US civil society groups call on EU not to delay methane rules
As Brussels moves to delay its methane rules, nearly 100 US civil society groups are urging EU governments not to cave to oil and gas lobbyists and the White House.
Economy
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‘Made in everywhere’: MEPs clash over reach of EU industrial law
Lead MEPs want ‘Made in Europe’ perks limited to the 27 member states. The centre-right, whose votes could decide the file, is split.
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Volkswagen benefited from €1.5bn in German EV subsidies as it lobbies EU to hit Chinese cars harder
The EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric cars in 2024. Today, Beijing’s hybrid cars are making record sales in Europe amid fresh German calls to extend the tariffs.
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Mining firms’ plea for EU critical minerals budget falls on deaf ears
Mining companies want a dedicated EU budget for critical raw materials, citing ineffective EU financing and the risk of being pushed aside by other priorities. But the European Commission and member states prefer to keep the money flexible.
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EU-Philippines free-trade pact joins Brussels’ growing ‘harvest’ of Asia deals
An EU-Philippines pact is the latest trade deal to be ‘harvested’, and Thailand and Malaysia are likely to be next.
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Loophole in new EU labelling will let fossil-fuelled data-centres pass as ‘green’
The European Commission’s new rating system grades data centres on efficiency, but does not show their emissions or how much power and water they use. It also lets sites partly powered by fossil fuels present themselves as renewable by buying green certificates over a whole year.
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Beijing tells EU to weaken ‘Made in Europe’ industrial bill ahead of October showdown
Beijing and Brussels have made demands and counter-demands as talks on their myriad trade disputes hot up. But they could be derailed by a US-China summit in Washington next week.
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Von der Leyen’s State of the Union likely to tiptoe around China ahead of trade showdown
The EU’s competitiveness problems and its trade dispute with China have not gone away, but Ursula von der Leyen won’t pile on the criticism of Beijing at Wednesday’s State of the Union address, as trade talks enter the crunch stage.
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MEPs scrap ‘kill switch’ on EU carbon border levy
MEPs voted to strip the European Commission of a proposed power to temporarily exempt goods (such as fertilisers) from the EU’s carbon border levy, setting up a clash with member states.
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Fighting fossil-fuel inflation with ECB rate hikes punishes renewables, research finds
Every 10-percent rise in oil and gas prices increases overall inflation by 0.35 percentage points. The European Central Bank’s rate hikes risk making it worse by making renewable investments more expensive, finds the London-based research institute New Economics Foundation.
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ECB raises rates again as Strait of Hormuz disruption drives up gas prices
The conflict in the Middle East has pushed up energy-related inflation by 14.3 percent year-on-year
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€10.9bn in free EU carbon permits for airlines fuels row over emissions trading reform
Six European airlines received €10.9bn in free emissions allowances under the EU’s emissions trading scheme, according to new research, as aviation is set to be one of the main battlegrounds in a proposed reform to the system.
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Green groups file complaint over EU water protection review, citing mining lobbying
The complaint takes aim at the EU’s decision to “review and revise” the water directive and address “potential bottlenecks” in accessing critical raw materials.
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[Interview] Europe needs to finish single market or lose more scale-ups to China and the US, warns Enrico Letta
The former Italian prime minister tells EUobserver that Europe’s scale-ups in health and elsewhere are too small to survive the ‘China 2.0 shock’, and that without a finished single market Europe will keep losing out.
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EU budget negotiators slam frugal states over grand ambitions talk while calling for cuts
Two of parliament’s lead negotiators told EUobserver that they are not impressed by calls from some member states to ‘do more while calling for a weaker budget’
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EU plans new ‘diversification’ rules to cut dependence on China
The EU’s top trade official says China must demonstrate progress towards reducing its trade surplus with the bloc, but conceded that talks have made little progress since June.
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EU budget talks move to Dublin with frugal states and cohesion camp still locked in stalemate
The Irish EU-presidency has prepared a document hoping to “aid consideration” and smooth over differences that have gridlocked negotiations since June.
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EU net‑zero target ‘not politically credible’, warns Belgian ECB policymaker
Belgium’s central bank chief Pierre Wunsch said that pretending the EU will reach net zero by 2050 is destroying the credibility of its own climate policy.
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EU pension funds buying into US AI boom, as ECB warns credit ratings may be understating future risk
Credit ratings of AI tech giants may be based on “assumptions on future revenue growth and leverage which may not stand the test of time”, creating a risk of “mispricing of credit risk,” the ECB’s financial experts found.
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World’s coral reefs are losing recovery time between marine heatwaves, major global report warns
The proportion of reef surface covered by living coral has fallen by 9.5 percent, compared with just the 1980–2009 average.