Good morning from Brussels, Former General Counsel of the Office of the United States Trade Representative Greta Peisch told Euractiv that the tariffs the EU Commission decided to impose on China-made electric vehicles (EV) are too low to protect Europe’s automobile industry from Beijing’s state-subsidised car exports. The EU decided to impose additional tariffs of 17.4% to 38.1% on electric cars produced in China after preliminary results from its anti-subsidy investigation confirmed prices are being distorted by Chinese state support. However, for Peisch, who was involved in developing the far more stringent trade measures the US imposed on China last month, this is not enough. “I think you could anticipate that those vehicles could continue coming in and being sold at essentially the same price today and continuing to take market share away from the European brand producers in the EU,” she noted. Politically, some estimate that Europe’s decision is a sign of alignment of EU-US trade policies. Euractiv’s Thomas Moller-Nielsen has the details. Meanwhile, the war of words continues between Brussels and Beijing. After the Chinese threats to take the case to the World Trade Organisation, the Chinese businesses accused the EU executive of “misuse of investigative power and misconduct by the [Commission] during the investigation”. Thomas has the European Commission’s reaction. |
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Europe’s new tariffs against China: If you want peace, prepare for trade war In this episode, host Giada Santana and energy and transport reporter Jonathan Packroff analyse the costs and likely outcomes of the EU-China’s head-to-head. Listen here. |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [BalkansCat/shutterstock] |
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Revision of EU spending priorities, including regional development and agricultural support, should be prioritised over discussions on a new programme of joint EU borrowing, said Ole Funke, coordinator for EU fiscal policy at the German Chancellery. Jonathan Packroff has the story. On the politics front, Ursula von der Leyen may face complications in securing a second mandate, as her EU group, the European People’s Party (EPP), is due to appear before a Brussels court next week, where the plaintiff in the case is seeking to have the EPP remove her as their top candidate for the Commission presidency, Anne-Sophie Gayet writes. Last but not least, G7 negotiators agreed on Thursday on a loan plan based on the size of their economies to provide Ukraine with about $50 billion in aid, expected to start flowing by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. Alexandra Brzozowski has more. |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/TERESA SUAREZ] |
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PARIS After dominating the political agenda for months, French farmers have been blindsided by President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly, which is blocking progress on the new law for the sector, and are threatening new protests. Read more. Uncertainty looms for French Les Républicains as Ciotti ousted over alliance with far right. France’s centre-right Les Républicains party sacked its leader Éric Ciotti on Wednesday after he announced an alliance with Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National, although his actions amid the ensuing media storm suggest he intends to cling on to his post. Read more. Tensions rise among French left parties trying to forge deal for snap elections. France’s main left-wing parties are due to present on Thursday a joint programme for the snap elections but negotiations have stumbled over issues like the number and names of candidates and the war in Gaza. Read more. Political future of expelled newly elected Reconquête! MEPs in question. Within days of being voted in, far-right Reconquête! party founder Eric Zemmour announced, Wednesday, that he had expelled four of his five newly-elected members of the European Parliament (MEPs), casting uncertainty over their political future in the European Parliament. Read more. /// BERLIN Germany should not outsource asylum procedures, experts warn. As the German government considers whether to process asylum applications abroad, experts involved in the process published their recommendations to the government on Thursday, calling into question whether the plan would go ahead. Read more. |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET] |
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TALLINN Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been involved in controversy after a senior Defence Ministry official resigned in protest at the Estonian government’s inaction on the arms budget, which Kallas claims to have found out about through the press. Read more. |
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MADRID Spain’s Díaz says ‘never’ thought of leaving government despite election setback. Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, who resigned this week as leader of the left-wing platform Sumar after the party’s dismal results in the EU elections, said on Thursday she had “never” thought of leaving the coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party PSOE. Read more. /// ROME G7 leaders already reached consensus on summit conclusions, Meloni says. G7 leaders have already agreed on the conclusions of their summit, which include matters like aid for Ukraine and the situation in Gaza, according to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at the end of the first day of the meeting on Thursday. Read more. |
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PRAGUE New EU Commission should focus on economic security – Czech minister. Choosing trade partners more carefully, economic security and reducing dependence in strategic sectors should be the priorities of the new European Commission, Czech Industry and Trade Minister and possible future EU Commissioner Jozef Síkela said on Thursday. Read more. |
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Click on the picture to read the story | Photo by [EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL] |
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LONDON The UK’s centre-left Labour Party launched its manifesto on Thursday under the single-word slogan of “change”, with their 20-point lead suggesting they will be the next government, continuity seems the more appropriate word for how Britain’s main parties view UK-EU relations. Read more. |
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SOFIA Newly-elected Bulgarian MEPs prefer domestic politics, eye new government. Several political heavyweights elected last weekend to represent Bulgaria in the European Parliament announced on Thursday that they would stick to domestic politics, with some expected to join the new Bulgarian government. Read more. Experts concerned by rise of US-sanctioned ‘strongman’ in Bulgaria. While recent parliamentary and European elections in Bulgaria were won by former prime minister Boyko Borissov’s centre-right GERB (EPP) party, second place went to the DPS party, headed by Deylan Peevski, a former media mogul sanctioned for corruption by the US and the UK authorities. Read more. |
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EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council convenes to discuss facilitation of child parenthood recognition among member states, combat against sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, combat against corruption, and more; Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas delivers speech at COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs) chairpersons meeting of EU MED, in Agios Nikolaos, Greece; Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit participates in third annual meeting of European Child Guarantee national coordinators; Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra holds videoconference with Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol; |
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*** [Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Liene Lūsīte, Alice Taylor] |
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The Capitals is brought to you by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Alice Taylor, Liene Lūsīte, Daniel Eck and Charles Szumski. |
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