Fiona Scott Morton’s appointment continues to make waves – but following the US economist’s withdrawal, criticism is now directed at Paris. In recent days, President Emmanuel Macron and several female ministers stirred up sentiment against the appointment of the Yale Professor as Chief Economist of the Directorate General for Competition. “It’s a shame that the […]
The European Parliament is expected to vote in favor of classifying nuclear power as eligible technologies in the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). “We have agreed that nuclear power is on the list”, rapporteur Christian Ehler (CDU) said Tuesday. A draft of the compromise motions specifically names nuclear fission and fusion energy as fields of application; […]
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is counting on a conclusion of trade talks with the Mercosur countries by the end of the year. She was “very confident, especially after the past two days”, that the negotiations could be concluded in the coming months, von der Leyen said after the summit meeting with the Community […]
Big crowd in Brussels: More than 50 heads of state and government are expected today and tomorrow, for the summit of EU states with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The first meeting of its kind in eight years (and only the third ever) is the building block of a “new agenda […]
During Chancellor Angela Merkel’s time, the German government was seen in Brussels as too friendly towards Beijing. With its China strategy paper published on Thursday, Berlin is at least on paper shifting towards the hawkish camp: De-risking is “urgently needed”, writes the German government, aligning itself with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.This is […]
The EU member states are expected to approve the Commission’s official negotiating mandate for a raw materials agreement with the USA next week. According to EU diplomats, the mandate will be discussed by ambassadors on Wednesday and approved by the Council of Foreign Ministers on Thursday.The Commission and the US government have been engaged in […]
The EU summit with Latin American countries next week is expected to bring little progress in the planned trade agreements. According to sources in Brussels, there is no sign of the expected momentum in negotiations with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) or with Mexico.The EU side had high expectations for the first […]
In its first China strategy paper, the German government addresses the problems in its relations with Beijing more clearly than before.During Chancellor Angela Merkel’s time, the German government was seen in Brussels as too friendly towards Beijing. With its China strategy paper published on Thursday, Berlin is at least on paper shifting towards the hawkish […]
On Friday, the EU Commission proposed the collective withdrawal of the EU and its member states from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). It was responding to the lack of support for last year’s negotiated reform of the 1990s international treaty, which is the basis for many lawsuits by energy companies in private arbitration courts.Initially, the […]
The German government has been negotiating its China strategy for many months. The coalition partners do not seem to have reached any real agreement – although the government will adopt the paper today, it will not present it jointly. Apparently, the differences are too great.Only Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will make a public appearance today: […]