Media headlined yesterday’s meeting of the European Political Community in Prague as an “XXL summit” or “mega-summit”. Indeed, it was a massive event, with the heads of state and government of more than 40 European countries attending. It explicitly was not supposed to be an EU-only event, and yet the debate about how to deal […]
Originally, the EU Commission wanted to present the proposal for the REACH chemicals regulation at the end of 2022. But apparently, it wants to put the project on ice for the time being – out of consideration for the industry. As Markus Grabitz and Till Hoppe have learned, the proposal is not due until 2024 […]
International criticism of the €200 billion package Germany has put together to fight high energy prices was heard again yesterday at the meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg. There is talk of Germany going it alone, and calls for joint instruments are growing louder. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have […]
The EU’s legislative process for car-related dossiers is not yet finished, but the end of the internal combustion engine by 2035 and a stalling of synthetic fuels are already emerging. Interviewed by Lukas Scheid and me, Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), takes an early look at the resulting […]
At 7:30 p.m. CEST, the Reuters news agency reported the death of the United Kingdom‘s head of state. “Queen Elizabeth II,” as German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote, “is a woman who shaped a century. She has experienced and written contemporary history. Her Majesty was held in the highest esteem and respect throughout the world.” On […]
So far, the EU has not had the best of experiences with Thatcher fan Liz Truss – after all, it was Truss who, in her role as Foreign Secretary, proposed a Northern Ireland Protocol bill that would undermine parts of the Brexit treaty. The fear: The conservative British politician could potentially provoke a trade war […]
Today, in our fall preview, we focus on EU transport policy. A swift agreement is expected between the EU Parliament and the Council on the proposals to phase out internal combustion engines in 2035 and tighten CO2 fleet limits for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The situation is likely to be different with regard […]
It took years, but on Sunday the Commission announced a severe penalty against Hungary. Subsidies are to be cut by €7.5 billion – if a majority of member states agree. You can read in the news how Budapest will try to avert the penalty as early as this week.The party of French President Emmanuel Macron […]
Franziska Brantner believes that a complete decoupling from China is not the solution. But too much dependence could be painful. Diversification is thus necessary, she says. “We have to turn more strongly to the entire world again.” In an interview with Till Hoppe and Felix Lee, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry […]
There was much praise for Ursula von der Leyen yesterday for her State of the Union speech. However, some of her proposals are no longer quite so fresh. In the case of the European Hydrogen Bank, for example, only the name is new. Still, there were surprises, such as the fact that the middle class […]