Buon pomeriggio!
This is Euractiv senior editor Martina Monti with this week's edition of ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ of the week in the news, where you decide which is which.
The T word
I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to find a synonym that would make tariffs sound fresh. Levy, duty, excise and even considered throwing in the French or German word for it for flair. But alas, Trump slapping a 20% tariff on the EU on Wednesday night was this week's biggest story.
Our economy reporter Tom stayed up until late to cover it, explained why it harms the US more than Europe and went to midday the day after to ask the Commission what it wants to do about it.
For you, the 20% tariff means your next aperitivo could become even more expensive. As agrifood reporters Alice and Sofi wrote, in vino calamitas: expect higher prices for France’s Bordeaux and Champagne wines, Irish whiskey, Pecorino cheese, and Greek feta.
EU's El Dorado
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa went on a treasure hunt this week, travelling to Uzbekistan for the first-ever EU-Central Asia summit. Their hope is to start securing rare earth metals and critical minerals in the region.
But there's little hope the bloc can find its El Dorado. Someone's already been looking for it: Central Asia is still tightly linked to Russia and increasingly courted by Beijing. Our new correspondent Emma analysed Europe's hunt for mineral riches from Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Le Pen: The verdict is in
Marine Le Pen’s political career may have ended this week after a French court convicted her of embezzling EU funds and handed her an immediate five-year ineligibility sentence. Bad timing for the far-right leader who wanted to run for the 2027 presidential election for the fourth time.
Le Pen, however, is not one to quietly accept defeat and, you guessed it, she’s appealing the verdict. Our polyglot and network coordinator, Charles, broke down what happens next.
After the conviction, all eyes are on her protégé Jordan Bardella, the head of Le Pen's Rassemblement National party. He owes everything to her and makes no secret of it, but is he up to the task of the president? Our Paris bureau chief, Laurent, answered that question here.
Happy Birthday, NATO!
The transatlantic alliance turns 76 today, and what better way to celebrate than with a first visit from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting NATO foreign ministers at Brussels HQ yesterday.
Nice, except for the part where European leaders still have PTSD from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s February bombshell about shifting US security priorities. But Rubio reassured Europe that fears of Washington abandoning NATO were “unwarranted” and that Trump “has made clear he supports NATO.”
Our chief diplomatic correspondent Alex went to Rubio's briefing with reporters and put together the write-up here.
Italy's outlier syndrome
Rome loves being the odd one – partly as a clever PR strategy, partly for the hope that Paris and Berlin might finally take it seriously. Gone are the days of Mario Draghi grinning with Macron and Scholz on a train to Kyiv.
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