes! They didn’t succeed - so tonight I will tell the truth about the EU’s disaster course directly to Ursula and the rest of the EU!”

Continue reading...

Sunak rejects offer of youth mobility scheme between EU and UK

Posted on by

Labour also turns down European Commission’s proposal, which would have allowed young Britons to live, study and work in EU

Rishi Sunak has rejected an EU offer to strike a post-Brexit deal to allow young Britons to live, study or work in the bloc for up to four years.

The prime minister declined the European Commission’s surprise proposal of a youth mobility scheme for people aged between 18 and 30 on Friday, after Labour knocked back the suggestion on Thursday night, while noting that it would “seek to improve the UK’s working relationship with the EU within our red lines”.

Continue reading...

Brussels proposes return to pre-Brexit mobility for UK and EU young people

Posted on by

Commission to seek approval from leaders to start talks with UK on visa-free exchanges for 18- to 30-year-olds

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in one another’s countries, albeit for a limited period and with conditions.

Continue reading...

Von der Leyen’s re-election chances hit by €17k-a-month job for ally

Posted on by

European Commission defends appointing adviser Markus Pieper after selection process is questioned

Ursula von der Leyen’s run for a second term as president of the European Commission has been dented after accusations of favouritism in the selection of a fellow party member for a lucrative new job.

Some of the highest-ranking people in Brussels, including the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, and the French commissioner Thierry Breton, have written to von der Leyen to complain that the appointment of the German MEP Markus Pieper as a special adviser “has triggered questions about the transparency and impartiality of the nomination process”.

Continue reading...

UN names veteran EU official Astrid Schomaker as new biodiversity chief

Posted on by

German’s appointment to head Convention on Biological Diversity follows global failure to meet any targets on protecting ecosystems

The next UN biodiversity chief will be Astrid Schomaker, an EU civil servant who will be entrusted with helping the world confront the ongoing catastrophic loss of nature.

Schomaker has been a career official with the EU commission for 30 years. A surprise appointment, she will be tasked with corralling governments to make good on their commitments to protect life on Earth – something they have not done in more than 30 years since the UN biodiversity convention was created.

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features

Continue reading...

Crucial European Green Deal package staggers to legislative conclusion

Posted on by

Key policies to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050 are being weakened by looming elections and persistent protests from farmers

The European Green Deal is limping to the legislative finish line as elections loom and farmers continue to stage fierce protests across the continent.

The policy package, launched with fanfare by the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen five years ago, was supposed to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050. But with elections in June, in which polls suggest that some countries may take a swing to the right, the EU is gutting some of its key policies to cut pollution and protect the environment.

Continue reading...